BOSTON — Raynardo Curry went down and Jamaal Caterina turned his body around. He didn't want to see another man's dreams die, even if he couldn't block out Curry's cries of pain.

Not here, Caterina said to himself. Not today.

Basketballs stopped bouncing and voices hushed, which only made Curry's cries sound louder Saturday morning. Three hours earlier, 73 men had walked through the doors to the Clark Athletic Center on the University of Massachusetts-Boston campus to try out for the Maine Red Claws.

Now the number was smaller by one.

"He could have been any one of us," said Caterina, the former Deering High School star, shaking his head. "This was his day, his opportunity. He's got the game that can make the people who play with him look better.

"He was on my team. He was making me look real good."

Curry is from Memphis, Tenn., and played pro ball last season with a Tijuana team in a Mexican League, he said.

He wanted to move up to the NBA Development League and flew into Boston with a couple of other players and Scotty Mason, whose business is training basketball players.

"I'll be back," said Curry. Somewhere.

The day started with height and weight and wingspan measurements, followed by an hour or so of drills. About four or five hours were spent scrimmaging, with individual players trying to catch the attention of Red Claws coaches and management, including head coach Austin Ainge and president/general manager Jon Jennings.

If anxiety was high, Ainge did little to ease the tension. Saturday was a business day. He didn't offer words of encouragement or a pat on the back.

"They're men. They know what we're looking for," he said.

That's why Caterina doesn't know if he slept more than an hour the night before.

"I was anxious, nervous. I think I've got a more complete game than others, but am I going to be able to show all I can do?"

Robert Pilsbury, the former Portland High star, spent Friday night in a hotel not far from UMass-Boston. The boy wonder at 16 is now 30, a bit old for a D-League team. Still, he looked fresh hitting his 3-pointers and handing out assists. He still seems to glide rather than run.

"I got out of basketball for a few years to take care of family business, but this is an opportunity to play again. I couldn't pass it up."

He and Matt Clement play hard in men's leagues, but the intensity is not there. Especially the intensity found Saturday in the endless scrimmages.

Would one offer a hand to help the other up when he was knocked down?

"Only if the basket was good," said Pilsbury. "We're friends off the court. On the court, it's all about the game."

A few girlfriends and wives watched from the grandstand. A few basketball junkies strolled in. For the most part, the spectators paying attention were the tryout candidates awaiting their return to the courts.

Three players from the tryout sessions held in Charlotte, N.C., and in Boston will be invited to the Red Claws' training camp. Three – culled from more than 175.

"It's not hard to pick out the good players," said Ainge. Meaning there were a lot of long shots with dreams. An entry fee of $150 to $200 and some playing credentials were needed to register. It was an attempt to separate the serious players from the fantasy campers.

Who did Ainge identify as good players? The word will go out to them in about a month.

"You just continue to work and hope for the best," said Pilsbury, who understood the odds.

As the afternoon session wound down, Pilsbury drove to the basket, slicing between defenders. Suddenly, a big hand reached up and swatted the ball in the opposite direction.

As onlookers and other players oohed, Pilsbury crashed into the pushed-back bleachers. He remained in a heap for about 20 seconds.

Several hands reached down to help him up.

Staff Writer Steve Solloway can be contacted at 791-6412 or at:

ssolloway@pressherald.com