Atlantic Ten Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 14, 2022 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Dayton
  2. Saint Louis
  3. VCU
  4. Loyola Chicago
  5. George Mason
  6. Davidson
  7. Richmond
  8. UMass
  9. Rhode Island
  10. Saint Bonaventure
  11. Fordham
  12. George Washington
  13. Saint Joseph’s
  14. La Salle
  15. Duquesne

 

PRESEASON ALL-ATLANTIC TEN 1ST TEAM:

-Foster Loyer – SR, G – Davidson
-DaRon Holmes II – SO, F – Dayton
-Josh Oduro – SR, F – George Mason
-Tyler Burton – SR, F – Richmond
-Yuri Collins – JR, G – Saint Louis
-Ace Baldwin Jr. – JR, G – VCU

PRESEASON ALL ATLANTIC TEN 2ND TEAM:

-Toumani Camara – JR, F – Dayton
-Malachi Smith – SO, G – Dayton
-James Bishop – SR, G – George Washington
-Noah Fernandes – SR, G – UMass
-Gibson Jimerson – SO, G – Saint Louis
-Javonte Perkins – SR, G/F – Saint Louis

PRESEASON ALL-ATLANTIC TEN 3RD TEAM:

-Darius Quisenberry – SR, G – Fordham
-Braden Norris – SR, G – Loyola Chicago
-Brayon Freeman – SO, G – Rhode Island
-Erik Reynolds – SO, G – Saint Joseph’s
-Francis Okoro – SR, F – Saint Louis
-Jayden Nunn – SO, G – VCU

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

Overall, I am a huge fan of the Atlantic Ten.  Always have been.  Outside of the Big East, it is hands-down the most successful conference that is totally basketball-centric.  It has great fanbases at programs like Dayton, Saint Louis, and Saint Bonaventure.  It has ties to the Big Five in La Salle and Saint Joseph’s.  Programs like VCU and Richmond also have good fan support and are unique and fun to watch.  I think this league deserves more national attention than what it typically gets.  So….we at Hoops HD are here to bring it to you!!

-Dayton should be more than just an A-10 frontrunner.  They should be a top-25-caliber program all season long, and good enough to go as far as the Sweet Sixteen or further.  In terms of basketball, perhaps no program got kicked in the stomach during COVID harder than Dayton.  They were ranked in the top-five, and appeared to be on pace for a #1 or #2 seed, and many thought they could potentially go to the Final Four.  For a fanbase that really is amongst the most passionate in the nation to be experiencing a much higher level of success than what they were used to, and then suddenly have it yanked away from them was just beyond cruel!  But, there is reason to be excited again.  Dayton brought in an outstanding recruiting class a year ago.  They were very young and, like a lot of talented teams that are young, wildly inconsistent.  They had a two-week-stretch early on where they lost three home buy games, and then won an exempt tournament in Orlando by knocking off Miami and Kansas (who won it all).  This year all of that talent is back, and they are experienced, and judging how well they were playing down the stretch last year they should be very dangerous this year.  Keep in mind that had you taken out the second week of the year last year where Dayton lost three home buy games, they probably go to the tournament.

-Saint Louis is another team that is good enough to be dancing this March.  Four starters are back from a team that won 22 games last year, and have some talented players who can shoot.  Their issue may be depth.  Once you get past the top-five or six of their rotation there just is not a whole lot of experience.

-VCU has just two starters back, but one of those is Ace Baldwin Jr. who was one of their most effective players a year ago.  If they are going to have any sort of consistent success some players will need to step up in their new roles.

-As good as Loyola Chicago was last year, I was actually expecting a little more out of them.  They did a lot.  They won 25 games, they won a game in the NCAA Tournament, and were a KenPom top-30 team, but I guess I was expecting them to be a protected-seed-caliber team, which was perhaps not realistic.  This is their first year in the Atlantic Ten and they are in a bit of a rebuild mode.  Just two starters are back and only five players total from last year’s team.  They do add a couple of good looking freshmen, as well as a couple of grad transfers, so they do have some potential.

-George Mason is getting some love at media day for a program that, quite frankly, has not looked that good for the past several years, and did not look good at all in the second half of conference play last year.  Josh Oduro is a fantastic player, but he cannot finish 5th on his own.  He will need some help.

-Davidson is a team that I always seem to overvalue.  They are coming off a year where they made the NCAA Tournament and lost to Michigan State by just 1 point in the Round of 64.  The problem is they have lost a lot from that team, but Foster Loyer is back and I think they have guys who can step into new roles.  It is kind of crazy to call a team that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago a “dark horse” but I am expecting them to finish a lot higher than 6th: maybe 3rd!

-Richmond is a team that I simply love watching, and because of that they are probably another team I overvalue.  All year long last year I felt that they should have been better than what they were, and we FINALLY saw that when they won four games in a row to win the Atlantic Ten Tournament and then upset Iowa in the NCAA Tournament.  They can be hard to defend and hard to play against and you NEVER want to count them out.  Having said that, only two starters are back (although one of them is Tyler Burton), and it may take the rest of the players a while to get used to their new roles.

-UMass hit an absolute home run when they hired Frank Martin as head coach.  ‘Angry Frank’ is beloved here at Hoops HD!  This is his first year and he definitely has his work cut out for him, but I absolutely believe that given time he will build them up.  We may see some improvement this year, but not so much that they are likely to be a conference contender or an NCAA Tournament-caliber team.  They have a good PG in Noah Fernandes, but they will need more than just him.

-The days of Rhode Island being a regular top-25 team and NCAA Tournament participant were not that long ago…but it sure feels like it was.  They won just 15 games last year, and it appears like they will struggle again this year.

-Saint Bonaventure, as a program, is a college basketball gem.  The fans are great, the venue is great, the Beer Hat Man is great, and even though they do not spend a whole lot of time in the national spotlight the fans stay with them.  Last year was a year where this should have been a top-25 team (or at least that is what I thought) so to see them not even make the NCAA Tournament was hugely disappointing.  Things could be even more bleak this year.  All five starters are gone.  11 players from last year are gone.  They are basically starting completely over.  While they did hit the transfer portal and bring in some guys that were key role players at other programs, it may be a long year.

-Fordham, for the longest time, has been head-scratching-awful.  For years I have been asking how they could be so bad??  It’s not that they are never good: it is that they ALWAYS STINK!!  Like, in most years you get the sense that they would not finish in the top half of the NEC if they were to play in that conference.  Well, last year, they won 16 games, which was a noticeable improvement.  Keith Urgo comes in as a first-year head coach, and with some key players back from a team that actually won as many games as it lost last year (including an outstanding player in Darius Quisenberry), there is reason to think that Fordham is FINALLY moving in the right direction!!

After that, it starts to get a little rough…

-George Washington had an unspectacular season last year, and even though three starters are back they still look to be a team that will struggle again this year.

-The Phil Martelli days at Saint Joseph’s now seem like they were eons ago.  They won just 11 total games last year, and while that was an improvement, the odds of them finishing anywhere close to the top half of the league this year seem to be long.

-Their Big Five rival La Salle does not look like they will be much better.  They also won just 11 games a year ago and it looks like they have a lot of work to do.

-Duquesne is another program that kind of perplexes me.  How is it that they always seem to stink??  I still think Keith Dambrot is a good coach, and in his first few years with the Dukes he appeared to be turning them around.  But they won just six total games last year, and do not appear to be heading anywhere other than the basement of the league this year.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews San Francisco G Khalil Shabazz

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Jon Teitel

We are still a few weeks away from the tip-off of the college basketball season, which means that we have plenty of time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with San Francisco G Khalil Shabazz, who talked about making the NCAA tourney last March and his expectations for this season.

You began your college career at Central Washington: why did you decide to transfer to San Francisco? I always thought that I was good enough to play D-1 so I took a chance and tried to move up.

You played in 34 games in your 1st year with the Dons: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? Just being myself: pesky on defense and trying to score. The coach seemed to like that!

In January of 2020 you scored a career-high 32 PTS/10-10 FG in a 1-PT win over BYU: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up actually went in because you were “in the zone”? Absolutely! We really needed that game to be in the right position during the conference tourney. I trusted myself and all of my shots went in that day.

You also led the conference with 56 STL that year: what is the key to playing great defense? You need to be a dog and have heart and never stop. You can take a break on offense but not on defense. You have to trust your instincts/reflexes, which is what my high school coach instilled in me.

As a junior you had your 2nd career block…which happened to be against 7’3″ Mattias Markusson: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I would not say it is that high but it was cool. I did not pin his shot against the backboard or anything: I just got a piece of it as he was going up.

Last year you led the team with 84.5 FT%: what is the secret to making FTs? Reps/practice. You need to shoot as many as you need to feel focused. On the road there are a lot of people screaming at you so you need to lock in. You should be able to make them with your eyes closed because you have shot them so many times. I plan on being at 90% this year.

You are 0-8 in your career vs. Gonzaga: as someone who is very familiar with them, where do you rank them among the best teams in the nation? I think they have made it to the Sweet 16 for 7 years in a row so you would have to include them among the best in the country. Last year they had Chet Holmgren blocking shots down low and some good guard play: I would say that team was maybe top-5 in Gonzaga history.

In the 2022 NCAA tourney you scored 3 PTS in a loss to Murray State: what did you learn from that game that you think will help you this year? Not to lose confidence. I knew how delicate that game was and how bad my team needed me. I need to stay consistent and not worry about the last shot but rather the next shot. You need to trust yourself.

Your brother Shadeed plays college basketball: who is the best athlete in the family? Me, for sure! My brother is dope: we have a bunch of records together in the state of Washington. He took his team in Alaska last year to the D-2 tourney and averaged about 30 PPG: he is a Seattle legend.

What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? Just to play to the best of my ability. I want to be a 50-40-90 shooter who is super-efficient. Obviously we want to get back to March Madness and win some games once we get there. Last year taught me a lot about the future so I will do whatever I can to help my team win.

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Patriot League Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 13, 2022 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Colgate
  2. Boston U
  3. Lehigh
  4. Navy
  5. Army
  6. Loyola MD
  7. American
  8. Bucknell
  9. Holy Cross
  10. Lafayette

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAM:

-Jalen Rucker – JR, G – Army
-Walter Whyte – SR, F – Boston U
-Tucker Richardson – SR, G – Colgate (Preseason Player of the Year)
-Gerrale Gates – SR, F – Holy Cross
-Evan Taylor – SR, G – Lehigh

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Colgate blew through this league last year with a 16-2 regular season record, blew out all three opponents they faced in the conference tournament, and took Wisconsin to the wall in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament.  It is no surprise that they are once again the near-unanimous favorites.  Matt Langel has done an incredible job as head coach since taking over and has made Colgate the flagship program in the PL.  Three starters are back including Tucker Richardson, who is the preseason player of the year in the conference.  They have other returners who appear to be ready step into bigger roles and they have some pretty good new additions as well.  I do not know if they are good enough to end up inside the bubble and not need the auto-bid, but they are certainly closer to that distinction than anyone else in the conference.

-Boston U is worth paying attention to.  They were playing really well in the latter part of the season last year, have three starters back, and some pretty good additions to go along with that.

-Lehigh won just 12 D1 games a year ago, but they did go on a bit of a spurt by winning four of their last five before losing in the semis of the conference tournament.  Three starters are back, including a really good all-around player in Evan Taylor.  They are picked to finish 3rd in the conference, and I guess that is due to the experience they have coming back and how they seemed to turn it on a little bit down the stretch last year.

-Navy won 21 games a year ago and finished 2nd in the conference, which was a really good season for the Midshipmen.  They are in a bit of a rebuild mode, though, with several key pieces gone from a year ago.

-Army was a modest 9-9 in league play last year, which landed them in the middle of the conference, and that is where they are expected to finish again this year.  They do have three starters back, including Jalen Rucker who averaged just over 17 PPG a year ago.  The thing about Army is that they were really poor down the stretch last season and won just two games after February 1st.  I do think they will be better, and I know they are more experienced, but it is hard for me to get all that excited about them based on how much they struggled in the second half of league play last year.

-Loyola also has four starters back, and should also be better this year given their experience.  But they also won just two games after February 1st last season, and given how poorly they played in the second half of league play it is hard for me to get all that excited.

-Guess what??  American has four starters back!!  But, they won just 9 D1 games last year, and while they weren’t quite as bad in the second half of league play, they were not exactly good either.

-I remember when Bucknell and Holy Cross were the class of this league.  It was a great rivalry, the crowds for the games were great, and they always meant a lot during the regular season homecourt advantage in the conference tournament was on the line, and in the conference tournament the NCAA Tournament was on the line.  Those days are long gone and both teams will struggle to earn byes into the quarterfinals this year.

-Lafayette has a new coach in Mike Jordan and he has his work cut out for him.  They are picked to finish last, but they do have three starters back and appear to have a fairly decent backcourt, so he at least has a few things to work with.

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The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews 1984 Olympic gold medalist Jeff Turner

Posted on October 13, 2022 by Jon Teitel

The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 15 gold medals in the 18 tournaments they have participated in during the past 84 years, while the women have won 8 gold medals in the 10 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 44 years. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel has been trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read while waiting for the next Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Jeff Turner about winning a gold medal in 1984 and beating Michael Jordan in the playoffs.

You played for Hall of Famer CM Newton at Vanderbilt: what made him such a good coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? He was very knowledgeable about the game and commanded with a lot of respect. He was not a yeller/screamer but we did not want to let him down. He was fair with everybody about not having a pecking order, which I really appreciated.

You played for team USA at the 1982 FIBA World Championship: where does your 1-PT loss to the Soviet Union in the gold medal game rank among the most devastating of your career? It is right up there. I played a lot of international basketball throughout college. I played on a select team that summer with Michael Jordan and others in Europe. Our team did not have a lot of notoriety at the time so we just fought through the expectations of American basketball: the country did not invest a lot in that particular tourney so we wanted to send everyone a message. We were right there against the Soviets and had a shot to win it at the buzzer but it did not go in.

Your PPG/RPG/FT% increased during each of your 4 years on campus: how were you able to keep getting better every single season? My friends call me a grinder! I loved the game and kept working at it so the coaches kept expecting more of me. I loved the work, which is how I was able to have so much longevity in the sport. I am proudest of my shooting: I led the SEC in FT% as a senior.

In 1984 you were named 1st-team All-SEC (along with Charles Barkley/Chuck Person), while Kenny Walker made the 2nd-team and Sam Bowie made the 3rd-team: how strong was SEC basketball back in the day? Kentucky was loaded with guys like Melvin Turpin/Bowie, Auburn was up-and-coming, and Georgia made the Final 4 the year after Dominique Wilkins went pro. We were pretty good during my junior year but then we were hit hard by graduation. We were a really young team during my senior year and we lost a lot of close games.

Take me through the magical 1984 Olympics with team USA:
You played 8 exhibition games against some of the best players in the NBA to prepare for the Olympics: how were you able to go 8-0 against a bunch of Hall of Famers such as Larry Bird/Robert Parish/Isiah Thomas? When you are a college kid playing against NBA guys the main advantage you have is getting to practice together as a team. In the NBA you can play yourself into shape during training camp but their team was just thrown together that summer. We were a very competitive crew led by the most competitive person who has ever played the game in Jordan so every time that we stepped onto the court it was all about winning.

You had a 31-PT win over Spain in the gold medal game: what did it mean to you to represent your country, and what did it mean to you to win a gold medal? I get asked that a lot. For me the Olympics were always something that I was interested in. I remember watching the 1972 gold medal game in my grandfather’s living room when the USSR got 3 chances to beat the USA. I always dreamed of the opportunity so just getting invited to the trials was an honor. Winning a gold medal was a once-in-a-lifetime thing and the fulfillment of a dream I had as a 10-year old boy.

You remain the last team of college players to win a gold medal: how did you feel about the USA deciding to use NBA players in 1992, and do you think we will ever return to it being a group of college players? I thought that we always should have sent our best players to the Olympics: how can you argue with all of the Hall of Famers on the Dream Team in 1992? I do not think it will ever go back to college kids, although some of the qualifying games now use G League guys. I want it to always be an honor to represent your country, which is something that Jerry Colangelo/Mike Krzyzewski did a great job of by giving young players a chance to play international ball and develop their skills.

That June you were drafted 17th overall by New Jersey (1 spot behind John Stockton): did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? It was pretty special. Things were different back then: AAU ball was not as big and there was no hype via social media. I did not start thinking about playing in the NBA until Coach Newton started talking to me about it during my junior season. Before the Olympic trials I played against the top seniors in the Aloha Classic but we really did not know who was interested in us. None of the Olympians were in New York for the draft: we were sitting in a green room in a TV studio in Bloomington, and when your name got called you sat in front of a camera and talked to the guys covering the draft.

You later spent 2 years playing in Italy: what was the biggest difference between basketball in the US vs. basketball overseas? I came along at a time when European basketball was very mechanical. I got to play against a young Yugoslavian player named Drazen Petrovic who had a little bit of flair to him. The biggest difference in foreign basketball as it is catching up to American basketball is the time they spend coaching fundamentals to everyone: how to handle the ball, pass, etc.

Take me through the 1995 playoffs with Orlando:
In the 1st round you beat Chicago in 6 games: how on earth did you become the last team to ever beat Jordan in the postseason? There is always an asterisk: that is the year that he came back late due to his stint in baseball. We had a special young team with 2 superstars in Shaquille O’Neal/Penny Hardaway and some brash guards plus a veteran in Horace Grant who had been through the wars with Jordan. It was a nice combination of youth/veterans. I would like to think that we could have won a title or 2 if we had been able to keep everyone together.

In the Finals you were swept by defending champion Houston: how much of an advantage is experience with a title at stake? I think there is something to it: we ran into a buzz-saw. We had not even won a playoff series in 1994 so while it was a magical run in 1995, the Rockets were grinding their way through the playoffs having already won a title in 1994. They already had Hakeem Olajuwon and then added Clyde Drexler: we did not have anyone besides Horace with playoff experience.

After retiring as a player you spent 9 years as the team’s radio announcer and are now the TV announcer: how do you like the gig, and how long do you plan to stick around for? I LOVE the gig! I have 1 of 30 jobs in the world where I get to comment on the best brand of basketball in the world. I loved doing radio and got to learn the business, and now working alongside a pro like David Steele has been a blessing. I will do it until they run me off! Everything has to end at some point but as long as I enjoy it and I can remain relevant to the game I will hang in there.

You later became Associate Athletic Director at Lake Highland Preparatory School and coached the basketball team to its 1st state championship in 2013: how does winning a state title as a coach compare to winning a gold medal as a player? When I took a little hiatus from the Magic to start coaching my goal was to build Lake Highland into a program that could compete at a high level. The journey of building that and the culmination of winning a title was different. As a player you are so wrapped up in yourself, but as a coach the joy is in the eyes/smiles of the 15 young men in your locker room. I can never replace winning a gold medal so that is 1-A…but holding up that trophy is probably 1-B.

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Summit League Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on October 12, 2022 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for All of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON COACHES’ POLL:

  1. Oral Roberts
  2. South Dakota State
  3. South Dakota
  4. North Dakota State
  5. Denver
  6. Kansas City
  7. Western Illinois
  8. Saint Thomas
  9. Omaha
  10. North Dakota

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE 1ST TEAM:

-Max Abmas – JR, G – Oral Roberts (Preseason Player of the Year)
-Luke Appel – SR, F – South Dakota State
-Frankie Fidler – SO, F – Omaha
-Trenton Massner – SR, G – Western Illinois
-Zeke Mayo – SO, G – South Dakota State
-Grant Nelson – JR, F – North Dakota State

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL-SUMMT LEAGUE 2ND TEAM:

-Mason Archambault – SR, G – South Dakota
-Issac McBride – JR, G – Oral Roberts
-Kruz Perrott-Hunt – JR, G – South Dakota
-AJ Plitzuweit – JR, G – South Dakota
-Tevin Smith – SO, G – Denver

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Oral Roberts is the clear Media Day favorite.  I guess that makes sense.  They have their top-six scorers from last year all coming back, including four starters, and they looked fairly decent down the stretch last year (well…except when they were playing North Dakota State or South Dakota State).  So, expectations are understandably high.  They do have an outstanding guard in Max Abmas, who is not just good by Summit League standards but by national standards.  This team can be fun to watch because they love to shoot it from the outside (at least they have in recent years) and will probably play the same way this year.

-South Dakota State blew through this league a year ago, won 30 total games, and there were many (including myself) that were expecting them to win a game in the NCAA Tournament.  They lost Baylor Scheierman, who transferred to Creighton, but they still have quite a few pieces left from last year, including three starters who are returning, and should have some players who can step in to bigger roles this year.  I do not think they will run the table in the league like they did a year ago, but it would not shock me to see them win it.  Again.

-THE YOTES!!!!  I have always been a fan of South Dakota, and I know it seems like I say this every year, but I once again think they could be a surprise team and it would not shock me to see them challenge for 1st place.  They were playing really well down the stretch last year and won six out of seven before South Dakota State ended their season in the Summit Semis.  Three starters are back.  AJ Plitzuweit, who was probably their best player two years ago, is also back after missing last season with an injury.  He will likely be one of the better guards in the conference.  This team has a lot of pieces, and while they are picked just 3rd in the preseason poll, they are my personal pick to finish 1st!

-North Dakota State is a team that we are used to seeing at or near the top of the standings, but with just one returning starter they appear to be in a bit of a rebuild this year.  They lost five of their top eight players to the transfer portal and will need new guys to step up this year.

-Denver has not been good for a while.  Last year, they finished 294th in the KenPom rankings, and it was their first top-300 finish in three seasons.  They have added some decent looking transfers, and with two other starters returning they could perhaps be better this year.  They were picked to finish 5th, and…well…I’ll just say that I am not expecting them to finish any higher than that.

-Kansas City welcomes Marvin Menzies as their new head coach.  He had a good run at New Mexico State, and although he struggled a bit at UNLV, he is certainly a good hire for the Roos.  He also has his work cut out for him.  Just one starter is back from a team that was fairly talented a year ago, but was also somewhat inconsistent (although they did play well down the stretch last year).  Just one starter, and only four total players, are back from a year ago, so it is safe to say we have more questions than answers right now about the Roos.

-Western Illinois has one of the best nicknames in all of college sports: the Leathernecks!!  They do not, however, have one of the best college basketball teams.  They won 16 games a year ago, which was a big improvement after failing to win more than 10 in the previous three seasons, but just one starter is back and they are also rebuilding.

-Saint Thomas had a very good year last year considering that they were transitioning up from D3.  Not D2, but D3.  The fact that they won any games at all is amazing.  They are still ineligible for the postseason but are not picked to finish last.  It may sound like a backhanded compliment, but remember that just 18 months ago they were playing against D3 teams with a D3 roster.

-Omaha won just five games a year ago.  North Dakota won just six.  Both are likely in for long years again this year as they fight it out with Saint Thomas to finish in the top-eight and make it to the conference tournament.

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Happy Birthday! HoopsHD interviews former Duke All-American Jack Marin

Posted on October 12, 2022 by Jon Teitel

Duke basketball hopes to keep things going strong this season after the retirement of Mike Krzyzewski, but its proud history started well before Coach K showed up in 1980. Jack Marin was part of the 1st Duke team to make the NCAA title game in 1964 (a loss to UCLA), then made it back to the Final 4 in 1966 (losing to Kentucky before beating Utah in the 3rd place game). After being drafted 5th overall by Baltimore that spring he spent more than a decade in the NBA and made back-to-back All-Star games in 1972/1973. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jack about his 2 trips to the Final 4 and making the 1971 NBA Finals. Today is Jack’s 78th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

In the 1964 NCAA title game as a player at Duke you had 16 PTS/10 REB in a loss to an undefeated UCLA team (Bruins’ reserve forward Kenny Washington had 26 PTS/12 REB): could you tell at the time that John Wooden was on the brink of the greatest coaching run in basketball history (10 titles in 12 years)? Hardly, although he had a very small team with a center not much bigger than I am (6’7″) and STILL won a national championship! They had great players and future NBA stars in Gail Goodrich/Walt Hazzard/Keith Erickson…but it was Kenny Washington who killed us.

In the 1966 ACC tourney semifinal Mike Lewis made 2 FTs in the final seconds of a 21-20 win over North Carolina: what was it like to face a 4-corners offense where you were just standing around and waiting for the Tar Heels to do something? I think that my dad said he was very close to having a heart attack in the stands! It was really an awful game. We were down 17-12 with about a quarter to go and it felt like a 20-PT deficit but we managed to pull it out thanks to Mike’s clutch free throws. It is unusual (to say the least) to be tied for the leading scorer on your team with only 4 points! Apparently they did not really want to play against us after we had swept them during the regular season.

In the 1966 Final 4 you scored 29 PTS in a 4-PT loss to a 27-1 Kentucky team: do you think that you would have won if your fellow 2nd-team All-American Bob Verga was not suffering from a flu that caused him to lose 5 pounds and score a season-low 4 PTS? I suppose I do but that is just speculation. The Wildcats were damn good with stars like Pat Riley/Louie Dampier. They had someone who was sick as well but Bob was always a big-game player who you could count on down the stretch.

In the spring of 1966 you were drafted 5th overall by Baltimore and ended up making the NBA All-Rookie team: what did it mean to you to get drafted, and how were you able to make such a smooth transition from college to the pros? There were only 10 teams in the league so I was picked in the middle of the 1st round! The Hawks were going to take me 4th overall but I told them that I would be going to Duke Medical School instead. I signed with the Bullets for what I thought would be 2 years: I wanted to put away enough money to go back to school. My rookie season was not a “smooth” transition in any way. We were 4-25 to start and ended an awful year with only 20 wins. I had 3 coaches during our first few months but the final one was Gene Shue, who was a wonderful man/coach who I still think of fondly today. The transition was really difficult. I thought that I had to be better than I was, which of course is the 1st hurdle: believing in yourself. Gene helped me understand that I should take small steps, come off the bench with the goal of giving the team a lift by scoring a couple of baskets, and go from there. I was always a bit of a slow starter but Gene’s words helped boost my confidence and made me a pretty effective player in the 2nd half of that season. It took me until my 3rd season to earn a starting berth at forward next to future Hall of Famer Gus Johnson, which is when I really got going.

In the 1971 NBA Finals you were swept by Milwaukee: how weird was it to have to travel after every single game (the last time ever in the Finals that teams alternated home games)? I just remember losing the 4th game in Baltimore. The worst part is that we had not done well against Milwaukee all year (not that many other teams had either). However, after beating the Knicks in the Garden on Saturday and leaving on Sunday we had to be in Milwaukee to tee it up on a Tuesday. We had essentially no rest after winning a pair of tough 7-game series. The Bucks on the other hand looked like they had just returned from a 10-day vacation in Acapulco! We had a couple of injuries on top of that and were fairly well spent so it was not the best of circumstances. Even if we were completely healthy we would have struggled to win 2 games against their really fine team led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Oscar Robertson/Bob Dandridge.

In the 1972 All-Star Game you scored 11 PTS in 15 minutes in a 2-PT loss by the East: what was it like to play with so many future Hall of Famers, and how crazy did the Forum get after MVP Jerry West made a 20-footer at the buzzer to win the game? I remember that game quite well. Back then it was a really serious game…because the winners got an extra $300! Today it is just an “exhibition”, which is the most charitable word I can come up with. If I was allowed to play the 4th quarter then I might have ended up with a big night, but as a reserve I just sat on the bench. West hit a historic shot: a signature clutch jumper from the top of the key. It was pretty cool: www.youtube.com/watch?v=28zwDdKG6H4

In 1972 you led the NBA with 89.4 FT%: what was your secret for making FTs? Practice and more practice. I was a good shooter who was taught to shoot free throws underhanded in high school but switched to shooting them one-handed as a sophomore at Duke. Underhanded shooting was just an unnecessary extra skill that I would have to practice. There are a couple of important techniques to adopt and then you just have to practice them. It is a steep progression just to go from 83.3% (missing 1 in 6) to 90% (missing 1 in 10): I always thought that was interesting.

In the decisive Game 6 of the 1974 Eastern Conference Semifinals as a player for Buffalo, Jo Jo White made a pair of free throws with no time left in a 2-PT win by Boston: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It was very difficult because it was such a hard-fought battle. After I came to the Braves I thought that we would be contenders but the Celtics had an edge on us because…well, they were the Celtics after all! We probably did not get the best of the officiating in that series. Just like in baseball: the best hitters get a smaller strike zone and the best pitchers get a bigger one. Had we won that series it would have been a wonderful Cinderella story.

After retiring you returned to Duke to attend law school: when did you first think about going that route, and what was it like to be back at your alma mater? I was more mature and one of the older guys in my law class so I enjoyed being back in that environment. Back in 1966 I thought that I would postpone medical school until I saved a little money in the NBA, but after 11 years I thought that it was a bit late for me to become a doctor. Business school was not quite the plum that it is today and I was encouraged to believe that a law degree would offer me a number of options. It seemed like a logical step for me…as a chemistry major!

You spent 30 years as a lawyer during which you represented the National Basketball Retired Players Association: what were you able to accomplish as its counsel? That is better asked of other people, but I feel that I helped them work through some difficult situations and helped design certain structures/mechanisms so they could get organized. I am proudest of my work on the NBA Player Pension Plan because it is a safety net for all players. Even with their extraordinary earnings today a defined benefit plan can mean a lot. Even if you made $10 million/year during your 20s you never know what the future holds. I worked closely with the Players Association counsel Ron Klempner and the league’s benefits coordinator: I think that we have a marvelous plan. During some more contentious times I remember Pat Garrity helping with some fine analysis/advocacy. We had to educate the then-active players about what it could mean to them. In an environment like professional sports, a defined benefit plan like ours has certain features that make it unbeatable as part of a player’s financial planning so I hope it will be maintained in perpetuity. Fortunately, along with the Players Association, the leadership of the NBA sees it as a necessary benefit as well.

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