The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews 3 former teammates about 1960 Olympic gold medalist Bob Boozer

Posted on September 10, 2020 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. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with former teammates Don Matuszak/Jerry Johnson/Steve Douglas about Bob Boozer winning a gold medal in 1960 and an NBA title in 1971. Today marks the 60th anniversary of Bob scoring 6 PTS vs. Brazil in the gold medal game.

(photo credit: usab.com)

Bob was born/raised in Omaha: how angry was he when his dream school (Indiana) sent him a letter that they had met their “quota of Black players”, and what made him choose Kansas State? Steve Douglas: The other programs that were recruiting him were not as appealing as Kansas State was but I think his decision was mainly made because of Coach Tex Winter. Jerry Johnson: That may be a true story but I never heard about it. He was a good player during high school but was only 6’5” as a freshman before growing 4 more inches during his college career. He came to Kansas State because he liked our team (including 2-time All-American Jack Parr) that was #2 in the country in 1951 before losing to Kentucky. He also liked our coaching staff led by Tex Winter: Tex came here as an assistant before the head man left and he got Howie Shannon to be his assistant. They did not realize how tall Bob would become: his mom was around 6’2” but his dad was much shorter. Some of the Osage Indians in that area were very tall people even back in the 1800s. Don Matuszak: He wanted to go somewhere else but I do not know if it was Indiana. Kansas State was his last resort despite the fact that he was a highly-touted high school player. Tex described him as a young colt and thought that he could develop him into a bigger/stronger player.

He was nicknamed “The Bullet”: who gave him the nickname, and how did he like it? SD: I think that was a high school nickname. If it was used then it was not used widely because none of us ever called him that during college. JJ: I do not know that either. We just called him “Booz”. In the Fieldhouse if we needed some crucial PTS the whole crowd would start cheering “Booz”! DM: We all called him “Booz”. He was voted the favorite man on campus by the student body.

Tex eventually became a Hall of Famer: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that Bob ever learned from him? SD: Tex was intense and developed a scheme that became pretty famous in basketball circles: the sideline triangle or triple-post offense that gave a prominent role to post men. He was thorough: 1 thing that was different back then is that freshmen were not eligible and Tex took full advantage of that by having us work all year long on fundamentals. It fit his style of coaching very well. The triangle suited Bob very well because the man in the post had to move across the lane: Bob could score equally well while facing the basket or with his back to it. It might not be the most important thing but for me he taught me to stay low on defense. Tex wrote a book describing the set formation where everyone had a role and the ball dictated where you would move next. Tex dedicated a segment of practice just to post men: they worked especially hard. Bill Guthridge was on the team and he took that concept with him when he later worked for Dean Smith at North Carolina. The assistant coach would have to push the player around while playing hard defense. JJ: The key to his success was his discipline. He was an extremely bright man who picked up everything he could when he got out of the Navy after serving as a fighter pilot. “Fred” was his actual 1st name but he grew up in Texas so people called him “Tex”. He had great attention to detail and required us to follow his instructions. He was good enough to be an Olympic pole vaulter. 1 of his sayings was, “I do not want cocky players but I sure want confident ones”. DM: Tex’s triple-post offense got him a lot of notoriety. Bob worked on his jump shot after practice with 1 of the assistant coaches but he dominated due to his maturity. He started all 3 years and still holds many of the school scoring records despite not playing as a freshman, not being able to dunk, and not having a 3-PT line.

In 1958 he scored 32 PTS in a 2-PT 2-OT win over Kansas: how was he able to outscore Wilt Chamberlain (who had 25 PTS)? SD: We had another player named Larry Fisher who came off the bench. During practice that week Tex had Larry hold up a broom while playing defense: it ended up working out well for everybody. Bob learned how to deal with the gangly Wilt and Larry made a high-arcing shot over Wilt in the game that he had practiced. We were hard to beat at home and played well that night, but I had a severe ankle injury that December and hardly played the rest of the year. JJ: In large part it was due to Parr being a great rebounder/shot-blocker. He blocked a shot against Wilt that made a huge difference in the game. For someone of Bob’s size he had great quickness/athletic ability. He could make hook shots with either hand and run the fast break, which allowed him to succeed against a lot of opponents. He later became Oscar Robertson’s best friend: that is the kind of person he was. DM: We had a special defense that night with Jack Parr on 1 side of Wilt and Bob on the other side of him. It kept KU’s guards from getting the ball into Wilt. When we practiced it we had a guy hold a broom up to depict Wilt’s height: it was kind of creative and seemed to work. We were running KU off the court in the 1st half and opened up a big lead. Tex slowed it down in the 2nd half and let them back into the game.

As a senior he set a school record by scoring 25.6 PPG and helped lead the team to a #1 ranking in the nation at the end of the season (25-2 including 21 wins in a row): what made him such a great scorer? SD: He had a good eye for shooting and I cannot ever remember him fouling out. He was durable and frequently played the whole game. We looked for him because he could shoot even though he was not a great jumper. As a sophomore he was more of a forward because Jack Parr was our post man, which turned out to be a turbulent situation. Later on we learned that Jack was in the middle of having a mental breakdown: he and Bob were a terrific 1-2 punch but he later became erratic and missed some practices. Bob kept perfectly composed and never reacted. We made the Final 4 but lost to Seattle with Elgin Baylor. Jack locked himself in his hotel room and refused to play, which was the culmination of his breakdown. He eventually arrived/played but none of us played well and we lost handily, then we lost the consolation game to Temple. I remember Bob being very level-headed and good-natured, which went beyond any game. It was a unique position for a 20-year old guy to be in. JJ: His size advantage over so many people who tried to guard him. Tex made him the player he became due to his drills/theology. For Tex it was almost more important to know how/why to do something rather than actually doing it. We had a set play for Bob when we needed 2 PTS: he would pass to the guard, cut under the basket, then come around for a 15-foot jumper that he would make 70% of the time. The timing on the passes was like a ballet if it was working the way that Tex wanted…and if not then you could go sit on the bench! We were losing to Iowa State 1 night by 5-6 PTS: he benched the starters and I helped lead us to a nice comeback before halftime. Bob only got taken out when he needed a rest. DM: He could fill the lane on fast breaks, make jumpers/hook shots, and tip in our misses. His versatility was great: he had all of the moves.

He was a 2-time Big 8 POY/2-time All-American in 1958/1959 but after getting drafted 1st overall by Cincinnati in 1959 he decided to join the AAU Peoria Caterpillars (where he won a national AAU title and was named tourney MVP) so that he could chase his dream of playing for the US Olympic team the following year: what was the public reaction to his decision, and how pissed were the Royals? SD: I think that folks in Manhattan, KS, were pleased that he was giving up the start of his NBA career to try to make the Olympic team and everyone was proud that he did so well. JJ: I think Cincy was quite unhappy but he made it clear that his goal was making the Olympic team. Since Oscar was also graduating in 1960 they would have a chance to play together: they were competitive on the court but talked about playing together off the court. We were not surprised but the NBA was. I have mixed emotions about it: Parr went to the pros and did not like it, so after Bob talked to Parr I think he realized that AAU was his best opportunity. DM: I think Cincy was very receptive to that. Everyone understood that if you had the opportunity to play in the Olympics it was more important than being drafted by the NBA. I think the max rookie salary was $10,000 and his highest salary was about $100,000: nowadays you see some mediocre players making $10 million/year!

He won a gold medal with team USA at the 1960 Olympics: what did it mean to him to win a gold medal, and how did he feel 50 years later when that team (featuring 10 future NBA players) was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame? SD: I did not have much interaction with him after we graduated but he took everything in stride. He was confident that he did his best and must have been content with his career. He was never a hot dog who boasted: he just did his job. JJ: He was an All-Pro for multiple years but winning a gold medal and making the Hall of Fame were his crowning achievements. DM: He was thrilled to death. He was surrounded by a bunch of other college All-Americans and was proud of that achievement.

In Game 7 of the 1966 NBA Finals as a player for the Lakers he had 2 REB in a 2-PT loss at Boston (Bill Russell had 25 PTS/32 REB): where does that loss to the 7-time-defending champs rank among the most devastating of his career? SD: It is hard for me to believe that any loss at that level was more devastating than his final game at Kansas State. We had a 10-PT loss to Cincinnati in the Elite 8: Oscar Robertson did not have a great game but the rest of his team did. Bob just had a terrible game: he might have been sick because there was a flu going around. He shot 11-26 from the floor and I cannot even believe that he made 11. He was missing easy shots all over the place: he never had a game like that before. JJ: I know that he was disappointed of course. Bob was very intelligent and knew that it was about being in the right place at the right time.

In Game 4 of the 1971 NBA Finals with Milwaukee he scored 5 PTS in a win over Baltimore to clinch a sweep: what did it mean to him to win a title, and why did he decide to go out on top instead of returning to try to win 2 in a row? SD: He was smart and knew what lay ahead. He knew that he would need a career after basketball because coaching was not his calling: he was a reticent guy. JJ: I think that his body was telling him to walk away. He did not want to relegate himself to being a 2nd-class player: he did it the right way. DM: He was thrilled to win a title but after a decade in the NBA he was happy to go out on top. His off-court position gained more responsibility so he wanted to focus more time on that.

After retiring he worked for Northwestern Bell for almost 3 decades, bought some radio stations in partnership with his high school teammate Bob Gibson, and spent 15 years on the Nebraska State Parole Board: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? SD: The 1st thing I thought of was that he was not very demonstrative/aggressive. We had 1 game against Iowa State where I ended up in the post by accident while Bob had the ball in the corner. He made a great pass to me and I made a hook shot: he came over to congratulate me and it was the happiest that I have ever seen him! He was a gentlemen: everyone knew that he was steady. He was very cheerful and I attribute at least some of that to his roommate Don. JJ: He was a success at every level of everything that he ever participated in. How many African-American guys who were once told they could not eat in a restaurant in Oklahoma would go on to become a lobbyist for Northwestern Bell?! He graduated with an art degree and made some wonderful pencil sketches: he had an eye that allowed him to see straight, which helped him both in basketball and in his business career. He was extremely proud of working on the Parole Board and was a highly significant member. I just remember him as “Booz”. He was tough but an absolute gentleman in everything that he did. DM: He was the best player in the history of K-State: there is nobody better. I do not think they will ever get another guy like Boozer: the current team has mostly perimeter players. We had some other good players but there is nobody better than Boozer. Michael Beasley broke his scoring record but was a bust in the NBA. Bob’s morals were extremely high and he was such a moral person. He was my roommate for 3 years and a lifelong friend.

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Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Fairfield JR F Lou Lopez-Senechal

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Jon Teitel

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

We hope you are ready for a season unlike any other: testing, distancing, and bubbles, oh my! Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen, when it is going to happen, or whether anything actually will happen…but in the meantime we will try to restore some order with season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. We commence our coverage with Fairfield JR F Lou Lopez-Senechal. She grew up in France, prepped in Ireland, was named MAAC ROY in 2019, and was the only sophomore named to the All-MAAC 1st-team in 2020. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Lou about making a buzzer-beater last fall and her expectations for this year.

You were born in Mexico/raised in France: how did you 1st get into basketball, and how big a deal is the sport in France? My dad is Mexican and my mom is French. I moved to France when I was 5 and started playing basketball around age 8: it became 1 of my big passions. Basketball is a pretty big deal in France.

Are you friends with any of the men’s D-1 players who came here from France (Yves Pons at Tennessee/Olivier Sarr at Kentucky/other)? I played for a small club in France so I do not really know any of the players who came to the US from bigger club teams: I just know them by name.

As a teenager you played for the North Atlantic Basketball Academy: how did you like Ireland? At age 19 I moved there for 1 year of prep before trying to get a scholarship to a school in the US. It was a last-minute choice but it was 1 of my best years so far. The people were awesome and the academy was really good and helped me improve. I also learned English, which is a huge advantage now.

What made you choose Fairfield? I visited 5 different schools and Fairfield was the best 1. The environment was great and my parents liked it as well: it was easier for them to fly here and visit me without having to make a lot of flight connections. The coaches were very welcoming and made me feel really comfortable.

In 2019 you led the team with 11.8 PPG and were named MAAC ROY: how were you able to win the award despite missing the 1st 9 games of the season? It was a great accomplishment for me and not something I was expecting after missing so many games. There was a bit of a language barrier and I had some hard times but my teammates/coaches helped me through them. The difference between my 1st and 2nd games was huge and led me to becoming ROY. It was awesome to receive that award.

Last November you scored 13 PTS including a jump shot with 0.4 seconds left in a 2-PT win at LIU: did you think the shot was going in, and where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It was actually the 1st buzzer-beater of my entire career! It was 1 of the best feelings: it was not a pretty game but I just made 1 of the moves that I had practiced. I was pretty confident that my shot would go in and it was a big relief when it did.

Last spring you were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? I know it can be hard for international students, especially at a school with high standards like Fairfield, but having a good base of English and understanding what I had to do made it easier. It takes time management/organization to balance school/practice/sleeping/eating so I made a schedule and did everything at the right time. It becomes a rhythm in your life and it is easy to balance everything once you create a routine.

You ranked top-3 in the conference in FT% during each of your 1st 2 years: what is the secret to making FTs? I knew I had a good percentage but did not know that stat! I always finish practices by making 10 FTs in a row. They are really important because they can help win a game and nobody is defending you. It is just a routine and I practice them every day.

In the 2020 MAAC tourney quarterfinals you had 19 PTS/10 REB in a win over Siena but had your postseason cut short after your semifinal game against Marist was canceled due to the coronavirus: what was your reaction when you 1st heard the news, and do you think that it was the right decision? It was really really hard. I knew that COVID was impacting the entire country but I did not think it would happen like that right after our game. It affected all of my teammates: I was coming back from an interview and felt really bad for our seniors. Everyone was tearing up/crying and all of the other teams/families were really down because they were losing their dreams. It was tough for a few weeks but COVID is having a really big impact and we need to understand the risk. I understand the choice that was made to stop all competition: we just have to deal with it and think about the future.

Last year you were the only sophomore named to the All-MAAC 1st-team: what are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? I just hope that we have a season! I am trying to stay positive and have been waiting for 6 months to come back to campus and see my teammates. The team/coaches have been waiting for this and if we have a season then I think we will be really good. Personally I want to become better and improve my game: my teammates make me more confident so becoming conference POY would be awesome. Having fun is the most important thing…as is winning a championship.

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The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews Jon Teicher and Bill Knight about 1972 Olympic silver medalist Don Haskins

Posted on September 9, 2020 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. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Jon Teicher, UTEP radio play-by-play man, and Bill Knight, former reporter for the El Paso Times, about Don Haskins winning 1 of the most famous college basketball games ever in 1966 and losing the most controversial Olympic basketball game ever in 1972. Today marks the 48th anniversary of team USA’s infamous loss to the USSR.

(photo credit: usab.com)

Haskins was nicknamed “The Bear”: who gave him the nickname, and how did he like it? Jon Teicher: I think that he was okay with it. It came from SID Eddie Mullins, who was big into nicknames, and based on Haskins’ demeanor he came up with “The Bear”. Bill Knight: It was given to him by former SID Eddie Mullins. He did not use it or go by it but privately I think that he liked it. He resembled an old bear on the sideline.

He made the Final 4 in 1949 and 1951 as a player for Hall of Fame coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M: what made Iba such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that Haskins ever learned from him? JT: He was steeped on the fundamentals. Bob Knight also thought that Iba was a great coach. He learned the discipline required by the game to experience success. Even to his last days Don referred to him as “Mr. Iba”. BK: Coach Iba was just relentless and controlled every detail: he did not even want his players holding a girl’s hand on campus! During Christmas time they would have 3 long practices each day but Don still had the utmost respect for him.

He was hired as head coach at Texas Western in 1961 and had only 5 losing seasons until retiring in 1999: how was he able to remain so successful for almost 4 decades at a small school in the middle of nowhere? JT: It was a different time back then. He incorporated African-American players into his lineup long before it became the accepted norm in college basketball. He was a stickler for fundamentals/discipline, which helped him be so phenomenally successful. He was a terrific recruiter at 1st and later hired tremendous assistants such as Tim Floyd/Rus Bradburd. BK: He was just able to take average players and get them all working together on the same page. He had a great run during the 1960s of course but also in the 1980s when they won several conference titles. In the beginning he was an outstanding recruiter, although he never enjoyed it. He recruited the 1966 championship team solely by himself, and also recruited future #1 overall pick Jim Barnes after sticking with him forever during his JC career. Coach put down the scholarship papers and said that he would leave Jim alone after they had a FT contest…and Don could make his FTs! He knew the game so well and communicated it well to get players to play hard for him, which is the most important thing that a coach can do.

In the 1964 NCAA tourney All-American Jim Barnes fouled out after playing only 8 minutes in a 4-PT loss to Kansas State: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of his career? JT: I was not around at that time but Haskins often said he thought that it was the best team he ever had, even including the 1966 championship team. Barnes was probably the best individual player he ever had. BK: It really was. He told me a couple of times that it was not until 1966 that he realized his 1964 team was capable of going all the way. Their only 3 losses that season were each games that Barnes fouled out of.

Take me through the magical 1966 NCAA tourney:
The Miners started the season 23-0 before a 2-PT loss in their regular season finale at Seattle: how close did the come to going undefeated, and what was the team’s mood entering the postseason? JT: He always said that if you had a chance to win on the road then he would take it, but if you watch “Glory Road” it was portrayed as a tremendous disappointment. BK: They had beaten Seattle earlier that season and took them lightly during the rematch. Coach Haskins was furious with the loss but he had a group of confident young men that had destroyed a very good Iowa team earlier that year.

In the Elite 8 he had a 1-PT 2-OT win over Kansas: how much of a home-court advantage did they have in Lubbock, and do you think that referee Rudy Marich was correct when he ruled that Jo Jo stepped out of bounds before making a 28-footer at the end of the 1st OT that would have won the game? JT: Everything I have heard is that Jo Jo’s heel was on the sideline when he took the shot and Haskins said there was no controversy about it at all. As big as Texas is I think that Lubbock might have been as close to Lawrence as to El Paso. BK: I do not think they had much of a home-court advantage because the state is stretched out and Lubbock is a LONG way from El Paso. A few years ago I saw a series of photos showing that Jo Jo stepped on the line: Don said that was their toughest game all year.

In the title game against Kentucky’s 5 White starters he started 5 African-American players and had a 7-PT win to clinch the title: what did it mean to him to win a title, and what impact did that game have on ending racial segregation in college basketball? JT: I do not think that Don or his players truly realized the social impact until later on. He was thrilled to win a title but took so much flack for so many years after starting the 5 players that he almost wished he did not have to go through that, although I am sure that was mostly tongue in cheek. He took a lot of criticism for that despite being right in the middle of the civil rights movement. BK: I have talked to a lot of people about it over the years, including Pat Riley who played on that Kentucky team. The walls started tumbling down and even Kentucky began to bring in African-American players. Coach was so driven/competitive that he had a headache on the plane ride home because he was already worrying about next year! They became the 1st college team to go into the Naismith Hall of Fame: Bobby Joe Hill had passed away but most of the rest of them were still around. Riley said that it was a painful loss but many of his future African-American players mentioned how important that game was to them. Coach Haskins would always get stopped by strangers in airports by people who said the same thing.

He served as an assistant to his college coach for team USA in 1972: who do you blame the most for the controversial loss (Bill Walton for not playing, Iba for using a slow tempo, the Secretary General, the timekeeper, the refs, other), and why is no medal better than a silver medal? JT: My opinion is that any medal is great but I know that Don felt his team was robbed. You can find a lot of people who were responsible but they felt the outcome was not justified so they did not accept the medals. BK: You have to blame the timekeeper and the politics of it all. It was the best team that we could put together but Walton not playing hurt them. They still technically won the game even if the officials said they did not. Jim Forbes played on that team and said they are unanimous in not wanting that silver medal. Some players even have it in their will that they will never accept it so if that is how they feel then I respect their wishes.

In the 1987 NCAA tourney Mike Richmond had 18 PTS/11 REB in a 7-PT OT win over Arizona in Tucson: how on earth were they able to beat the Wildcats despite having 4 players foul out? JT: I was part of the program by that point and remember that game very well. It was the last season that a team could host an NCAA tourney game so it was impressive to win it in Tucson. The Miners won 5 straight WAC titles and made the NCAA tourney 7 straight years, which was quite an accomplishment. A lot of those players were recruited by Floyd. BK: That was just an amazing performance with everything stacked against them. Coach Haskins had a knack for coming up with a game plan against anybody. It was a pretty deep team but very few coaches could survive 4 guys fouling out.

In the 1992 WAC tourney title game Kevin Nixon made a 54-footer at the buzzer in a 2-PT win by BYU: where does that rank among the most amazing shots that you have ever seen? JT: It was just beyond half-court: he threw it toward the bucket and it happened to go in. Even though it was disappointing to lose that game UTEP still made the NCAA tourney and upset Kansas and made it back to the Sweet 16 for the 1st time in almost 30 years. I believe that team could have easily gone to the Final 4 but fell behind 10-0 to Nick Van Exel’s Cincinnati team before losing by 2 PTS. BK: It is right up there. I was sitting courtside for it and it seemed as if UTEP had the game won. Nixon threw up a prayer that only goes in 1 of 20 times…but that time it did. It was a deflating loss but the Miners still made a nice postseason run and almost made the Final 4. They upset #1-seed Kansas in the 2nd round in Dayton: Coach must have paced a mile or 2 in the underground parking garage before going to the arena! He used 3 small guards on offense and a triangle-and-2 on defense to beat a great coach in Roy Williams. It showed his ability to game plan and how intense he was. It was a Sunday afternoon game and our flight back to El Paso was delayed. We did not get back until midnight and the entire airport was packed with fans.

He was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1997, inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, and his entire 1966 team was inducted in 2007: where do those rank among the highlights of his career? JT: Knowing the way he was I think his crowning achievement was for the entire team getting inducted. He was a really unassuming guy and did not care about a lot of the individual accolades: he marched to the beat of a different drummer and would never campaign for it even if he enjoyed it. BK: Every 1 of those was important and he really appreciated them. He was also really proud when the school named its arena after him. He had his former player Nate Archibald introduce him in 1997, which is pretty unique, and he also has another former player who was inducted in Nolan Richardson.

He passed away in 2008: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? JT: To me he is 1 of the absolute best to ever stroll a college sideline. I take nothing away from guys like Coach K/Roy Williams, but to have so much success so far off the college map was a tremendous accomplishment. His team always played the right way and got the job done with a great effort. Bob Knight would also say that Don was 1 of the best. BK: As a competitor but also a man who never saw color: he just wanted his best players on the floor. 1 of his childhood friends in Oklahoma was African-American.

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The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews Bobby Cremins about 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Stephon Marbury

Posted on September 8, 2020 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. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Bobby Cremins, 1996 Olympic assistant coach, about his former Georgia Tech player Stephon Marbury winning a bronze medal in 2004.

(photo credit: kronozio.com)

In 1995 Stephon was named a McDonald’s All-American along with future NBA All-Stars Chauncey Billups/Vince Carter/Antawn Jamison/Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce: where does that 1995 high school senior class rank among the best that you have ever seen? It definitely does ran high: he was at Lincoln High School.

He was born/raised in Brooklyn: how did you convince him to attend Georgia Tech, and how difficult was it? It was a crazy recruiting story. He loved Kenny Anderson, which we had going for us, and Travis Best was a senior so it was a perfect opening for him. I almost gave up because Syracuse and some other schools were involved. I knew his coach Bobby Hartstein through the Howard Garfinkel basketball camps. Bobby told me that we were high on his list because Stephon loved Kenny. I went to his school around September or October and saw that he was a scoring machine. There was a period where I thought that we lost him and Bobby called me to ask what was going on because he still wanted to come to Georgia Tech, so we eventually got back in there. He was a great kid who gave me no problems and always went to class. I lacked some foresight because I thought that he would stay more than 1 year.

In 1996 he was named 1st-team All-ACC and ACC ROY: how was he able to come in and dominate right from the start? He was in the Kenny Anderson category but they were different players. Kenny was a better passer but Stephon had better range/power. The 1 thing they had in common is that they were both terrific scorers. Some freshmen try to do too much but Stephon was such a great scorer who just had to learn how to get other people involved. He was a tough kid and very athletic.

In the summer of 1996 he was drafted 4th overall by Milwaukee and then traded shortly thereafter to Minnesota for the draft rights to Ray Allen and a future 1st-round pick: what did it mean to him to get drafted, and what did it mean to him to get traded? Back then I stayed out of the NBA stuff once the kid left campus because I wanted him to start his own life. I never attended the draft because it was their time to realize their dream. Kevin Garnett was already on Minnesota and they had some familiarity so Stephon was excited to play with him. When he turned pro it was quite a show. He had a press conference that I attended in Brooklyn with his whole family: it started 90 minutes late because he would not start until his mother showed up. He had a brother who played at Georgia and he wanted to help his big family. He felt like God had given him this basketball ability to help his family get out of the projects: he felt like he was the chosen one.

He averaged 15.8 PPG/7.8 APG in his 1st season and was named to the 1997 NBA All-Rookie 1st-Team: how was he able to make such a smooth transition to the NBA after only 1 year of college? He was 1 of the most talented kids you ever saw. He was the chosen 1: that is for sure. All of a sudden he started jumping around from team to team. 1 year he came down to South Carolina where the Knicks were training: he met up with my team manager and bought us a beautiful new TV for our locker room. He was a good kid but there was a lot of pressure on him due to high expectations. I really wanted to talk to him when he was on the Knicks but he was hard to get a hold of. I was worried when he went to China but it turned out to be a good move for him.

In the 2001 All-Star Game he scored 12 PTS including 2 threes in the final minute to clinch a 1-PT win by the East: how was he able to play his best against the best? I would put his talent up against anyone: he just needed to learn how to play the game. He could take over any game and was very confident. He was not a pure PG because he wanted to score and was so powerful that he could put 50 on you.

In Game 1 of the 2003 Western Conference 1st round with Phoenix he scored 26 PTS in 53 minutes including the game-winning 3 at the buzzer in a 1-PT OT win at San Antonio: what made him such a great clutch player? There was nothing that he could not do physically: I just tried to teach him the game and he bought in. Sometimes it is hard to coach a talented guy because he thinks he knows everything.

He won a bronze medal with team USA at the 2004 Olympics: what did it mean to him to represent his country, and what did it mean to him to win a bronze medal? I am sure that he was very disappointed with the bronze medal because he did not like losing.

He spent 12 years in the NBA before moving to China and becoming a 6-time All-Star yet his 7.6 career APG remains top-20 in NBA history: what made him such a great PG? That was the part that we were working on: a PG has to get assists so that is great to hear. I think that he was best when he was happy. He had the talent so if the other intangibles were there then he would perform very well. You needed to earn his trust and I was glad to see him do so well in China. I was a little nervous about why he went to China but it turned out pretty well for him.

In 2001 he donated $250,000 to help victims of the September 11th attacks, in 2005 he donated more than $500,000 to help victims of Hurricane Katrina, and in March he announced a plan to deliver 10 million N95 masks from China to the USA for hospital workers and other first responders: what impact do you think his off-court generosity will have on his legacy? A lot. I was really proud about him trying to get the masks because he absolutely loves New York. His philanthropy is really wonderful. The biggest thing I tried to teach him was peripheral vision so that he would see the whole court…but at the same time he was talented enough to score. I coached him for 4 months when we were on the quarter system and he was gone after 2 quarters: I did not see that coming but he did the right thing. It was not real common back then to leave after 1 year but taking care of his family was his #1 priority because he loved them. 1 time I went to see him and I got lost in the projects: I had a little kid ask me if I was looking for Marbury…and it turned out to be his cousin Sebastian Telfair! We had a great New York City connection that started with Mark Price and we eventually became known as “Point Guard University”. I wish I could run into him more because I am very proud of him.

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The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews Chad Carlson about 1948 Olympic gold medalist Don Barksdale

Posted on September 7, 2020 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. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Chad Carlson, author of “Basketball’s Forgotten Experiment: Don Barksdale and the Legacy of the United States Olympic Basketball Team”, about Don winning a gold medal in 1948. Today marks the 8th anniversary of Don’s induction into the Hall of Fame.

In 1948 Don became the 1st African-American to play on a US Olympic basketball team, but after traveling to Kentucky to scrimmage the 1948 NCAA champs he was not allowed to stay at a hotel with the rest of the team and had to stay with a local African-American family instead: how did he feel about being good enough to represent his country despite hotels in Lexington feeling that he did not have the right skin color to stay there? The 1948 US Olympic basketball team was split into 2 groups: the University of Kentucky 5 plus 2 collegians trained in Lexington with Coach Adolph Rupp while the 5 AAU players from the Phillips 66ers trained with Barksdale, Baylor’s Jackie Robinson (huge coincidence: he was White!), and head coach Omar “Bud” Browning in Bartlesville, OK (home of the 66ers). Both areas were segregated but Oklahoma’s Jim Crow laws were a bit more accommodating than Lexington for 2 reasons: the presence of large numbers of Native Americans, as well as Barksdale’s light skin tone. When he stayed at an all-White hotel with his teammates in Tulsa during a fundraising exhibition there was an elderly woman who complained. The hotel manager told the woman that Barksdale was Persian…and she dropped the matter: that would not have happened in Lexington. While there for the last of 3 intra-squad scrimmages before the Olympics Barksdale’s White teammates stayed at a nice hotel and had country club access that he did not have. In fact, there is some evidence that his life was threatened via a letter he received the day before the scrimmage. The Wildcats had never played against a Black opponent at that time and would not do so again until the following decade. Further, Rupp would not have an African-American player on his team until 1970 (Tom Payne), so Barksdale’s participation in a game against 5 Kentucky players coached by Rupp was truly groundbreaking. Remember: this was only 1 year after the other Jackie Robinson had broken baseball’s color line so integrated sports was still a new concept. Black athletes knew that in order to leave their mark in mainstream sports they had to be overly-qualified while also accepting 2nd-class treatment. Barksdale was more than qualified and had great composure. The local Black community celebrated him during his short stay in Lexington. Black fans crammed into the end zone section of UK’s football field that had been transformed into a basketball court for the scrimmage: this was the only place where non-White spectators could sit to watch the action.

What did it mean to him to represent his country/race, and what did it mean to him to win a gold medal? This was only the 2nd Olympic basketball tournament ever (the 1st 1 was in 1936 and the Games were cancelled in 1940/1944) and the competition was not very good so winning was never in doubt. Essentially, anyone who made the US roster was ensured of winning a gold medal so the most difficult thing for Barksdale was making the team. He had a very strong individual showing at the Olympic Trials in New York City but his team did not play very well. He was eventually chosen for 1 of the 4 at-large roster spots. He was likely the only African-American player at the trials, although 1 of the 5 Phillips 66ers players was Native American Jesse “Cab” Renick. After the London Games Renick became the 1st Native American gold medalist since Jim Thorpe! The basketball selection committee was quite progressive, including a strong voice from New York City in lawyer Harry Henshel who fought vigorously against racial exclusion. Barksdale also received support from Olympic basketball committee representatives out west who were quite familiar with his abilities and (maybe more importantly) his ability to fit in with an all-White team.

After graduating he became the 1st African-American radio DJ/beer distributor/TV host in the Bay area: was this due to him being interested in various businesses or did he just need to make some money while waiting for the NBA to eventually integrate? There were plenty of college basketball stars at the time who eschewed the NBA to play on the AAU circuit. At the time the AAU was filled with companies across the country that would hire top college basketball graduates and then pay them to both work and play basketball for the company. Barksdale was clearly interested in disc jockeying/entertainment but his interest in beer distributorship is unclear. Nonetheless, the Bittner Company in Oakland hired him and had an AAU basketball team that he played for. This brought him back to his hometown and allowed him to play high-level basketball while also learning trade skills he could use once his basketball skills diminished. The NBA did not exist when he graduated from UCLA so that was not an option: the league was founded in 1949 and Barksdale joined the following season.

He was a 3-time AAU All-American as a player for the Oakland Bittners and won the 1949 AAU national title: what did it mean to him to break the Phillips 66ers’ streak of 6 straight AAU titles? At the time of the Bittners’ victory over the 66ers there were 5 guys on the 66ers who were teammates of Barksdale during the Olympics. He knew those guys and had trained with them as teammates so there was a great deal of respect there. They knew what he was capable of and vice-versa but the 66ers were not the same team as in the past. Browning retired from coaching after the Olympics (for a few years at least) while Renick and 2 other Olympians did not return to the 66ers for the 1948-49 season so it was a very different squad compared to what it was before the Olympics.

He only played 4 years in the NBA before retiring due to injuries but his style of basketball (running up and down the court and playing both above and below the rim) foreshadowed the modern era of the game: do you think that his stats suffered due to not receiving more passes from his White teammates in Baltimore/Boston? That is certainly a possibility but Barksdale played basketball in an era that did not quantify much on the court and was not obsessed with statistics. All of our sports are heavily quantified now and we rely far too much on stats in sports. Barksdale was good and his teammates/opponents/coaches knew it…but statistics do not show his true prowess because they only existed in primitive fashion. The lone Black players from each team would often be told to guard each other regardless of their size/position. When this was the case, racial dynamics played a major factor in each team’s strategies. Fortunately for Barksdale he was very good at doing the things that White coaches stereotypically wanted out of Black players: defending/rebounding above the rim and scoring above the rim/close to the basket.

He passed away in 1993 but was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? Barksdale should be remembered right alongside Jackie Robinson. His accomplishment is not as recognized as Robinson’s because basketball (especially pro basketball) was not nearly as big a deal as baseball was at the time but his accomplishment was no less impressive.

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The Olympians: HoopsHD interviews Leon Barmore about 1984 Olympic gold medalist Janice Lawrence Braxton

Posted on September 6, 2020 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. Those of you who were looking forward to the 2020 Olympics opening ceremonies in Tokyo on July 24, 2020 will have to wait an extra 364 days, as the coronavirus caused a postponement until July 23, 2021. Due to the absence of college basketball since mid-March, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel decided to fill the void by trying to interview as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible so that you have something to read this summer while not watching the Summer Games. We continue our coverage by chatting with Hall of Fame coach Leon Barmore about his former player Janice Lawrence Braxton winning a pair of national titles in 1981/1982 and a gold medal in 1984.

(photo credit: espn.com)

Janice was born/raised in Mississippi and was a 2-time Parade Magazine All-American: how did you recruit her to Louisiana Tech? Watching her play in high school I would say that she was 1 of the 2 or 3 best high school players I ever saw. We used to keep a shot chart: she made something like 16-18 shots on 1 night I saw her play…and they were not all layups.

She was 6’3”: how much of an advantage was her size on the court? It helped her but after coaching for 25 years I think she is the most versatile player I ever had. She could run the court, make outside shots, and post up. She is 1 of the best all-around players we ever had.

Your team won the 1981 AIAW title game over Tennessee by 20 PTS and finished the season 34-0: how was your team able to stay focused for every single game? We had lost in the Final 4 the previous 2 years so that was certainly a motivational factor to actually finish it. We beat USC in the semifinals and Pat Summitt in the title game.

In the 1st-ever NCAA tourney title game in 1982 she scored 20 PTS in a win over Cheyney State (who had won 23 games in a row) en route to being named tourney MOP: how was she able to play her best when it mattered the most? She is 1 of the top competitors we ever had here. She was a fiery player and took it seriously. That team was even better than the undefeated year: I have said it is the best team I ever had and it is due to her.

In the 1983 NCAA title game you had a 2-PT loss to USC and in the 1984 Final 4 you had a 5-PT loss to eventual champ USC: how close did she come to winning 4 titles in a row, and how intense was the rivalry back in the day? It was very intense. We beat USC in the semifinals in 1981 but then they brought in Cheryl Miller, who I think is the best college player ever, as well as the McGee twins. They also had Cynthia Cooper, who made 3 straight jumpers to beat us in 1983. In 1984 we had to play them in their backyard at UCLA.

She was the 1984 national POY/2-time All-American: what did it mean to her to receive such outstanding honors? She deserved those honors and was very proud of them. You always wonder how players from the past could compete in today’s era: she could play with anyone.

She went 130-6 and made the Final 4 for 4 straight years: did it reach a point where you just expected to win every time that she stepped onto the court? We had a lot of wins! Kim Mulkey also played on those teams: we were not cocky about it but knew that we were good. What pleases me is that we had great success for a 12-13 year period.

She played for team USA at the 1983 Pan Am Games and 1984 Olympics: what did it mean to her to represent her country, and what did it mean to her to win a pair of gold medals? Janice had a lot of pride in playing for her country and appreciated winning those gold medals.

She played pro basketball for 15 years in Italy: how was she able to have such a nice long career overseas? She lasted that long because she was slender/wiry and never got hurt. She took good care of herself and had a good makeup. She was tough: if you threw her down on the pavement she would bounce right back up.

She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006: when people look back on her career, how do you think that she should be remembered the most? I would put her in the top 2-3 players we ever had here. She was surrounded by some good players but she made the difference in how highly we were ranked.

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