OT: Best pickup games vs CBB/Pro athlete stories...

[orangepassion]

I remember playing Carmelo 1-on-1 and demolishing him 11-2.

Then I woke up.

 

[4evaOrange]

Just looked up the cba new Rochelle game and it was 41-35 Paulus had a monster game and Bruce Williams dominated both sides of the ball. Can’t find box score or anything more of a recap. Did get a video or Paulus's completions.

 

[AZOrange]

Big Perm

yeah! I can’t believe I forgot that. Deshaun was “Cuz” and everyone he talked to was “Cuz”

 

[SUMBA]

Ok, this is not my story but one told to me by a co worker in the mid 1990's. The guy was a very good hoops player and got a full ride to a school in Northern NY State that was not Syracuse. After his freshman year he decided he wanted to attend SU and walk on the basketball team.

The way he told the story is that he went to the initial basketball practice as a walk on. When the team was warming up with the 3 on two drills he got the ball in on the block and thought he was getting a lay up. However, somebody (he told me who but I cannot recall) blocked his shot from behind and the ball wound up in the first row of seats.

He tried to shake that off and was then tasked with playing defense in the same 3 on 2 drill. A certain Derrick Coleman came in on the wing and was passed the ball. My co worker saw the opportunity to impress by taking the charge.

What happened next, according to him, is that DC went airborne and all my co worker could see was the word "Converse" as it was written on DC's sneaker. DC executed a savage dunk which kept the backboard vibrating for several minutes.

My co worker said he knew than that he was out of his league. He finished that initial practice but never went back.

 

[orangenauburn]

Just looked up the cba new Rochelle game and it was 41-35 Paulus had a monster game and Bruce Williams dominated both sides of the ball. Can’t find box score or anything more of a recap. Did get a video or Paulus's completions.

Courtney Greene and Ray Rice. Both at one point looked like future teammates at Cuse. Then everything went to hell. McDermott was also a target but P wanted him as an athlete instead of QB. When McDermott realized he wasn't going to be a D1 QB he chose hoops

 

[4evaOrange]

Courtney Greene and Ray Rice. Both at one point looked like future teammates at Cuse. Then everything went to hell. McDermott was also a target but P wanted him as an athlete instead of QB. When McDermott realized he wasn't going to be a D1 QB he chose hoops

Did find some highlights.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

I have two stories. At SU my freshman year I was playing pickup and generally getting killed by short guys from Brooklyn. They grew up playing on playgrounds; I grew up playing against other suburban kids in my driveway. A kid about my height of 6 feet on the other team was really lighting it up from the outside. And by the “outside” I mean from the quad, from Manley, from Pittsburgh…. What I’m trying to say was he had what is known as “range.” After a while I realized he was Greg “Kid” Kohls, who ultimately became the greatest shooter in SU history.

GMac? Andy Rautins? Jim Lee?

No.

Anybody who ever saw The Kid knows that #33 was the greatest Orange shooter. End of story. His senior year he averaged somewhere between 25 and 27 ppg WITHOUT the 3 point arc. He would have easily been over 30 ppg had the three point line been in effect.

Fortunately I wasn’t the guy guarding him because who needs that humiliation?

Before that, in high school, my gym teacher was Larry Costello. Larry played in the NBA for years and started his coaching career at my high school. One day he had the class taking free throws. I can still hear him saying “no Richard, get your elbow higher!” Well crap, when you are shooting in front of one of the greatest free throw shooters in NBA history, it makes a guy a tad nervous. I’ll tell you what though; my son was visiting from Oregon last week and this old man beat him at HORSE. Thanks Larry!

Costello went back to the NBA briefly and then coached the Milwaukee Bucks. He eventually took them to the NBA Championship with Oscar Robertson and some guy named Alcindor. Wonder what ever happened to that Alcindor guy?

Glad to see Larry Costello finally named to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Minoa’s Larry Costello named to Basketball Hall of Fame

Costello won an NBA title both as a player and coach.

www.syracuse.com

 

[cliftonparksufan]

when Adrian Dantley went awol back in the day, he turned up at my college (AU in DC) and I shot hoops with him a couple of times. the 2nd time I saw him in the gym, we were about to play our arch rival fraternity so we got AD one of our jerseys and had him warm up with us before the game. the look on their faces when they saw AD in our layup line was priceless

~

when I lived on Comstock near East Genny I played a bunch of pick up games in Thorndon. One day we had a pretty good run going and the next group up had some girl who was going to ball with them. Of course, I get the no-win situation of D'ing her up. She starts throwing elbows and boxing out like a madwoman, making dead on passes and lighting me up with her shot. I get demolished.

I'm no stud hoops player. Just another average white boy who once blocked the shiznit out of a Dave Siock shot, but I was flat out mortified that day I first met Felisha Legette.

Nice Felisha Legette story.

 

[Eric15]

My grandparents before they passed lived in Eastwood right by Henninger High School, so I used to play pickup basketball at Sunnycrest Park all the time. Lazarus Sims was a regular there. One time in Spring 1996, my buddy and I were talking at a drinking fountain next to the courts. He asked me if I thought Sims had a chance of playing in the NBA, I said "impossible, he's way too slow." I turn around, and who is waiting to use the drinking fountain next... Z Sims. I wanted to crawl up into a ball and die.

 

[sutomcat]

This is not my story (I got nothing), so here is a story featuring my little brother.

This goes back a while. I believe it happened in the summer of 1972 but it could have been 1971 or even 1973.

I grew up in Eastwood. Hung out at Huntington Park. One random summer day at the park counselors said hey there’s something big going on at Sunnycrest Park. If you like basketball you gotta go there.

So my brother and I, and a few other kids from the park walked for four or five blocks to Sunnycrest Park. Might’ve been our first time there. They had a big basketball complex there.

The ‘something going on’ turned out to be a basketball clinic put on by the Buffalo Braves. I knew next to nothing about the NBA or any of the players in it. But the counselors at Sunnycrest acted like these guys were a big deal.

One thing for sure; they were huge.

They did some clinic things. I think they tried to show us fundamentals, blah, blah. Then at some point, they said ‘let’s scrimmage. Who wants to play with us’?

I was about 12. Was not good at basketball. No way I was raising me hand. A couple kids were picked and placed on teams mixed with NBA players. ‘We need one more’. Everyone starts to laugh. They are all looking in a corner. I crane my neck to see why. My little brother has his hand raised. He is 10. Very short for his age.

Everyone is laughing at him because he is literally the smallest person at the clinic. He is not afraid.

All the kids picked so far are teenagers. But the guy picking players (I think it was Dolph Schayes, who was the head coach and whose ties to Syracuse almost certainly made this miracle happen) likes the moxie of this kid. And picks him.

‘Holy smokes’ I think.

They play. The pros try and let the kids shoot but no one has any game and lots of bricks ensue. The pros hit some long shots. Throw down some dunks. Lots of wows and open awe btw everyone watching these guys.

The PG for the team my brother is on starts talking softly to him. I can’t hear what he is saying. To my knowledge, my brother has never played in an organized basketball game; we have practiced shooting occasionally but that is about it for our experience.

The next time down the court, my brother stands far from the basket. I would say about 25 feet. There wasn’t a 3 point line in those days but if there was, he would have been behind it. He might be 4 feet tall.

The PG drives and kicks it out to my brother. I hear him tell my brother to shoot. My brother hesitates. Big mistake. This gives Elmore Smith, who is playing on the opposite team, an chance to defend him.

Elmore Smith is a 1st round draft pick for the Braves. He is the tallest player on the team (7 foot tall) and the one that they gave us all 8x11 photos of. But he is not being nice here. He is looking to knock my brother’s shot over the fence and on to the little league baseball field.

My brother sees him. I see him make some quick calculations and instead of taking a normal shot at the basket, he throws it wide up in the air, so Elmore cannot block it. And yes, he is 10 years old. When I say he throws it up, he throws it up like a baseball.

Against all odds, the ball just gets over the outstretched hand of hard charging Mr Smith and continues to rise. And head towards the basket. All time stops for a brief moment. And the ball comes down through the hoop for a perfect swish.

After a moment of dead silence, where everyone processes what just happened, there is an explosion of sound. The kids all scream. The park employees shout. But the loudest sound of all, by a large margin is the sound of all the players on the Braves except Elmore Smith. They go crazy. My brother is lifted in the air. It is the greatest athletic achievement of his life.

I like to think that if Elmore Smith is still alive and he is asked about this, he still remembers that shot that little kid in Syracuse made over him. And is just a little ashamed.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

A couple of stories.

Back in the day I was in the Syracuse media and was just a year out of school. Ended up playing in the media vs. football team game that was done for charity. I am pretty sure I am the reason they stopped playing this game. I was a pretty decent player but the football team was obviously more athletic.

I had the bright idea as I was guarding Moe Jackson to slide to the baseline and take the charge. He lifted off, and I got there before him. He crashed into me and went down in a heap. He was on the ground for a little bit, and then limped off the court. The other football players were staring daggers at me. I got the charge and then asked our "coach" to take me out for the rest of the game. I didn't want to see what the retribution was going to be. Moe was okay, and it was a lot of fun getting to play with Rosie Bouie (he was a ringer for the media).

The second story, while I was in school we always played at Archbold and often played with guys on the basketball team. I was reporting on the team so a lot of the guys knew me from the locker room. Used to play with and against Allen Griffin, Damone Brown, and Preston Shumpert a lot. I once stole the ball from the Griff man, and I also threw an alley-oop to Damone.

Those guys played pretty much the way I would play against my 8-year-old. They barely tried and still dominated. That was the first time I truly realized the gigantic difference between D-1 level players and good high school players. There is a gigantic gap that is difficult to explain until you play with guys at that level.

EDIT: OH! Just thought of one more. Played against JR Johnson in baseball in high school. We had a pretty good team and our main pitcher pretty much always mowed down the opposition. He was pretty amazing. Anyways, he threw in the high 80s, and Johnson comes up and crushes an absolute rocket that left the park in like two seconds. It felt like that ball was still rising as it disappeared into the ether. I have never played against a faster, bigger player than him. Absolute athletic stud.

 

[Toga]

I have two stories. At SU my freshman year I was playing pickup and generally getting killed by short guys from Brooklyn. They grew up playing on playgrounds; I grew up playing against other suburban kids in my driveway. A kid about my height of 6 feet on the other team was really lighting it up from the outside. And by the “outside” I mean from the quad, from Manley, from Pittsburgh…. What I’m trying to say was he had what is known as “range.” After a while I realized he was Greg “Kid” Kohls, who ultimately became the greatest shooter in SU history.

GMac? Andy Rautins? Jim Lee?

No.

Anybody who ever saw The Kid knows that #33 was the greatest Orange shooter. End of story. His senior year he averaged somewhere between 25 and 27 ppg WITHOUT the 3 point arc. He would have easily been over 30 ppg had the three point line been in effect.

Fortunately I wasn’t the guy guarding him because who needs that humiliation?

Before that, in high school, my gym teacher was Larry Costello. Larry played in the NBA for years and started his coaching career at my high school. One day he had the class taking free throws. I can still hear him saying “no Richard, get your elbow higher!” Well crap, when you are shooting in front of one of the greatest free throw shooters in NBA history, it makes a guy a tad nervous. I’ll tell you what though; my son was visiting from Oregon last week and this old man beat him at HORSE. Thanks Larry!

Costello went back to the NBA briefly and then coached the Milwaukee Bucks. He eventually took them to the NBA Championship with Oscar Robertson and some guy named Alcindor. Wonder what ever happened to that Alcindor guy?

Didn't Costello shoot FT's underhanded?

 

[DoctorBombay]

I was in Archibald in the middle court, which was usually reserved for full court play. There was a curly-haired kid who was tearing everyone up- found out later it was Kevin King who'd played on SU's 1975 F4 team. Later that same day, in walked Red Bruin, Erich Santifer, Ron Payton, and Rick Harmon. I knew Ron a little bit from classes I had w/ him, so when it came time to fill up the sides, he ended up picking me.
So here I am, playing PG against these long, and I mean looong dudes from the SU bball team. Erich kept pushing the ball EVERY. CHANCE. HE. HAD. And I mean, run run run. After a few minutes I was literally spent, and these guys looked like they could run forever. I'm proud to say I held my own and didn't totally embarrass myself. Even made a coupla baskets which earned me some high-fives when we won the scrimmage. And after that, every time I ran into Erich, Red, or Ron, they treated me like I was one of their own. Awesome times.

 

[JKinPhilly]

I was in a dunk contest against Kenny Smith at a camp one year...of course I lost

I played many games or horse at Manley late night with Marius Janulis...basically he would hit shots from 30+ feet out and laugh at me trying to match him. Great dude...

Played a few late night pick-up games against some assistant coaches at the time, including the new women's coach Felicia Legette-Jack. Yes, she made me look foolish more than once

 

[HoustonCuse]

This is not my story (I got nothing), so here is a story featuring my little brother.

This goes back a while. I believe it happened in the summer of 1972 but it could have been 1971 or even 1973.

I grew up in Eastwood. Hung out at Huntington Park. One random summer day at the park counselors said hey there’s something big going on at Sunnycrest Park. If you like basketball you gotta go there.

So my brother and I, and a few other kids from the park walked for four or five blocks to Sunnycrest Park. Might’ve been our first time there. They had a big basketball complex there.

The ‘something going on’ turned out to be a basketball clinic put on by the Buffalo Braves. I knew next to nothing about the NBA or any of the players in it. But the counselors at Sunnycrest acted like these guys were a big deal.

One thing for sure; they were huge.

They did some clinic things. I think they tried to show us fundamentals, blah, blah. Then at some point, they said ‘let’s scrimmage. Who wants to play with us’?

I was about 12. Was not good at basketball. No way I was raising me hand. A couple kids were picked and placed on teams mixed with NBA players. ‘We need one more’. Everyone starts to laugh. They are all looking in a corner. I crane my neck to see why. My little brother has his hand raised. He is 10. Very short for his age.

Everyone is laughing at him because he is literally the smallest person at the clinic. He is not afraid.

All the kids picked so far are teenagers. But the guy picking players (I think it was Dolph Schayes, who was the head coach and whose ties to Syracuse almost certainly made this miracle happen) likes the moxie of this kid. And picks him.

‘Holy smokes’ I think.

They play. The pros try and let the kids shoot but no one has any game and lots of bricks ensue. The pros hit some long shots. Throw down some dunks. Lots of wows and open awe btw everyone watching these guys.

The PG for the team my brother is on starts talking softly to him. I can’t hear what he is saying. To my knowledge, my brother has never played in an organized basketball game; we have practiced shooting occasionally but that is about it for our experience.

The next time down the court, my brother stands far from the basket. I would say about 25 feet. There wasn’t a 3 point line in those days but if there was, he would have been behind it. He might be 4 feet tall.

The PG drives and kicks it out to my brother. I hear him tell my brother to shoot. My brother hesitates. Big mistake. This gives Elmore Smith, who is playing on the opposite team, an chance to defend him.

Elmore Smith is a 1st round draft pick for the Braves. He is the tallest player on the team (7 foot tall) and the one that they gave us all 8x11 photos of. But he is not being nice here. He is looking to knock my brother’s shot over the fence and on to the little league baseball field.

My brother sees him. I see him make some quick calculations and instead of taking a normal shot at the basket, he throws it wide up in the air, so Elmore cannot block it. And yes, he is 10 years old. When I say he throws it up, he throws it up like a baseball.

Against all odds, the ball just gets over the outstretched hand of hard charging Mr Smith and continues to rise. And head towards the basket. All time stops for a brief moment. And the ball comes down through the hoop for a perfect swish.

After a moment of dead silence, where everyone processes what just happened, there is an explosion of sound. The kids all scream. The park employees shout. But the loudest sound of all, by a large margin is the sound of all the players on the Braves except Elmore Smith. They go crazy. My brother is lifted in the air. It is the greatest athletic achievement of his life.

I like to think that if Elmore Smith is still alive and he is asked about this, he still remembers that shot that little kid in Syracuse made over him. And is just a little ashamed.

I have only one critique of this story: you should have mentioned how abridged it was going to be because you had to wash your hair tonight.

 

[dasher]

My Legion team that I coached lost 2-1 in the State quarterfinals against Ron Darling. We had a runner on 3rd with two outs in the 6th, 7th, and 8th. If it had been 1 out, I would have squeezed in the tying run.

 

[Ragman2000]

I was once one of only two guys on my little league team to make contact against World Series pitcher and former B'ville player Jason Grilli (a weak opposite field groundout to the 3rd baseman) when he no-hit us. Pure luck, I was scared to death against him.

I once defeated Elvir Ovcina in ping-pong by the table near the cafe at Sadler Hall (he was legit good too but I used to hold my own).

I lost the court in pickup at Flanagan gym to a team made up of McNabb, Kevin Johnson, and a frosh "Dederick Thomas."

But my favorite story is one of the funniest moments I've ever had with my Mom and Donovan McNabb. Too tired to type that one up, but will do so soon.

 

[cuseincincy]

I've shared this before but ...after I graduated in 1986 I came back home hung out a lot on the hill with my buddies still in school or grad school etc. Ended up playing a lot of pickup games at Archbold against several SU players and local HS players in the summer/fall of 87. Sherm, Herm, Derek Brower and Matt Roe were regulars. Any way one time we're playing and I end up between the basket and Sherm at the free throw line, somehow I ended up on my butt under the basket as Sherm bounced an alley oop off the backboard to someone. Funny thing about Sherm is he rarely shot the ball in pickup games. He could completely dominate the game without ever taking a shot. I got to play with him once and was happy to say I never caught one off the back of my head as was known to happen to pickup teammates of his! Matt Roe never missed a shot and Herm was a knockdown shooter as well.

Another quick story on football side...When I was 12 I lived in Tacoma WA and the guy staying with my best friend's neighbor (follow that?) asked my buddy and I if we wanted to go down to the park and catch some footballs. Ended up catching passes for a couple hours. Afterward as we're walking home the guy tells us he's trying out for the new NFL team in Seattle. Jim Zorn ended up the Seahawks QB the next 7 years and my buddy went to several games on his tix. I fortunately moved to Syracuse later that summer so I was able to witness the Louie and Bouie Show from the beginning and unknown to me at the time, the first game in Jim Boeheim's coaching career.

 

[DoctorBombay]

I've shared this before but ...after I graduated in 1986 I came back home hung out a lot on the hill with my buddies still in school or grad school etc. Ended up playing a lot of pickup games at Archbold against several SU players and local HS players in the summer/fall of 87. Sherm, Herm, Derek Brower and Matt Roe were regulars. Any way one time we're playing and I end up between the basket and Sherm at the free throw line, somehow I ended up on my butt under the basket as Sherm bounced an alley oop off the backboard to someone. Funny thing about Sherm is he rarely shot the ball in pickup games. He could completely dominate the game without ever taking a shot. I got to play with him once and was happy to say I never caught one of the back of my head as was known to happen to pickup teammates of his! Matt Roe never missed a shot and Herm was a knockdown shooter as well.

Another quick story on football side...When I was 12 I lived in Tacoma WA and the guy staying with my best friend's neighbor (follow that?) asked my buddy and I if we wanted to go down to the park and catch some footballs. Ended up catching passes for a couple hours. Afterward as we're walking home the guy tells us he's trying out for the new NFL team in Seattle. Jim Zorn ended up the Seahawks QB the next 7 years and my buddy went to several games on his tix. I fortunately moved to Syracuse later that summer so I was able to witness the Louie and Bouie Show from the beginning and unknown to me at the time, the first game in Jim Boeheim's coaching career.

Loved Jim Zorn and Steve Largent of the old Seattle Seahawks.

 

[Cheriehoop]

I have a few stories hope I don’t put everyone to sleep. First one -around 1977 or so, got tickets to a Washington Bullets-Buffalo Braves game held at the Syracuse War Memorial. Got there early with my husband and was able to sit courtside. First NBA game ever for both of us, can’t recall if it was just an exhibition or not. To see Bob McAdoo, Randy Smith, Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld, Tiny Archibald etc was great. I remembered watching Elvin Hayes almost single handed beat Wooden’s Alcindor led UCLA, that had like a 45 game winning streak, on tv when I was in high school so I was excited to see him in person. Boy did I get to see him in person. A loose ball during the game resulted in him running across the court falling directly into me sitting in my lap courtside. The game stopped. He was so nice, worried that he killed me, the refs came over, Wes Unseld came over. They kept asking me if I was okay, did I want to see a doctor etc. To be honest, I was more embarrassed over the attention - crazy but I felt nothing. At halftime Mitch Kupchak who was sitting kitty corner behind us in street clothes (don’t know why he wasn’t playing for the Bullets) came over with 2 sodas for us also asking if I was hurt. I assured him I was fine and thanked him. Elvin also came over during warmups for the 2nd half again asking if I was really okay. Interesting way to meet NBA stars.

I was fortunate to play with and against many excellent women college basketball players not just in college but in AAU/city rec and ‘pickup’ games including Felisha Legette-Jack, Sue Ludwig, Martha Mogish, Vera Jones, Beth Mowins etc. In a rec game I was guarding Vera Jones,( SU Hall of Fame women’s basketball player, ex-ESPN, Fox broadcaster, one year assistant for Felisha at Indiana, author etc), a great player and very nice person. She was strong and had a very good outside shot. The rec team she was on were young current SU players including Barb Jacobs the coach, while I was over 15 years older than them, had a husband & 3 sons, playing on Monday nights after working full time of all things, as an accountant. Vera asked me if it was okay if she played totally left handed against me because she wanted to improve her left hand. I had no problem at all, in fact I told her I understood totally and that it was a good idea. I told her I was going to work only on my right hand too. She did very well with her left hand and I told her so after the game. She was kind and complimented me that she was surprised how well I did with my right hand. I then laughed and told her, that I was actually right handed. We had a good laugh over it.

Another SU related story. In a rec game during playoffs but about 8 to 10 years later again against young SU players but ones who had already graduated. Well one was a Liverpool high school & former SU player on the team. She was on the free throw line after our center fouled out and I then went underneath waiting to rebound.One of my teammates yelled out my last name and laughingly said ’box them all out’ . (I was all of 5’6” or so) Well the player about to take the shot said ‘Oh wow, I thought I recognized you, are you really so and so’s mom? (She named my oldest son’s first and last name, they were friends from high school) I said yes and the refs, my teammates and her teammates all started laughing. It was so funny. I said ‘yes I am and yes I’m old’ (I was in my early 40’s). Again lots of laughs and many memories.

 

[the villager]

Back in the mid fifties my team went to Archibald gym for a multiple team clinic of some sort and my teams coaches were Jim Brown and Jim Ridlon.

 

[UGHV]

2003. During the Mike Hart/OCS dynasty. OCS was up on us by 28 and Hart was still in the game in the 3rd quarter. He was returning a punt and I was filling my lane. Hart juked to the left to avoid a teammate, right into me fitting him up. Huge hit. I still remember the crowd gasping. Hart got up, tapped me on the helmet, ran to the sideline; and didn't play another snap in the game. I could tell a funny "bounty-gate story" from that game as well, but I'll keep quiet to avoid a fine.

Other story (not a pro-athlete) but another amusing OCS story. Played them in basketball the same year. Hart wore goggles so he would not hurt his vision. They had a player named Hodges Sneed. Unbelievable athlete. I tried to take a charge against him. Was absolutely posterized. Hakim's texas dunk on steroids. OCS gym went nuts. Was the low point of my basketball career.

Also played football in '03. Our first game I had like 4 carries for 130 yds including an 80 yd TD so my yards per carry was something ridiculous like 30 ypc. The Post Standard would have Section III weekly statistic leaders and it was awesome seeing my name #1 ahead of Mike Hart's #2 for a few weeks. Obviously that didn't last very long. I should've told my coach not to give me the ball the rest of the year.

Played against CBA and Greg Paulus too when they averaged about 60 pts a game. I "laid him out" once, when in actuality someone had him by the legs and he happened to spin right into me. We were thrilled to hold them to 28 pts although we still lost by 28...

 

[Cheriehoop]

Didn't Costello shoot FT's underhanded?

He was one of the 2 handed set shooters. Rick Barry was the underhanded free throw shooter (Wilt Chamberlain and Arinze’s little brother who played for Louisville, Chinanu Onuaku, horrible free throw shooters, tried shooting underhanded free throws too).

 

[Dick_in_MI]

Didn't Costello shoot FT's underhanded?

While he was my gym teacher, he was shooting "modern style" if you will. He would be talking to the class and casually taking shots from near the top of the key. They barely whispered the net as they went through. I don't remember paying attention to what he was saying; I was enthralled by the shooting exhibition.

He brought in one of his official balls from the NBA. I remember being surprised at how deep the grooves were. He let us take a few shots with it. It was just like shooting in my driveway, except it was an NBA ball, the guy who handed it to me would eventually be in the Hall of Fame and coach an NBA Championship team, and my younger brother Bob wasn't trying to foul me as I shot.

A story that didn't involve playing against guys...my wife and I were at one of the early NBA exhibitions at the Dome. The SU players were all there watching as well and at one point several slowly made their way to the locker room. We were sitting next to the rail and kids were leaning over, trying to get autographs of their heroes. Billy Owens was walking through and a few kids were yelling "hey Owens!"

A side note...when I was a kid, at worst I would have called them by their first name. I might have even addressed them as "Mr." But I'm "vintage".

Anyway, Billy came over and signed but didn't look at any of them or really acknowledge them in any way. Then Mike Hopkins and LeRon Ellis came through. Again, the kids yelled "hey Ellis!" and the two Orange players came over and signed. What really stood out though, was Mike. He talked with the kids, saying "how is it going?" "are you enjoying the game?" "what's your name", etc. He was really upbeat and smiling all the time and said goodbye to all of them when he left.. I turned to my wife and said "Mike's parents should be really proud of him. He seems like a great kid." Mike was always a favorite of mine because he left it all on the court, and I have never forgotten that interaction between him and a group of kids that the other SU players barely tolerated.

 

[Toga]

While he was my gym teacher, he was shooting "modern style" if you will. He would be talking to the class and casually taking shots from near the top of the key. They barely whispered the net as they went through. I don't remember paying attention to what he was saying; I was enthralled by the shooting exhibition.

He brought in one of his official balls from the NBA. I remember being surprised at how deep the grooves were. He let us take a few shots with it. It was just like shooting in my driveway, except it was an NBA ball, the guy who handed it to me would eventually be in the Hall of Fame and coach an NBA Championship team, and my younger brother Bob wasn't trying to foul me as I shot.

A story that didn't involve playing against guys...my wife and I were at one of the early NBA exhibitions at the Dome. The SU players were all there watching as well and at one point several slowly made their way to the locker room. We were sitting next to the rail and kids were leaning over, trying to get autographs of their heroes. Billy Owens was walking through and a few kids were yelling "hey Owens!"

A side note...when I was a kid, at worst I would have called them by their first name. I might have even addressed them as "Mr." But I'm "vintage".

Anyway, Billy came over and signed but didn't look at any of them or really acknowledge them in any way. Then Mike Hopkins and LeRon Ellis came through. Again, the kids yelled "hey Ellis!" and the two Orange players came over and signed. What really stood out though, was Mike. He talked with the kids, saying "how is it going?" "are you enjoying the game?" "what's your name", etc. He was really upbeat and smiling all the time and said goodbye to all of them when he left.. I turned to my wife and said "Mike's parents should be really proud of him. He seems like a great kid." Mike was always a favorite of mine because he left it all on the court, and I have never forgotten that interaction between him and a group of kids that the other SU players barely tolerated.

Any Carmen Basilio stories?