Season preview: HoopsHD interviews Saint Joseph coach Jim Calhoun

Posted on September 1, 2018 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s Season Previews and Interviews

Labor Day weekend signals the start of college basketball preview season: we will spend the next 2+ months interviewing the players/coaches whose teams hope to win a championship next spring. There are only 6 coaches who won at least 3 titles during their career: Mike Krzyzewski/John Wooden/Roy Williams/Adolph Rupp/Bob Knight/Jim Calhoun. 3 are retired, 2 are still battling it out in the ACC, and 1 is still going strong at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT. It has been more than a decade since Coach Calhoun was inducted into the Hall of Fame but he shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Calhoun about the Tate George shot, the 6-OT Big East tourney game, and all 3 of those national championships.

You went 9-19 in your 1st year at UConn but in year #2 you made the 1988 NIT title game and had a 5-PT win over Ohio State: how were you able to turn things around so quickly? We had Cliff Robinson who was a 19-year NBA veteran and Tate George/Steve Pikiell who were freshmen the year before. Cliff became a terrific player but the biggest thing we did was change our culture.

Take me through the 1990 NCAA tourney:
Scott Burrell threw a pass the length of the court to Tate George, who made a turnaround jumper at the buzzer in a 1-PT win over Clemson: how often did you practice that play, and did you think the shot was going in? We practiced it every day with 5 different versions based on how many seconds we had left in the game. It was a major league pitcher throwing to a future NBA player: it only worked 5% of the time in practice but it worked 100% that night!

Christian Laettner scored 23 PTS including a jumper at the buzzer in a 1-PT OT win by Duke: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? Pretty close: I thought that we were good enough to make the Final 4. We had a great year but I do not like seeing Laettner any more.

In the 1998 NCAA tourney Rip Hamilton scored 22 PTS including a fadeaway jumper at that buzzer in a 1-PT win over Washington, and in the 1999 NCAA tourney title game Hamilton scored 27 PTS in a 3-PT win over Duke to snap their 32-game win streak: how on earth were you a 9½-PT underdog to the Blue Devils despite your 33-2 record, and how was Hamilton able to play his best when it mattered the most? He practiced the same way: he always wanted the ball when it counted and never worried. He had a 16-year NBA career and won an NBA championship because he just went out and played. We always got the ball in the hands of the guys who could make plays, be it Donyell Marshall/Ray Allen/etc. It was special because I knew that we were good enough to beat Duke but I was not sure how well we would play. People automatically assumed Duke was better due to their talent but we had a better team.

Take me through the 2004 Final 4:
In the semifinals Emeka Okafor had 24 PTS/15 REB in a 1-PT win over Duke: how were you able to overcome an 8-PT deficit in the final 3 minutes? It was a foul-filled game. Emeka picked up 2 quick fouls and I sat him for the rest of the half. He was dying to get back in and was certainly 1 of the best players I ever coached.

Tourney MOP Okafor had 24 PTS/15 REB in a 9-PT win over Georgia Tech to clinch the title: how did the 2nd title compare to the 1st? It is like asking which kid you love more: you love them all! That was the best team we had: Okafor/Ben Gordon/Charlie Villanueva/Hilton Armstrong/etc. That was the only team that I felt could answer all problems in all games.

In 2005 you were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2006 you were inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of its founding class: where do those moments rank among the highlights of your career? Dean Smith was a great mentor to me in many ways: he told me that the Hall is a reflection of what your players do. When you stand there with your family and reflect back on what you did, it conjures up special moments. My dad said that you are known by the company you keep, and to be in the company of legends like Wilt/Oscar/Havlicek/West was very humbling.

In the 2006 NCAA tourney George Mason had all 5 starters score in double figures during a 2-PT OT win over your team: what is the biggest factor to pulling off an upset in March (confidence/destiny/officiating/other)? People forget that they were on an incredible roll after beating Michigan State/North Carolina/Wichita State. They beat us fair and square but we only had about 100 people rooting for us in DC. We were Goliath and they were definitely David.

In the 2009 Big East tourney quarterfinals you had a 10-PT 6-OT loss to Syracuse: how exhausted were you by the end of the 2nd-longest game in college basketball history? I went back to the hotel with my wife and I just could not fall asleep. I kept trying to find more players to substitute in but they took advantage of us down the stretch. Both programs were great and would not give in.

Take me through the 2011 postseason:
You entered the Big East tourney as the #9 seed but won 5 games in 5 days (including each of the last 4 over ranked teams): was it just a case of Kemba Walker (who scored 130 PTS en route to being named tourney MVP) putting the entire team on his back for the week? We were an awfully young team but were as healthy as we had been all season. Our backcourt had 3 future NBA players in Kemba/Jeremy Lamb/Shabazz Napier. It was the best individual effort I have ever seen. We had won the Maui Invitational earlier that season so we knew that we had great potential and we just came together at the right time. That ride was magical as I got to watch the young kids like Kemba, who is 1 of my favorite players/people of all time.

In the NCAA tourney title game you had a 53-41 win over Butler: was it a case of amazing defense (your team set a title game record with 10 BLK) or an ice-cold shooting performance (the Bulldogs set a title-game record with 18.8 FG%) or a little bit of both? Someone did a survey after the game and found that almost every shot Butler took that night was blocked/contested. The only way they could come back was to drive to the rim, which is when our size/athleticism took over. Jeremy got us some space but our defense was textbook. We caused the frozen shooting part.

In 1990 you were named national COY and you are 1 of only 6 coaches in D-1 history to win 3 NCAA titles: what makes you such a great coach? Good players! I have always had a competitive spirit and I try to pass that along to my players. It was about 2 main things: we would compete harder than anyone else and grasp all of the fundamentals, which gave us some separation.

In 2012 you retired with 873 wins (becoming the 1st coach in NCAA history to win at least 240 games at 2 different D-1 schools), which remains #13 all-time, but last year you came out of retirement to become head coach at D-3 Saint Joseph: how is it going so far, and how long do you plan to stick around? I love coaching and missed it greatly. It was wonderful to work at ESPN but I always had an empty feeling that I was not truly part of the game. It did not fulfill the need I had to be involved as I had been my whole life, and I want to get this program going in the right direction.

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Hoops HD Podcast with Special Guest Andy Schwarz

Posted on August 21, 2018 by David Griggs

Anti-trust economist, Sports economics expert, HBL Basketball Leadership Team member, fierce critic of the NCAA, and all around genius Andy Schwarz joins Chad and David.  We talk about the HBL, which will a new basketball league starting in the summer of 2020 that intends to have universities field teams (predominantly HBCU’s) where they play their games in the summer and pay players between $50,000 and $100,000.  We also discuss, and heavily criticize, the idea of amateurism being essential to the sustainment of college athletics, and how the HBL will attempt to challenge that school of thought.

CLICK HERE to read more about the HBL on their official website

 

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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Welcome to the Palestra: HoopsHD interviews incoming Penn freshman Griffin Ryan

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Jon Teitel

What a difference a year makes: the Quakers had 5 straight losing seasons from 2013-2017, then flipped the switch last season by winning 24 games (their most since 2002), including a 3-PT win over Harvard to clinch their 1st-ever Ivy tourney title, and even had a double-digit lead over Kansas in the NCAA tourney before eventually falling to the Jayhawks. Coach Steve Donahue lost 2 key seniors from last year (Caleb Wood/Darnell Foreman) but has a strong group of veterans who are preparing to defend their crown. As for the freshmen-to-be, only time will tell but on paper they look even stronger than last year’s class. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel recently got to chat with incoming Penn freshman Griffin Ryan about why he chose the Quakers and where he ranks within his very athletic family.

At New Trier High School you lettered in basketball/baseball/football: how much of an advantage is your athleticism on the court? It has really helped me with unfamiliar movements that I might have to pull out during a game. It helps me get into good position a lot quicker.

You won conference titles in all 3 sports: what did it mean to you to win all of those titles? It really meant a lot. We had a rough season in basketball during my junior year but it was great to come back and work as hard as we could going into our senior year. There was 1 football team that won its conference 12 years in a row so it was a really special moment when we were finally able to beat them. We had some alumni on the sideline during that game and some of them were shedding tears that we finally won that game. Continuing our proud baseball tradition of success was also special.

Last March in the sectional semifinal you scored 16 PTS in a 5-PT 2-OT win over Niles North: how one earth were you able to overcome a 22-PT deficit in the 3rd quarter? That is probably going to be 1 of my favorite basketball memories ever. We just agreed to do whatever it would take to claw back into the game. We forced 9 turnovers on defense in the 4th quarter, which really helped us get back into it.

You grew up in Illinois: what made you choose Penn? Academics 1st and foremost: it is a great school. I absolutely love Philadelphia: I took a trip to a bunch of colleges last year and just fell in love with the city/campus. I have some cousins who live in the area so it has been an awesome experience to go to Penn.

What do you know about Coach Steve Donahue, and have you talked to any members of the defending Ivy champs? Coach Donahue is used to recruiting the Chicago area so he knows what type of kids come out of here. He has obviously had a successful coaching run at Penn. I got to talk to some of his players during the summer before my senior year and they were all great guys. I asked them a bunch of questions and they were open/honest with me about how they balance everything going on in their lives.

Former Penn PG Darnell Foreman graduated but the other 4 starters are returning: how did that affect your decision? It will be great to learn from those guys as they pass down their leadership lessons and show us the way to win.

The Quakers were 1 of the worst FT shooting teams in the nation last year at 65.9 FT%: what is your own key to making FTs? My biggest thing is just sticking with my routine. I do not let any situation get into my head and just imagine I am shooting them in the gym by myself, which relieves any pressure.

Have you had a chance to meet any of your fellow incoming freshmen (Alex Imegwu/Michael Wang/Bryce Washington) and which of them has impressed you the most? I got to meet Alex at an elite camp and we even ended up playing on the same 5-on-5 team, which was a total coincidence. He is super-athletic and commanded everyone’s respect on the court: I thought he was a very good player. I have seen highlights of Michael/Bryce and I think that we can all become part of something really special.

You are 6’5”: what position did you play in high school, and what position are you most comfortable at on the court? My 1st 2 years I was actually a center but by my junior year we had a 6’8” guy and a 6’9” guy who might both end up playing in the Ivy League as well (Spencer Boehm/Ciaran Brayboy). Their presence down low really allowed me to work on my outside game, which was huge for my development as a player. It was great to go against them every day in practice.

Your father played football at Princeton, your brother James played club volleyball at Wake Forest, and your sister Taite plays basketball/volleyball: who is the best athlete in the family? That is a GIGANTIC debate within my family. My brother will claim that it is him but it just might be my sister: she is a freak of nature on the volleyball court and recently got into Dartmouth. I will claim that I am the best…but my siblings will kill me for saying that!

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The Hoops HD Report: July Session (July 33rd)

Posted on August 2, 2018 by David Griggs

Chad and the panel are back for the July 33rd podcast!!

On this podcast we look at the TBT and discuss whether or not college players should be permitted to play in it.  We also discuss the Elam’s Ending that the tournament uses and talk about whether or not we’d like to see that in the NCAA.  We also reflect on last year’s charity exhibition games and discuss how we’d like to see those continue.  We also touch on the growing issue of sexual assault and domestic violence in college sports and talk about what we think the role and responsibilities of the head coaches should be.

 

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show….

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Jersey Boy: HoopsHD interviews former NJIT coach Jim Catalano

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Jon Teitel

NJIT might not be on your NCAA tourney radar but the school has had a fascinating history. Founded in 1881 as the Newark Technical School, it became the Newark College of Engineering in 1930 before ending up as the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1975. Their basketball team has won approximately 950 games in its near-century of existence, with almost half of those coming courtesy of former head coach Jim Catalano. 1 of the most educated coaches you will ever meet (he has a Masters’ degree AND a PhD!), he became the winningest coach in NJIT history and followed that up by becoming head coach at his former high school. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jim about winning 22 games in a row and having only 1 losing season in 22 years.

(photo courtesy of northjersey.com)

You played baseball and basketball at Jersey City State: which sport were you best at, and which 1 did you enjoy the most? I played in a metropolitan baseball all-star game as a sophomore and the NCAA later declared me ineligible, which I still regret to this day. I was a Parade All-American baseball player in high school but loved basketball: it was my passion.

After graduating from you got a Masters’ degree at William Patterson and a PhD at La Salle: how much importance do you place on academics? Very much.

How did you 1st get into coaching? After graduating college I still wanted to stay involved and my dad knew someone at the Newark Board of Education. I talked to the guy to see if there was a coaching job available within the Newark public school system and ended up becoming a JV coach.

You were head coach at New Jersey Tech and spent the last decade of your tenure doing double-duty as athletic director: which gig did you like more, and how did you balance the 2 at the same time? I definitely enjoyed coaching basketball more. The school did a study to see what they should do with the basketball program because it had never been a winner: after I got there we became very successful and ended up as the tail that wagged the dog. I was a high school principal at the time after getting the job very young. I took the job and eventually pushed us to move up from D-3 to D-2. After the former athletic director left I decided to take over but my passion was always in basketball.

Your star player was Clarence Pierce, who had a very rough upbringing in Paterson: what made him such a great scorer? He still is kind of like a son to me. My assistants brought in several kids from Paterson who had a tough childhood. Clarence was able to “move through the raindrops” because the people who had went down the wrong road protected him from following in their footsteps. As a scorer he was simply untapped: he was a D-1 player who just fell through the cracks. I remember 1 newspaper calling us the best team in the state of New Jersey! He was a charming kid and a phenomenal athlete who was 1 vote away from being named POY.

In the 1994-95 season you won 22 straight games: did it just reach a point where everyone expected your team to win every time they stepped onto the court? We had a 5-year stretch where we were 1 of a handful of teams who swapped the #1 ranking in the country. The 1 game we lost to Staten Island by 1 PT was after Clarence hit a 3 at the buzzer that the refs said came too late. We felt that we were the best team in the country but our kids never took anything for granted so we were very workmanlike. I firmly believe that fundamentals are better when you have talent but talented kids today are not always fundamentally strong.

You remain the winningest coach in school history and only had 1 losing season in 22 years: how were you able to remain so successful over such a long period of time, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? I do not know but someone would have to be there a long time to break my record. The system we ran worked because we were as dedicated to our expectations as we could be. You have to work on the little things that everyone can do: only make passes you can complete on offense, confuse people by constantly changing things up on defense, etc. We worked hard but played within the confines of the athletes we had. Everything we do is based on fundamentals: if you cannot take a charge then you cannot play for me.

In 2017 you were named coach at your alma mater of Belleville High School: why did you take the job, and what is the biggest difference between coaching in college vs. coaching in high school? I took the job last year after taking 1 year off from coaching for the 1st time in a long time…and I was miserable! I got a call from some people asking if I was interested in coaching in the town where I grew up and I decided that I wanted to bring the school back to respectability. My hometown gave me so much and helped me become the person I am today.

How long do you want to keep coaching, and what do you want to do after retiring? As long as I feel good and am energetic and doing something helpful and still feel passionate, I will not think about retiring because I already went through that once.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? That I taught my players to be good people, successful, team-oriented, etc. You should be the best you can be for your family. I hope they say that nobody was better than when they played for me.

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Welcome to the Palestra: HoopsHD interviews incoming Penn freshman Bryce Washington

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Jon Teitel

What a difference a year makes: the Quakers had 5 straight losing seasons from 2013-2017, then flipped the switch last season by winning 24 games (their most since 2002), including a 3-PT win over Harvard to clinch their 1st-ever Ivy tourney title, and even had a double-digit lead over Kansas in the NCAA tourney before eventually falling to the Jayhawks. Coach Steve Donahue lost 2 key seniors from last year (Caleb Wood/Darnell Foreman) but has a strong group of veterans who are preparing to defend their crown.  As for the freshmen-to-be, only time will tell but on paper they look even stronger than last year’s class. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel recently got to chat with incoming Penn freshman Bryce Washington about why he chose the Quakers and his very athletic family.

At Southfield Christian you won 4 conference titles and had 12 PTS/9 REB to help clinch the 2018 MHSAA Class D state championship over Buckley last March: what did it mean to you to win all of those titles? It was the best feeling in the world: after all the work that our team had put in I felt that we deserved it.

You won a state title in the high jump in 2016: how much of an advantage is your athleticism on the court? It is a huge advantage on the court. I can defend pretty much any position and I am also very fast.

You graduated as the leading scorer in school history with 1685 career PTS: what is the secret to being a great scorer? Just reading your defender, being able to get ahead of him by running the floor, and figuring out how you can take advantage of his weaknesses.

You averaged almost a 4.0 GPA in high school and graduated summa cum laude: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? I try to get in the gym as early as possible so I can make it to class on time, then get back in the gym right after class so I will have time to do my homework afterward. Whenever I want to go out and have fun I just make sure that my classwork is already taken care of.

You grew up in Michigan and received plenty of scholarship offers: what made you choose Penn? I really believe in their system: they are a very good team coming off of an Ivy title and Penn is 1 of the best academic schools in the country. I also feel that I can make an immediate contribution to the team.

What do you know about Coach Steve Donahue, and have you talked to any members of the defending Ivy champs? Coach Donahue is out recruiting right now but I have communicated with the guys on the team a lot. I am actually on campus and have been able to meet a lot of my new teammates.

Have you had a chance to meet any of your fellow incoming freshmen (Alex Imegwu/Griffin Ryan/Michael Wang) and which of them has impressed you the most? I have not had the chance to meet any of them yet but I can tell that we have a really strong class coming in. Michael is a 6’10” center coming from a really good school out in California, Alex is from New Jersey and can jump high/shoot well, and Griffin seems like a pretty good player too out of Chicago.

You are 6’4”: what position did you play in high school, and what position are you most comfortable at on the court? I was 1 of the tallest players on my team so I played every single position at some point during my high school career. I will be comfortable wherever Coach Donahue wants to play me: I can handle the ball as a PG or guard the opposing SF.

Your brother Blake won 2 state basketball titles and was on the track team at Michigan, and your brother Brock won the 2014 state basketball title and now plays for Coach Tom Izzo at Michigan State: who is the best athlete in the family? I am sure they would say otherwise but I would say that I am!

Your favorite player is LeBron James: were you surprised that he left Cleveland this summer, and how do you think he is going to do in Los Angeles? I was a big Cleveland fan but I feel that he had to get out of there because it was not working. I think that he will be able to build his brand in LA so I cannot be mad at that decision.

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