Paul "Pitchin' Paul" Arizin (1928-2006)
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Forward/Guard—(Villanova) Philadelphia Warriors 1951-52,1955-62 [#1 Scoring NCAA 1950, All-American 1949-50; 22.8 avg, 713 games, #1 Scoring NBA 1952,1957, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1977]
I didn't have any trouble with Arizin before he went into the Marines, but he must have done nothing but played ball there for two years because when he came back, oh, was he tough. He could put the ball on top of his head in the corner and shoot it. I couldn't play him. Before he went into the service I used to stay away from him. He couldn't shoot the outside shot, and I'd give him two or three steps. But later, when he started hitting the set shot, I had to go up on him and he was quick and could go by me . . . .He's the type of player when you play him outside he's tough for a big man, because he can drive and shoot from the outside.
"Easy Ed" Macauley
"Easy Ed" Macauley
Rick Barry (1944- )
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Small Forward—(Miami) San Francisco Warriors 1965-67, Oakland Oaks 1968-69, Washington Caps 1969-70, New York Nets 1970-72, Golden State Warriors 1972-78, Houston Rockets 1978-80 [All-American 1965, Rookie of the Year 1966, NBA All Star 1966, 1967, 1973-78, ABA All Star 1969-72, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1987]
I would have to rank Rick as the greatest and most productive offensive forwards ever to play the game. I think he's better than Elgin Baylor, Bob Pettit, Paul Arizin and Dolph Schayes, and they were all tremendous performers. Not only is he a great shooter, but he's one of the game's finest passers. He hits the open man when he's double-teamed, which is often, and runs the pick and roll, setting up his teammates for easy layups, better than any player I've ever seen. He has to be the quickest 6-7 player the game of basketball has ever seen. He's awfully hard, if not impossible, to match up against defensively. He beats a bigger opponent with his quickness and goes over the little man. He is unstoppable going to the basket on a one-on-one situation and is usually successful one-on-two. I would have to call him super, super on the fast break. He can penetrate, make the basket and draw the foul better than anyone. He has great body-balance and body-control He has all the shots -- the hook, jumper, fade-away, set and the layups with either or both hands. He's an intense competitor, whether it's basketball, golf, checkers or anything else -- he just doesn't want to lose. He's one guy I never had to worry about being up for a game.
Bill Sharman
Bill Sharman
Walt Bellamy (1939-2013)
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Center—(Indiana) Chicago Packers 1961-62, Chicago Zephyrs 1962-63, Baltimore Bullets 1963-65, New York Knickerbockers 1965-68, Detroit Pistons 1968-69, Atlanta Hawks 1969-74, New Orleans Jazz 1975 [Olympic Games 1960—Gold Medal; 20.1 avg, #1 Field Goals 1961-62, Gottlieb Trophy 1962, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1993]
An interesting complainer was Walt Bellamy, because he always spoke about himself in the third person. “Why is that a foul on Walter?” he’d say. “Bill [Russell] wouldn’t get a foul for that.” I’d call another one on him, and he’d say, “Sure, Walter doesn’t get that call.” When I’d heard enough, I’d tell him to keep quiet. And one time, when he didn’t, I said, “Bellamy, tell Walter he’s got a technical.”
Norm Drucker
Norm Drucker
Bob "Cooz" Cousy (1928- )
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Guard—(Holy Cross 1947-50) Boston Celtics 1950-63, Cincinnati Royals 1963-64, Coach—Boston College 1965-69, Cincinnati Royals 1969-70, Kansas City-Omaha Kings 1970 [All-American 1948-49; 16,960 points, 6959 assists, 18.4 avg.; #1 Assists 1953-60, Podoloff Trophy 1957, Basketball Hall of Fame 1970]
The first time I played Cousy, it was a thrill for me. He was my idol and when he said hello, it was as if my heart stopped beating. In that first game, he scored 20 points on me in the first half. George Mikan was my coach and Mikan said, "Hundley, I told you to watch Cousy, didn't I?" I said, "I did and he's great, isn't he?"
Hot Rod Hundley
Hot Rod Hundley
Dave DeBusschere (1940-2003)
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Forward—(Detroit) Detroit Pistons 1962-68, New York Knicks 1968-74 [16.1 avg, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1983, College Basketball Hall of Fame 2006; also was a pitcher for the MLB Chicago White Sox 1962-63]
He didn’t mind doing the dirty work. He busted his butt all the time. He wasn’t a great jumper, but he always worked hard. He banged bodies, and he never backed down to anybody. Players like Gus Johnson on the Bullets and the Sixers’ Luke Jackson, tough and aggressive and taller and strong, physically intimidated other forwards. Guys would give them an extra step or two because they didn’t want to have to bang with them. Dave wasn’t one of those guys. Nobody intimidated Dave. If he wanted a rebound, Dave would just push the other guy out of the way, but never get caught doing it. Better than anyone else I’ve ever seen, he understood the fundamentals of boxing out. Just as the shot was taken, Dave would immediately find his man and get his body into him. He’d hook him there, and keep him there. Then he’d find the ball. . . . DeBusschere was the man we looked to for the key rebound down the stretch. He was probably better even than Willis [Reed] at getting the ball, offensively or defensively, at that moment when we had to have it. And he could shoot, too. Dave could miss seven in a row, but when they counted, down the stretch, he hit them. He had incredible range on his shot, and sometimes I used to think he was better taking a thirty-footer than trying to make something from ten or fifteen feet.
Walt Frazier
Walt Frazier
Lauren "Laddie" Gale (1917-1996)
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Forward—(Oregon) Detroit Eagles (NBL) 1939-40 [All-American 1939; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1977]
Gale revolutionized basketball by using a one-handed shot. This technique made him a valuable member of Howard Hobson's University of Oregon Ducks. The superb-shooting Gale was a star player for the "Tall Firs." By leading Oregon to the first official NCAA championship in 1939, Gale helped bring credibility to Pacific Northwest basketball. A clever 6'5" forward, "Laddie" scored 815 points as a junior and senior and was named a Helms Foundation All-America in 1939. He was selected to the All-Pacific Coast Conference First Team in 1938 and 1939, the same years he led the conference in scoring. In basketball history, Lauren Gale remains a leading figure for his contributions in the development of West Coast hoops.
Harry “The Horse” Gallatin (1927-2015)
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Forward—(Northeast Missouri State) New York Knickerbockers (BAA) 1948-49 /(NBA) 1949-57, Detroit Pistons 1957-58; Coach —St. Louis Hawks 1962-65, New York Knicks 1965-66 [13.0 avg, Auerbach Trophy 1963, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1991]
Harry Gallatin was the big man on that Knicks team, a workhorse, a Clydesdale. He was Midwest, very straight and we called him “Farmer” — a nice person but with a lot of competitiveness, a kind of silent assassin. Harry was slow on the court and slow with money, too. He and Vinny Boryla would always sit on the outside in cabs, with a rookie sandwiched in between, because the last one out had to pay. In a game, Harry was always smart enough to keep his eyes on my brother Dick. If you didn’t watch out, Dick would take your head off with the ball. But if you got open he’d always get you the ball. When Harry scored, it was off Dick’s passes.
Al McGuire
Al McGuire
Gail Goodrich (1943- )
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Guard—(UCLA) Los Angeles Lakers 1965-68, 1970-76, Phoenix Suns 1968-70, New Orleans Jazz 1977-79 [All-American 1964-65, All Star 1969, 1972-75, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1996]
Richie Guerin (1932- )
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Guard—(Iona) Quantico Marines (AAU) 1955, New York Knicks 1956-63, St. Louis Hawks 1963-67, Atlanta Hawks 1968-70 [17.3 avg, Auerbach Trophy 1968, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 2013]
The jump shot is more glamorous, I suppose, but the two-hander had an advantage in that late in the game the motion of the jump shot takes its toll on the body. There's no real exertion to the two-hander. That was the swan song of the two-hander. I'm sorry to see it go. It added something, something very nice to the game.
Richie Guerin, the last player in the NBA to shoot the two-handed set on 19 Apr. 1970
Richie Guerin, the last player in the NBA to shoot the two-handed set on 19 Apr. 1970
Cliff Hagan (1931- )
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Small Forward/Guard—(Kentucky) St. Louis Hawks 1956-66, Dallas Chaparrals (ABA) 1967-69 [All-American 1952, 1954; College Basketball Hall of Fame 2006, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1978]
Vic Hanson (1903-1982)
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Forward/Guard—(Syracuse) Cleveland Rosenblums (ABL) [All-American 1925-27, Helms Player of the Year 1927; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1960]
Tom Heinsohn (1934-2020)
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Forward—(Holy Cross) Boston Celtics 1956-65; Coach—Boston Celtics 1969-77 [All-American 1956; 18.6 avg, Auerbach Trophy 1973, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1986]
Competitive people who know how to sublimate their own egos for the good of the team. That's what it takes. That's the key. One guy can't win it. Two guys can't win it.
Tom Heinsohn
Tom Heinsohn
Nat Holman (1896-1995)
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Guard—New York Whirlwinds 1918-21, Original Celtics 1921-28, New York Hakoahs (ABL) 1928-29, New York Celtics (ABL) 1929, Syracuse All-Americans (ABL) 1929-30; Coach—City College of New York 1920-60 [Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1964; only coach in history to win NCAA and NIT championships in same season (1950)]
I was one of the few men who was able to play pro basketball and coach a college team at the same time, but it was rough. If my college played in Detroit, for instance, I would make a 6 o'clock train, and get ready to play a pro game the next night. . . . . The game they play today is tame compared to it [pro game in 1920s]. You had to be quick on your feet and fast with your fists. . . . We played so many games in a week that our uniforms never had time to dry or to be cleaned. We just hung them over the radiators at night.
Nat Holman
Nat Holman
Bob "Houby" Houbregs (1932-2014)
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Center/Forward—(Washington) 1951-53; Milwaukee Hawks 1953, Baltimore Bullets 1953-54, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 1954-57, Detroit Pistons 1957-58 [All-American 1952-53; 9.3 avg., Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1987]
He was famous for his hook . . . [and] he used to fade away from the basket.
Bob Cousy
Bob Cousy
Bailey Howell (1937- )
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Small Forward—(Mississippi State) Detroit Pistons 1959-64, Baltimore Bullets 1964-66, Boston Celtics 1966-70, Philadelphia 76ers 1970-71 [All-American 1959; 14.3 avg., 17,770 pts.; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1997]
Cincinnati called me before the draft and wanted to know if I'd play pro ball. I gave them a number, but they made it clear that they wouldn't pay that kind of money. So there was supposed to have been a trade before the draft--I say 'supposed,' because in those days the deals weren't always made public--in which Detroit sent a player and money to Cincinnati, with the understanding that the Royals wouldn't take me or trade away the first pick. Whatever happened, the Pistons selected me with the second pick and I was off to Detroit.
Bailey Howell
Bailey Howell
Sam Jones (1933-2021)
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Guard— Boston Celtics 1957-69 [17.7 avg, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1983]
I would like to thank Sam Jones for making me a helluva coach.
Red Auerbach
Red Auerbach
Ed "Moose" Krause (1913-1992)
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Center—(Notre Dame) Coach—Notre Dame 1943-44,1946-51; Athletic Director—Notre Dame 1948-80 [All-American 1932-34; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1976]
He was a man who was kind to everyone. He just had a magnificent way with people. You know there are a lot of people around the country who don't like Notre Dame, but everybody loved the Moose, everybody loved and revered Mr. Krause.
George Connor
George Connor
Bob Kurland (1924-2013)
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Center—(Oklahoma A&M) Phillips 66ers (AAU) 1946-52 [All American 1944-46, NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player 1945-46, Olympic Gold Medal 1948, 1952; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1961]
I might have been 6-11. Our publicity man, Otis Wile, decided I ought to be 7 feet. And it was intimidating. I was an All-American for two years, but before each practice my job was to sweep the gym floor. Otherwise, the coach wouldn't let us practice. You wanted to get on the court before the other team in pregame warmups because you wanted to find out which rim was bent more and sloped toward you. I was called the Glandular Goon because I was 7-feet tall.
Bob Kurland
Bob Kurland
Clyde Lovellette (1929-2016)
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Center/Forward—(Kansas) 1950-52; Minneapolis Lakers 1953-57, Cincinnati Royals 1957-58, St. Louis Hawks 1958-62, Boston Celtics 1962-64 (career: 17.0 avg.) [#1 Scoring NCAA 1952, All-American 1951-52, NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player 1952, Olympic Games 1952: gold medal; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1988]
Clyde Lovellette was the single dirtiest player in NBA history. He was downright mean. He seldom hit you with a fist; usually it was an elbow, a hip or a knee to a very vulnerable spot. He'd knock you down, then give you a hand up and say, "Sorry, kid." Then he'd do it again. I always felt Clyde was trying to hurt you.
Tom Meschery
Tom Meschery
Hank Luisetti (1916-2002)
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Forward—(Stanford) San Francisco Olympic Club (AAU) 1940-41, Phillips 66ers (AAU) 1941-42, St. Mary’s Pre-Flight (AAU) 1943-44 [All-American 1936-38, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1959; initiated use of one-hand shots]
"Easy" Ed Macauley (1928-2011)
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Center/Forward—(St. Louis) St. Louis Bombers 1949-50, Boston Celtics 1950-56, St. Louis Hawks 1956-59 [All-American 1948-49, NIT MVP 1948; 17.5 avg, 641 games, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1960]
As far as I was concerned, I developed very slowly. I was not a very good ballplayer when I was young. I was skinny, weak, not very coordinated, and couldn't rebound very well. It used to astound me later on when I got the name "Easy Ed," and people would say, "I guess you got that name because of your ease, naturalness, and grace in basketball"—and it wasn't that way at all. The fact that I liked to practice and spend time at it was probably the difference as far as my career was concerned . . . .I wasn't the greatest basketball player that ever lived, but if you're the first to do something, nobody can ever duplicate that. I was the first in college basketball history to have a shooting percentage for the year of over fifty percent. I was the first Celtic ever to have his jersey retired and hoisted to the top of the Boston Garden. I was the MVP in the first All-Star game. That's something I'm really proud of. I think I was the youngest to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
"Easy Ed" Macauley
"Easy Ed" Macauley
Al McGuire (1928-2000)
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Guard/Forward—(St. Johns) New York Knicks 1951-54, Baltimore Bullets 1954-55 (career: 3.9 avg, 749 pts.); Coach—Marquette [UPI Coach of the Year 1971, U.S. Basketball Writers Association Coach of the Year 1971, AP Coach of the Year 1971, National Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year 1974, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1992]
I had a pretty good run for a marginal player. And even though I always got paid the minimum in the league, I loved the life. I was a migrant worker. I was swimming the Rio Grande in those days. Those were different times, with different rules, and I don’t mean just on the court. There were no training tables and no hair blowers. The showers were about 5 feet 6 inches high and even the smallest basketball players could only get parts of their bodies under them. But it was a great time. . . . My role on the Knickerbockers was to go in and disrupt the opposition, to throw off their rhythm, change the game. They called me a scrambler . . . . I know that some people called me a designated fouler, but I was more like a tackler. I remember once, when I had had a fight in three games in a row (one of them with Bill Sharman in Boston), Lapchick said to me before the next game in Rochester, “Al, please, no fight tonight.” Was I obnoxious, arrogant, surly? I don’t know what I was in those days. I guess I was Al McGuire.
Al McGuire
Al McGuire
"Tricky" Dick McGuire (1926-2010)
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Guard—(St. Johns/Dartmouth) New York Knickerbockers 1949-57, Detroit Pistons 1957-60 [8.0 avg, 5921 pts., 738 games, 4205 assists, All Star 1951-52,1954-56,1958-59, #1 Assists 1950; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1993]
To me [he] was the finest, most unselfish basketball player who ever lived. If I had a chance to play with Cousy or McGuire, I'd take McGuire in a minute. He really looked for you all the time. He never shot the ball, and if you couldn't score with him on your team, then you couldn't score at all.
George "the Bird" Yardley
George "the Bird" Yardley
Slater "Dugie" Martin (1925-2012)
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Guard—(Texas) Minneapolis Lakers 1949-56, New York Knickerbockers 1956-57, St. Louis Hawks 1956-60 [5'10", 7337 points, 9.8 avg, 3160 assists; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1981]
After Slater came to the team [St. Louis Hawks], we jelled. We had a lot of very unselfish players. He had played with all those big men with the Lakers and he understood how to get them the ball. It was no accident that winning followed Martin around. He also was a real fighter. He might have been 5-foot-10, but he took no foolishness from anyone, and he often got into fights with guys a foot taller. I loved his feistiness.
Bob Pettit
Bob Pettit
Bob Pettit (1932- )
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Forward—(Louisiana State) Milwaukee Hawks 1954-55, St. Louis Hawks 1955-65; Coach—St. Louis Hawks 1961-62 [All American 1953, 1954, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1971]
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Pettit signed the "happy anniversary" card for a "memory book" I compiled to give to my parents for their anniversary in 1989. I later tried to get an autograph from him on a newspaper sports cartoon without success. I tried again in June 2011 to request an autograph on a 1952 Alan Maver cartoon and once again, he didn't sign the cartoon, but signed this 3x5 card.
Andy Phillip (1922-2001)
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Guard/Forward—(Illinois) Fleet Marine Force (AAU) 1946; Chicago Stags (BAA) 1947-49, Chicago Stags (NBA) 1949-50, Philadelphia Warriors 1950-52, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons 1952-56, Boston Celtics 1956-58, Seattle Bakers (NABL); Coach—St. Louis Hawks 1959 [All-American 1942-43; 9.1 avg., 2,395 rebounds, #1 Assists 1951-52, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1961]
Andy was a cold character, never greeted anyone, always looked at you narrow-eyed with his “Gasoline alley” crew cut. It was like someone was stealing his food or something. I thought he was a bit overrated, even though he was from the Illinois Whiz Kids. He was good but not great. I guess he must have thought the same about me. He never said hello, never gave you a reassuring word when you made a good play. I would love to steal the ball from him. Quite a few times when he was dribbling I’d leave my man just to get that ball away from him. And then I’d be yelled at by the coach for leaving my man. But what could you do? You come in one day and you’re a rookie, the lowest thing down there, and you had to play. I loved playing against Phillip. Even though he was 6-foot-2 or 3, he had a difficult time playing smaller men. You could go around him, and if you got around him he’d go after you in some way, set a hard pick or something.
Zeke Sinicola
Zeke Sinicola
Frank "Kentucky Colonel" Ramsey (1931-2018)
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Forward—(Kentucky) Boston Celtics 1954-65; Coach—Kentucky Colonels (ABA) 1970-71 [All American 1952, 1954; 13. 4 avg, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1982]
When I joined the team we had two all-star guards in Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman. They were tremendous players. It was Red who decided on the substitution pattern from game-to-game, so my job was to be ready to play. I watched the flow of the game and tried to keep myself prepared to contribute. A lot of times, I would go in the game for Tom Heinsohn.
Frank Ramsey
Frank Ramsey
Dolph Schayes (1928-2015)
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Forward/Center—(New York University) Syracuse Nationals 1948-63, Philadelphia 76ers 1963-64; Coach—Philadelphia 76ers 1964-66, Buffalo Braves 1971, Milwaukee Bucks 1972 [All-American 1948; 18.5 avg, Auerbach Trophy 1966, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1972]
Schayes was a funny guy, but unintentionally. Once, after we had lost five or six in a row, [Al] Cervi got us all in the locker room at 9:30 in the morning, not even dressed to practice, and he’s screaming and shouting at us for half an hour. Dolph raises his hand and Cervi tells him to put it down and goes on ranting for another 15 minutes. Dolph raises his hand again, and the same thing happens. The third time, Cervi finally says, “What the hell do you want, Dolph?” Dolph says, in all seriousness, “Don’t you think we’ve heard enough of this shit, Al?” and the rest of us broke up. Schayes’s biggest problem was that when the game got tight, he always wanted the ball. Some big men will disappear when it comes time to take the last decisive shot, but Dolph demanded to take it. Whatever play we wanted to run, he’d get right in the middle and signal for the ball. But he’s also the one player in the record books who scored more free throws than field goals in his career.
Paul Seymour
Paul Seymour
Bill Sharman (1926-2013)
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Forward—(Southern California) Washington Capitols 1950-51, Boston Celtics 1951-61, Los Angeles Jets (ABL) 1961-62; Coach — [All-American 1950; 17.8 avg.; coaching record: 333 wins/240 losses, .581 avg., Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1976]
I used to watch Bob Davies, but the most difficult for me to watch, the one that stands out in my mind, was Bill Sharman. He never stopped running, that’s why he was such a good player. Hew was perpetual motion. I used to tell him, “I’m getting tired, stop running.”
John Payak
John Payak
He could shoot the eyes out of the basket and he was strong, too, a great ballplayer.
Walt Budko
Walt Budko
John A. "Cat" Thompson (1906-1990)
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Guard/Forward—(Dixie High School, St. George, Utah 1921-22/Montana State) [All-American 1927-30, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1962]
He would come in from behind a man, flick the ball away from him, and go in unmolested for a basket.
Schubert Dyche
Schubert Dyche
Rod Thorn (1941- )
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Guard—(West Virginia) Baltimore Bullets 1963-64, Detroit Pistons 1964-65, St. Louis Hawks 1965-67, Seattle Supersonics 1967-71 [10.8 avg] [Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 2018]
In our house it was school and sports, school first and then sports, and that was about it Dad was a disciplinarian, but our lives were idyllic. There were no drugs, no ghettos, no problems and a lot of fun. My feeling when I got out of high school was that I would be a professional baseball player. I thought that was my best sport. And if I wasn't going to play baseball I figured I would be a doctor. Well, two years into West Virginia I thought I still might be a baseball player, but I knew I wasn't going to be a doctor. My final choice came down to West Virginia and Duke. I didn't feel like I had to go to West Virginia. But the program was at the top and I liked Coach Schaus very much and he recruited me. There was a lot of talk about me following Jerry West. I even heard it in high school. But most of the pressure I felt I put on myself. Like a normal kid, I heard all the talk about being West Virginia's next All-American. I made All- American, but I wasn't a Jerry West. He was one of those special players that comes along and I was not in that category.
Rod Thorn
Rod Thorn
George Yardley (1928-2004)
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Forward—(Stanford) San Francisco Stewart Chevrolets (AAU) 1951, Los Alamitos Naval Air Station (AAU) 1951-53; Ft. Wayne Zollner Pistons 1953-57, Detroit Pistons 1957-59, Syracuse Nationals 1959-60; Los Angeles Jets (ABL) 1961-62 [All-American 1949-50; AAU All-American 1951-53; #1 Scoring 1958, 19.2 avg.; Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame 1996]
I was one of the best jumpers in the league, and I could move my body to one side or the other when I was shooting and still control my shot, which helped me shoot over the players.
George Yardley
George Yardley