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Staff Bracket: January 31, 2022

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Chad

CLICK HERE for Monday’s News, Notes, and Highlighted Games

It is once again Chad’s turn to post the weekly staff bracket. Below is his current Field of 68 through all games of Sunday, January 30. Following the bracket are his comments on the field as well as (incorrect) criticisms from David Griggs and other staff members. Feel free to tweet your own thoughts about the field to us @HoopsHD or to Chad directly at @csherwood_1973.

CHAD’S COMMENTS

– After some crazy results this weekend, putting together a field was a lot more difficult this week. The top two teams were easy, but the rest was a total mess. In the end, Kansas fell all the way down to the 3 line with the home loss to Kentucky while Baylor maintained a spot on the 1 line despite their loss at Alabama. Kentucky actually leaped all the way up to the 2 line with one of the most impressive road wins any team will have all season.

– I really wanted to find a way to put Houston on the 2 line, but they stayed on the 3. Their resume is not there, but this team just keeps finding ways to win games. I honestly believe a 1 seed is within their grasp if they do not lose another game.

– Alabama made a huge leap with their win over Baylor, jumping back into protected seed range as a 4 seed. Their collections of wins is flat out amazing, as they have now beaten three of last year’s Final Four teams!

– Connecticut is quietly sliding up my seed list as well. The Huskies have won five games in a row and may be one of the most under-noticed teams in the nation right now.

– Saint Mary’s is up to my 7 line after their amazing come-from-behind win over San Francisco. The Gaels have also very quietly put together a solid resume and (with what BYU did this past week) are looking like the second best team in the WCC.

– When it comes to road wins, the Puppet loves to say how “1 is infinitely better than none”. Well 2 is twice as good as one, and that is what the Indiana Hoosiers now have after winning at Maryland, which is enough for their home wins over Purdue and Ohio State to make them a solid tournament pick, landing on my 9 line.

– BYU is on my 11 line. Although the Cougars losses at Santa Clara and Pacific were awful, that is not the reason they fell so low. They should have been a 9 seed, but bracketing rules that require them not to be in a region that plays games on Sunday required a 2 line drop down to 11, as no valid spots existed for them on the 7, 8, 9 or 10 lines.

– West Virginia has lost 5 in a row and has fallen all the way to the First Four. The Mountaineers need to stop the bleeding immediately, and playing at Baylor Monday night is not exactly the way to do so. A very good team was destined to lose a lot of games in this year’s stacked Big 12, and WVU may end up being that team.

– Notre Dame is my newest entrant to the field, as the Irish have won 4 in a row and their win over Kentucky just keeps looking better and better.

– My top team out (according to this bracket) was Wake Forest, a team with a lot of wins but none of any real quality. They should probably be playing Notre Dame in the First Four (three ACC teams in the First Four would make an intra-conference game permissible), but I think my choice of opponent for Notre Dame is much more deserving.

– My top four teams out (after Wake Forest) were VCU, San Francisco, Wyoming and (yes) North Carolina. My next four were Cincinnati, Belmont, Florida and Michigan. I also considered South Carolina (welcome to the Under Consideration Board), Saint Louis, Dayton, Texas A&M, Ohio U, Minnesota and Mississippi State.

– North Texas was ranked below my First Four teams, but now looks like the best team in CUSA after UAB suffered another inexplicable loss this weekend. Jacksonville State, Hawai’i, Longwood and New Orleans are teams that are showing up in my field for the first time this week as well. Plus, a First Four game between in-state foes New Orleans and Southern U would be a ton of fun!

STAFF COMMENTS

-COMMENTS FROM JOHN:

– Again, the triumvirate of Auburn/Gonzaga/Baylor has separated itself from the rest of the nation (last night’s Baylor-Alabama result nonwithstanding). While I can live with Duke being the last #1 seed for now, they’re not going to really have a chance to add as many Tier 1 wins the rest of the way as teams like Kentucky, Purdue, Kansas and UCLA to stay on the 1-line, especially if they have a few more slip-ups in the ACC.

– Alabama is one of the tougher teams to seed right now. Their wins against Gonzaga, Baylor and Houston were against 75% of last year’s Final Four (thanks, Teitel for pointing this out) and few teams are going to match that. But their losses range from bubblish (Iona, Memphis, Mississippi State) to downright atrocious (Missouri and Georgia?). I almost have a feeling that Chad wants them up here just to fall victim to a 4/13 upset in Round 1.

– Xavier is an example of a team that went 1-1 as reasonably expected last week, yet took a completely bizarre route to get there. They missed an opportunity to beat another potential protected seed against Providence, yet probably could be better off getting a road win against a possible NCAA Tournament team as well. I do say “probable” because Creighton (and Seton Hall, for that matter) are going in the wrong direction.

– I applaud Chad for his Notre Dame pick, and the Irish could make him look even better should they be able to beat Duke at home later tonight. I would also be fine with Stanford and Loyola-Chicago changing places on the bracket – the Ramblers are suddenly trending the wrong way and not playing like a team that should be above the cut line right now.

– I really wanted to make a case for Toccoa Falls to be in this field, but I can’t argue with Chad’s pick of Carver Bible this week. This is the kind of conversation we’re having only because teams like Wake, Florida and Mississippi State are squandering golden opportunities to play their way into the field right now.

COMMENTS FROM DAVID GRIGGS:

-I hate to admit it, but Chad did a lot of things I agree with. I don’t entirely agree with the selection of Carver Bible College, but I at least understand the logic behind it. Teams need to schedule tough, and they did. It wouldn’t shock me at all if the committee awarded them with a spot in the field.

-I don’t think the committee would give Kentucky the #5 overall spot on the seedlist (in other words, the top #2 seed), but I also realize Chad isn’t trying to guess the committee, and this is another move that isn’t totally insane. If you evaluate Kentucky within the realm of how good you think they are and who they are capable of beating (which is not what the committee really does), you look at how they lost at Auburn, but played well and didn’t have a key player in the second half, and then how they blew Kansas out of their own building when they did have all their key players. That’s a team that can win the whole freakin’ thing. When the committee looks at teams, I don’t think they are that subjective, though. They are to a point, but only to a point. Kentucky’s paper isn’t quite there. But, their team is!

-I applaud the exclusion of North Carolina and Wake Forest. I don’t understand why anyone thinks they belong in. There are teams that aren’t all that good on the court, but have had some fluke wins and look good on paper. There are other teams that look like crap on paper given their schedule, or bad luck, or whatever, but still look good on the court. North Carolina and Wake both have crap paper, and they both look like crap on the court. I don’t understand why people can’t see that. Bravo Chad!

-Oklahoma is in tailspin. That’s really the only thing that pops out at me as being way off. If the Sooners were one game against each of the 12 teams on Chad’s 9, 10, and 11 lines, then I suppose they could get lucky and win one or two of them. But, of course, Chad has them on his 8 line! IDIOT!!

Posted in Bracketology, News and Notes | Comments Off

News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Monday, Jan 31

Posted on January 31, 2022 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Ohio State typically isn’t as good on the road as they are at home, but they gave Purdue all they wanted yesterday and the Boilers did not get control of the game until the final seconds, but held on for the 81-78 win. While this was nearly a huge win for Ohio State’s resume that would have pushed them up the seedlist, the loss is hardly a setback.

-Providence held off Marquette in a 65-63 thriller. Marquette had a chance to force overtime, but missed an open look right under the basket as time ran out. Both teams had been playing really well, and both can potentially be very dangerous in March. I’d go so far to say that they both look as good as anyone in the Big East right now, and yesterday’s result did not change my mind.

-It’s been a rough season for the Cincinnati Bearcats, and while they’ve looked good at times they’ve also struggled at others. The fans in that city were very excited yesterday though! CLICK HERE to see a video shot shortly after Cincinnati held on to beat East Carolina on the road!!

-Loyola Chicago continues to struggle, and while they’re at-large hopes are far from dead, they are also becoming far from a certainty. I know Drake is good, and I know it’s not easy to win there, but that’s kind of the point. Making the NCAA Tournament isn’t easy, and it requires that teams win games that aren’t easy to win. Loyola Chicago has fewer chances to do that given the make up of their conference, so whenever they lose it’s more of a setback. I don’t believe they are out of strikes yet, but they are getting there.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-DUKE AT NOTRE DAME (ACC). Notre Dame has now won 10 of their last 11 and is making a case that they belong in the field. If they were to pull this off at home tonight, it would be perhaps their biggest statement win of the year despite them being at home.

-IOWA AT PENN STATE (Big Ten). Iowa continues to hover around the area of being inside the bubble, but not solidly in the top half of the bracket. This is a winnable road game for them, and it’s one that they need to win if for no other reason than it’s the kind of game that they want to avoid losing.

-COLORADO STATE AT WYOMING (Mountain West) (Front Range). We at Hoops HD Love the Front Range!! And, we love this particular game. Wyoming is right on the bubble, and a win like this would likely be a big part in deciding whether or not they get in. Colorado State is coming off a rather surprising loss to UNLV that set them back a little bit, and winning a game like this on the road would look really good on their resume and probably rase them back up to where they were before. It’s hard to win at Wyoming, and the committee knows that.

-WEST VIRGINIA AT BAYLOR (Big 12). West Virginia has hit a major skid and unfortunately for them they aren’t likely to pull themselves out of it tonight. Baylor is coming off a road loss at Alabama, is looking to bounce back, and this is the kind of game that enables them to do that without too much trouble. WVU has lost five straight and that will likely stretch to six tonight.

-TCU AT OKLAHOMA (Big 12). TCU picked up a huge win over the weekend against LSU, which helps out their resume. If they can pick this one up on the road we will probably no longer be considering them a bubble team any more. It’s a pivotal game for Oklahoma as well, who we have inside the bubble, but this game has a pivotal feel for them as well. They’ve lost five of their last six, are heading in the wrong direction, and really need a win in a game like this.

-NEW MEXICO AT SAN DIEGO STATE (Mountain West). San Diego State is hovering around the inside part of our bubble, and will stay there so long as they can keep holding serve in games like this.

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | 1 Comment

Happy Anniversary!: HoopsHD interviews UCF legend Bo Clark

Posted on January 30, 2022 by Jon Teitel

We have already seen some spectacular scoring efforts this month as Liberty’s Darius McGhee scored 48 PTS in a win at FGCU on January 15th and UNLV’s Bryce Hamilton scored 45 PTS last Friday in a road upset at Colorado State. However, those 2 pale in comparison to Bo Clark, who remains the all-time leading scorer in UCF history with 2886 career PTS. He led all of D-2 in scoring with 31.6 PPG in 1979 and had a game for the ages as a sophomore when he scored a ridiculous 70 PTS in a game against Florida Memorial University. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Bo about playing for his father and winning almost 500 games as a coach himself. Today is the 45th anniversary of Bo’s 70-PT game on January 30, 1977, so we take this time to remember his fantastic feat.

You played for your father Torchy, who never had a losing season in 14 years at UCF: what was it like to play for him, and how much of an influence was he on your own decision to become a coach? He was definitely my mentor: we lost him about a decade ago. He had the most wins in UCF history until Coach Kirk Speraw passed him. I had offers from some other schools but wanted to play for my dad. I was fortunate that we were successful: when you are the coach’s son and take 25 shots/game you are going to get a lot of criticism if you lose!

In January of 1977 you scored a school-record 70 PTS (33-47 FG) against Florida Memorial, which led Coach AC Robinson to say, “The only way we could have stopped him was to grab both his arms and break them!”: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? I am not a guy who brags about himself, but I scored over 50 PTS a couple of other times so it was not like I came out of nowhere. It was a unique game where we played against a run-and-gun team from the NAIA. We maintained a big lead throughout the game: I had about 14 PTS in the 1st 10 minutes and 33 PTS at the half. I was playing with a lot of confidence in my dad’s system where we pushed the ball a lot. With about 8 minutes left the announcer told the crowd that I had scored 60 PTS. Some coaches would have taken their son out but my dad let me stay in there. I got a standing ovation with about 2 minutes left: even though there were only about 800-900 people in attendance it still felt great.

In the fall of 1977 you broke a bone in your foot during an exhibition game and did not get to play while your team advanced to the Final Four: did you consider the season a success (due to your team making it so far) or a failure (due to not getting to help them do so) or other? Everyone thought the season was doomed because I was supposed to be out for 8-10 weeks. We opened up by losing close games to a couple of D-1 teams (Rice/Lamar)…and after that the team went out and won 24 straight games. We were ranked as high as #2/#3 in the nation. I had to swallow a little humble pie because I did not suit up as part of that team. We played Cheyney State in the 1st game in the Final 4 (coached by John Chaney) and they beat us by 16 PTS: that was the only game that I thought I could have gotten us over the hump if I had played. After that we lost to Eastern Illinois in the consolation game. I believe that things happen for a reason and I guess I was just not meant to play that year. We did not have 1 specific player step up to replace my scoring: everyone chipped in on offense.

In the fall of 1978 you returned from injury by scoring 44 PTS in 40 minutes in the season opener vs. Flagler: how did it feel to finally get back on the court, and did you feel comfortable playing the full 40 minutes in your 1st game back? It felt great to be back on the court and playing basketball. When you are 21 years old you have no idea that you are going to be coaching your opponent only a few years after that! To be honest, even though I scored 44 PTS I felt a little rusty and thought that I did not play as well as I could have.

In 1979 you had a career-high 8 STL vs. Blackburn: was defense a key part of your game, and if so then how were you able to balance that with your incredible scoring ability? I think that my defense was actually the reason I never got into the NBA. In my dad’s system we ran a 2-3 zone defense the entire time (like Jim Boeheim at Syracuse). I played well in the Portsmouth Invitational and at a pre-draft camp in Cincinnati but most scouts did not think that I could guard NBA players.

In 1979 you led the nation in scoring with 31.6 PPG: did you feel like you were 1 of the best players in the country, and did it bring a lot of attention to the UCF program? I never thought that I was 1 of the best players in the nation: there was some guy who led D-1 in scoring that year named Larry Bird! I was almost like a poor man’s Pete Maravich: wherever we went people came out to watch the “Torchy and Bo Show”. I was not a “Hick from French Lick” but did not like getting all of the attention. My numbers actually went down during my senior year due to the scoring of Gerald Jones but it was the best all-around basketball that I ever played. I was a target that whole year: we faced a box-and-1 or a triangle-and-2 everywhere we went. I thought that I would have a chance to make an NBA roster or play in Europe. It brought the school a lot of publicity because we led the nation in scoring…but it also created a lot of pressure. If I scored 27 PTS the night before then some people would ask me, “What was wrong with you last night?”. I would respond, “Why don’t YOU go out there and try to score 27 PTS?”

You were a 3-time 1st-team All-American: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? Any time you can be named All-American it is exciting, both for you and your school, and it also made my dad proud. It is something that I can tell my kids about and they can see it listed in the media guide, which is kind of a neat thing.

You finished your career as the all-time leading scorer in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were? When you are going through it at the time you do not think about it, but when I look back on it now it seems amazing that I could score 31 PPG. It was definitely the right move for me to go to UCF and play for my dad. He was really hard on me, which showed my teammates that there was no favoritism. It was a fun 5 years for me (counting my redshirt year).

You broke many scoring records that belonged to your brother Mike (who scored 2085 career PTS): what kind of relationship do you 2 have, and how did it feel to have to pass him en route to getting the records for yourself? We are really close: I run some basketball camps in Orlando that he has been a part of. We have a good relationship so I think that he was really happy for me. I am proud of him too: he is in the UCF Hall of Fame as well.

After retiring as a player you became head coach at Flagler College, where you won almost 500 games: what impact did your playing career have on your coaching career? We went from NAIA to D-2, which was a big jump. It will take awhile to become 1 of the premier teams in the Peach Belt Conference. My playing career helped me as a coach, but what helped me the most was just picking my dad’s brain and watching his practices as both a player/son. 1 advantage of being a coach’s son is being able to get into the gym whenever you want! I tell my recruits that anytime you are at 1 school for almost 30 years you either love it or you are crazy. I coached all 3 of my sons (JP/Dave/Matt) at Flagler at different times: it was like déjà vu for a Clark to be coaching his son. When my dad is looking down from heaven I think he is smiling.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Bo Clark, ucf | Comments Off

Bracketology 2022: March Madness Predictions (Version 5.0)

Posted on January 30, 2022 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE For Today’s News, Notes, and Highlighted Games, which recaps all of yesterday’s action

We are only 6 weeks away from Selection Sunday as we continue to make our NCAA tourney predictions. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel correctly picked 67 of the 68 teams that made the 2021 tourney, 62 of which were within 1 spot of their actual seed, including 47 right on the money. He will spend the upcoming months predicting which 68 teams will hear their names called on March 13th. See below for his list of who would make the cut if they picked the field today and if you agree or disagree then feel free to tweet us. To see how we stack up with other websites (ranked 19th out of 135 entries over the past 5 years), check out: www.bracketmatrix.com

SEED: TEAM (CONFERENCE)
1: Auburn (SEC)
1: Gonzaga (WCC)
1: Baylor (Big 12)
1: Purdue (Big 10)

2: Kansas (Big 12)
2: UCLA (Pac-12)
2: Arizona (Pac-12)
2: Villanova (Big East)

3: Wisconsin (Big 10)
3: Duke (ACC)
3: Houston (AAC)
3: Kentucky (SEC)

4: Michigan State (Big 10)
4: LSU (SEC)
4: Texas Tech (Big 12)
4: Illinois (Big 10)

5: Tennessee (SEC)
5: Providence (Big East)
5: Xavier (Big East)
5: Ohio State (Big 10)

6: Alabama (SEC)
6: Connecticut (Big East)
6: Iowa State (Big 12)
6: USC (Pac-12)

7: Marquette (Big East)
7: Texas (Big 12)
7: Iowa (Big 10)
7: Indiana (Big 10)

8: BYU (WCC)
8: Colorado State (MWC)
8: Loyola-Chicago (MVC)
8: Seton Hall (Big East)

9: St. Mary’s (WCC)
9: Davidson (A-10)
9: Miami (ACC)
9: Boise State (MWC)

10: Wake Forest (ACC)
10: Oklahoma (Big 12)
10: West Virginia (Big 12)
10: Creighton (Big East)

11: TCU (Big 12)
11: San Francisco (WCC)
11: Murray State (OVC)
11: Arkansas (SEC)

12: San Diego State (MWC)
12: North Carolina (ACC)
12: Oregon (Pac-12)
12: Wyoming (MWC)
12: Iona (MAAC)
12: Chattanooga (SoCon)

13: North Texas (C-USA)
13: Toledo (MAC)
13: Vermont (America East)
13: South Dakota State (Summit)

14: Wagner (NEC)
14: Oakland (Horizon)
14: Jacksonville State (Atlantic Sun)
14: Weber State (Big Sky)

15: Seattle (WAC)
15: Princeton (Ivy)
15: Navy (Patriot)
15: Appalachian State (Sun Belt)

16: Longwood (Big South)
16: Hawaii (Big West)
16: Norfolk State (MEAC)
16: UNC-Wilmington (CAA)
16: Alcorn State (SWAC)
16: New Orleans (Southland)

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News, Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Jan 30

Posted on January 30, 2022 by David Griggs

NEWS AND NOTES:

-Last week Kentucky went on the road to Auburn and hung in tough with them despite being shorthanded for much of the game. This week Kentucky went into Kansas and absolutely blew the Jayhawks off of their own home floor. It took Kentucky a little while to get going so they probably won’t end up as a #1 seed, but based on how they have been playing they are good enough to make it to a Final Four. It’s harder to beat a Final Four caliber team on their home floor than it is to beat a Final Four caliber team in the Final Four, and Kentucky has shown that they can play with, and even beat, Final Four caliber teams on the road. Amazing.

-Baylor suffered their third loss of the year as Alabama picked up yet another extremely impressive win 87-78. Alabama doesn’t always play up to their ceiling, but when they do they are very tough to beat. They now have wins against Gonzaga, Houston, and Baylor, and although they were at home yesterday they’ll still get quite a bit of credit for the win.

-Louisville hung with Duke for about 32 minutes in their first game without Chris Mack, but the Blue Devils pulled away for the 74-65 win. Still, it was the best the Cardinals have looked in a long time and we may see a noticeable improvement in these last few weeks.

-Texas had what appeared to be a comfortable lead against Tennessee, but the Vols came storming back to tie the game and actually had a shot at the buzzer to win it, but the Longhorns escaped 52-51 and add another notable win to their resume. Texas’s resume has improved quite a bit in the last week or so.

-TCU is squarely on the bubble, and the 77-68 home win against LSU has done a ton to help them out.

-Xavier was down 36-19 at Creighton and looked like they were about to get blown out of the building. They came storming out of the locker room, pretty much tied the game before Creighton was even able to score, and ended up with a 74-64 road win, which is actually one of their better wins of the season.

-Illinois really had to sweat at Northwestern, which wasn’t a surprise, but escaped with a 57-54 win.

-Arkansas picked up a nice 77-68 home win against a West Virginia team that is now in a complete tailspin.

-Indiana looked impressive in their 68-55 win at Maryland yesterday, which was a much needed road win for the Hoosiers.

-After looking like they had turned their season around and that they were likely to make the NCAA Tournament as recently as a week ago, Florida State has dropped two straight games to teams that aren’t likely to be anywhere near The Tournament come March. They fell at home to Virginia Tech yesterday 85-72.

-UAB, who was squarely on our bubble, suffered a huge setback yesterday by losing at Marshall 84-81. The Blazers trailed by double digits for most of the game, and you get the sense had they played for another minute or two that they would have gotten the win. They actually came back and had a shot at the buzzer to force overtime, but came up short. It was only Marshall’s first conference win of the season, so this will really weigh down UAB’s resume and really hurt their chances for an at-large.

-Wake Forest, who doesn’t have all that good of a resume and who doesn’t look all that good on the court, did not look good on the court at all yesterday as they were blown out at Syracuse 94-72. I don’t see why so many seem to be so high on this Wake team.

-Texas A&M, who we thought was hovering around the bubble, probably isn’t anymore. They lost at home to South Carolina 74-63.

-BYU suffered what is probably their worst loss of the year as they failed to get by Pacific 76-73. Pacific was just 5-13 coming into the game, so this one is going to knock BYU down a peg or two.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES:

-OHIO STATE AT PURDUE (Big Ten). Purdue has been projected as a protected seed all season long and will likely end up there on Selection Sunday. Ohio State has a solid profile, but if they could somehow pull off this win it would be their most impressive win of the season to date.

-MARQUETTE AT PROVIDENCE (Big East). This one should be fun. Both teams have good resumes, both are good enough to end up as protected seeds, both have a lot of momentum coming into this game, and both seem to be improving as the season goes on.

-MINNESOTA AT WISCONSIN (Big Ten). Minnesota has been good at times, but they are currently way outside the bubble and will need some really big wins (like this one) to get back into the discussion. Wisky looks to be a solid protected seed and with a strong finish they could end up as high as the #2 line.

-SAINT PETER’S AT IONA (Metro Atlantic). Saint Peter’s is one of the better teams in the MAAC, but they’re nowhere close to being anywhere near the bubble like Iona is, and they are on the road. If Iona continues to blow through the MAAC they should make the field even if they don’t win the auto-bid.

-LOYOLA CHICAGO AT DRAKE (Missouri Valley). Drake has been somewhat of a disappointment this year, but they are still capable of playing really well, and considering that Loyola Chicago has had to sweat out a lot of their conference wins lately, an upset is not out of the question at all.

Posted in Daily Rundown, News and Notes | 1 Comment

Happy Anniversary!: HoopsHD interviews Ray Goss about Norm Nixon

Posted on January 29, 2022 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for a rundown of all of Saturday (Jan 29th’s) action

Some of us here at HoopsHD are big fans of games that last 4 overtimes, aka “quadruplers”. 1 of the few games in NBA history that featured 4 overtimes was a Lakers-Cavaliers game from a few decades ago that Cleveland won by a final score of 154-153. Some of the amazing stat lines from that contest include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (42 PTS/17 REB/7 AST/8 BLK), Magic Johnson (30 PTS/11 REB/8 AST), and Foots Walker (8 PTS/7 REB/18 AST/4 STL). However, the most amazing # of the night was put up by Norm Nixon, who tied an NBA record for most minutes played in a game with a scintillating 64! HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Ray Goss, Duquesne radio play-by-play man who covered all of Norm’s college games, about the 1977 Eastern 8 tourney final and Norm’s great defensive skills. Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the quadrupler on January 29, 1980 so we take this time to reflect on Norm’s life/legacy.

Norm grew up in Georgia: how did he end up at Duquesne? John Cinicola was an assistant coach who went down to Georgia to recruit Tree Rollins and another player. He happened to spot Nixon and when he came back he told the head coach about him.

In his final home game as a senior he scored 29 PTS in a 7-PT 2-OT win over an undefeated Detroit Mercy team that had several future NBA players: how were they able to pull off the upset, and how on earth was he able to make a 360-degree slam-dunk despite standing only 6’1”? Detroit was actually 21-1 at the time so we were heavy underdogs. Norm got a technical for hanging on the rim: Detroit coach Dick Vitale was so upset after the game that he had his team get on the bus without taking a shower! However, the upset that stands out to me was at #8 Providence in 1974 when Norm was just a freshman. The Friars had a future 2nd overall draft pick in Marvin Barnes. Nixon missed a layup at the end of regulation but they recovered to win it in OT. Nixon stole a pass at the very end and passed the ball to Bernie O’Keefe with 4 seconds left, who made the shot to win it 88-87. Norm could definitely leap: he had marvelous body control and hit a number of baseline fadeaway jumpers during his career.

In the final seconds of the 1977 Eastern 8 tourney final he winked at Coach Cinicola and then made 2 FTs to clinch a 3-PT win over Villanova en route to being named tourney MOP: how was he so confident, and what was the reaction like when the team got back to campus? Villanova had an outstanding player who had sprained his ankle the previous night in the semifinal: Coach Rollie Massimino had him play despite the fact that he was limping around on 1 leg. It was actually Don Maser who made a pair of FTs with 6 seconds left to seal the win. We had to beat Penn State/UMass just to make the final game. We partied that night and flew back the next day. Our travel secretary contacted someone at the airline and they served mimosas on the plane: Coach Cinicola was freaking out because some of his players were underage!

In 1979 as a player for the Lakers he tied Eddie Jordan for the NBA lead with 201 STL, and his 1187 career STL remains in the top-100 all-time: what was his secret for playing great defense? He had great quickness: he was the PG for the Lakers before Magic Johnson arrived. I remember 1 game he played at Cleveland when I went to the team hotel: the 1st guy I saw was Jerry West, who directed me to Norm, who hooked me up with tickets to the game. We had a 100th anniversary celebration a few years ago and tried to do a huge group photo. Norm stood up and demanded that I get in the photo even though I was not a player myself: he is such a nice guy. 1 year the legendary Beano Cook did color commentary for our broadcasts. I had a tryout for CBS doing NBA broadcasts and it happened to be a Lakers-Pacers game in Indianapolis. I ran into Norm at the airport and he introduced me to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Adrian Dantley/etc. Pat Riley was their TV analyst/travel secretary at the time and he helped me get onto the team’s plane after a weather delay. They gave me a contract for the following season but after the 1977 Blazers-76ers Finals series tanked in the ratings CBS decided to do only 1 game/week and they chose some other guy named…Brent Musburger!

On January 29, 1980 he scored 20 PTS and tied an NBA record for most minutes played in a game with 64 in a 1-PT 4-OT loss to Cleveland: how big of a factor was his conditioning on the court? There are certain players I have watched over the years who never seemed to breathe hard and he is certainly in that category. Bjorn Borg’s resting pulse rate was 35.

Take me though the magical 1980 Finals:
In Game 4 Julius Erving scored 23 PTS and made his famous up-and-under move in 3-PT win by 76ers: could you tell at the time that you were witnessing 1 of the most athletic moves ever executed on a court? Dr. J was the best. I did not see him at UMass but just watching him on TV was great.

In Game 6 Magic Johnson had to replace Abdul-Jabbar at center due to his severely sprained ankle and had 42 PTS/15 REB to beat the 76ers/win the title/become the only rookie to ever be named Finals MVP: what did it mean to him to win a title? I was not in touch with him at the time but I am sure that there was elation. He never jumped up and down: he always kept things on an even keel.

On November 30, 1982 he faked a FT at the end of a game against the Spurs that caused a double lane violation, but the referees incorrectly ruled it a jump ball instead of having him take another shot, and after the Lakers got the ball he made a 20-foot jumper to tie the game en route to the Lakers winning by 5 PTS in double-OT: why did he decide to fake the FT, and how did it feel to lose to the Spurs several months later after their protest was upheld and the teams had to replay the final 3 seconds? I was unaware of that but you see something new every day on the court.

The 76ers swept the Lakers to win the 1983 Finals: were they just a completely different team after acquiring Moses Malone in the offseason? I saw Moses in the Roundball Classic featuring the best high school players in the nation against the area all-stars. It was big news when Moses came in for that game.

After being traded to San Diego in 1983 he led the league with 914 AST, and his 8.3 APG remains among the all-time top-15: what was his secret for being a great PG? He could beat a guy 1-on-1 with his 1st step but he was not a shoot-first guard: he looked to pass all of the time.

After retiring he worked as a color analyst for Laker home games: how did he like the job, and what does he hope to do in the future? He became an agent for a few players and also got into some production stuff with his wife Debbie Allen.

When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? He is 1 of the best players in Duquesne history, if not the best. He made our school’s all-century team and was the 2nd Laker behind Jerry West to score 1000 PTS as a rookie. He was a 1st round pick but the Lakers had 3 picks in the 1st round that year so they took Kenny Carr/Brad Davis ahead of him.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged Duquesne, Norm Nixon, Ray Goss | Comments Off