Uncategorized – Page 27 – From Way Downtown

Pooh Richardson: As Chill as a Cucumber, 1993

With the Timberwolves, Richardson was sort of a sacrificial lamb. The first draft choice for the first-year Timberwolves, he was a steady rookie on a shaky team.

Running and Gunning with Reggie Theus, 1979

On the Chicago roster, Theus is listed as a guard, something of a misnomer. Actually, he’s an entertainer.

Robert Parish: The Chief Ages Gracefully, 1991

“I’m 38, and everyone is making a big deal out of it because I got a few gray hairs cropping in my sides,” he said. “I don’t think it matters how old you are as long as you keep yourself physically fit.”

Glen Rice: Small Hands, Big Heart, 1993

Rice can barely palm the ball. But that has not stopped him from raising his scoring average in each of his first three NBA seasons, and he is now one of the guns who can be counted on to produce 20 points every night.

Grant Hill: A Five-Star Serenade, 1994

Grant Hill got his first taste of hoops on the tube. He said, “I can do that” and “that too” and also “that” and “that.” Then he went out and did it.

Darrell Griffith and Some Dirt Bowl Delight, 1975—1999

The Dirt Bowl may be the last refuge of the true neighborhood team—literally, a Bunch of Guys From the Block.

Zelmo Beaty: The Butler Did It, 1973

Writer Jim O’Brien described Beaty as a “player who moves about the court like a snobbish butler, but works like a laborer under the boards.”

K.C. Jones Talks Defense, 1973

What was Jones’ requisite for trying to defend opposing supers? “Learn as much as possible about their strengths and weaknesses and master the basic fundamentals of defense.”

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Busting Out the Goggles, 1974

Kareem got off the bench, and the boos began. He was booed every time he put an elbow near Gianelli’s throat in the pivot, did anything the fans didn’t like, and when he entered and left the game

Pro Basketball’s Fun at Fort Wayne, 1955

“You think I took a helluva gamble entrusting a team—and a franchise—to a man who had never coached college or pro ball and who was at the time a mere referee. It was no gamble to me.”