For a long period of time, I have always wondered why NCAA college basketball teams need so many darn assistant coaches.
I watch some teams and it almost seems at times there is more men in suits on the bench than there are substitutes.
By NCAA rules teams are allowed, one head coach, three assistants and a director of basketball operations, whose scope in limited as to the duties.
Without question the hardest job in college basketball is an assistant coaching position. There just in my mind is too many assistant coaches on each team.
Assistant coaches are woefully UNDERPAID, they work long hours, they are constantly studying videotape, running practices in many cases, making sure all the redshirts are doing what they need to do to get better, recruiting and making sure that 18-22 year old young men are staying out of trouble, going to class and conducting their lives in a manner that their parents, the school and community can be proud. Not even close to being a cake walk job in these times.
Some assistant coaches might read this column and be irritated with myself about saying there are too many assistant coaches. I can understand that as they need to stick up for their profession and they should do just that.
I actually am writing this out of respect for every assistant coach and I actually want to get you the money your more than deserve. One way to do that, without raising the budget, is to eliminate one assistant coaching position and take that money and give it to the two remaining assistants. I will never be convinced that a team needs three assistants and a director of basketball operations. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Two of the greatest coaches in the history of the NBA won championships with only one assistant coach. The 1977 champion Portland team won the title with Jack Ramsay and Jack McKinney as its only two coaches. Going a little further north, in 1979 Lenny Wilkens won the championship with only one man at his side, Les Habegger.
I am not saying we have to go back to 1979, but basketball is basketball, good coaches win and bad coaches get fired.
I want assistant coaches to make more money, I have so much respect for the job they do and seldom get any credit for their work, I just want to see less, so you all can make more.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Rotation Is A Good Thing
In a very short time, Larry Scott, Pac-12 commissioner and his astute executive team, will start taking bids on where to host the Pac-12 men's basketball tournament.
The contract is up after this coming basketball season at the Staples Center, so 2013 is wide open and it is anybody's guess as to where the event will take place.
One thing is certain, it should not return to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They just flat do not deserve the game any longer, the tournament for most part has been poorly attended and despite the storied program at UCLA, Los Angeles is not a good college basketball town, it is all about the Lakers.
Begs the question, who does deserve the tournament? It actually is a hard question to answer, so let's examine some of the choices.
Seattle---Even though it is the NBA, they lost the Seattle Sonics, so just how good of a town for basketball is Seattle? The Seattle U. Redhawks, have drawn well so far in Key Arena since returning to D-1, despite having below average teams. The Huskies do well, but if they did not have such a winning team their crowds by most estimates would be sparse. Seattle will place a bid for the tournament, so that does show some interest. That bid will be for Key Arena to host.
Las Vegas--Rumors always abound about Vegas being a site for post season. The Big Sky even toyed with it this year, but a crowded field which already sees the Mt. West, WAC and West Coast Conference playing there, it seems like a long shot. Once thing is for certain, Las Vegas knows how to promote and put on events, so don't automatically count them out.
Sacramento---The closest Pac-12 team is the Cal Bears, but Sacramento is a great basketball city. They might lose the Kings, but the way the great fans have supported the team through some terrible losing seasons and the passion for basketball makes this a choice to at least look at in the future. It would probably be even a better choice if the Kings left, as the community would be starved for basketball.
Salt Lake City---Would be a great advantage for Pac-12 newcomer Utah, but Salt Lake City is a great basketball town and Utah is a great basketball state. It does not get any bigger than the Olympics so there are many people in town who know how to put on quality events. For sure, this city needs to be on the list and highly considered.
Portland--A funny college basketball town. The city's two D-1 teams, Portland State and U. of Portland do not draw well. Kentucky came to town last year and so did Duke, playing Portland and Oregon, respectively and neither game came even close to selling out the 20,000 seat Rose Garden. But on the positive side, in 2009 the first round NCAA regionals sold out quickly and the 2012 NCAA regionals in Portland are expected to do the same. Portland needs a look.
Tucson---Without question, this would be a good choice. Actually it would be my first choice. The fans of the Wildcats deserve it with their support they have shown over the years, even in the short down time and above all, Arizona has held up Pac-12 basketball at a high level for so many years, it would be nice to reward them for it.
Spokane---Thought I would throw it in, for one reason. They have an active sports commission who has attracted some very nice, high profile events to the area, so it would get the community support and the backing of people who know what they are doing when it comes to hosting not only basketball, but other sporting events.
Of course all these above cities, do need to make bids and I am certain all of the above are at least thinking about making plans to bid and some have already said they will, such as Seattle.
Here is just a thought for the Pac-12, cause even though they might not listen to Craw's Corner, they do read this blog in the offices.
Pac-12, don't get locked into one city. Rotate this tournament around to all of the above and even more additions. After one year, it gets old and stale in the same venue, it creates a lot more buzz, if a new venue is the site of Pac-12 men's tournament each year. It also would help the league promote and market their game, fans in these cities would really have something to look forward too and there is nothing better than spreading the excitement, after all the Pac-12 is a big area.
Pac-12 basketball needs a big shot in the arm, rotating the conference tournament would be a great start.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
The contract is up after this coming basketball season at the Staples Center, so 2013 is wide open and it is anybody's guess as to where the event will take place.
One thing is certain, it should not return to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They just flat do not deserve the game any longer, the tournament for most part has been poorly attended and despite the storied program at UCLA, Los Angeles is not a good college basketball town, it is all about the Lakers.
Begs the question, who does deserve the tournament? It actually is a hard question to answer, so let's examine some of the choices.
Seattle---Even though it is the NBA, they lost the Seattle Sonics, so just how good of a town for basketball is Seattle? The Seattle U. Redhawks, have drawn well so far in Key Arena since returning to D-1, despite having below average teams. The Huskies do well, but if they did not have such a winning team their crowds by most estimates would be sparse. Seattle will place a bid for the tournament, so that does show some interest. That bid will be for Key Arena to host.
Las Vegas--Rumors always abound about Vegas being a site for post season. The Big Sky even toyed with it this year, but a crowded field which already sees the Mt. West, WAC and West Coast Conference playing there, it seems like a long shot. Once thing is for certain, Las Vegas knows how to promote and put on events, so don't automatically count them out.
Sacramento---The closest Pac-12 team is the Cal Bears, but Sacramento is a great basketball city. They might lose the Kings, but the way the great fans have supported the team through some terrible losing seasons and the passion for basketball makes this a choice to at least look at in the future. It would probably be even a better choice if the Kings left, as the community would be starved for basketball.
Salt Lake City---Would be a great advantage for Pac-12 newcomer Utah, but Salt Lake City is a great basketball town and Utah is a great basketball state. It does not get any bigger than the Olympics so there are many people in town who know how to put on quality events. For sure, this city needs to be on the list and highly considered.
Portland--A funny college basketball town. The city's two D-1 teams, Portland State and U. of Portland do not draw well. Kentucky came to town last year and so did Duke, playing Portland and Oregon, respectively and neither game came even close to selling out the 20,000 seat Rose Garden. But on the positive side, in 2009 the first round NCAA regionals sold out quickly and the 2012 NCAA regionals in Portland are expected to do the same. Portland needs a look.
Tucson---Without question, this would be a good choice. Actually it would be my first choice. The fans of the Wildcats deserve it with their support they have shown over the years, even in the short down time and above all, Arizona has held up Pac-12 basketball at a high level for so many years, it would be nice to reward them for it.
Spokane---Thought I would throw it in, for one reason. They have an active sports commission who has attracted some very nice, high profile events to the area, so it would get the community support and the backing of people who know what they are doing when it comes to hosting not only basketball, but other sporting events.
Of course all these above cities, do need to make bids and I am certain all of the above are at least thinking about making plans to bid and some have already said they will, such as Seattle.
Here is just a thought for the Pac-12, cause even though they might not listen to Craw's Corner, they do read this blog in the offices.
Pac-12, don't get locked into one city. Rotate this tournament around to all of the above and even more additions. After one year, it gets old and stale in the same venue, it creates a lot more buzz, if a new venue is the site of Pac-12 men's tournament each year. It also would help the league promote and market their game, fans in these cities would really have something to look forward too and there is nothing better than spreading the excitement, after all the Pac-12 is a big area.
Pac-12 basketball needs a big shot in the arm, rotating the conference tournament would be a great start.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Your Bucket Should Contain
The term "bucket list" will go down in history as one of the great sayings of the first half of this century, all the hip people use the term, I am not hip or even cool, but I do know what west coast basketball fans should see in the next few years if possible.
With the season actually less than four months away, it is time to start planning. Not everyone can afford to travel, they might not have the health to do so, so all of the things I am going to talk about can be seen on TV, but if you can go live, GO FOR IT. Nothing like being there in person.
1. UTAH STATE----- The best college basketball atmosphere of any arena in the country. Logan, Utah is a beautiful city and the Aggie fans are just great to watch. They are into the game, have some great songs they sing during the time-outs and do it for the most part in a respectful manner. I am sure it helps they win all the time at home, so get there soon, before Stew Morrill decides to leave as head coach and that would set the program back. Stew, just win an NCCA tournament game sometime please.
2. Power Pep Band--- The Portland State Vikings have the best pep band out west. Small gym, but usually you can get into the Stott Center. While the teams have had some nice success in the past five years, this band is worth it. They not only can play music, they are entertaining, constantly on the opponents and referees. They even have a trombone player who I am not sure if he ever puts his lips to the mouthpiece, but he is worth watching the whole evening with his antics. The great part is none of these band members will ever graduate, not being PSU students, I am not sure where they come from, but one thing is certain they fit Portland, Oregon's unofficial motto, "keep Portland weird".
3. Maui Classic-- I have never been, but everyone who has, always wants to go back soon. Once again small gym, usually hotter than heck inside, but without question the best field of any of the pre-season tournaments. Usually held the week of Thanksgiving, you also will see plenty of famous basketball people hanging around, after all it is Hawaii, in the start of winter. If the talented teams are not enough, there is always the suspense if the home team Chaminade will pull a huge upset, as they have done on occasion.
4. Haas Pavilion---The California Bears are an up and down team, you never know each year what you are going to get on the floor, but for sure it is worth going and watching the season ticket holders that sit behind the scorer's table. They ooze San Francisco, not Berkeley, old time quality people. You can just tell Bear season tickets have been in the family since the first game in the school's history. These men are the true example of rail-birds, they love the Bears and they love sitting on the rail. There is nothing else like it in the Pac-12.
5. Gonzaga--If you can get in. Good atmosphere, if your in the arena and you do not have either white, blue or red as part of your attire, you can guarantee that someone will go out and buy you a shirt and then ask you to pay for it. Of course the Zags, along with Arizona and UCLA have been the kings of west coast basketball in the last 20 years. And kings fits the way the fans act. Not all, but many Gonzaga fans are the kings of arrogance. I just like to go and watch the arrogance, but I have more class than to go into the arena and hold a sign up "just get to the elite 8", which is missing on the resume. Zag fans, act like you have never been there before.
6. The Pit---The greatest name of any basketball arena in the world. Frank Mercogliano of the New Mexico staff (one of the really good guys in sports) recently told me how it got the name. I was looking for more of an exotic answer, but the floor basically is just like any pit you would see, deep into the ground and that is all to the story. But beyond, the Lobos are usually very good and the place is loud, fun and the second best west coast atmosphere in basketball, next to Utah State. In addition, the people in New Mexico are as friendly as it gets. This is a must see.
7. Of course there are other places, Pauley Pavilion, Warner Pacific College in the middle of Portland, Oregon, both Alaska schools that play in the GNAC conference and Mac Court.
Uh oh, I forgot, Mac Court is no longer, progress is great but there was just something about the old place that is hard to forget.
So there is plenty of choices and I kind of wrote this as a tribute to my good friend Jim Jorgensen, who loves to travel around to unique sports venues, I hope I gave him something to think about.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
With the season actually less than four months away, it is time to start planning. Not everyone can afford to travel, they might not have the health to do so, so all of the things I am going to talk about can be seen on TV, but if you can go live, GO FOR IT. Nothing like being there in person.
1. UTAH STATE----- The best college basketball atmosphere of any arena in the country. Logan, Utah is a beautiful city and the Aggie fans are just great to watch. They are into the game, have some great songs they sing during the time-outs and do it for the most part in a respectful manner. I am sure it helps they win all the time at home, so get there soon, before Stew Morrill decides to leave as head coach and that would set the program back. Stew, just win an NCCA tournament game sometime please.
2. Power Pep Band--- The Portland State Vikings have the best pep band out west. Small gym, but usually you can get into the Stott Center. While the teams have had some nice success in the past five years, this band is worth it. They not only can play music, they are entertaining, constantly on the opponents and referees. They even have a trombone player who I am not sure if he ever puts his lips to the mouthpiece, but he is worth watching the whole evening with his antics. The great part is none of these band members will ever graduate, not being PSU students, I am not sure where they come from, but one thing is certain they fit Portland, Oregon's unofficial motto, "keep Portland weird".
3. Maui Classic-- I have never been, but everyone who has, always wants to go back soon. Once again small gym, usually hotter than heck inside, but without question the best field of any of the pre-season tournaments. Usually held the week of Thanksgiving, you also will see plenty of famous basketball people hanging around, after all it is Hawaii, in the start of winter. If the talented teams are not enough, there is always the suspense if the home team Chaminade will pull a huge upset, as they have done on occasion.
4. Haas Pavilion---The California Bears are an up and down team, you never know each year what you are going to get on the floor, but for sure it is worth going and watching the season ticket holders that sit behind the scorer's table. They ooze San Francisco, not Berkeley, old time quality people. You can just tell Bear season tickets have been in the family since the first game in the school's history. These men are the true example of rail-birds, they love the Bears and they love sitting on the rail. There is nothing else like it in the Pac-12.
5. Gonzaga--If you can get in. Good atmosphere, if your in the arena and you do not have either white, blue or red as part of your attire, you can guarantee that someone will go out and buy you a shirt and then ask you to pay for it. Of course the Zags, along with Arizona and UCLA have been the kings of west coast basketball in the last 20 years. And kings fits the way the fans act. Not all, but many Gonzaga fans are the kings of arrogance. I just like to go and watch the arrogance, but I have more class than to go into the arena and hold a sign up "just get to the elite 8", which is missing on the resume. Zag fans, act like you have never been there before.
6. The Pit---The greatest name of any basketball arena in the world. Frank Mercogliano of the New Mexico staff (one of the really good guys in sports) recently told me how it got the name. I was looking for more of an exotic answer, but the floor basically is just like any pit you would see, deep into the ground and that is all to the story. But beyond, the Lobos are usually very good and the place is loud, fun and the second best west coast atmosphere in basketball, next to Utah State. In addition, the people in New Mexico are as friendly as it gets. This is a must see.
7. Of course there are other places, Pauley Pavilion, Warner Pacific College in the middle of Portland, Oregon, both Alaska schools that play in the GNAC conference and Mac Court.
Uh oh, I forgot, Mac Court is no longer, progress is great but there was just something about the old place that is hard to forget.
So there is plenty of choices and I kind of wrote this as a tribute to my good friend Jim Jorgensen, who loves to travel around to unique sports venues, I hope I gave him something to think about.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Sorry, But The Stats Make The Case
This is not an indictment of women, it is not even an indictment of women playing basketball, but something has to give.
In the fiscal year ending 2010, of the public NCAA D-1 schools playing basketball, 93 percent of men's programs made money, not one women's basketball program made money.
You would have to think that with all the publicity, all the record breaking winning streaks and a coach that is on TV almost every night during the season, the Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team would have made tons of money. Not so. For the fiscal year 2010, the giants of women's basketball lost $740,000 dollars. OUCH.
Last year the average ticket price of NCAA men's games was $19.00, the average price for women's games was $7.00. Average attendance for all D-1 men's games was right around 5,100 and the women were at 1,100.
Is there a picture forming here, I think so. Women are not carrying their share of the load in basketball, the games in most cases are not exciting to watch and schools have to take hard look at the value of women's basketball.
What it boils down to is that the women basketball coaches are paid way to much money and ruins any chance of the a school making a profit. In this day of cutbacks, budget shortfalls and rising tuitions, there is no way that women's coach, who is the CEO of the program, should be paid 75 percent of revenues, which is the case at numerous schools. (For the record, it would be unheard for a business to pay the CEO 75 percent of revenues).
More stats......Sorry. In the six largest conferences, of the 53 public schools in those conferences, once again for the fiscal year ending in 2010, the men's basketball programs showed a profit of $240 million and women showed a loss of $109 million. In the Big Ten, the lowest profit for men was Purdue with $3 million, of course no women's teams even came close to a profit. Texas A&M, which won the NCAA championship women's basketball championship last year, in 2010 lost $2.4 million on their program.
Women, like men deserve a chance to play college basketball. There is nothing like the college experience of athletics and bonding with teammates, many of which you will have as friends for life.
What not is deserved is what women basketball coaches make in salary. Perhaps many of the men coaches are making too much, but if they are showing a profit, it is hard to argue. True it is the fault of the schools for giving these coaches too much money, but as we move down the road, something is going to have to give.
In the year 2013, Geno Auriemma at Connecticut will be making $1.8 million and his team will still be losing money. This is a business model that no one can justify as being good, as are all the other documented statistics about the staggering financial losses for women's college basketball. True there are other lesser sports that lose money, but with women's basketball on TV every night of the week, basketball being a high profile sports and men showing a profit at 93 percent of the schools, change should not even be considered, it should be necessary.
If schools cut total academic programs out as many have done, cut back on all employees, then they sure as heck better start thinking about cutting the salaries of women's basketball coaches, which is dragging the programs down and heading for an economic meltdown.
Act now before there is nothing left to act on.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
In the fiscal year ending 2010, of the public NCAA D-1 schools playing basketball, 93 percent of men's programs made money, not one women's basketball program made money.
You would have to think that with all the publicity, all the record breaking winning streaks and a coach that is on TV almost every night during the season, the Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team would have made tons of money. Not so. For the fiscal year 2010, the giants of women's basketball lost $740,000 dollars. OUCH.
Last year the average ticket price of NCAA men's games was $19.00, the average price for women's games was $7.00. Average attendance for all D-1 men's games was right around 5,100 and the women were at 1,100.
Is there a picture forming here, I think so. Women are not carrying their share of the load in basketball, the games in most cases are not exciting to watch and schools have to take hard look at the value of women's basketball.
What it boils down to is that the women basketball coaches are paid way to much money and ruins any chance of the a school making a profit. In this day of cutbacks, budget shortfalls and rising tuitions, there is no way that women's coach, who is the CEO of the program, should be paid 75 percent of revenues, which is the case at numerous schools. (For the record, it would be unheard for a business to pay the CEO 75 percent of revenues).
More stats......Sorry. In the six largest conferences, of the 53 public schools in those conferences, once again for the fiscal year ending in 2010, the men's basketball programs showed a profit of $240 million and women showed a loss of $109 million. In the Big Ten, the lowest profit for men was Purdue with $3 million, of course no women's teams even came close to a profit. Texas A&M, which won the NCAA championship women's basketball championship last year, in 2010 lost $2.4 million on their program.
Women, like men deserve a chance to play college basketball. There is nothing like the college experience of athletics and bonding with teammates, many of which you will have as friends for life.
What not is deserved is what women basketball coaches make in salary. Perhaps many of the men coaches are making too much, but if they are showing a profit, it is hard to argue. True it is the fault of the schools for giving these coaches too much money, but as we move down the road, something is going to have to give.
In the year 2013, Geno Auriemma at Connecticut will be making $1.8 million and his team will still be losing money. This is a business model that no one can justify as being good, as are all the other documented statistics about the staggering financial losses for women's college basketball. True there are other lesser sports that lose money, but with women's basketball on TV every night of the week, basketball being a high profile sports and men showing a profit at 93 percent of the schools, change should not even be considered, it should be necessary.
If schools cut total academic programs out as many have done, cut back on all employees, then they sure as heck better start thinking about cutting the salaries of women's basketball coaches, which is dragging the programs down and heading for an economic meltdown.
Act now before there is nothing left to act on.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Saturday, July 2, 2011
It COUNTS
In my ongoing efforts to bring you great readers some historical stories about west coast college basketball, here we go:
Despite its dismal record and horrible basketball it has produced since 1990, as documented in this blog, Oregon State has a rich history when it comes to west coast basketball and influence nationally as well.
When you talk about the history of Oregon State, you have to talk about Mel Counts, who came to Oregon State from Coos Bay, Oregon, a small, but beautiful city on the Oregon coast.
He played great at Oregon State under famous coach Armory "Slats" Gill, in both 1963 and 1964. Counts' 63 team made it all the way to the NCAA national championship semifinal game only to lose to the Cincinnati Bearcats, in a very lopsided game. In 1964 Counts had an even greater individual basketball year, although the Beavers lost to Seattle U., in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
After the season things got even more monumental for Mel Counts as he was seventh player taken in the first round of the NBA draft by the Boston Celtics and during the summer of 64 (isn't there some song by that name), Counts played on the gold medal winning United States basketball team.
If that wasn't enough for any young man out of Coos Bay, it kept getting better. Not only did Counts get to hone his game even more by being the back-up center to the great Bill Russell for the Boston Celtics, it also gave Counts two NBA championship rings, as the Celtics won NBA the title in in 1965 and 1966,
(For all the stat and trivia guys who read this blog, Mel Counts has the distinction of being one of only 45 basketball players in the world to win an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal.)
It got even more exciting for Counts, but maybe not as much fun as he continued his career in the NBA, with the Baltimore Bullets for short stint before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. While with the Lakers Counts played in three straight NBA finals, 1967-69 and the Lakers lost in all three.
Of those finals, the most memorable was in 1969, when in game seven of the championship finals and the Lakers down nine points, with six minutes to go Counts was inserted into the game for Wilt Chamberlain, who picked up his fifth foul and also appeared to be injured on the same play as he fouled.
Chamberlain never returned to the game, even though he appeared healthy enough too. Counts played the rest of the game and played great, scoring six points, getting five rebounds and three assists all in the six minute period, but it still was not enough, as the Lakers lost the game 108-106 and lost the NBA championship in the process.
To this day, Laker fans around the world are still bummed at then Laker coach Butch van Breda Kolff for not putting Chamberlain back into the game. Would it have made the difference, who knows as we never will find out, but for sure, Counts played great in the final six minutes, better than most back-ups could ever do. Because of Chamberlain not getting back into the game, by all accounts a coaches' decision, many of the top basketball historians have proclaimed this game as the most controversial post season game seven ever in the history of the NBA. (Also for the record, up to this game, Chamberlain had never fouled out of game in his career and many thought if he would have stayed in this game, he was doomed to pick up his sixth foul).
Mel Counts closed out his career in the NBA in 1976, with the New Orleans Jazz, but when we all look back there are very few basketball players who can say they played in an NCAA basketball championship semifinal, were drafted by the Boston Celtics, won an Olympic gold medal, won two NBA championships and were the back-up for two of the five greatest players in the history of the game, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain and played 12 years in the NBA.
Nice going Mr. Counts and in the history of west coast basketball, you do COUNT(s).
Despite its dismal record and horrible basketball it has produced since 1990, as documented in this blog, Oregon State has a rich history when it comes to west coast basketball and influence nationally as well.
When you talk about the history of Oregon State, you have to talk about Mel Counts, who came to Oregon State from Coos Bay, Oregon, a small, but beautiful city on the Oregon coast.
He played great at Oregon State under famous coach Armory "Slats" Gill, in both 1963 and 1964. Counts' 63 team made it all the way to the NCAA national championship semifinal game only to lose to the Cincinnati Bearcats, in a very lopsided game. In 1964 Counts had an even greater individual basketball year, although the Beavers lost to Seattle U., in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
After the season things got even more monumental for Mel Counts as he was seventh player taken in the first round of the NBA draft by the Boston Celtics and during the summer of 64 (isn't there some song by that name), Counts played on the gold medal winning United States basketball team.
If that wasn't enough for any young man out of Coos Bay, it kept getting better. Not only did Counts get to hone his game even more by being the back-up center to the great Bill Russell for the Boston Celtics, it also gave Counts two NBA championship rings, as the Celtics won NBA the title in in 1965 and 1966,
(For all the stat and trivia guys who read this blog, Mel Counts has the distinction of being one of only 45 basketball players in the world to win an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal.)
It got even more exciting for Counts, but maybe not as much fun as he continued his career in the NBA, with the Baltimore Bullets for short stint before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. While with the Lakers Counts played in three straight NBA finals, 1967-69 and the Lakers lost in all three.
Of those finals, the most memorable was in 1969, when in game seven of the championship finals and the Lakers down nine points, with six minutes to go Counts was inserted into the game for Wilt Chamberlain, who picked up his fifth foul and also appeared to be injured on the same play as he fouled.
Chamberlain never returned to the game, even though he appeared healthy enough too. Counts played the rest of the game and played great, scoring six points, getting five rebounds and three assists all in the six minute period, but it still was not enough, as the Lakers lost the game 108-106 and lost the NBA championship in the process.
To this day, Laker fans around the world are still bummed at then Laker coach Butch van Breda Kolff for not putting Chamberlain back into the game. Would it have made the difference, who knows as we never will find out, but for sure, Counts played great in the final six minutes, better than most back-ups could ever do. Because of Chamberlain not getting back into the game, by all accounts a coaches' decision, many of the top basketball historians have proclaimed this game as the most controversial post season game seven ever in the history of the NBA. (Also for the record, up to this game, Chamberlain had never fouled out of game in his career and many thought if he would have stayed in this game, he was doomed to pick up his sixth foul).
Mel Counts closed out his career in the NBA in 1976, with the New Orleans Jazz, but when we all look back there are very few basketball players who can say they played in an NCAA basketball championship semifinal, were drafted by the Boston Celtics, won an Olympic gold medal, won two NBA championships and were the back-up for two of the five greatest players in the history of the game, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain and played 12 years in the NBA.
Nice going Mr. Counts and in the history of west coast basketball, you do COUNT(s).
CRAWFACTS/Edition 5
CRAWFACTS is news, notes, fun facts, serious facts, so enjoy please.
1. Seattle U----Sad news last week in the passing of Carl Ervin. Ervin has some great years for the then Redhawks in their previous go around of D-1 basketball. He played point guard from 1976-80, was one of the best passers of the basketball ever on the west coast and is part of what is a great history of Seattle U. basketball.
2. Portland State---Bob Mariani was a fixture sitting behind the scorer's table at both men's and women's games at Portland State. Mr. Mariani recently passed away and will be missed by all. His daughter Teri is of course one of the great names in Portland State athletic history, being the long time highly successful softball coach and after retirement serving as interim athletic director in 2006 after Tom Burman left for Wyoming.
3. Schedules----Two really good pre-league match-ups for west coast teams will be Washington playing Duke at Madison Square Garden in December and a New Year's Eve contest with Gonzaga traveling to Xavier. Significant, because of all the great early season games on TV, that is about it for west coast schools, either a real bias, or the fact west coast basketball needs to schedule better early season games to get back on the map.
4. Stanford----Johnny Dawkins has done a below average job at Stanford in his three years, no one can dispute it. One possible sign a coach might be on the hot seat in basketball is when there is an assistant coaching change that seems odd. Rodney Tention after three years on the bench at Stanford has left for San Diego. We all know, that you do not leave as an assistant at Stanford to become an assistant at San Diego unless there is really good reason and most of the time those "reasons" are not good. You heard it here first, unless Dawkins has a stellar year and gets the Cardinals into the NCAA tournament, he will be replaced by Eric Reveno, who has done wonders at the University of Portland and is a former Stanford assistant and a Stanford grad.
5. Lorenzo Romar----I got a kick out of all the pundits and fans who were commenting that Romar would not be a good coach in the pros, with one of the reasons he has never coached there. Of course there was quite a stir last week in Seattle when Romar was mentioned as a possible successor to Kurt Rambis, which probably leaked out from Minnesota's totally inept GM David Kahn and might even be a fact, as Rambis is still there as coach in Minnesota as of today. Hey, if Mark Jackson, who has never coached a game anywhere in basketball can be hired by the Golden State Warriors as its new coach, then Lorenzo Romar can sure as heck coach in the pros. Romar has done a great job with the Huskies and he has a trait that professional players love. Everyone who knows Romar, plays for him or has dealt with him, likes him very much. In the NBA, it is all about communication when it comes to success.
6. Pac-12---Up and running and we wish it much success in basketball. It appears to have some good leadership and has a nice TV deal in place starting in the 2012-13 season. Speaking of the TV deal, I would like to take to task all the media who think the networks got fleeced in the deal. First of all the last time I checked, they are not turning out the lights at the both FOX and ESPN, almost universally those two networks do not make bad deals. Secondly, this deal is for 12 years and when you factor all the numbers out, it is a great deal right now for both parties and I have hunch, at the end of the deal, the Pac-12 people will be saying, gosh we should have gotten more.
7. Larry Scott---He has accomplished a lot as Pac-12 commissioner. Look for him to leave the position in the next two years and return to working in the tennis world, where his real love is and where he was before coming to the Pac-12. You move when your a hot commodity and in the sports world, never stay too long when your an executive. Before Scott leaves, sources tell me he has on his agenda to improve the basketball officiating program, much the same as he recently did with the football officiating. Pac-12 basketball officiating while getting better, is still not where it should be compared to other leagues.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
1. Seattle U----Sad news last week in the passing of Carl Ervin. Ervin has some great years for the then Redhawks in their previous go around of D-1 basketball. He played point guard from 1976-80, was one of the best passers of the basketball ever on the west coast and is part of what is a great history of Seattle U. basketball.
2. Portland State---Bob Mariani was a fixture sitting behind the scorer's table at both men's and women's games at Portland State. Mr. Mariani recently passed away and will be missed by all. His daughter Teri is of course one of the great names in Portland State athletic history, being the long time highly successful softball coach and after retirement serving as interim athletic director in 2006 after Tom Burman left for Wyoming.
3. Schedules----Two really good pre-league match-ups for west coast teams will be Washington playing Duke at Madison Square Garden in December and a New Year's Eve contest with Gonzaga traveling to Xavier. Significant, because of all the great early season games on TV, that is about it for west coast schools, either a real bias, or the fact west coast basketball needs to schedule better early season games to get back on the map.
4. Stanford----Johnny Dawkins has done a below average job at Stanford in his three years, no one can dispute it. One possible sign a coach might be on the hot seat in basketball is when there is an assistant coaching change that seems odd. Rodney Tention after three years on the bench at Stanford has left for San Diego. We all know, that you do not leave as an assistant at Stanford to become an assistant at San Diego unless there is really good reason and most of the time those "reasons" are not good. You heard it here first, unless Dawkins has a stellar year and gets the Cardinals into the NCAA tournament, he will be replaced by Eric Reveno, who has done wonders at the University of Portland and is a former Stanford assistant and a Stanford grad.
5. Lorenzo Romar----I got a kick out of all the pundits and fans who were commenting that Romar would not be a good coach in the pros, with one of the reasons he has never coached there. Of course there was quite a stir last week in Seattle when Romar was mentioned as a possible successor to Kurt Rambis, which probably leaked out from Minnesota's totally inept GM David Kahn and might even be a fact, as Rambis is still there as coach in Minnesota as of today. Hey, if Mark Jackson, who has never coached a game anywhere in basketball can be hired by the Golden State Warriors as its new coach, then Lorenzo Romar can sure as heck coach in the pros. Romar has done a great job with the Huskies and he has a trait that professional players love. Everyone who knows Romar, plays for him or has dealt with him, likes him very much. In the NBA, it is all about communication when it comes to success.
6. Pac-12---Up and running and we wish it much success in basketball. It appears to have some good leadership and has a nice TV deal in place starting in the 2012-13 season. Speaking of the TV deal, I would like to take to task all the media who think the networks got fleeced in the deal. First of all the last time I checked, they are not turning out the lights at the both FOX and ESPN, almost universally those two networks do not make bad deals. Secondly, this deal is for 12 years and when you factor all the numbers out, it is a great deal right now for both parties and I have hunch, at the end of the deal, the Pac-12 people will be saying, gosh we should have gotten more.
7. Larry Scott---He has accomplished a lot as Pac-12 commissioner. Look for him to leave the position in the next two years and return to working in the tennis world, where his real love is and where he was before coming to the Pac-12. You move when your a hot commodity and in the sports world, never stay too long when your an executive. Before Scott leaves, sources tell me he has on his agenda to improve the basketball officiating program, much the same as he recently did with the football officiating. Pac-12 basketball officiating while getting better, is still not where it should be compared to other leagues.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
Friday, July 1, 2011
75 Days Of A Great Experience
We all are saying it today, "boy, I can't believe the year is half over already".
I also can't believe it has been 2 1/2 months since I produced my first column in this blog. It has been a great experience and even more so, I have learned a lot about what readers enjoy, do not enjoy and how passionate people are about college basketball.
As we start the second half of the year, I think it might be fun to share with you great readers some things I have learned and hopefully what you have learned as well.
1. Readers love my CRAWFACTS and when you have success with something keep it going. I plan to write the CRAWFACTS column at least once a week from here on out.
2. The most sensitive people in basketball are referees. If you even write one thing about them that they construe as negative, they let you know about it. You would think that people who are under constant criticism, would be a little more cautious about giving out unfound criticism, but in the long run, I appreciate all my critics and just thrilled people would take the time to read this blog.
3. Some people just read this blog to correct my grammar or look for a mistake. I would be the first to admit that often I miss something in proofreading and do have some typos, which is great when people pick that up, but as far as my grammar, I could care less about it. I write this for fun, to hopefully inform and to entertain, so for all you people who want to correct my grammar, write your own blog and good luck to you. A wordsmith I am not.
4. History still means something. Writing about "old time" players always brings a huge response and it is always something when researching that I learn as much as hopefully the readers do. I will continue to do more of bringing you the history of college basketball.
5. Readers like to hear about people who are huge part of college basketball, but are not in the headlines everyday. The responses I get from writing about Danny Miles, from OIT and Brad Jackson, from Western Washington are nothing short of heartwarming. Two people and there are many, many more who could have moved on to make huge money, but have chosen to stay at schools they love and have helped shaped the lives of many students.
6. Some Sports Information Directors at schools are just awesome and others are as arrogant as it gets. I would like to train the arrogant one on just a few things, such as returning calls or emails, saying thank you and quit acting like your the most important person in an athletic department, you are NOT. For the great ones, hats off, long hours, horrible pay and you just keep churning out quality work. It is not forgotten on my part.
7. Oregon Duck fans, well..............I might not call them passionate, instead, what I do know is that if you say even one thing critical of the Ducks, they come out of the woodwork, many times totally ignoring the facts and never thinking their school can do anything wrong no matter what the subject.
8. I really appreciate the people in the media who read this blog daily and often write emails to myself. Many of them are big time broadcasters and many are big time writers, so they could easily pooh-pooh a person like myself. They choose not to and it shows why they are successful. Being an important person does not make you resistant to be being nice. After all, as my great father always said, "there is no price for being nice".
So, I have learned a lot in 75 days and I am sure that the learning curve will never stop. As long as my fingers work, I will continue to do this and my main goals are that it never gets stale, it always informs and even more important it always entertains. I love reading the emails from all of you and thank you.
Lastly I would be totally remiss, not to thank my friend TIM MARSH. Tim set this blog up for myself and it would not be here today, without his great help. He never complained with my stupid questions, instead he just rolled up his sleeves as he does for many people and got the job done. Tim, thank you.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
I also can't believe it has been 2 1/2 months since I produced my first column in this blog. It has been a great experience and even more so, I have learned a lot about what readers enjoy, do not enjoy and how passionate people are about college basketball.
As we start the second half of the year, I think it might be fun to share with you great readers some things I have learned and hopefully what you have learned as well.
1. Readers love my CRAWFACTS and when you have success with something keep it going. I plan to write the CRAWFACTS column at least once a week from here on out.
2. The most sensitive people in basketball are referees. If you even write one thing about them that they construe as negative, they let you know about it. You would think that people who are under constant criticism, would be a little more cautious about giving out unfound criticism, but in the long run, I appreciate all my critics and just thrilled people would take the time to read this blog.
3. Some people just read this blog to correct my grammar or look for a mistake. I would be the first to admit that often I miss something in proofreading and do have some typos, which is great when people pick that up, but as far as my grammar, I could care less about it. I write this for fun, to hopefully inform and to entertain, so for all you people who want to correct my grammar, write your own blog and good luck to you. A wordsmith I am not.
4. History still means something. Writing about "old time" players always brings a huge response and it is always something when researching that I learn as much as hopefully the readers do. I will continue to do more of bringing you the history of college basketball.
5. Readers like to hear about people who are huge part of college basketball, but are not in the headlines everyday. The responses I get from writing about Danny Miles, from OIT and Brad Jackson, from Western Washington are nothing short of heartwarming. Two people and there are many, many more who could have moved on to make huge money, but have chosen to stay at schools they love and have helped shaped the lives of many students.
6. Some Sports Information Directors at schools are just awesome and others are as arrogant as it gets. I would like to train the arrogant one on just a few things, such as returning calls or emails, saying thank you and quit acting like your the most important person in an athletic department, you are NOT. For the great ones, hats off, long hours, horrible pay and you just keep churning out quality work. It is not forgotten on my part.
7. Oregon Duck fans, well..............I might not call them passionate, instead, what I do know is that if you say even one thing critical of the Ducks, they come out of the woodwork, many times totally ignoring the facts and never thinking their school can do anything wrong no matter what the subject.
8. I really appreciate the people in the media who read this blog daily and often write emails to myself. Many of them are big time broadcasters and many are big time writers, so they could easily pooh-pooh a person like myself. They choose not to and it shows why they are successful. Being an important person does not make you resistant to be being nice. After all, as my great father always said, "there is no price for being nice".
So, I have learned a lot in 75 days and I am sure that the learning curve will never stop. As long as my fingers work, I will continue to do this and my main goals are that it never gets stale, it always informs and even more important it always entertains. I love reading the emails from all of you and thank you.
Lastly I would be totally remiss, not to thank my friend TIM MARSH. Tim set this blog up for myself and it would not be here today, without his great help. He never complained with my stupid questions, instead he just rolled up his sleeves as he does for many people and got the job done. Tim, thank you.
emails to crawscorner@gmail.com
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