20 Second Timeout

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2022 Class Includes NBA Players Lou Hudson, Tim Hardaway, and Manu Ginobili

This year's Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class includes 16 inductees: NBA players Lou Hudson, Tim Hardaway, and Manu Ginobili; NBA coach George Karl; NBA referee Hugh Evans; college coach Bob Huggins; WNBA players Swin Cash and Lindsay Whalen; WNBA coach Marianne Stanley; contributors Larry Costello and Del Harris; Theresa Shank-Gretz (selected by the Women's Veteran's Committee); international player Radivoc Korac; Wyatt "Sonny" Boswell, Inman Jackson, and Albert "Runt" Pullins (selected by the Early African Americans Pioneers Committee).

At 20 Second Timeout, I write primarily about professional basketball, so readers who are most interested in the NBA and the ABA may wonder why only three of the 16 inductees are entering the Hall of Fame based on their accomplishments as NBA players (Costello and Karl played in the NBA but are being inducted as a contributor and as a coach respectively). The answer is that the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame encompasses all levels and categories of the game, in contrast to, for example, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which focuses exclusively on professional football. It is reasonable to suggest that a new Hall of Fame should be created just for professional basketball, but the NBA is so embedded and intertwined with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame that it seems unlikely that a separate Pro Basketball Hall of Fame will be created in the near future.

Tonight's Hall of Fame ceremony began with a tribute to Bill Russell, who passed away on July 31, 2022. Hall of Famers Jerry West and Alonzo Mourning spoke powerfully about Russell not only as an unparalleled champion on the court but as a human rights champion off of the court as well. After they spoke, the Hall of Fame showed a great video about Russell's life and career. The clip of Russell explaining to a reporter that his children had played with white children and no one had gotten hurt yet is both profound and infuriating: Russell spoke simply and directly, but what kind of racist idiot asks if children of different skin colors can play together?

Hall of Fame acceptance speeches are usually interesting and occasionally riveting, and that was true for this year's ceremony as well. I will focus on the inductees who have some connection to the NBA and/or ABA.

Hardaway was the first speaker of the evening after the Bill Russell tribute. Hardaway's presenters were Yolanda Griffith, Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, and Isiah Thomas. Nate Archibald was scheduled to be a presenter but was not able to attend. Hardaway called Thomas a "Chicago legend, my first basketball idol" and an inspiration. He also called Griffith a "Chicago hoops legend" who graduated from the same high school (Carver High School) and same class that he did. Hardaway said that his teammates Mullin and Richmond taught him how to be a pro and often asked him, "How great do you want to be?" Hardaway said that his parents' divorce when he was a child hit him very hard, and that it took him a while to adjust to that. He credited his mother for making a lot of sacrifices for him and for his brother Donald, who he called "my number one fan." Hardaway also thanked his father--"the man who introduced me to basketball"--and he thanked his three children, his wife Yolanda, his teammates, and the late Henry Thomas, who he described as not only his agent but also his confidante. He closed by declaring, "This is bigger than Tim Hardaway. This is for the south side of Chicago."

Hardaway averaged at least 20 ppg and at least 10 apg in the same season twice, and he is one of a select group of NBA point guards who had multiple seasons averaging at least 20 ppg and at least 10 apg. Oscar Robertson tops that list with five such seasons, followed by Isiah Thomas (four), Magic Johnson (three), and Kevin Johnson (three). Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook have each accomplished this twice as well. Hardaway made the 1990 All-Rookie First Team and then followed that with three straight All-Star selections before a knee injury forced him to miss the entire 1993-94 season. During that era, season-ending knee injuries often ended careers or at least severely curtailed them, but Hardaway made a remarkable comeback. He never averaged 20-10 again, but he had two more 20 ppg seasons, he made the All-Star team in 1997 and 1998, and he made the All-NBA First Team in 1997 plus the All-NBA Second Team in 1998 and 1999. 

Hardaway was the driving force for the Miami Heat team that reached the 1997 Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Chicago Bulls. Hardaway will always be remembered for his trademark killer crossover move, also known as the "UTEP two-step"--and he did this move without traveling or carrying the ball, unlike many of the subsequent players who used the crossover move. Hardaway's crossover was low, tight, and fast, much like Isiah Thomas and Archie Clark before him. 

The next speaker after Hardaway was Del Harris, who is 85 years old and a bit hobbled from back surgery (he had surgery on Tuesday and was able to stand and give a speech tonight!). It is great to see him honored by the Hall of Fame at a time when he is still able to attend the ceremony. I interviewed Harris 17 years ago when he was an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks. Harris' presenters were John Calipari, Nancy Lieberman, and Sidney Moncrief. Harris opened by saying, "This is a message of gratitude, and all the glory to God." Harris thanked many mentors, including Tom Nissalke, who helped Harris become a coach first in the ABA and then in the NBA. Harris noted that he served 12 full seasons as an NBA coach and that eight of his assistant coaches became NBA coaches while two other assistant coaches became NBA general managers. He said that he learned a lot from the Hall of Fame players he coached "with"--and he emphasized "with"--while making special mention of the late Moses Malone. Harris also gave special thanks to Dr. James Naismith, who said that the purpose of basketball is, in Harris's words, "developing the spirit, mind, and body, in that order." Harris added, "Sometimes we focus too much on the body." Harris said that during his first coaching job at a junior high school "I found Naismith's purpose to have meaning for me in my life...and I decided that I was meant to be a coach."

Hugh Evans' widow spoke on his behalf in a recorded message. Evans lived long enough to celebrate the announcement of his induction, but passed away earlier this year. The best tribute to Evans is that when he was assigned to do a game everyone--fans, players, coaches, fellow referees--knew that he would perform at the highest level with no favoritism. I wish that could be said about all referees, but it was definitely true of Evans, who very much deserves this honor. Evans' presenters were George Gervin and Reggie Miller, two players who Evans once said inspired him to keep improving as a referee.

Lou Hudson's daughter Adrienne spoke on his behalf in a recorded message, and she also appeared in person alongside her father's presenters Jamaal Wilkes and Spencer Haywood. In her recorded message, she described this as a bittersweet moment because her father is not alive to receive this great honor. She noted that her father has previously been inducted in multiple Halls of Fame but that induction in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame was "an aspiration that he hoped to achieve in his lifetime." She provided some meaningful background not only about his basketball accomplishments (including leading Team USA to victory in the World University Games in 1965) but also his extensive involvement in his community and his devotion to his family.

Hudson played in the first of the two ABA-NBA All-Star Games. He made the All-Star team for six straight seasons (1969-74), and he averaged at least 21.9 ppg in each of those seasons. Hudson spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the Hawks--two years in St. Louis, followed by nine in Atlanta--before playing for the Lakers for his final two seasons. He averaged 21.3 ppg in nine playoff campaigns, including a league-leading 29.7 ppg in the 1973 playoffs. Hudson's 20.2 ppg career regular season scoring average ranks 65th in ABA/NBA history; more than 5000 players have appeared in at least one ABA or NBA regular season game, but just 70 of those players averaged at least 20 ppg while playing at least 400 games or scoring at least 10,000 points, and the vast majority of those 70 who are eligible for induction have already been inducted. Hudson retired in 1979 and passed away in 2014. When he retired in 1979, Hudson ranked 15th in NBA history with 17,940 career regular season points. It is difficult to understand why he had to wait so long to be recognized by the Hall of Fame.

Larry Costello made the All-Star team six times and he played for Philadelphia's dominant 1967 championship team before coaching Milwaukee to the 1971 NBA championship--but he was not inducted as either a player or as a coach, but rather as a contributor. Costello passed away in 2001 at the age of 70, so his four daughters accepted the honor on his behalf and each one spoke during a brief recorded message. They stated that they learned from their father to work hard, never quit, and never seek credit for what you are doing, because if you are doing well then you will be recognized--which is a bit ironic, considering that Costello did very well, did not seek credit, and thus was not inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame until more than 20 years after he died. His daughters mentioned that this induction was an honor that meant a lot to him, and that they wished he had lived long enough to see this day but they are grateful that he is being acknowledged now. Costello's Hall of Famer presenters were Billy Cunningham, Wayne Embry, and Bobby Dandridge.

George Karl was inducted as an NBA coach, but it is worth noting that he not only played in the ABA but he proudly identifies himself as an "ABA guy" who strongly believes that the ABA players and teams do not receive enough credit. During his induction speech, Karl said, "There is a fraternity of guys who still love the ABA to this day, and I am one of those guys."

His Hall of Fame presenters were Bobby Jones, Gary Payton, and Roy Williams. Karl said that Jones and Bob McAdoo were the two most talented players he played with at North Carolina, and that Jones is the greatest winner he has ever been associated with during his basketball career; there are good reasons that I dubbed Jones "The Ultimate Team Player." 

Karl said that the Basketball Hall of Fame should consider inducting great assistant coaches, and he mentioned Tim Grgurich as a candidate. Karl credited North Carolina coach Dean Smith with providing the "blueprint" for his coaching philosophy of respecting the game, sharing the ball, and playing the right way. Karl also singled out Bill Guthridge for inspiring and motivating him during his playing days at North Carolina. Karl, a throat cancer survivor whose voice is raspy, declared that he wants to give back to the game that has given him and his family such a wonderful life.

Ginobili was the night's final speaker. He was presented by Tim Duncan. Ginobili began by saying, "For players like me, individual accomplishments are team honors. I am not here because I was super special. I am here because I was part of two of the most important teams of the 2000s, with the Spurs winning four NBA championships, and with my Argentine National Team winning gold in '04." Ginobili hastened to add that he treasured his time with all of his teams throughout his career, and that he savors the memories not only of the big wins but also of the losses and the camaraderie forged among teammates during all of those battles. Ginobili described how he started playing basketball for several hours a day as a six or seven year old, and how he made friends while also honing his skills. He talked about playing for the Argentine National Team before playing as a professional in Europe starting at the age of 18. Ginobili said that he was shocked to find out that the San Antonio Spurs had drafted him, and he noted that his draft night experience did not involve getting a hat with a team logo before shaking the commissioner's hand. Ginobili became emotional when he asked for the audience's indulgence while he speaks briefly to his family in Spanish. After he finished speaking in Spanish, Ginobili spoke to his young sons in English, declaring that the moment he cherishes most in his life is right now being here with them.

I covered Ginobili in person as a journalist on more than one occasion, including game three of the 2007 NBA Finals, and game four of the 2007 NBA Finals. In game four, Ginobili poured in a game-high 27 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as his San Antonio Spurs swept LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.

Ginobili does not focus on his individual honors and accomplishments, but he starred for the Argentine National Team and in Europe before joining the San Antonio Spurs in 2002. He had the talent to be an NBA starter, but he accepted that it would be better for the team if he provided a spark off of the bench--unlike many NBA players who insist on being "the man" even if they are not fit for that role and even if assuming that role is detrimental to team success. Ginobili came off of the bench in 708 of his 1057 career regular season games and in 165 of his 218 career playoff games, but he still earned two All-Star selections and two All-NBA Third Team selections. He also won Sixth Man of the Year for the 2007-08 season. More significantly, he played a key role on four NBA championship teams (2003, 2005, 2007, 2014), and he has the best individual winning percentage among NBA players who participated in at least 1000 regular season games.

Many people struggle to place Ginobili's career in proper context, and there is a tendency to overreact in one of two ways: one camp suggests that Ginobili was just as good as a Pantheon player like Kobe Bryant and that if Ginobili had wanted to he could have averaged 30 ppg in the NBA; the second camp counters that Ginobili averaged just 13.3 ppg during his regular season career and that he was a role player who gets attention because Tim Duncan served as a rising tide that lifted all boats. 

The reality is more nuanced than members of either camp are willing to admit. Ginobili was not a Pantheon level player; no matter how you crunch the per minute numbers or extrapolate his "efficiency" over a larger "usage rate" you cannot change the reality that averaging 13.3 ppg in 25.4 mpg playing mostly against bench players does not equal averaging 30 ppg while playing 38-40 mpg mostly against starting players and against teams who design their defenses primarily to limit your efficiency and productivity. 

Could Ginobili have been a career 20 ppg scorer had he been placed in a different role? Perhaps, but even if he could not have done that the second camp is selling him short by dismissing him as an overly hyped role player. What both camps fail to understand is that Ginobili willingly took the role that was best for his team and was also best for him: playing 35-40 mpg as a superstar player is something that very few people are equipped to do mentally, emotionally, and physically. It is selfless--but also shrewd--to acknowledge if you are not really cut out for that superstar role, and to instead focus on playing in a way that maximizes team success.

Players such as Gilbert Arenas, Carmelo Anthony, and James Harden spent most or all of their careers focused on being "the man"--and many media members rode their coattails to success by praising and overrating those guys--but anyone who understands what it takes to win and what it means to be great would rather have Manu Ginobili as a teammate than any of those guys. Ginobili is in many respects similar to Bobby Jones: both players deflected praise, did not care about individual statistics, and focused their efforts on what they had to do to help their teams to win. Arenas remains a clown to this day and he had a short prime, so hopefully we will be spared the indignity of ever hearing him deliver a Hall of Fame acceptance speech, but it is likely that Anthony and Harden will eventually be inducted--and their acceptance speeches will probably reflect how they think about themselves and the game, and thus those speeches will bear little resemblance to Ginobili's speech.

Articles About Recent Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies:

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Welcomes 15 New Members and Honors Bill Russell a Second Time (Class of 2021)

Kobe Bryant Headlines the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (Class of 2020) 

The Basketball Hall of Fame Welcomes A Diverse Class of 12 Inductees (Class of 2019)

Thoughts and Observations About the 2018 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony (Class of 2018)

Labels: Basketball Hall of Fame, Del Harris, George Karl, Hugh Evans, Larry Costello, Lou Hudson, Manu Ginobili, Tim Hardaway

posted by David Friedman @ 11:32 PM

0 comments

Julius Erving Reminisces About UMASS, the ABA, and the NBA With George Karl

This interview took place a year ago, but it is still timely (and timeless): the February 9, 2021 episode of George Karl's podcast "Truth and Basketball" titled Dr. J and the Legacy of the ABA (with Julius Erving) includes some real gems about Julius Erving's basketball career from his college days at UMASS (Erving faced off against Karl's North Carolina squad in the 1971 NIT) to his ABA years with the Virginia Squires and New York Nets to his 11 seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers. Erving talks about playing with and against George Gervin--a subject that I have covered before but is always fun to revisit--and he also shares his memories of ABA stars Bobby Jones, James Silas, James Jones, Mack Calvin, "Super" John Williamson, and more. 

Karl decries how the NBA ignores ABA history and statistics, and he correctly states that the ABA is an integral part of NBA history.

At the end of the podcast, Karl declares that Erving was one of the most dominant players in pro basketball history, on equal footing with Larry Bird and LeBron James, and Karl notes that students of basketball history understand this but he laments that casual fans do not appreciate Erving's greatness.

I detailed Erving's dominance in my four part series focusing on his underrated playoff career:

• Julius Erving's Playoff Career, Part I: Yes, Virginia, There is a Man Who Can Fly
• Julius Erving's Playoff Career, Part II: Two Championships in Three Years with the Nets
• Julius Erving's Playoff Career, Part III: Consistency, Frustration and then a Glorious Championship Run
• Julius Erving's Playoff Career, Part IV: A Graceful Descent

Labels: ABA, George Karl, Julius Erving, NBA, New York Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Virginia Squires

posted by David Friedman @ 8:12 PM

0 comments

Great Players Want and Need to be Coached

Kurt Streeter explains that Tyronn Lue got the best out of LeBron James by challenging him, not coddling him: at halftime of game seven of the 2016 NBA Finals, Lue declared to James, "LeBron, you gotta be better! If we're gonna win, you gotta be better!" James led his Cleveland Cavaliers in scoring and assists during the first half but Lue knew that basketball greatness is not defined by numbers but rather by attitude, impact and focus.

Lue hit James with specific critiques that had nothing to do with statistics: "LeBron, what's wrong with your body language? Your body language is terrible. You got to guard Draymond. You got to take the open shot. Quit turning the ball over. Fix your body language. Anything else you want me to tell you?"

Too many people have become so enamored with statistics--particularly "advanced" statistics--that they fail to understand what basketball greatness really is. It is possible to put up big numbers but not be playing great basketball, which is why Lue lit into James. It is possible to score four points on 1-9 field goal shooting and be the best player on the court (Scottie Pippen versus the Indiana Pacers in game one of the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals). Bill Russell used to give the equivalent of doctoral dissertations on basketball when he served as a color commentator during CBS' NBA telecasts. One time during an NBA Finals matchup between the 76ers and the Lakers, he and Dick Stockton talked about how Julius Erving's greatness was not just defined by gaudy numbers but also by the timing of Erving's plays. Attitude, impact, focus--those traits define basketball greatness.

Kevin Loughery, who won two ABA titles in a three season span with Erving as his best player, raved about what it was like to coach Erving:

That man was the best. He was the easiest superstar you could possibly coach. He had more talent at that stage--we asked him to do everything. I really believe--and I've told this to Doc--that the NBA never saw the real Dr. J. I really believe that. In the ABA he did things that were incredible. We asked him to do everything. We won the (1976) championship playing against Denver when they had Bobby Jones, an All-League defensive player. He had the best playoff series in a championship series that I've ever seen one individual have. Beyond that, so easy to coach, total gentleman, great guy. He's the best. He treated everybody the way that a player should treat everybody--his teammates, the media, the other players, the fans. He's the best superstar to be around that I've ever been around.

"Easy to coach" is a key phrase in that quote. Erving was "easy to coach" because great players want and need to be coached. Look at the relationship that Tim Duncan had with Gregg Popovich. No one was going to act a fool on that team during the Duncan era because Duncan accepted Popovich's coaching. The same thing is true in the NFL with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

In his book The Jordan Rules, Sam Smith describes how Doug Collins was reluctant to criticize Michael Jordan when Collins was the Chicago Bulls' coach. Phil Jackson, one of Collins' assistant coaches at that time, took it upon himself to chastise Jordan when Jordan did not play the right way. Before long, Jackson was the Bulls' head coach and the Bulls eventually won six championships. Collins was a very good NBA coach but in that particular situation he did not challenge Jordan the way that Jordan wanted and needed to be challenged.

Jackson later challenged both Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant with the Lakers, lifting a previously underachieving team to three straight championships. Jackson then left the Lakers before coming back to win two more titles with Bryant and Pau Gasol as the best players. I remember a film clip of a Lakers' practice during which Gasol said "It's hard" after Jackson gave him some instructions about how to execute a particular sequence and Jackson barked back, "It's supposed to be hard!" Jackson would not accept excuses. It is worth noting that great players do not make excuses for themselves or accept excuses from their teammates; Jordan and Bryant exemplify that trait.

We live in an era during which basketball is supposedly being revolutionized by "analytics," but regardless of how you manipulate the numbers the realities of human psychology and athletic competition are immutable. You cannot win with losers, no matter how talented those players might be. You can win some games, you might even win a playoff series here or there, but in the long run a team built around a loser is always going to fall short.

George Karl's autobiography Furious George will be on sale to the public in January 2017 but I just received my review copy. Here is what Karl wrote about Carmelo Anthony: "My ideal--probably every coach's ideal--is when your best player is also your leader. But since Carmelo only played hard on one side of the ball, he made it plain he couldn't lead the Nuggets, even though he said he wanted to. Coaching him meant working around his defense and compensating for his attitude" (pp. 191-192, Furious George).

The Nuggets eventually traded Anthony and Karl concluded, "...getting rid of Carmelo Anthony was a sweet release for the coach and the team, like popping a blister. I don't automatically hate a superstar, but he's got to buy in, he's got to play defense, and he's got to share the ball. And if his teammates don't like him and if he doesn't help you win a championship...what good is he, except as bait?" (pp. 214-215, Furious George)

The Nuggets had the best regular season record in their NBA history after trading Anthony but they have been a sub-.500 team since getting rid of Karl and Masai Ujiri, the general manager who wisely traded Anthony and has now built the Toronto Raptors into a contender.

Anthony is the anti-Kobe Bryant. It is highly unlikely that Anthony could ever be the best player on an NBA championship team, because he does not accept coaching and he does not understand the importance of attitude, impact and focus. Anthony's attitude is "I got my 25 points, so it's not my fault we lost."

James is fascinating, because he is as perplexing and confounding as any truly great player in pro basketball history. There is no question that he has quit during some of the most important games/series of his career, but he has also been the best player on three championship teams while authoring some of the most sensational performances in NBA Finals history. He needs to be coached but does he always want to be coached? James is not wired like Jordan or Bryant but he is a champion in a way that Anthony never will be.

"Stat gurus" often minimize and mock the importance of coaching but Tyronn Lue's direct approach with LeBron James is just the latest example of how much impact a coach can have when he delivers the right message at the right time to a superstar who is receptive to that message.  

Labels: Bill Russell, Carmelo Anthony, George Karl, Julius Erving, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson

posted by David Friedman @ 1:02 AM

5 comments

Lindy's Pro Basketball 2010-11 Includes Pau Gasol Feature Story, Kevin Durant Interview

Lindy's Pro Basketball 2010-11--available in stores now--includes a Pau Gasol feature story by editor/renowned Lakers authority Roland Lazenby and Jorge Ribeiro's interview with Kevin Durant. Lazenby asserts that Gasol's strong performances during the Lakers' back to back championship runs have done a lot to destroy the stereotype of European players as "soft." Durant discusses a wide range of issues, including his experiences playing for Team USA Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

I contributed five team previews this year: Charlotte Bobcats, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz. As usual, each team preview is followed by a 300 word sidebar story. Here are the sidebar subjects that I examined:

Charlotte: Michael Jordan is the first NBA player to become the majority owner of an NBA franchise.

Denver: The importance of coaching in general and the specific impact that George Karl's absence had on the Nuggets last season.

Oklahoma City: Switching from shooting guard to small forward sparked Kevin Durant's emergence as an elite NBA player.

Sacramento: Tyreke Evans posted LeBron-like rookie numbers but to truly become an elite player he will have to make the same kind of second year jump that LeBron James did.

Utah: A good case can be made that Deron Williams has emerged as the NBA's best point guard.

Most of what I submitted was published exactly the way I wrote it, though the first sentence of my Nuggets' sidebar was deleted ("Statistics can be valuable when used properly but some people insist that anything that cannot be quantified on a spreadsheet is not important") and this sentence was tacked on to the end: "Karl's health appears to be on the mend--and the entire NBA wishes him well and has nothing but admiration for the Nugget's (sic) coach--but his comeback remains yet another unanswered question for this franchise." One of the core tenets asserted by "stat gurus" is that coaching ultimately does not make that much difference. I disagree with that sentiment, noting, "Unlike baseball, basketball is a dynamic game, so it is difficult to accurately quantify each player's impact on a given play, let alone decipher the overall effect that a coach has." Naturally, "stat gurus" realize that it is not in their self interest to acknowledge the importance of anything that they cannot quantify (or at least pretend to be able to quantify)--but it is not coincidental that five coaches (Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, John Kundla, Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich) have won 34 of the NBA's 64 championships.

The Bobcats officially added Sherron Collins to their roster after the article submission deadline, so I did not write the brief comments about him. Also, I think that if Larry Hughes is healthy he could play his way into Charlotte's rotation but my analysis of Hughes was deleted. Here is what I originally said about Hughes:

"Larry Hughes was once a top notch defender; injuries have taken away a lot of his athletic ability and he is now a player who does several things adequately but nothing exceptionally well. Hughes has always been an erratic outside shooter. If he can stay healthy then he can be a solid backup for (Stephen) Jackson."

Writing the team previews is always fun; I hope that readers are informed and entertained by my contributions and by the magazine as a whole.

Labels: Charlotte Bobcats, Denver Nuggets, Deron Williams, George Karl, Kevin Durant, Lindy's Pro Basketball, Michael Jordan, Oklahoma City Thunder, Sacramento Kings, Tyreke Evans, Utah Jazz

posted by David Friedman @ 2:21 AM

0 comments

News, Nuggets and Notes From Saturday's Media Availability Sessions

I have closely followed Kevin Durant's career from when he struggled to play shooting guard for Coach P.J. Carlesimo to when Carlesimo's replacement Scott Brooks wisely put Durant back at his natural forward position. Durant's production immediately improved after he started playing forward, so it has always puzzled me that anyone would deny that positional designations matter.

This season, Durant has emerged as an MVP level offensive player whose all-around game is continuing to blossom. The case is pretty much closed regarding just how important it was to put Durant back into his comfort zone but I decided to check in with him once again to hear his thoughts about the matter. I asked Durant, "How much did the position change shifting you from shooting guard to small forward benefit both you and the team?" Durant enthusiastically replied, "Oh, it's helped me out a lot and especially (helped) our team. It was tough for me playing shooting guard. I was guarding smaller players and smaller players were guarding me; that's what led to a lot of turnovers. Smaller players can get up under me when I dribble the basketball. It was tough but it was a learning adjustment and I think that by the end of my rookie year I learned how to play that position so now I can play multiple positions on the floor. From the two to the four--where (Coach) Scotty Brooks plays me a lot--it's helped me out, so I just have to continue to watch film and focus on what my coaches need for me to do to get better."

Durant is a very earnest, pleasant and soft spoken young man but beneath that unassuming demeanor he clearly has an enormous passion to learn how to master the game and broaden his skill set. Durant is often compared with George Gervin--for obvious reasons considering their respective skill sets and physiques--but it is important to remember that Gervin established himself as an All-Star forward prior to being moved to shooting guard; in other words, he first turned himself into a highly productive professional player at his natural position and this helped him to make a smooth transition from one position to another, which is exactly the process that Durant described in the above quote: playing forward returned him to his comfort zone and as a result now it is possible to situationally slot him in at other positions--as opposed to compounding the difficulties of being a rookie with the challenge of learning a position that he had never played previously at any level.

***

It was great to see Bill Walton at the Hall of Fame press conference, because he had been laid up for quite some time due to debilitating back problems that forced him to quit his job as an NBA commentator for ESPN. Walton spoke with a small group of reporters after the press conference, standing for quite some time before sitting down to continue the interviews. I missed most of what he said because I was interviewing Jerry Colangelo and Magic Johnson but I walked over in time to hear some interesting comments by Walton.

Asked to handicap the 2010 NBA playoffs, Walton declared, "The Lakers are far and away the class of the West. Far and away. The other teams, they can dream...Right now, the Lakers are the champions. They have the best coach, they have the best player--one of the two best players: it is very difficult to differentiate between Kobe and LeBron...The Lakers have every base covered. The Lakers have five players who in any game--in ANY game--can be the best player in the game, between Kobe, Gasol--who is the best big man in the game today--Artest, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum. Five guys who in any game played today could be the best player. That is how good the Lakers are--and they play as a team."

I recently did an in depth examination of the "supporting casts" for Bryant and James respectively; since I wrote that post, the Lakers won three straight games without the injured Bryant and Bynum, while the Cavaliers extended their winning streak to 13 games (best in the NBA this season) despite being without the services of injured All-Star guard Mo Williams. I stand by everything that I said regarding Cleveland's great depth but I would like to examine Walton's statement in the context of refining some of what I said about the Lakers.

I agree with Walton that the Lakers are the "class of the West"; if the Lakers are even reasonably healthy during the playoffs (i.e., Kobe has two functional legs and at least seven semi-functional fingers and either Bynum or Gasol is available throughout the postseason) then they will at the very least return to the NBA Finals. I also agree with Walton's nuanced and reasonable comparison of Bryant and James; contrary to the popular belief since midway through last season, James has not decisively passed Bryant for best player in the game status. The two are still quite close; Bryant still has the more complete skill set, while James is more athletic and--at least this season--more durable.

Walton's statement that the Lakers have five players who at any given time could be the best player in a game is interesting; clearly, Bryant and Gasol fit that bill without question. Artest can be the best defensive player in a given game and he is also a skilled passer and good three point shooter but--at least at this stage of his career--he is rarely the best overall player on the court. He is averaging 11.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg and 3.1 apg this season; while I would be the first to note that a player's statistics can be deflated on a good team and inflated on a bad team, it is more than a stretch to classify Artest as an elite player right now. As for Odom, it is true that he can be the best player in a given game, primarily because he is capable of grabbing more than 20 rebounds while also scoring in the teens or 20s--but, to paraphrase Iyanla Vanzant, all potential means is that you aren't doing anything right now. Lamar Odom was averaging a triple single for most of this season until the past three games lifted his scoring average to 10.1 ppg and his rebounding average to 9.9 rpg. He is shooting .451 from the field, his worst mark since 2003-04. Realistically, just how likely is it that Odom will be the best player on the court in a given game? Andrew Bynum has certainly shown flashes of dominance, some of which even last for a few weeks, but he has yet to prove that he can be healthy and consistent for an entire season. Again, this is where Vanzant's words of wisdom come into play. If and when Bynum proves to be a 20-10 player over the course of the better part of an 82 game season then he will fully deserve the kind of praise that Walton lavished on him.

Walton's comment also ignore the fact that the Lakers' roster markedly declines in quality after you get past those top five players. That said, it is impressive that the Lakers beat three playoff teams--including a hot Utah squad--sans Bryant and Bynum. How can I reconcile those performances with my assessments? I tend to not overreact to small sample sizes; look back and you will find that after the Cavs started the season slowly I did not waver from my contention that they would prove to be the best team in the East. Similarly, I am not yet fully convinced that the Lakers' bench (specifically Farmar and Vujacic) will continue to perform well with increased minutes. Odom has always been a sporadic player, so regardless of when Bryant returns Odom will have his ups and downs. Gasol has been very impressive but it is not unheard of for an All-Star to string together three excellent games. In short, I am somewhat surprised that the Lakers went 3-0 without Bryant--and I definitely thought that they would lose to Utah--but I still trust that in the long run my skill set evaluations based on years of watching all of these players will prove to be accurate. Naturally, unfolding events could prove me wrong and if that happens I will have no problem admitting it--but a three game sample size does not invalidate years of research.

Unfortunately for Lakers fans, that sample size could end up increasing. Although Bryant told the assembled media on Saturday that he "hopes" to play in the Lakers' first game after All-Star Weekend, he admitted that the decision to skip playing in the All-Star Game--the first time that he has ever had to do so--was not even close; when he tried to practice he simply could not push off with any force using his injured ankle. Bryant said that he could play through other injuries because he knew that they would continue to heal whether or not he played but "If I play with it (the sprained ankle), it won't get better." Bryant and the Lakers' training staff have not yet been able to get the inflammation under control. Bryant has always been a fast healer with a high pain threshold but he is also a 31 year old in his 14th season, which means that the treads on his tires have a lot of wear on them.

By the way, Bryant's take on the Lakers' three game winning streak is that his absence has forced the other players to play with a greater focus and sense of urgency. He even said that his injury could be a "blessing in disguise" provided that the other Lakers "stay in that pocket" of awareness after he returns. Bryant added that he is not concerned that the Lakers have not consistently displayed such focus; he said that every team that is trying to win repeat championships has struggled with this and pointed out that even last year's championship team did not fully buckle down until the Denver Nuggets posed a serious threat in the Western Conference Finals.

***

Right when I walked over to West Coach George Karl's table during the media availability session he said that some members of his Denver Nuggets coaching staff are already comparing Golden State rookie Stephen Curry to two-time MVP Steve Nash. Karl hastened to add that he is not quite ready to go there yet but that Curry is a very impressive player who already makes excellent reads that cause coaches to rewind game tape to marvel at his decisionmaking and court vision (Karl said that the three previous players who inspired that reaction were Magic Johnson, John Stockton and Steve Nash). While some people once compared Curry unfavorably with J.J. Redick--who actually is performing solidly as a backup guard after struggling during his first several NBA seasons--I evaluated Curry's skill set when he was still in college and concluded:

Curry can pass off of the dribble, he can drive to the hoop and finish with a dunk, he has quick hands and he can slide his feet well enough to at least be adequate defensively at the NBA level. Curry can also dribble down court at full speed, stop and shoot a step back three pointer, which--combined with his ability to handle the ball and drive to the hoop--means that he will be able to get his shot off in the NBA; in other words, his game is very similar to his father's, though I would say that Dell Curry was a bit bigger and stronger while Stephen is quicker and a bit more clever as a ballhandler. In addition to the aforementioned similarities with his father, Stephen Curry also reminds me a bit of Jeff Hornacek, a lights out shooter who could play point guard in a pinch.

It is obviously still too early to make definitive conclusions but Curry so far has performed pretty much the way that I predicted above. By the way, Curry recently joined a select group of all-time greats who posted a 35 point, 10 rebound, 10 assist game as a rookie (Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and Jason Kidd are the others).

When I covered the ABA Reunion during the 2005 All-Star Weekend various ABA players regaled me with many great stories about their experiences in that league, not all of which I have had the opportunity to publish yet. One of them involved George Karl. Joe Hamilton told me that when Karl was a rookie Karl played like an absolute madman, diving all over the court and taking charges. One time, Karl tried to take a charge on George McGinnis--a 6-8, 235 mountain of a man--and McGinnis about knocked Karl into the next week. Hamilton and the other veteran players told Karl he would not last long in the ABA if he kept trying to take charges against McGinnis. After Karl made brief, nostalgic mention of his ABA days--and lauded Artis Gilmore as a Hall of Fame-worthy player who was a "Shaq-like force, a Wilt Chamberlain-like force"--I asked him, "What memory sticks out most for you from your ABA playing career?" I recounted Hamilton's story and Karl looked at me wide-eyed before asking me "Where the hell is Joe Hamilton?" I explained that Hamilton was not in the interview area and that I had heard the story several years go. Karl then replied, "Yeah, that's true. I had my testicles taped off my legs for a week. It was a hell of a hit, a hell of a hit." When I reminded Karl that Hamilton and the other veterans had teased Karl that he would not last long playing that way Karl immediately said, "I lasted long enough--tore my knees up." I thought that maybe Karl was taking the story the wrong way--I'd never spoken with him before--so I said, "I know that you did but you probably didn't take charges like that again from McGinnis." Karl good-naturedly insisted, "I liked taking charges" but he conceded "McGinnis was huge--and he was trying to hit me." I then asked Karl my original question again and he answered, "I just was amazed at how many good players there were. Here is the NBA and everyone is saying that we (the ABA players) weren't any good but the best player I ever played against was a guy named Jimmy Jones who was an All-Pro guard in Utah for many years. He got into the NBA and his first year he tore his knee up--but by far he was the best guard I faced. I couldn't last 10 minutes--he would light me up, trick me. He and James Silas from the Spurs were actually from the same little town in Louisiana (Tallulah). They grew up in the same little town. So I remember Jimmy Jones. The ABA, for me, gave me the privilege to play. I probably wouldn't have been able to play, on the court, in the NBA; I could have maybe made the roster but it gave me the privilege to play the game at a high level. We played many exhibition games against the NBA and I got the honor of fighting with Pete Maravich--being the only guy to ever throw a punch at Pete Maravich. So, you know, we got fired up for those games; I don't know if they (NBA players) got as fired up for those games as we got fired up. It was always fun whenever we got our paychecks to see everyone run a little faster to their cars and race to the bank; there is no question that was on our minds, the bouncing of the checks. We started one year with like 10 teams and ended with seven; the schedule got changed in the middle of the year."

I asked Karl, "Did you get to see Roger Brown at his best or had he already started to decline by the time you came into the league?"

Karl answered, "Probably a little down, a little decline. He and Willie Wise were kind of at that veteran stage, not playing above the rim as much anymore--well, Wise never really did play above the rim. All those guys--Connie Hawkins, Roger Brown, Doug Moe--came from that scandalous time (the NBA banned them for alleged associations with gamblers, though none of those players were ever convicted of any crimes or even credibly implicated in any wrongdoing). What's kind of funny is that not a lot of people know that David Stern was in charge of settling the lawsuit (pertaining to ending the NBA's ban against those players). Doug Moe always told me the story about how Stern was negotiating with him all the time when Stern was just a lawyer for the NBA. Doug said he was cussing at Stern all the time."

Labels: ABA, Artis Gilmore, Bill Walton, George Karl, Jimmy Jones, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers, Stephen Curry

posted by David Friedman @ 1:35 AM

0 comments

Melo's Late Three Pointer After a Blown Call Puts Nuggets Up 3-0

The Dallas Mavericks were just seconds away from cutting Denver's series lead to 2-1 when Carmelo Anthony sank a dagger three pointer that enabled Denver to win 106-105 and will likely propel the Nuggets into the Western Conference Finals. The Mavericks had a foul to give in those waning seconds and forward Antoine Wright tried to give it--twice--but the referees did not call anything and when Wright stopped playing after he was sure that a foul would be called Anthony rightly kept going and hit a clutch shot. The NBA league office has already issued a statement admitting that the referees erred in not calling a foul. Even though the referees messed up, it is puzzling that Wright simply stopped playing in such a crucial situation; as ABC's Hubie Brown noted during the Cavs-Hawks telecast, in the NBA you always keep playing until you hear a whistle. The ending of this game provided a bit of a sour taste but the Mavericks squandered plenty of earlier chances to create a bigger margin of error for themselves.

Anthony shot just 9-24 from the field but he shot 11-14 from the free throw line and finished with 31 points and eight rebounds. Chauncey Billups scored 23 second half points to end up with 32 points on 9-16 field goal shooting. Billups has played very well for the Nuggets--particularly in the playoffs, averaging 21.1 ppg while shooting .571 from three point range--but Denver Coach George Karl recently explained that the idea that Billups "changed the culture" in Denver is a bit of an exaggeration: "I think the basketball people and the NBA people, the coaches in the world, understand it. That is usually led by the coaching staff more so than any one player. We’re the guys that started the culture in August and September. We were doing a pretty good job with it then. I think Dahntay Jones and Anthony Carter and Chris Anderson, they didn’t have Chauncey in their kind of commitment to come here and resurrect their careers. Chauncey helped that but they were already on the move in that direction."

The most obvious difference about the Nuggets this year is their team-wide commitment to playing good defense. Billups certainly has always displayed that type of commitment but he is not even the best perimeter defender on his own team (Dahntay Jones, not Billups, guarded Chris Paul in the first round). Chris Andersen does not play heavy minutes but his shotblocking has had a huge impact, because any player who drives to the hoop versus Denver has to be wary of his presence. It has also been critically important for the Nuggets that Nene and Kenyon Martin have been healthy for most of the year. Acquiring Billups turned out to be the final piece of the puzzle for the Nuggets; mixing metaphors, the Nuggets have really enjoyed a perfect storm this year, with several of their players displaying improved maturity at the same time that many presumed Western Conference contenders (San Antonio, Utah, Houston, New Orleans) have been saddled with injuries to key players. With the Lakers taking a 2-1 lead over Houston in the other Western Conference series and Houston's All-Star center Yao Ming out for the rest of the playoffs due to a broken foot we are heading rapidly toward a Lakers-Nuggets showdown in the Western Conference Finals.

It was interesting to learn during the ESPN telecast that Coach Karl primarily looks at two statistics when evaluating the performance of individual players and his team in general. The first is plus/minus, which can be "noisy" at times but also provides a barometer for judging how effective certain players and player combinations are in terms of team success (as opposed to simply racking up gaudy individual stats at the team's expense). Prior to Saturday's game three, Billups led the Nuggets in playoff plus/minus (+125) but Andersen--playing far fewer minutes--was right behind him (+110) and thus obviously leads the team in plus/minus per minute. J.R. Smith (+109), Anthony (+102) and Nene (+94) are the other top Nuggets in this category.

The second stat that Karl favors is field goal percentage differential, which is the difference between his team's shooting percentage and the opposing team's shooting percentage; this is one of the numbers that I cited in my recent article about the Knicks as proof that New York's defense is terrible and getting worse--it is not surprising that a Knicks fan would not like my conclusion about his beloved team but it is odd that ESPN's resident blogger Henry Abbott (who has revealed himself to be an unabashed fan of the Portland Trail Blazers to the extent that it biases his commentary about the league in general) considers that fan to be some kind of blogger expert even though both my initial article and my refutation of the Knicks' fan's take on the subject not only display a far superior writing style but actually cite some of the same stats that defensive-minded coaches use. Karl made his bones as a defensive-minded coach in Seattle but in recent years with Denver he got away from that approach and tried to win with a high powered scoring attack; he has seen the error of his ways and gotten back to basics this season (Knicks fans should stop dreaming that LeBron James is going to leave a defensive-minded team that is poised to win a championship and start praying that Mike D'Antoni and Donnie Walsh decide to shore up New York's defensive and rebounding weaknesses or my article objectively detailing their team's shortcomings will be the least of their concerns in the next few years).

The Mavericks will be out of the playoffs soon, so now is as good a time as any to address some of the recent criticism of Nowitzki. TNT's studio crew--Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Chris Webber--has been just killing Nowitzki, mainly because of some of Nowitzki's comments during a recent interview. In response to a question about Denver's defense, Nowitzki listed the various positive attributes of several individual Denver defenders. The TNT analysts insist that Nowitzki gave Denver's players far too much credit and that, as a great player, he should simply say that the Nuggets play hard but no one can really stop him. While I do agree with Smith's observation that Kobe Bryant would not be so deferential toward an opponent, I think that overall the TNT guys are missing the forest for the trees here. Nowitzki's comments might be an issue if in fact the Nuggets were shutting him down but he is averaging 32 ppg and 11.7 rpg while shooting .525 from the field in this series. Nowitzki's reaction to their criticism is that he is a humble person who is willing to give credit to his opponents when they play well. One of the interesting dynamics about the American media is that athletes are encouraged to speak with candor but then they are raked over the coals for expressing honest, well thought out sentiments; no wonder so many athletes either choose to speak nothing but cliches and/or do their best to avoid being interviewed at all. I would be interested to hear exactly what question Nowitzki was asked before he delivered his much criticized sound bite, because I suspect that he did not simply start praising certain Nuggets players for no reason; he was probably asked to describe specifically how Denver is guarding him and he chose to answer honestly and analytically instead of boastfully or with empty cliches.

In some circles, Nowitzki is derided as a "soft" player but there is very little objective evidence to support that. Yes, his Mavericks squandered a 2-0 lead in the 2006 Finals versus the Miami Heat, but guarding 2006 Finals MVP Dwyane Wade was not his assignment. Nowitzki averaged 22.8 ppg and 10.8 rpg in that series; he shot just .390 from the field but teams tend to focus on stopping superstars in the playoffs: to cite just two recent examples, 2008 Finals MVP Paul Pierce shot .432 from the field in the Finals and 2005 Finals MVP Tim Duncan averaged 20.6 ppg while shooting .419 from the field. Nowitzki's "sin" is that his team lost but he could not single-handedly change that outcome. In 2007, Nowitzki won the regular season MVP after leading the Mavericks to a 67-15 record but he ended up receiving that award in a very anticlimactic ceremony that took place after his Mavericks were upset in the first round by the Golden State Warriors. Nowitzki did not distinguish himself in that series but the real problem for the Mavericks is that they psyched themselves out before the series even began, changing their starting lineup and electing to play a slow down game that actually worked in Golden State's favor: they were able to harass Nowitzki and get stops, after which they still played at their normal fast pace. The Mavericks would have been much better served to also play at a fast pace, providing Nowitzki the opportunity to get open shots in transition instead of having to deal with swarming defenders in the half court set. Nowitzki's selection as the MVP received a lot of criticism in the wake of the Golden State series but I maintained at that time that those negative comments were unwarranted; although I would have chosen Kobe Bryant as the MVP that year, if the criteria being used was to select the best player on the best regular season team then Nowitzki earned the award--and one subpar playoff series did not alter the fact that he has put together a great career playoff resume. Nowitzki's career playoff scoring average of 25.1 ppg ranks 14th in NBA history, ahead of such notables as Rick Barry, Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan--not to mention Charles Barkley (24th, 23.0 ppg) and Chris Webber (62nd, 18.7 ppg); Nowitzki's career playoff rebounding average of 11.0 rpg ranks 23rd in NBA history, better than Karl Malone, David Robinson, Abdul-Jabbar, Patrick Ewing, Willis Reed, Bird--and Webber (53rd, 8.7 rpg). For the record, Barkley ranks ninth all-time with a 12.9 rpg average but Nowitzki is one of just five players in NBA history (Bob Pettit, Elgin Baylor, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal are the others) to post career playoff averages of better than 25 ppg and 11 rpg.

Nowitzki has not just put up empty numbers, either; he has had many clutch playoff performances:

• Nowitzki had four straight playoff games with at least 30 points and 15 rebounds, spanning a game five loss to Duncan's Spurs in 2001 and Dallas' three game first round sweep of Kevin Garnett's Minnesota Timberwolves in 2002; the last player to accomplish that was Abdul-Jabbar in 1977 with the Lakers and 1970 with the Bucks.
• Nowitzki's 42 defensive rebounds in the 2002 Minnesota series were the second most in a three game playoff span since 1973-74, when the NBA began separately tracking offensive and defensive rebounds (Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo set the record in 1976 with 43 defensive rebounds).
• Nowitzki had 25 points and 20 rebounds in a 141-137 game three victory over the Sacramento Kings on May 10, 2003, becoming just the fourth player under the age of 25 to have a 20-20 playoff game since 1991 (Shaquille O'Neal did this twice, Shawn Kemp and Jermaine O'Neal did it once each).
• In 2003, Nowitzki had at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in back to back game sevens, joining Olajuwon, Kevin McHale, Bird, Elvin Hayes, Wilt Chamberlain and Pettit as the only players to accomplish that feat. Webber should well remember the second of Nowitzki's 30-10 games, a 30 point, 19 rebound outing against Webber's Kings (Webber did not play due to injury).
• In 2006, Nowitzki had 50 points and 12 rebounds in a playoff win versus Phoenix, becoming just the fifth player since 1970 to put up 50-10 in a playoff game.

Note that in his big playoff games Nowitzki not only scored a lot but he also grabbed double digit rebounds; soft players do not repeatedly have those kinds of multidimensional performances.

Labels: Chauncey Billups, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Dirk Nowitzki, George Karl

posted by David Friedman @ 4:00 AM

5 comments

Part II of an Interview with Dr. Charles "Chic" Hess, Author of "Prof Blood and the Wonder Teams"

"Life comes to you in a moment...each moment of your life can be perceived by you only if you are equipped imaginatively, equipped to dramatize your own role in it--to see yourself as a protagonist confronted by adversary circumstances"--Jerzy Kosinski

The greatest basketball coach you've never heard of led Passaic (New Jersey) High School to 159 straight victories from 1919-1925. Ernest Blood--better known as Professor Blood or simply Prof--was an innovator who valued the pass over the dribble and who developed a feeder system in the lower grade levels so that his high school squad had a steady supply of enthusiastic, top level talent. Blood won seven state championships at Passaic from 1915-1925 and he could have enjoyed a much longer run of success there but he ran afoul of shortsighted school administrators who were apparently jealous of his popularity. Blood resigned his post at Passaic and then coached at St. Benedict's Preparatory School (in Newark, New Jersey) for 23 seasons, leading them to five prep school state titles. Blood also coached at Clarkson University and the U.S. Military Academy.

Blood was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960 but his life story and accomplishments are not widely known. Enter Philadelphia native Dr. Charles "Chic" Hess, a veteran high school and junior college coach who first learned about Blood by reading about the 159 game winning streak in little filler blurbs in the local newspapers. Hess had always wanted to know more about the fantastically successful coach with the eye-catching name, so when he began working on his doctorate in his forties he also started assembling information about Blood's life and times. This turned into a 16 year project that culminated with Hess writing a 455 page book titled "Prof Blood and the Wonder Teams: The True Story of Basketball's First Great Coach." Published in 2003 and currently available for $29.95 plus $5 shipping and handling, Hess' biography of Blood is truly a labor of love, a thoroughly detailed account of Passaic's epic winning streak and the behind the scenes school politics that ultimately ended Blood's time at the school.

Dr. Hess is a very successful coach in his own right. His 1978 Lebanon (Pennsylvania) high school squad, anchored by future NBA first round draft pick Sam Bowie, made it to the 1978 Class AAA State Finals. Hess won three coach of the year awards in Pennsylvania, captured two NAIA District 29 Coach of the Year awards for his work at Brigham Young University-Hawaii and then earned the 1991 NABC Coach of the Year Award at Arizona Western College (NJCAA).

You can read Part I of my interview with Dr. Hess here.

Friedman: "In the book, you point out that Prof Blood very much emphasized the importance of passing and that he discouraged excessive dribbling. I have a big interest in the NBA, so I am curious to hear you compare Prof Blood’s philosophy to the philosophies of two coaches in particular: Paul Westhead, the ‘guru of go’ who coached in college and the NBA, and then also Mike D’Antoni, who has employed the ‘seven seconds or less’ philosophy in Phoenix and now with the Knicks. How would you compare Prof Blood’s ideas about passing and not dribbling too much with what you know about the philosophies of those two coaches?"

Hess: "I’m much more familiar with Paul Westhead, because he’s from Philadelphia too. It comes down to talent. You want to play a style of play (that fits your talent), whether you’re totally in the entertainment business or you’re really just teaching kids. Paul got to be in the entertainment business and the NBA is the entertainment business—people come to the games to be entertained. If you have the right talent, there is nothing wrong with doing that. It’s fun. Is it Grinnell College in Iowa that scores 100+ points per game almost every year? They just put it up, put it up, put it up. It’s amazing to watch them play and it’s fun and entertaining. He recruits kids for that system.

There was a time in basketball that was called the ‘dribble game.’ Before the development of helping defense, a good dribbler could beat his defender and get all the way to the basket. Then, when helping defense developed it was pretty hard for a dribbler to get all the way to the basket. Now, they reward the three point shot. What’s it called? Dribble-drive motion offense."

Friedman: "Right, in Memphis with John Calipari."

Hess: "Yeah. You dribble in, you penetrate and if the defense helps out then you kick the ball out to a three point shooter. The game has evolved. But, back then, Prof Blood said that the ball would move quicker than the defensive players could move and if you move that ball quickly enough then you are going to get very good shots. It’s a team game, everyone is going to be touching the ball and everyone has to be able to handle the ball; you can’t hide a player. They’re all involved. I just like that better. Hey, I’ve been in the game long enough—if I had the players would I ever think of doing what Paul Westhead did? Yeah, what the hell, it would be fun. Give it a try. There is more than one way to skin a cat but you have to look at how much talent you have available. How many players do you have? You may look at your bench and not have one kid who can play; all your good players may be on the court. So, then you can’t substitute a lot.

I believe in the pass—pass the ball, move the ball, hit the high post, kick it outside. The ball is being moved all around. People aren’t catching the ball and dribbling and catching and dribbling—move the ball, move the ball. I believed in that before I read about Prof and then reading about him just made me more set in my ways. I’d rather have a kid save his dribble and catch and pass the ball right away then do anything else but then whoever is open, take the shot. That is why we are passing the ball: to get someone an open shot. That is why we work all year round on shooting the ball, so that when you get an open shot you will hit it. As Hubie Brown says, shooting covers up a multitude of sins."

Friedman: "You seem to be making a distinction between Prof Blood’s philosophy and Paul Westhead’s philosophy but I’m not sure that I understand the distinction that you are making. You seem to be saying that there was some kind of difference between what Prof Blood was doing and what Coach Westhead was doing but from my perspective—and maybe I’m wrong or maybe I’m not understanding something—it seems like what they advocated is similar. The main difference that I see is that in Prof Blood’s era there was a jump ball after each made basket, so there was not the same kind of non-stop fast break that Westhead uses. That has more to do with a rules difference than with a difference in philosophy, because Westhead’s philosophy is to advance the ball up the court as quickly as possible and the first guy who is open should shoot. He is not going to tell anybody not to shoot; I interviewed him a while ago and he told me that he would never discourage a player from shooting because he did not want to mess with his confidence. He would always encourage players to advance the ball up the court and then shoot the first open shot. To me, it seems like there is a certain parallel between that idea and my understanding of your explanation of what Prof Blood’s teams were doing: pass the ball, pass the ball, pass the ball and when you have an open shot then shoot it with confidence. Maybe I’m misunderstanding your answer but your answer seemed to be that if you have the personnel then you can use Westhead’s system, so if there is a distinction in your mind between what Coach Westhead did and what Prof Blood did then please explain it to me so that I can understand it better."

Hess: "Let me try. Paul got fired at La Salle right before he moved out west. At La Salle, he used to have one guy cherry picking underneath the basket while the other four guys played defense. He was an innovator. He tried different things. He was entertaining and it was fun to watch. He got a couple good Philadelphia players (to go to Loyola Marymount), Hank Gathers from Dobbins (high school in Philadelphia) and who was the other player?"

Friedman: "Bo Kimble. Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble were his two key players at Loyola Marymount."

Hess: "I think that they were both from Philadelphia, public school kids there."

Friedman: "Yes."

Hess: "He turned it into a sideshow. I studied his fast break and I even still have all his notes about how he ran it numbers-wise, who was in what position and what they did, that ball got down the court and the kid on the wing or slightly in the corner shot the ball right away with other people crashing the boards. If he couldn’t shoot it right away then the ball went somewhere else and he shot it if he could. He wanted a shot in seven seconds."

Friedman: "Similar to D’Antoni."

Hess: "Yeah. He wanted the shot taken right away. Prof Blood wanted to get twice as many shots up as the other team. He worked on shooting and he figured that his team would shoot better than the opposing teams but he knew that the quality of the shot was dependent on the quality of the passes. Instead of dribbling the ball, he believed in passing the ball rapidly, no matter how many passes it would take—three, four, five quick passes, six, seven or eight if you had to, but if it is done quickly you are going to get a shot. Of course, obviously then you have to crash the boards and get second shots but those kids were firing away at the basket. The number of shots that they took in some games, I wondered how did they take 75 shots in a high school game? But they did it and it was a sight to be seen. I talked to old people and they used to say that when they watched this they knew that they were seeing the future of basketball. There are obviously some similarities (between Blood and Westhead) but because of the differences in era and the way that the game was evolving and the courts that they used—hey, Paul Westhead’s basketball did not catch on, everyone is not doing it, although the (shot) clock has almost forced it. He (Westhead) was adapting a good method (to take advantage of the shot clock and the three point shot) and he had the players to do it. Look what he pulled off and if they were on TV people tuned in to watch because they were extremely entertaining. They filled up that gym there in L.A. and there hasn’t been anything like that there since then.”

Friedman: "Yes and he did the same kind of thing with the Nuggets, obviously with much less success—but, as he said to me, he didn’t have the players. He won a WNBA championship in Phoenix with basically the same approach. He’s called the 'guru of go.' When I read your book about Prof Blood, it seemed to me that if Prof Blood were alive today then he would be doing something like what D’Antoni is doing or what Westhead did. There might be some fine points that would be changed—you seem to be decrying what you consider to be a sideshow aspect of what Westhead did, that maybe he took things to far or that his approach was maybe a little bit too extreme."

Hess: "The reason that I say 'sideshow' is that I know what he did at La Salle. How many coaches would ever have one guy stand underneath the basket at the offensive end and never leave to keep the other team off balance while they’re on offense, because if they miss then they have to hurry to get someone back on defense? He used to do things to disrupt other teams. He wasn’t as successful and I don’t know all the politics behind it, but he eventually got fired (at La Salle); that’s no slight and I don’t mean it as such, because what coach in the business hasn’t been fired? It’s part of the business. He is entertaining and there are obviously some similarities and you are probably right, if Prof Blood were coaching today he probably would be doing something to stay ahead of the curve of what is going on."

Friedman: "When I was reading your book—and when anyone reads a book or goes through any life experience, you relate it to your own life experience and your own knowledge—I made analogies to my experiences and what I’ve seen and I thought that Prof Blood seems like Coach D’Antoni and Coach Westhead. All of the things that you wrote about Prof Blood’s emphasis on passing the ball and getting shots up sound just like the way that D’Antoni and Westhead coach. I’ve interviewed both of those coaches. Also, you mentioned in the book how much Prof Blood instilled confidence in his players and that is very much a D’Antoni approach or a Westhead approach. As you know, there are some coaches who are critical—obviously, that is an important aspect of coaching and every coach has to be critical at some point if the players mess up--but there are certain coaches who are constantly involved in building up their players’ confidence. Westhead and D’Antoni definitely fall more on that side of the spectrum than, say, Bobby Knight. You can be a great coach the other way but there are a couple different approaches you can take and you don’t often see Westhead or D’Antoni screaming at their players or berating them. They are always telling their players, ‘Keep shooting. I want you to shoot the ball’ and that sort of thing.

Denver Coach George Karl has this phrase that he uses—and I’ve heard other coaches use it, too: ball stopper. He does not want his players to be ball stoppers. He constantly says to his players that he wants them to shoot, pass or drive as soon as they catch the ball. Do not stop the ball. He does not want them to stop the ball. He almost literally would rather that they take a bad shot than hold the ball—he doesn’t want them to take a bad shot, but, given a choice, he’d prefer that they take a bad shot right after they catch the ball as opposed to holding the ball. Do you see some similarity between that mentality and Prof Blood’s emphasis on the pass and on quick hitting action?"

Hess: "I think you’re hitting the nail right on the head. Yes. Prof had different jargon—his press was called 'offensive defense.'"

Friedman: "That was going to be my next question."

Hess: "I think that was exactly what they did—pass, pass, pass, pass and as soon as the first guy was open he either shot it or took it to the basket. Shots were going up and it was quick, quick, quick. As John Wooden said, 'Be quick but don’t hurry.' The ball would be moving quickly. I wasn’t familiar with that term—'ball stopper'--but I’ve had great respect for Coach Karl throughout his career. That makes an awful lot of sense and that is what Prof’s team was doing."

Friedman: "I’ve heard other coaches use that phrase since I heard Coach Karl use it, so I’m not sure where it originates. I don’t know if he created it; for all I know, maybe he learned it from Dean Smith somewhere along the line with that North Carolina coaching tree. The first time I heard him say it, they had this show—I think that it was on NBA TV—during which they miked up Denver’s practice. One of the players caught the ball, held it, dribbled and was not really doing anything and Coach Karl blew his whistle, stopped the practice and he said, ‘Don’t be a ball stopper. When you catch the ball, shoot it, pass it, drive it.’

You and I talked a little bit about Iverson and this also relates to Carmelo Anthony, who is guilty of this. At one point in time, Coach Karl was coaching two players who are very talented but who are both ball stoppers. They both are guys who get the ball, they massage it, they are looking around—because they are one on one players. They are very good one on one players but Coach Karl was pulling out what little hair he has left when those guys did that because that does not fit in with his approach."

Hess: "I understand completely what you are saying and as a coach that would drive me nuts. It really would. I’ve had some outstanding players, some who I was able to get through to and some who I just could not run an offense with them; they’d get the ball and then it’s their time and the offense goes to heck because, as you said, they start massaging the ball and they think about doing their thing and our thing has just gone out the window."

Friedman: "The thing that is interesting to me in terms of watching different coaches and their philosophies is that what Phil Jackson has been able to do very successfully with the Bulls and the Lakers is that he had Jordan and now he has Kobe, fantastic players who do things that could be considered 'ball stopping' at some points. He puts in the Triangle and somehow he finds a happy medium between running the Triangle to get everyone involved while also having a certain degree of toleration, understanding the necessity that in certain situations those guys will isolate and go one on one and do some of that. Jackson found some kind of compromise position. A cynic could say that it is easy to find a compromise position when you have arguably the best player in the game in either of those eras but not every coach would be able to adjust to that and find some happy medium there.

You mentioned 'offensive defense.' That is an interesting phrase in your book and I would like for you to expound on that and explain how it relates to the modern game. What does that approach mean and how could it be used under today’s rules?"

Hess: "As the game has evolved, Prof was not known for his defense. He was known for his offense. His teams were going to shoot the ball well and they were going to shoot it frequently. That’s a given. After pass-pass-pass the shot was going to go up and everything was going to be done quickly. Well, to get more shots, as soon as they lost possession of the ball they would start playing defense right away. They would be on them full court. In 1936, the rules changed and they started taking the ball out of bounds after a made free throw, which eventually led to taking the ball out of bounds after every made shot, eliminating the center jump (which used to be held after each made field goal). Of course, there were a lot of people who argued that the human body was not capable of running non-stop that way; that is what the medical profession and even the coaches thought, until they tried it and they found out that the human body was much more capable than they thought.

I mentioned in the book that Frank Keaney of the University of Rhode Island—or Rhode Island State College as it was called at the time—had a former Passaic student—Bill Mokray—as the manager of the team. Sure enough, Frank Keaney started doing a lot of the things that Prof was doing: pressing full court and putting the ball up rapidly. They were famous for the two points a minute teams that scored more points than any team in the country because they were shooting so much. I thought that it was a real coincidence that they were doing this and they had a former Passaic High School student who had seen all of Prof’s games and who I think probably influenced Keaney to do that full court style of basketball where more points are being scored, that wide open style; that was uncharacteristic of East Coast basketball, especially the St. John’s Wonder Five that they had in the early 1930s. Prof Blood’s idea was passing the ball quickly until you got an open shot and then pressing on defense."

Friedman: "So the idea is that you put a lot of pressure on the opposing team by how quickly you are shooting and how many shots you get up and then when you don’t have the ball you are primarily trapping and being aggressive and trying to get the ball back to put up more shots."

Hess: "You are making conditioning an aspect of the game. If you are in better condition than your opponent, take advantage of it. Make them build up an oxygen debt. Make them hurry. If they have to hurry, they won’t be as efficient; if they’re tired, they won’t be as efficient. So, get them playing at a different pace than they’re used to. Coaches do this today but of course many of the teams are in superior condition—except for the high schools. I’m seeing some of the high schools out here—Hawaii is not known for basketball. I’m reading in the paper right now that coaches are talking about how the football players are coming out for basketball and they’re not in shape yet. At St. Anthony’s, where Bobby Hurley is coaching, the kids are in shape in October. They’re always in shape and they’re always ready to play. Here it’s a little different and conditioning can be a factor in winning games."

Friedman: "If you have that approach, then you are going to make sure that your players are conditioned to do it and, like you said, if the other teams are not training that way then your conditioning becomes an advantage and the other team will not only be physically fatigued but they will also become mentally fatigued and make mistakes. That is where, in the totality, I see a comparison between Prof Blood and Westhead and D’Antoni and Karl—all three of those guys are known for coaching teams that play at a fast tempo. They are not necessarily known for having teams that play great defense, although Karl had a good defensive team in Seattle but in Denver that is something that has been questioned a little bit. All three of them are known for coaching teams that get up a lot of shots, are well conditioned, try to outrun opposing teams and, as you said, make conditioning a real advantage for their teams and a disadvantage for opposing teams."

Hess: "I think that what you are seeing and what you are saying is that the game has evolved and you mentioned some of the great coaches that we have today and what they do. There is a similarity to what Prof Blood was doing 70, 80 years ago. This is a fact. Before those coaches came along, there were other coaches—like Clair Bee and Nat Holman: those guys were the pioneers and that’s what Prof Blood was. He was a pioneer who started doing different things that caught on. Clair Bee and others came to watch his (Prof Blood’s) teams play—college coaches came around to see his teams play. During an after banquet speech, Clair Bee mentioned Prof Blood. The same thing with Nat Holman, who referred to Prof Blood being the best coach of his era, for sure. They learned from him and then it branches out. We all have our mentors. Naismith wasn’t a basketball guy. He only played the game twice. He invented the game, but basically that was it. Other people took it and refined it. It’s almost like there’s nothing new. This dribble-drive motion offense is really nothing new. Other people have become famous because of the stage that they were on but they learned what they did from someone else."

Friedman: "Coach Westhead told me that he did not invent a lot of the principles that he used in his offense. He borrowed a lot of things from Sonny Allen, who coached at Old Dominion. Like you said, there is a whole tradition or legacy that gets passed on from one generation to the next. Calipari borrowed the dribble-drive motion offense from some other coach (Vance Walberg, a high school and community college coach in California) and I’m sure that coach got it from somewhere else and so on down the line.

You’ve addressed this a little bit in terms of talking about the feeder system but I noticed that Prof Blood’s teams won a lot of blowouts. How much of the dominance of those teams—not just how many games in a row that they won but the large victory margins—was a result of his coaching strategies and techniques and how much simply had to do his teams having more talent than the opposing teams did? How would you assess that?"

Hess: "There is no doubt that he had more talent than most of the teams that he played against but Prof understood what it took to win games. He would shake the bushes, look through the school and get the kids with athletic ability to come out for the team. I remember that when I was in college, one professor said to me, 'If you want to be a winner as a coach, find the natural athletes.' I remember feeling a little indignant about that, because I am only an average athlete and I know that I was probably an overachiever (as a player) with the ability that I was given. I was thinking that I would work with kids like myself and teach them how to play—instill a love of the game so they can play and get better, become good shooters and know how to score. Prof understood this and he would look for kids who had athletic ability. Of course, he motivated them and they played. Not only that, he knew that you needed to control the center tap (because at that time there was a jump ball after every made basket), so he always looked for tall kids. He would go into the elementary schools and start identifying who the tall kids were and making sure that he exposed them to the game so that they would become smitten with the love of the game and want to play. He was very successful in doing that and always having some big kids and that was a decided advantage, getting the center tap.

As you know, by the rules at that time he could not coach the kids from the bench during the game; you had to wait until timeouts and halftime to talk to them. From everything I’ve researched, I visualize him as a complete package. He understood the psychology of the game and how athletes think. He understood the game of basketball and he could see things that were going on out on the court and make adjustments; during more than a handful of games during the streak, he had to do that. As you know, he often put his second and third teams in and they were also coached to be able to do different things. Obviously, if you are in a lot of close games then you will lose some of them. The ball will not bounce your way every time and you will inevitably lose a game. People are going to catch up to you. I tried to theorize what would have happened if he had stayed there. Well, eventually he would have lost and losses would have come more often but he had something going on there that I think that he could have won 99% of the next 150 games if he had been able to be there that much longer. He would have continued to win with maybe an occasional loss and it would have taken another 10-15 years for the rest of the world to start to catch up with him if someone cared to try to build a (comparable) program somewhere else. I thought that he was a complete package."

Part III of my interview with Dr. Hess will look more closely at his coaching career, including the time that he spent mentoring future first round draft pick Sam Bowie.

Labels: Dr. Charles "Chic" Hess, George Karl, Mike D'Antoni, Passaic High School, Paul Westhead, Prof Blood

posted by David Friedman @ 2:56 AM

0 comments

Phil Hubbard: Playing Within Limits

Phil Hubbard might have become an NBA star if not for a serious knee injury. Instead, he persevered, accepted his limitations and had a solid 10-year NBA career. Here is a link to my HoopsHype.com article about Hubbard (10/8/15 edit: the link to HoopsHype.com no longer works, so I have posted the original article below):

Phil Hubbard seemed destined to be an NBA star. He made a splash right from the start of his college career, producing 15.1 ppg and 11.0 rpg and shooting .546 from the field while leading Michigan to the 1976 NCAA Championship Game versus Big Ten rival Indiana. The Hoosiers were one of the great teams in college basketball history. They went 29-0 in the 1975 regular season, only to lose in the NCAA Tournament after star Scott May broke his arm, and followed that up with a 27-0 record in the 1976 regular season. Indiana lost starting guard Bobby Wilkerson to a head injury in the opening moments of the 1976 Championship Game and Hubbard’s Wolverines led 35-29 at halftime. Hubbard fouled out in the second half, finishing with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, and Indiana pulled away, winning 86-68. Hubbard is one of the few freshmen who scored at least 25 total points in the Final Four, a group that includes Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Chris Webber and Carmelo Anthony.

In the summer of 1976, Hubbard won an Olympic gold medal as Team USA streaked to a 7-0 record. The youngest player on the team, Hubbard ranked fourth on the squad in rebounding. "The players have gotten a lot better," Hubbard says. "When we played, we were college players and we came together for two months. Other than the Russians, they (the players from other countries) were still just grasping the game. Overall, it's changed because so many of the players that they have now play in our league. That's made the difference."

Hubbard averaged 19.6 ppg and 13.0 rpg while shooting a sizzling .556 from the field in his sophomore season, good enough to earn selection to the AP All-American Team. Michigan won the Big Ten with a 16-2 record and finished the regular season 24-3 overall. The Wolverines lost in the Elite Eight to a UNC-Charlotte team led by future Boston Celtic Cedric Maxwell. Hubbard led the NCAA Tournament in rebounding average (15.0 rpg).

A serious knee injury forced Hubbard to sit out his entire junior year. While he was able to return for his senior season, he clearly had lost a lot of his explosiveness and his numbers declined across the board: 14.8 ppg, 9.1 rpg, .495 field goal shooting. He still showed enough skill and savvy for the Detroit Pistons to select him in the first round with the 15th pick overall in the 1979 draft.

Hubbard had a solid rookie season (9.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg) for the dreadful Pistons, whose 16-66 record was the worst in the league by eight games. Not surprisingly, that was the last season for the team's coach--none other than Dick Vitale. Hubbard became a starter in his second season, averaging 14.5 ppg and leading the team in rebounding (7.3 rpg). He was particularly strong on the offensive glass, quite an accomplishment considering the severity of his knee injury. "I had to adjust my game and just work harder--be able to play below the rim instead of above it," Hubbard explains. "Rebounding is just effort," he adds. "To get rebounds you have to work at it. It's not an easy task but if you work at it you can get rebounds."

On February 16, 1982, the Pistons sent Hubbard to Cleveland in a multi-player deal that included Bill Laimbeer, who became the starting center for the "Bad Boys" teams that later won two titles. For Hubbard, it meant going from a bad team to an even worse one--the Cavaliers were the laughingstock of the league and won only 15 games that season. That December, help arrived in the form of World B. Free, acquired from Golden State in exchange for Ron Brewer. The flamboyant Free had legally changed his name from Lloyd to World because he was--at least in his own estimation--not just All-Star caliber but in fact "All-World."

Free came to Cleveland with great fanfare, arriving in a helicopter and receiving much media coverage. "They made a big production out of it but it worked out," Hubbard recalls. "World was good to play with because he was a guy who could get a basket on his own. He could help us get open, too." Hubbard’s first impression of Free can be expressed in one word: "Arrogant." Hubbard hastens to add, "But he turned out to be a good guy." Free's confidence and scoring ability did improve the Cavaliers but not enough to get into the playoffs. Meanwhile, Hubbard had found his niche in the NBA, playing about 23 mpg and averaging roughly 10 ppg and 5 rpg. The Cavaliers improved to 23 wins in 1983 and 28 wins in 1984.

Then, Cleveland hired George Karl to be the team's head coach. The Cavaliers started the season horribly, chafing under Karl's micromanaging ways. But then he loosened the reins and a funny thing happened--the team caught fire and made the playoffs. That turnaround is Hubbard's fondest memory of his 10 year NBA career. "We were able to make the playoffs after starting out the season 2-19," Hubbard says. "That’s probably the most memorable. Being able to come back and do that was big."

"It was his first coaching job," Hubbard says of Karl. "He's a good motivator. He's always getting on you and riding you. We listened to him. We all just came together for him and it was a good thing." The Cavaliers went 34-27 down the stretch. "It was a good experience because World was our leader," Hubbard says. "He scored the points for us and we worked off of him. He was probably one of the most prolific scorers of that era. He was a good player to play with. He turned out to be a good teammate. A lot of people didn't get to know him as well as we did but he was a real good teammate."

Cleveland battled the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics extremely hard in a 3-1 first round loss; the teams actually scored exactly the same amount of points and each of Boston's victories was by three points or less. Hubbard enjoyed the finest season of his career, averaging 15.8 ppg and 6.3 rpg in the regular season and 15.5 ppg and 5.0 rpg in the playoffs versus the Celtics' Hall of Fame frontline of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

Hubbard says that Bird and Bernard King, who had his best years with the New York Knicks, were the two toughest players for him to guard. What made them so hard to handle? "They got to shoot a lot," Hubbard says with a chuckle. "That makes it hard. (When you guard) guys who get to shoot a lot and get a lot of opportunities you have to make sure that you make them work to get their points and that they are not getting any easy points. Guys who get a lot of shot opportunities always have a chance to score."

The Cavaliers were unable to sustain their good play in 1985-86. Injuries forced Hubbard to miss 59 games, Karl was fired near the end of the season and Cleveland finished 29-53. New Cavaliers' General Manager Wayne Embry put together a promising nucleus of young players in the offseason, trading for the rights to draft center Brad Daugherty and also drafting Ron Harper and Mark Price. He hired Lenny Wilkens to be the team's coach. The Cavaliers only won 31 games as their young players learned the ropes, but Daugherty, Harper and John "Hot Rod" Williams (drafted in 1985 but forced to sit out a year by the NBA before being cleared of point -shaving charges) each made the All-Rookie Team in 1986-87. Hubbard, now 30, was the oldest player on the team, and he averaged 11.8 ppg and 5.7 rpg while providing a steadying influence.

The emergence of Price as a top tier point guard enabled the Cavaliers to ship the talented Kevin Johnson to Phoenix for Larry Nance and in 1987-88 the Cavaliers improved to 42-40. Williams was now the versatile sixth man, filling in at forward or center, and Hubbard started alongside Nance and Daugherty, the team's two leading scorers. "Mark was a phenomenal player--great shooter," Hubbard recalls. "He really surprised people with his quickness with the basketball--they didn't realize how quick he was with the basketball. He was just a constant competitor and he would knock down the big shot." The Cavaliers were a promising team but another team was also rising in the East: the Chicago Bulls, who paired rookies Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant with the incomparable Michael Jordan. The Bulls eliminated the Cavaliers in a hard fought first round series.

The Cavaliers soared to 57-25 in 1988-89 but Hubbard only played sparingly as Nance, Daugherty and Williams received the bulk of the frontcourt minutes. Price earned his first All-Star selection and also made the All-NBA Third Team. "He was really a big key to us making that run to winning 57 games--he was a big part of that," Hubbard says. "With his quickness he was able to read the defense and cut through a little space. He was just such a good player in terms of knowing how to use the pick-and-roll and knowing how to split the pick-and-roll. He was a good passer and when he got in the lane, by the time they came over to help, he would make good passes that enabled us to get layups." This was by far the best NBA team that Hubbard played for, but their title hopes were ended by Michael Jordan's famous shot over Craig Ehlo. Hubbard retired after that season with career averages of 10.9 ppg and 5.3 rpg.

Hubbard worked as the New York Knicks' scouting coordinator for five years before Wilkens--then coaching the Atlanta Hawks--hired him as an assistant coach. Later he spent some time on Dave Cowens' staff at Golden State. In 2003, Eddie Jordan of the Washington Wizards hired Hubbard as one of his assistant coaches, a position that Hubbard has held ever since. In 2005, he helped Jordan guide the franchise to its first playoff series win in 25 years and the team returned to the playoffs in 2006, Washington's first back-to-back playoff appearances since 1987-88.

Labels: Brad Daugherty, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, George Karl, Larry Nance, Mark Price, Phil Hubbard, Washington Wizards, World B. Free

posted by David Friedman @ 6:22 AM

1 comments