. ▁Show ing ▁flash es ▁of ▁br ill iance ▁throughout ▁the ▁season . ▁But ▁he ▁strugg led ▁with ▁consist ency , ▁as ▁he ▁wasn ' t ▁able ▁to ▁produce ▁the ▁same ▁eye - po pping ▁numbers ▁in ▁the ▁later ▁con ferences . ▁Reg ard less , ▁he ▁was ▁considered ▁a ▁rising ▁star , ▁d azz ling ▁the ▁crowd ▁with ▁his ▁d rib bling ▁skills ▁and ▁scoring ▁pro w ess . ▁ ▁Soph om ore ▁Year ▁At ▁the ▁start ▁of ▁the ▁season , ▁Rome o ▁deb uted ▁a ▁sl immer ▁and ▁lean er ▁phys ique . ▁Los ing ▁a ▁total ▁of ▁ 2 5 ▁pounds . ▁He ▁said ▁“ S ob r ang ▁nah i hi rap an ▁‘ y ung ▁tu hod ▁ko , ▁so br ang ▁nah i hi rap an ▁ak ong ▁g um al aw ,” ▁prompt ing ▁him ▁to ▁lose ▁the ▁unw anted ▁weight . ▁This ▁resulted ▁in ▁a ▁much ▁quick er ▁and ▁more ▁explos ive ▁version ▁of ▁himself . ▁ ▁With ▁a ▁more ▁phys ically ▁fit ▁Rome o , ▁Global port ▁was ▁expected ▁to ▁make ▁it ▁deeper ▁into ▁the ▁play offs ▁in ▁their ▁first ▁conference . ▁Even ▁more ▁so , ▁since ▁the ▁sp it fire ▁guard ▁was ▁sharing ▁the ▁court ▁with ▁tal ented ▁gu ards ; ▁veter an ▁leader ▁Alex ▁Cab ag not ▁and ▁top ▁ro ok ie ▁Stanley ▁Pr ing le ▁they ▁were ▁dub bed ▁as ▁" three - head ed ▁mon ster ". ▁Before ▁the ▁start ▁of ▁the ▁play offs , ▁however , ▁Cab ag not