Duong Heeded Occidental Coach’s Advice : College basketball: Freshman point guard, determined to feed teammates, passed up shot opportunities until Harwell took him aside.

Hung Duong got the point, and now he’s beginning to score them like the Occidental College basketball coaching staff knew he could.

In his senior year at Alhambra High, Duong was a 5-foot-8 forward on a team with no starter taller than 6-1. He was also the Moors’ “go-to” guy, the player his teammates looked for first when the team needed a basket--any basket, big or otherwise.

But when Duong arrived at Occidental last fall and was installed at point guard, he began concentrating almost solely on his ball-handling and his passing.

He passed to other guards on the perimeter. He passed to the Tigers’ front-court players near the basket. Duong was so intent on passing off, he passed up easy shots of his own.

Finally, Tiger Coach Brian Newhall took Duong aside and passed on a word of advice: shoot.

“I had the mind-set that a point guard doesn’t shoot much,” Duong said. “I was afraid that if I did shoot, I’d be thought of as selfish.

“Now I’m getting more comfortable with what they want me to do.”

Duong, Occidental’s only Asian player in Newhall’s 10-year association with the school, is averaging nine points and five assists for the Tigers, who play host to La Verne in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game Saturday night.

“He’s going to be one of the best players we have ever had here,” Newhall said. “He’s good now as a freshman and he’s only going to get better.

“His work ethic is better than anyone I have ever coached.”

Duong, the second-youngest child in a family that includes five boys and a girl, came to the United States from Vietnam in 1980.

The family settled in Alhambra where Duong learned to play basketball in recreation programs.

Duong, however, didn’t make the freshman team at Alhambra. At 5-1, he was considered too small, so he began his high school career on a frosh-soph reserve team.

Eventually, he worked his way onto the regular freshman team’s roster. The following year, he played for the junior varsity.

A gym rat who lists basketball as his only hobby, Duong shot for hours before and after practice--a ritual he continues today.

In 1988, in his first season on the Alhambra varsity, Duong established himself as one of the premier players in the San Gabriel Valley. He averaged 19.1 points and 6.6 rebounds and was named to the All-Foothill League team.

Last season, as a senior, Duong averaged 26 points a game and made the All-Southern Section 5-AA team after leading the undersized Moors to the second round of the playoffs.

Despite his high school success, Duong thought his career might be over.

“I didn’t think I was good enough (to play college ball),” he said.

Duong’s 3.8 grade-point average in high school qualified him scholastically for almost any university. But at 5-8, he was not surprised when he attracted no interest from Division I or Division II programs. The only nibble he received was from UC Irvine, which was willing to let him try to make the team as a walk-on.

Though they do not offer athletic scholarships, Division III Whittier, La Verne and Occidental made pitches for Duong, offering the academic environment he sought as well as the opportunity to continue his basketball career.

Newhall saw in Duong a player with intelligence, savvy and an outside shot, who could step in immediately and replace All-SCIAC point guard Ethan Caldwell.

“I knew he would have to get experience in being in the middle of the break where he is making an entry pass rather than receiving the ball and shooting,” Newhall said.

“But he’s done it faster than I thought he would.”

Duong, one of three freshmen starting for the Tigers, has had two games of 10 or more assists.

“It’s an adjustment because as point guard I have a lot more responsibility to give out assists and get back on defense,” Duong said. “Last game (against Whittier) I forgot to do that twice.”

Newhall excuses Duong’s occasional lapses as rookie mistakes.

“We’re trying to get him to keep working on being more aggressive in terms of calling for the ball and running the show,” Newhall said.

“It’s a hard thing for him because he’s a freshman, he’s small and we want him barking instructions at everybody else in addition to shooting more.”

Newhall is hoping that Duong’s impact on the Occidental program will serve as an encouraging sign to Asian players in the melting pot that is Southern California and, specifically, the Glendale area.

“Hung’s been successful here on the court and in class and that will send a message to some other kids,” Newhall said. “At 5-8, it’s hard to find someplace that’s going to give you a scholarship.

“This is a chance for smaller guards to get an opportunity to play and continue going to school.”