Roundball Coach November Birthdays November 30   Always described as a "layed back" coach, Paul Westphal coached Charles Barkley in Phoenix and Westphal led the Suns to three of their most successful seasons in franchise history.  In his first season in 1992-93, the Suns captured the Pacific Division title, won a club-record 62 games and made just the second appearance in the NBA Finals in team history.  The 62 victories broke the NBA record for most victories by a rookie coach set by Bill Russell in 1966-67. Check out Paul's roundball resume and a video feature on his career.  (more) Paul Westphal is 56.  When most think of Westphal they either think of his fine career at USC or with Phoenix Suns and the Boston Celtics.  Westphal averaged over 20 points per game for five straight season in Phoenix.  Westphal was also a head coach of the Suns, Sonics and at Pepperdine.  But few remember his coaching success at NAIA Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Arizona.  However, I do. Westphal’s success is also my toughest basketball broadcasting memory. It was March of 1988.  I was the play-by-play broadcaster for the Auburn-Montgomery Senators.  AUM had a fantastic small college team.  The Senators were ranked number one and only lost twice during the regular season.  In the NAIA National Championship game in the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, AUM was matched against Westphal’s Grand Canyon team.  They were the underdog.  Westphal had suspended several players and was relying on Rodney Johns, who shot 74% from the field during the tourney. Johns was simply unstoppable. In the championship game, AUM opened up the early lead and led at half.  Grand Canyon came back in the second half as Johns hit big shot after big shot. The game went to overtime and at the end Westphal put the ball in the hands of Johns with the score tied.  Here was my call of the shot that won Westphal a national championship.  Audio  Johns scored 41 in that game. To this day that remains the one play, that I have ever called, that brings back the emotions of the moment. Westphal was my halftime guest during AUM’s semifinal win over the College of Charleston.  He couldn’t have been nicer.  He sat beside me, on press row, during the second half and we would talk during commercial breaks and he would give me some expert insight into what was happening on the court.  So Happy Birthday Paul Westphal.  You cost my AUM buddies their championship rings. November 29   Dee Brown is 38.  Brown is best know for pumping up the sneakers and doing a no-look dunk to win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, even though he was only 6-foot-1.  Otherwise Brown was anything out of the ordinary in his 12-year NBA career.  He never averaged more than 15.6 points per game and he never won a NBA title, although he did play with Bird and McHale. Since his retirement Brown has been a head coach for one season of the Orlando team in the WNBA and he did win a one-year contract to be an ESPN studio analyst by winning the networks Dream Job reality show. November 28   Roy Tarpley vs. Kareem Roy Tarpley is 42.  Coming out of the University of Michigan, Roy Tarpley developed very quickly into a double-double player.  Beginning with his second year, Tarpley averaged double digits in points and rebounds for four straight seasons.  At the age of 26 he averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Dallas Mavericks.  But after that season he would not play another NBA game for three years.  At the age of 30 he made a comeback with the Mavericks that lasted 55 games and although he played well (12 points per game and eight rebounds) his NBA career was over. Roy Tarpley had a dark side off the court.  Twice he was suspended for violating the league’s drug policy.  He has spent time in jail and has field for bankruptcy.  Pat Williams, who was a general manager of the Magic, said, “ Roy Tarpley could've been a superstar.” Willaims compared Tarpley's talent to that of Hakeem Olajuwon or Patrick Ewing.  "But he just couldn't say 'no.' “ Last season Tarpley played for the Michigan Mayhem of the CBA, however, that team has ceased its operation. November 27 Nick Van Exel  Nick Van Exel is 35.  This is the first season since 92-93 that the NBA hasn’t had Van Exel either stroking 3-pointers or getting into it with coaches or referees or temmates.  Van Exel averaged in double figures in every season but his last. However, he never averaged more than 20 points per game in a season in the NBA or in two seasons at the University of Cincinnati.  The only season he did average at least 20 was his final season at Trinity Valley Community College where he averaged 20.4 In the NBA 1/3 of Van Exel’s made shots were 3-pointers.  He ranks sixth in all-time 3-pointers made with 1,528.  Nick was known for making the big three to win a game.  He hit a pair of clutch 3-pointers for the Lakers in game 5 of the 1995 Western Conference Semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs.  The first one sent the game into overtime, while the second one decided the game. Now to the juicy stuff. Who did Van Exel feud with during his NBA career?  Here is a brief list: Shaquille O’Neal, Del Harris, Dan Issel and NBA ref Don Garretson.  Actually, at times it seemed like Van Exel had it in for every official.  He shoved Garretson and alleged that the crew of Tommy Nunez, Ronnie Nunn and Tommie Wood had fixed a game.  He apologized to Nunez, Nunn and Wood, but not to Garretson. Novmeber 26 When he was in shape Shawn Kemp could jump and dunk with the best of them.  Shawn Kemp is 37.  The Shawn Kemp story is the ultimate roundball tale with twists and turns and triumphs and failures . Where do you begin?  Coming out of high school Kemp signed with Kentucky but he never played for the Wildcats.  He was kicked off the team before the season started for allegedly pawning a teammate's jewelry.  So he went to junior college but he never played there either, finally he entered the NBA draft and was chosen by the Sonics. Kemp finally played in the NBA and by his fourth season, at the age of 23, he was an All-Star.  In fact an All-Star for six straight seasons.  But then Kemp asked for a raise, but Sonics management instead opted to give the big money to free agent Jim McIlvaine . Kemp and the Sonics fans were outraged and eventually he was traded to the Cavaliers and that’s when his fall began.  He got fat and made the famous comment to his agent, "Don't even call me about no basketball.'' Kemp was arrested in 2005 and 2006 for drug possession.  But the “Reign Man” keeps threatening a comeback.  He lost weight and played summer ball and here is some video of the new Kemp.  Denver and Chicago showed interest in Kemp, but as of today he still on the outside looking in at the NBA.  For more check out this 2005 profile on the NBA’s true “Mystery Man.” November 25 Lorenzo Charles' memorable slam that won N.C. State the natioinal championship  Lorenzo Charles is 43.  It is only one of the most famous plays in college basketball.  Derek Wittenburg’s heave is dunked in by Charles and North Carolina State upsets Houston to win the 1983 NCAA Championship.  You see it all the time, especially in March, on CBS.  However, if you would like to relive roundball history on Lorenzo’s birthday you are welcome to watch it again.  Charles was only a sophomore when he became famous for his finish.  That season he averaged only eight points a game.  The next two seasons at N.C. State he would average 18 per game. Lorenzo’s NBA career was a short one.  He played 36 games for the Atlanta Hawks and averaged just 3.5 points before moving on to the CBA, the USBL and overseas.  While playing in the CBA  he, and his former college teammate Sidney Lowe, played with Keith Smart, who hit the big shot to win a national title for Indiana.  Smart said, “I really fell in love with that team, once seeing that on television.  Then I got a chance to play with Lorenzo Charles and Sidney Lowe in the CBA in Rapid City, South Dakota.  We'd reminisce about the championship days.” Charles tried coaching after his playing days were over, but apparently that didn’t work out too well.  After the 2000 season he was not resigned by the IBA’s Fargo/Moorhead Beez. November 24 Dave Bing led Syracuse in scoring as a sophomore (22.2), junior (23.2) and senior (24.8). Dave Bing is 63 today.  Bing played his high school basketball in Washington DC and he went to Syracuse where he was the Orangemen’s first All-America in 39 years.  Bing was the second pick of the 1966 draft behind Cazzie Russell, who I met a couple of weeks ago at a SCAD/Brewton Parker basketball game that I was broadcasting. In the NBA Bing was a scorer who could distribute, but scoring was really what he did best.  In his first seven seasons in the league, with the Pistons, he averaged 20 or more points.  In his second season Bing finished second in scoring.  He averaged 27.1, but Oscar Robertson tossed in 29.2 per game.  Later in his career Bing had a problem with a detached retina and his career ended after stops in Washington and Boston. After basketball the Hall of Famer has been equally as successful.  In 1980 he started Bing Steel in Detroit which grew to be a $61 million dollar business. November 23   The "Big O" playing with the Cincinnati.  Hey Mars, it definately wasn't the shoes that made Robertson one of the best ever.  Oscar Robertson is 68 today.  The ”Big O” was my dad’s favorite basketball player because he could do it all.  What would happen if somebody in today’s game averaged a triple-double for a season?  Bird didn’t do it Magic didn’t either. I t doesn’t seem possible to be able to do that in an 82 game season.  In 1961-62, in his second pro season and at the age of 23, Robertson played in 79 of 80 regular season games for the Cincinnati Royals and averaged a triple-double- 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists.  How does one score that many points and at the same time average that many assists?  Robertson was responsible for 53 points per night.  Of course the Royals did average a 123 points per game that season.  Nevertheless, the “Big O” was 43% of the Royals’ offense that season. To compare, LeBron James in his second season averaged 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists and 31.4, 7.0 and 6.6 last season.  So James is close to duplicating Robertson’s numbers. But will he ever have a 30.8, 12.5 and 11.4 season?  I don’t think so.  In fact those Robertson numbers should be more famous.  Like 714 was in baseball.  But I think in basketball that past accomplishments don’t get the respect that they do in other sports.  BTW, Robertson missed averaging a triple-double in his first season by a mere 3/10 of an assist and he missed out in his third season by just 1/2 of an assist.  He also averaged 30 or more points in six of his first seven seasons in the league.  The “Big O’ did too much in his career to highlight here so check out his roundball resume.  It is one of the best in the history of the game.  November 22   Mel Hutchins is 78 today.  In seven NBA seasons, Hutchins had almost as many rebounds as points scored.  He averaged almost a double-double for his career- 11.1 points and 9.6 rebounds. All right lets round up those rebounds and say he averaged a double-double.  In addition to the points and rebounds, Hutchins is considered to be one of the great defenders in NBA history. Hutchins played with the Milwaukee Hawks, the Fort Wayne Pistons and the New York Knicks.  In back-to-back seasons in the mid 50’s, Hutchins played on Pistons teams that lost in the finals.  His teammates included George Yardley, Larry Faust and Max Zaslofsky.  Hutchins was a four-time NBA All-Star. Hutchins played his college ball at BYU and in the 1950-51 season the 6-foot-5 center was selected a first team All-American by Look Magazine, Converse, Helms and The Sporting News. November 21 Wow- 'The Pearl' vs 'The Doc'   Earl Monroe is 62 today.  I actually saw Earl ‘The Pearl’ play live in an exhibition game in my hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.  Now Earl had some moves.  That is why he shot so many free throws.  The 6-foot-3 guard averaged four made free throws a game throughout his career. 7-foot-1 Wilt Chamberlain only averaged making two more per game than Monroe.  Of course Wilt shot 51% from the line and Monroe made 81% of his shots. So what was it like to guard Monroe? T he man himself speculated, “The thing is, I don't know what I'm going to do with the ball, and if I don't know, I'm quite sure the guy guarding me doesn't know either." After playing with the Bullets, Monroe moved on to the Knicks and teamed up with Walt Frazier, who I once interviewed at a basketball camp at Alabama State. I  remember asking Frazier about teaming up with ’The Pearl.’  For more on Monroe I am going to turn you over to the great Frank Deford who wrote this profile in a 1968 edition of Sports Illustrated. November 20 'Little Louie' Dampier is considered the 19th best high school player in Indiana history   Louie Dampier is  62.  When I would listen to the Kentucky Colonels play, on my little red Panasonic radio that was shaped like a ball on a chain, I would wonder, was this ‘Little Louie’ Dampier, that WHAS Radio’s Van Vance was talking about, good enough to play in the NBA?  He sounded so good playing in the ABA.  Dampier twice scored 54 points in a game- against Indiana in 1968 and versus Dallas in 1970. Yea, Dampier is the ABA’s all-time leading scorer.  After all he played in the league from its birth to its death.  The 6-foot Dampier, who is considered the 19th best high school player in Indiana history, used to pull up for three-pointers on the fast break.  He averaged as many as 26 points in a season.  But by the time he finally got to the NBA with the Spurs, of course an old ABA team, Dampier wasn’t the ‘Little Louie’ that I remembered.  A 32-year old Dampier was picked up in the dispersal draft by the Spurs for $20,000 and he never averaged double-digits in the NBA.  So now my question is how would a 24-year old ’Little Louie’ Dampier fared in the NBA?   November 19   Tom Payne is 56.  Payne was the first African-American to play basketball at the University of Kentucky.  His college career lasted just one season.  In 1970-71, the 7-foot-2 Payne averaged 16.9 points and 10 rebounds per game with a best game of 39 points and 10 rebounds against LSU.  So why isn’t Tom Payne a famous ex-basketball instead of being a notorious former player?  Because Payne lasted only one season at UK and played only 29 games in the NBA with Atlanta Hawks in which he averaged four points and 2 rebounds.  While with the Hawks, Payne was arrested and convicted on rape charges and he has spent more than have of his life in jail.  For more on Payne’s life please read this story from WAVE-TV. In July of this year Payne’s family sued the Louisville Courier-Journal for using excerpts of a children’s book that Tom Payne had written in an article about his life. November 18     Sam Cassell is 37 today.  When I think of Cassell, I think of a player who makes his team better. So I researched his career to see if that is actually true. After two seasons at San Jacinto JC, where he averaged 22.5 points per game, Cassell moved on to Florida State and immediately helped improve the Seminoles’ results and he did the same in the NBA with the Rockets and Clippers. Before Cassell With Cassell Florida State (90-91) 21-11 2nd round NCAA Florida State (91-92) 22-10 Sweet 16 Florida State (92-93) 25-10 Elite 8 Houston Rockets (92-93) 55-27 lost 2nd round Houston Rockets (93-94) 58-24 NBA Title LA Clippers (2004-05) 37-45 no playoffs LA Clippers (05-06) 47-35 lost in 2nd round And in his late 30’s Cassell is still helping the cause.  On November 2 he helped the Clippers come back and beat the Nuggets 96-95 by scoring 35 and hitting the game winning free throws with 12 seconds remaining.   November 17 Elvin Hayes is 61 today.  What is the true story about him?  Was he a great player or was he a selfish player or was he both at the same time?  The Big E averaged 21 points and 12.5 rebounds for his 16-year career and as many as 29 points and 18 rebounds in two different seasons.  But I always head Hayes was a coach killer.  Tex Winter coached him for two seasons in San Diego and Houston in the early 70‘s.   Hayes had his best scoring season of his career, in 70-71, averaging 28.7 points, but the team finished two games under .500.  Both would soon leave the Rockets.  Elvin went to Baltimore and Winter was 17-30 without Hayes before he left.  Winter and Hayes did not get along.  One chapter of  the book More Than a Game deals with Winter's relationship with Hayes.  Winter said, “Whenever I asked Elvin to do something else (besides his turnaround jumper) like pass the ball, he'd just say, "I'm an All-Star.  Why should I change my game?  Asking me to pass the ball is like asking Babe Ruth to bunt.   But the truth was that Hayes had the worst fundamentals of any player I've ever coached.  His footwork was terrible, and except for his one dribble-and-spin he just couldn't handle the ball.  We had a lot of basic drills that he simply couldn't execute.  He tried to avoid these drills by making believe he was hurt or by getting his ankles retaped.” And another observation on the relationship the Big E had with coaches, "For some players and coaches, being around Elvin every day is like a Chinese water torture," John Lally, a trainer with the Washington Bullets when Hayes was with the team, told the Washington Post.  "It's just a drop at a time, nothing big, but in the end, he's driven you crazy." So I guess the Big E was a Big Pain for a coach.  But can't we all just get along and wish the Big E a Big Happy 61 today. November 16   JoJo was a Jawhawk     And JoJo was a Celtic JoJo White is 60 today.  When I think of JoJo, I think of green and white and the Garden.  In 12 seasons White played in 837 NBA games and 730 of them were with the Boston Celtics.  JoJo could score, JoJo could defend and JoJo was a team player.  White played in one of the greatest games in NBA history- the triple overtime 128-126 Boston win over Phoenix in game five of the 1976 NBA Finals.  JoJo played in 60 of the games 63 minutes and scored 30 points.  The Celtics won the series and White was the Final’s MVP.  He recently said this about game 5, “ I personally would have to say it was one of the greatest games, and I was very happy to be a part of it.  It had so many heroes in it.  Certainly it was the longest game I'd ever been in, with so many players making so many big shots.  It was draining.  It was strenuous.  You had to reach down for everything you had to pull out a victory.  It had all the dramatics that anyone could ask for.” White played in a Celtic record 488 consecutive games, he was a seven-time All-Star and his number 10 jersey has been retired.  Currently, JoJo is the Director of Special Projects, Community Relations with the Boston Celtics.  His son Brian J. White is an actor. November 15 Bobby Dandrdige is 59.  When I was growing up in the 70’s there were a lot of NBA players out there who could score, but they weren’t considered superstars.  Bobby Dandridge was one of those type players.  The man scored a lot of points.  Almost 30,000.  But nobody remembers that.  He shot 48% from the field and averaged seven rebounds even though he was only 6-foot-6 and 195 pounds.  Of course when you play on the same team as Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Oscar Robertson you are going to be overshadowed.  In 1970-71 the Milwaukee Bucks swept the Bullets in four games to win the title.  Jabbar averaged 32 points, Robertson 19 and Dandridge 18. Later in his career, Dandridge was a key acquisition for the Washington Bullets.  He joined Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld and won another championship.  In the Eastern Conference finals the Bullets played the 76ers and in game three Dandridge held Sixers star Julius Erving to 12 points while scoring 30, and Washington had an easy 123-108 victory.  So Bobby D could score and shut down a Hall of Famer, all in the same game. November 14 Simmie Hill is 60 today.  Hill played on one of the best high school basketball teams in the state of Pennsylvania.  His 1965 Midland High School team won the state championship.  The school no longer exists, but memories of the 6-foot-7 Hill teaming up with Norm Van Lier are still discussed in that state.  Two future pros on one team is somewhat of a rarity in high school basketball. While Van Lier went on to play at St. Francis University and then later became an All-Star with the Chicago Bulls, Hill took his game out west to what is now West Texas A&M and then on to the ABA.  Hill was the first pick of the second round of the NBA draft, but he wound up playing in the rival league for four seasons.  His first stop was Los Angeles in 1969-70.  However, Hill showed up to training camp overweight and he was traded to the Floridians after only six games.  Simmie’s best season was in Miami, he averaged 15 points and eight rebounds.  Hill also played for the Chaparrals, the Conquistadors and the Spurs.  For his career he averaged 10 points and five rebounds.  Where is he today?  I tried to find him so I could call him for an interview, but I had no luck. November 13 Jack Sikma  Jack Sikma is 51 today.  Sikma came out of the NAIA, out of little Illinois Wesleyan and he was an eighth pick of the first round, who ended up playing 14 seasons in the NBA and scoring nearly 37,000 points.  Not bad for a 6-foot-11 guy with a bad haircut. Sikma could also rebound and block shots, but it was his shooting form that made him memorable.  If you didn’t see it, well, it is a little like Dirk Nowitzki’s shot. In 1978-79 Sikma played on a NBA championship team in Seattle that didn’t have a big superstar. Instead the Supersonics coached by Lenny Wilkins had six players who averaged in double-digits-Sikma, Gus Williams, Lonnie Shelton, Fred Brown and Dennis and John Johnson. After retirement Sikma when into golf course management, but he is back in basketball these days.  Sikma is an assistant coach in Seattle and he works with the big guys.  Sikma’s number 43 jersey has been retired.   November 12   George Blaney with the boss (Jim Calhoun)  George Blaney is 67 today.  Blaney played college and pro ball with Holy Cross and the New York Knicks and he has been a head coach for 27 years with Holy Cross and Seton Hall.  So why is he an assistant coach these days?  Blaney was fired by Seton Hall in 1997 and after working in the IBL for one season and as an assistant at Rhode Island, he told the Boston Globe, at that point of his career, the phone wasn’t ringing, “You go through a period of time where everybody calls you, and then you go through a period of time where nobody calls you, because they are embarrassed or whatever the reason," Blaney said. "Jim (Calhoun) was one of the few really close friends who always called me." Blaney joined Calhoun at Connecticut five years ago and they are still working together this season. November 11 Perry Moss  Perry Moss is 48 today.  Moss is one of only four players from Northeastern University to play in the NBA.  However, like so many who are able to score a lot in college, Moss averaged no more than four points a game in his short stint in the NBA with the Bullets, 76ers and Warriors. In college, though, the 6-foot-2 guard dazzled with his 41-inch vertical leap and spectacular dunks.  Bottom line the dude could jump.  He scored over 1,700 points and more than 30 in a game, eight times in a college career that ended in 1983. Moss won a CBA Title with the long forgotten Tampa Bay Thrillers in 1985.  The coach of the Thrillers was the late Bill Musselman.  In the 1984-85 season, the Thrillers first in Tampa, the team went 35-13 and featured several other players who, like Moss, had a fine college game but they never made it big in the NBA.  Remember Freeman Williams, the big scorer from Portland State?  He was on the team as was Sidney Lowe.  Williams was the top scorer in Division I in 1977 and 1978 averaging 38.8 and 35.9 points.  No wonder why the Thrillers won it all in the CBA two straight seasons. November 10 Gene Conley pictured doing double duty     Conley- a successfull 2-sport athlete   Gene Conley is celebrating his 76th birthday today Listen to Gene reminisce with Roundball Coach Audio   Gene's wife, Katheryn, has written a book about his life. One of a Kind   Gene pictured with Randy Johnson-  Randy can pitch but could he play in the NBA?    Conley pictured during his Milwaukee days  November 9  Frank Selvy at Furman   Game 7, 1962 Wide shot of Bob Cousy dribbling out the clock in OT after Selvy had missed the game winner in regulation Frank Selvy is 74 today.  Selvy had a long roundball career, but he is known for two things.  Selvy is the only player in Division I history to score 100 points in a game.  On February 13, 1954 Selvy, or as he was known - the Corbin Comet, made 41 of 66 field goal attempts and 18 of 22 free throws. The other significant moment in his career was a missed 8-footer at the end of regulation of game 7 of the 1962 NBA Championship Series.  Make that shot and the Los Angeles Lakers would have defeated Boston Celtics and won a world title.  Instead the game went to overtime and Boston won.  Selvy said later, “It was a fairly tough shot because I was almost on the baseline.  But I would trade all my points for that last basket.” Selvy averaged 41.7 points per game in 1954 and 32.5 for his career.  In his nine year NBA career, he averaged 11 points with his highest average being 19 in his rookie season. After his playing career ended, Selvy returned to Furman to coach.  He was an assistant for two seasons and the head coach for four, but coaching wasn’t his passion.  Selvy sold packaging material for 25 years and then retired. November 8 Collis Temple signs with LSU coach Press Maravich    Temple played at LSU from 1971-74 Collis Temple is 54 today.  Temple was back in the spotlight last March when LSU made it’s run to the Final Four.  Temple’s son, Garrett, is a backup guard on the team and wears number 14 in honor of his dad who wore number 41 when he became the first African-American to play basketball at LSU.  His oldest son, Collis III, played at LSU from 200-03 and scored 1,173 points. In the late 60’s and early 70’s the SEC was in the midst of an institutional change.  Prior to 1968 no African-American had ever played roundball in the SEC.  Perry Wallace was the first to break that barrier when he first played for Vanderbilt in 1968.  Other trail blazers at this time were Coolidge Ball, who was the first African-American player at Ole Miss (1970) and Wendell Hudson, who did the same at Alabama. Temple broke the barrier at LSU in 1971 and he says it was a challenge, “There were a couple of guys on the team who had less than desirable attitudes, but most of the guys were pretty nice fellows,” Temple said, “The funny thing about athletics is, it has a way of transcending racial issues in a lot of ways. It’s more about respect for one guy or another guy’s ability.” “If you wear LSU, the people who are for LSU are going to be your supporters,” Temple said. “People who have racial overtones, racial tendencies, and racial attitudes who tend to be negative, they’re typically not going to show those issues in a large setting like an athletic arena.” Please read more about Temple’s groundbreaking career in this profile on his life. After LSU, Temple played 24 games in the ABA with the San Antonio Spurs. November 7 Alvin Attles scoops and scores   Attles coaching the Warriors  Alvin Attles is 70 today.  For 46 of those years Attles has been a Warrior- a Philadelphia Warrior, a San Francisco Warrior and a Golden State Warrior.  A player, a coach and an executive with the franchise.  Attles played with Rick Barry and he coached Rick Barry.  His greatest accomplishment with the franchise was coaching Barry and the 1974-75 Warriors to the NBA Championship.  Or maybe his finest accomplishment was coaching Golden State to seven straight winning seasons.  After all, this is a franchise in the midst of a 12-year run of losing seasons. Attles played his college ball at North Carolina A&T.  He was a fifth round pick who played 11 seasons in the NBA. Attles wasn’t a marquee player.  He was a solid player who averaged nine points and 3.5 assists and rebounds.  He was a defender, an old school, hard nosed player. You see the Warriors didn’t need have a need for Al to toss in 20 or 30, because there was always somebody else on the team who was going to do that.  Attles not only played with Barry when he averaged 35.6 points per game, but he also played with Wilt Chamberlain the season in which he averaged 50.4.  On March 2, 1962 Alvin and Wilt combined to score 117 points.  Everybody knows Chamberlain went for 100 in Hershey, Pa.  But did you know Attles didn't miss a shot in the game?  He was 8-for-8 from the field and 1-for-1 at the line and scored 17.  Attles is a member of the CIAA and the New Jersey Hall of Fame.  On September 15, 2006, Attles returned to his home state of New Jersey where he was joined by 600 alumni, faculty and friends who honored the 1955 Weequahic High School graduate by raising $100,000 for college scholarships to be used for current students at Weequahic. November 6 James Naismith The man who invented basketball- originally refered to as basket ball          James Naismith is still dead, but today is the 145th anniversary of his birth. Normally we wouldn’t feature a deceased person’s birthday.  But had their been no Naismith, is it possible there would have been no basketball?  What would Red Auerbach had done?  I guess Michael Jordan would have been a minor league baseball player, Bill Walton would have been a roadie for the Grateful Dead and Dennis Rodman would have been a professional wrestler or maybe he would have been in the circus or who knows what he would have done to draw attention to himself. But did Naismith really invent basketball?  You grew up learning that Abner Doubleday created the sport of baseball, however, that turned out not to be true.  So what is the real story? Here it is.  In 1891, at the age of 30, Naismith invented his new game for some bored physical education students.  He came up with 13 basic rules.  Surprisingly, a game that was played with a soccer ball and a peach basket had many of the same rules that exist today.  Here are some exceptions: The ball must be held by the hands.  The arms or body must not be used for holding it. If either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul). When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field of play by the person touching it.  He has a right to hold it unmolested for five seconds.  In case of a dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. Naismith not only invented the game, but he coached it as well.  He has the distinction of being the only coach at the University of Kansas to have a losing record.  Naismith was 55-60 from 1898 to 1907.  But wins and losses didn’t concern him.  Of course he didn’t have a Billy Packer second guessing his decisions.  Unbelievably, he wasn’t always at the game when his team played.  They say sometimes he was off officiating while his team was playing.  I think Bob Knight did that once. Also celebrating birthdays today are John Tresvant 67, Charlie Criss 58, and Lamar Odom 27. November 5 Walton with Coach Wooden    The"Radical" Bill   Walton in his prime Walton running his mouth Bill Walton is 54 today.  Walton has always been an intriguing figure in the roundball world.  Here is a guy who played in a disciplined and structured program for John Wooden at UCLA.  But, yet in the 70’s, that same Walton had a beard and a pony tail and was hanging out with the band the Grateful Dead.  Now some 30 years later Walton absolutely gushes over Coach Wooden and the impact he had on his life.  So my question is- why the pony tail? At UCLA Walton played on two NCAA title teams.  N.C. State edged the Bruins 80-77 in double overtime in the National Semifinal game in Walton’s other trip to the Final Four.  In his junior year, Walton hit 21-of-22 shots and scored 44 points in the National Championship game. In the NBA Walton played on one of the most cohesive teams in history.  The 1977 Portland Trail Blazers consisting of Walton, Maurice Lucas, Bobby Gross, Johnny Davis, Lionel Hollins, Larry Steele and Dave Twardzik won the NBA title by beating the Bulls, Nuggets and Lakers on their way to knocking off the Doc and the 76ers (4-2) in the Championship Series. I only saw Walton play once in person, but it was quite memorable.  It was the best performance by a team that I have ever seen.  It was nearly 29 years ago, November 11, 1977.  Portland was 8-1 and so were the Hawks.  But this wasn’t a great Atlanta team.  John Drew, Ron Behagen, Tree Rollins, Steve Hawes, Charlie Criss and the “Bad” Eddie Johnson were the key players for the Hawks.  This team wound up 41-41 and it was the Blazers who showed them they were pretenders.  Portland put on the "clichéd" clinic, and I mean it was a clinic.  The score was 122-72 Portland with five minutes to play and the Blazers won the game 132-92. The 1977-78 Portland team was 32-5 in the middle of January and 50-10 by the end of February.  However, the potential 70 win season came to an end when Walton hurt his foot and was out for the season and then the next one as well.  The Trail Blazers went 8-14 the rest of the way and they were knocked out of the playoffs in the first round, in six games, by Seattle.  Walton was never the same after the injury and neither were the Trail Blazers.  That says it all about Bill Walton’s game. November 4 Dick Groat  Dick Groat is 76 today.  Groat is best known for being the 1960 NL MVP. However, he had a fine basketball career before baseball took over in his life.  Groat was a big time scorer at Duke, improving his average each of his three seasons.  He averaged 14.5 in his first season, 25.2 the next and 26 in his senior season in 1952. Groat was the Helms Player of the year in 1951 and a All-American in 1952.  He was the first Duke player, ever, chosen in the NBA draft.  The Fort Wayne Pistons selected him in the first round in 1952.  Groat played only one season (26 games) in the NBA and averaged 11.9 points with over 1/3 of his points coming from the free throw line. Groat’s NBA career was cut short by a two year military stint.  He was actually signed by Branch Rickey and the Pittsburgh Pirates just a couple of days after he graduated from Duke, but he didn’t join the Pirates until 1955.  Groat won a World Series title in 1960, was an All-Star five times and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated three times.  Today he is still involved in sports.  Groat is the color analyst on the Pitt Panthers' radio broadcasts. November 3 Darrin Hancock  Darrin Hancock is 35 today.  Wow, its seems like just 18 years ago I was calling the play-by-play of Darrin’s gaes at Griffin High School in Griffin, Georgia.  Actually it was and what a lot of fun that was.  Hancock then, was the equivalent of any of the top high school prep prospects now.  He could run, he could jump and he had the knack for the spectacular.  He helped lead Griffin to a state championship and he was definitely responsible for the massive crowds that showed up in Griffin’s “House” and on the road.  My memories of Darrin include the 50-point game at Vangard High School in Ocala, Florida that got him listed in the Faces in the Crowd in Sports Illustrated, a dunk he had against Windsor Forest in the Macon Coliseum and dunking successfully despite the fact that a little guard by the name of Chris Gregory was holding on to his jersey.  Yea, when Hancock wanted to dunk he wasn’t going to be denied.  In 24 years of calling high school basketball games he is still the best player I have ever called. Darrin moved on and played two years at Garden City JC, one for the Kansas Jayhawks, one in Greece and then he made it to the NBA.  He played for Charlotte and Atlanta, but his pro offensive game never developed to the NBA level and then soon he was playing in the ABA, the USBL and the CBA.  I think Darrin is done with pro ball and I read somewhere he wanted to be a coach.  Here is a little tribute to Hancock on his birthday.  First up is a piece I did after covering a Charlotte Hornets at Atlanta Hawks game.  Remember Larry Johnson?  Darrin and Larry were friends and Johnson butted in on my probing interview.  Following that are some Hancock dunks and spectacular plays from the 1989-90 season.  Hancock Audio November 2 Ron Reed in his Philadelphia Phillies days (1976-1982  Ron Reed is 64 today.  Reed, a LaPorte, Indiana native, played three sports while in high school and excelled in all three, receiving scholarship offers in all three sports.  Reed turned down a bonus offer from Kansas City Royals to sign a scholarship to play basketball, his first love, at Notre Dame.  Reed still holds the single season rebound record averaging 17.7 boards per game during his junior year.  In November of 2004 Reed was one of 25 to make Notre Dame’s All-Century Basketball Team.  Reed scored 1,153 points and averaged 18.9 points per game and 14.3 rebounds in his Fighting Irish career.  After graduation he signed with Detroit Pistons of NBA and in 1965 he also signed a minor league baseball contract with the then Milwaukee Braves.  Reed played two seasons with the Pistons averaging 8 points and 6.5 rebounds in 118 NBA games between 1965 and 1967.  On the diamond Reed was 146-140 with a 3.46 ERA in 19 seasons with the Braves, Cardinals, Phillies and White Sox.  The 6-6 right hander’s best season was in 1969 when he went 18-10 with a 3.47 ERA for the NL West champion Atlanta November 1   Joe Caldwell in the ABA Caldwell's playing card in the NBA   Joe Caldwell is 55. Growing up as a Hawks’ fan in Birmingham, Alabama, I was quite fond of players like Lou Hudson and Joe Caldwell. Lou was the solid player, who did everything well. Caldwell was the leaper, who at 6-foot-5 could jam over anybody. The television and radio announcers of that time would always mention that Caldwell could or once jumped over a car. I never really believed that. But Caldwell was called “Pogo” and “Jumping Joe”. Joe Louis Caldwell, who was named after the boxer, Joe Louis, grew up in Los Angeles. He played his college ball at Arizona State. In fact when he described his recruiting it sounded more like a kidnapping. “ Hey get in the car, we are taking you to Arizona.” Caldwell now lives in Arizona and is still good friends with Connie Hawkins, another great player form that era. Caldwell won a gold medal at the 1964 Olympics and then was a first round pick of the Pistons. His pro career was certainly not ordinary. He averaged as many as 21 points for the NBA Hawks before jumping to the ABA. He averaged 23 points in his first season with the Carolina Cougars. However, Caldwell was always in the news for other reasons. Contract squabbles and disagreements with ownerships. Caldwell challenged the NBA’s reserve clause and won and became the first player to jump leagues without having to sit out a season. Jumping Joe says the NBA still holds a grudge against him some 35 years later. Caldwell played 11 seasons of professional ball and averaged 16 points per game. He has written a book entitled Joe Caldwell Banned from Basketball.