|
Post by theneumann64 on May 13, 2020 12:24:34 GMT -5
This is not fully formed yet, but we have a lot of threads heading into "interesting directions" and no basketball for quite a while, so I wanted to get something kinda fun up.
When I say "Random" I mean one's that don't automatically spring to mind, ie the Southwest Philly Floater, or the 1968-1969 team or something.
For example, my Freshman year was that 2004-2005 team G's first year- and the year after the scandal. Although their record was pretty brutal, I always got the sense they were playing way above their talent level, considering they had 7 healthy scholarship guys most of the year. They beat USC in the third game of the year, for their first win. I believe Henry Bibby got fired a few days later. Steve Smith had 27 points and we interviewed him on WEXP after the game (then got yelled at for not asking the SID's permission to do that, because I don't think any of us even knew that was a thing at that point).
|
|
|
Post by glorydays on May 13, 2020 18:51:04 GMT -5
71-72The 71-72 team was 6-19 and considered to be one of our worst. This team has grown on me over the years...and I am not being a wise guy. I am not sure if we were allowed to recruit during the 68-70 suspension. Westhead was able to work magic his first year 70-71 until Durrett was injured. The 71-72 team were basically sophs and JR. Jimmy Crawford. Our freshman team that year was great. Back to the varsity. I remember they hung with a top 10 Penn team and had the Palestra rocking. I believe that is where the famous Steve Barufifi box and none strategy garnered us a few baskets. Joe Dicocco did develop into an enforcer in the next 2 years. Jim Crawford had a nice career. The next year, 72-73, freshmen were eligible and the team upped its performance dramatically.
|
|
|
Post by ogbj20 on May 14, 2020 15:24:04 GMT -5
I'll play along: I will provide games/yrs: 86/87 NIT Finalist L to So Miss. For the first time, I witnessed a sold out arena and tremendous Blue and Gold support. 86/87 NIT semis W in Madison square garden. Scored 4 pts in the garden. Made history. LOL 86/87 Nova reg season win. I believe Legs hit the game winner at Dupont. 86/87 Nova NIT win. I believe Train hit the game winner at Dupont. 86/87 NC lost at the Palestra after a bogus offensive foul call on Rich Tarr as Lebo pulled him down. Later, I spoke with Matt Dougherty (Kansas recruitment) while I was an assistant at Glen Mills and we debated about it all over again. LOL 86/87 Depaul lost at the Palestra Dallas Comegys and Rod Strickland who handled the rock like no other I'd ever seen before. 86/87 Temple lost at the Palestra, Nate Blackwell outscored us by himself in the second half with 25pts to our 21pts as a team 86/87 first time ever on a plane as a freshman. Didn't know the sky had potholes in it. LOL 20-13 record Feel free to comment on any of the games mentioned that you witnessed.
|
|
|
Post by broderickpresident on May 14, 2020 17:00:44 GMT -5
91-92 team was our least talented team in years, at that point. But they could be thrilling to watch when randy and jack were hitting. Guys who spent years as role players stepped up (milko, bron, neubauer) and some freshman gave us a big spark (Burke and blitz). Team led the country in 3-pointers playing a way no one else really played at the time. Was a satisfying team to watch. Very intense players who were used to winning and refused to release the stranglehold on the MAAC. The way we played down the stretch in 90-91 after Doug got hurt didn’t give much confidence heading into the year but it was a fun ride. Didn’t settle for mediocrity
|
|
|
Post by hykos1045 on May 14, 2020 18:30:25 GMT -5
I agree with Neumann that 2005 was memorable - in particular the way they went down fighting and how we seemed to have a penchant for getting famous coaches fired after their last game against La Salle. We'd earn the split with Xavier at the end of the season, winning on senior day at home by 1 but then losing in X-friendly Cincinnati in the 2nd round of the A10s. Sandwiched in there was a heartbreaking loss to Temple and an upset over UMass. (Lappas was the second coach whose time ran out after losing to La Salle that season.)
The following season, 2005-06 had some great runs including a 4OT win over CCSU and a shocking upset of Xavier, on the road, resulting in our first winning season in 18 years (18-10) before we faded out too soon in the A10s against our kryptonite that calendar year which was Fordham. Fordham handed La Salle not one but two losses in 2006 men's basketball and then several months later, Fordham soccer knocked out our women with two additional upsets, thus preventing both teams from capturing their all-but-certain A10 chips and postseason appearances in 2006!
Years earlier, I had also been fortunate to witness an overtime win at sold-out Rutgers on 1/4/03 that sticks out as one of the rare times we went on the road and beat a Big East team. Rutgers was just 12-16 that year and 7th in the conference, but they were 8-3 OOC at that time and were a big team. I remember the ending of that game being very dramatic but there were only a few of us La Salle fans there to witness it. The remaining 7,980 fans left that game confused, upset and hurt!
|
|
|
Post by 23won on May 15, 2020 10:13:06 GMT -5
Good stuff OG. I recall driving to see A game at Loyola in 88 I believe. I was bragging about L Train to a friend who grew up in the south and was a big SEC fan, so agreed to go with me and check out Lionel. It was an absolute blow out right out of the gate and my friend turned to me in this really thick southern drawl I will never forget and he said:
“Boys and men. It’s just a bunch of boys playin men out there”
Good guys won by 35 points or so with deep bench reserves getting quality minutes.
|
|
|
Post by las71 on May 15, 2020 10:20:50 GMT -5
Don't remember the year but being at the Palestra when we beat a ranked Florida State team in front of a sell out crowd was one of my favorite moments. I remember Lionel and Jack Hurd had big games.
|
|
|
Post by ogbj20 on May 15, 2020 10:27:36 GMT -5
Good stuff OG. I recall driving to see A game at Loyola in 88 I believe. I was bragging about L Train to a friend who grew up in the south and was a big SEC fan, so agreed to go with me and check out Lionel. It was an absolute blow out right out of the gate and my friend turned to me in this really thick southern drawl I will never forget and he said: “Boys and men. It’s just a bunch of boys playin men out there” Good guys won by 35 points or so with deep bench reserves getting quality minutes. The “Troopers” as they were called got about 5 minutes of action that game.
|
|
|
Post by theneumann64 on May 15, 2020 10:29:28 GMT -5
My Senior year (2007-2008) was the second year of A-10 Tournament in AC (but first for us, we didn't qualify the year before). We went down on a Wednesday , piles 4 of us into a room at the Trop, and we beat Duquesne that night. We only had the room for one night so we had to kill like 7 hours the next day wandering around freezing cold AC, very hungover, waiting until the game v. Temple that night. We gave them a pretty good game before falling short.
I remember the Charlotte coach (Bobby Lutz?) who we'd been screaming at at Gola a few weeks earlier, came up to us during the Temple game and said Hi. His team was playing the Final game of the night. I remembered thinking how cool it was he remembered us, especially because we weren't exactly polite to him earlier in the year.
|
|
|
Post by ogbj20 on May 15, 2020 10:31:48 GMT -5
Don't remember the year but being at the Palestra when we beat a ranked Florida State team in front of a sell out crowd was one of my favorite moments. I remember Lionel and Jack Hurd had big games. That was 88-89 jr year when we won 101-100 and the fans stormed the court. I remember Lou Tilley trying to get an on the spot interview with me as the fans were just in pandemonium and we couldn’t hear a thing😂😂😂. That was the game that put us in the consideration for national rankings.
|
|
|
Post by ogbj20 on May 15, 2020 10:48:25 GMT -5
87-88 Jostens Classic we went 1-1. My first Big 5 game as a starter against Nova and our only loss to them. We beat Canisius in the second game. 87-88 Hawaii Tournament went 2-1 losing to Georgia for the second time in two years. Willie Anderson (Spurs) outscored us by himself in the second half. 87-88 NC We loss to them at Chapel Hill. L had a record high 38 against them. Down the stretch I missed a corner 3 to tie the game and we had to foul. They were supposed to play us again at the palestra but got scared because we almost beat them two years in a row. They played Lehigh or somebody. 87-88 Temple at Mcgonigle hall. Classic and all I’m going to say is that every time we were getting the best of them something went wrong with the clock🤬 24-10 record. Have at it
|
|
|
Post by explorer88 on May 15, 2020 11:59:52 GMT -5
87-88 Jostens game that BJ is referring to was the game that La Salle stormed out to something like an 18 point lead in the first 10-12 minutes of the game. Legler was hitting everything if I remember correctly. A timeout was called by Rollie and Prism before they go to break look in on Rollie's huddle who just goes nuts on the cameraman telling him to get the fu****G camera out of here and I will swear to this day that Rollie was crying in that huddle.
I also believe Legler and Tom Gries got into a fight in the same game. It was almost a carbon copy of the Temple game the year before where we blew a 20 point lead at the half and got torched by Nate Blackwell. Speedy and program were learning how to win games against good opponents at the time. That Nova loss hurt as they were so hated and started off the game taking them to the woodshed.
|
|
|
Post by I was in LA, were you on May 15, 2020 12:49:35 GMT -5
OGBJ, I was a freshmen in 88 when you were a junior. I was a scholarship athlete and I wanted to thank you for the wonderful memories I hold for those teams you were a part of. I was at the Clemson game in Conn. and went into a depression after that game. I felt that our team had a legit shot at a final four. We would have beat UConn at the Meadowlands. Further, I remember how approachable all of you guys were on campus. A bunch of good guys who could ball. Thank you for a lifetime of great memories. That Fla St. game was awesome to go along with that BYU win against Shawn Bradley. Another game I distinctly remember was the Loyola Marymount game even though we lost, a very entertaining game during the Christmas break. The win against Ohio State and Jim Jackson was also fantastic. Good luck to BJ, I live in Tampa and cant wait to see him playing for Orlando, he looks more than ready to me.
|
|
|
Post by I was in LA, were you on May 15, 2020 12:53:12 GMT -5
How could I forget the night The Train hit 3000, we were so spoiled as fans back then.
|
|
|
Post by broderickpresident on May 15, 2020 16:50:37 GMT -5
Another classic was milko dominating Shawn Bradley
|
|
louth
Mop-Up Time
Posts: 115
Likes: 284
|
Post by louth on May 15, 2020 18:34:07 GMT -5
The Loyola Marymount game in LA, Randy had 45, Doug had 44, jack Hurd had 29. Highest college scoring game I ever witnessed in person.
|
|
|
Post by 23won on May 16, 2020 7:10:06 GMT -5
The LMU game was a track meet. Remember it well. What a bittersweet year for LMU, Bo and Westhead. Hank was an incredibly loveable player and personality. Too soon.
|
|
|
Post by jellybean on May 16, 2020 9:09:06 GMT -5
71-72The 71-72 team was 6-19 and considered to be one of our worst. This team has grown on me over the years...and I am not being a wise guy. I am not sure if we were allowed to recruit during the 68-70 suspension. Westhead was able to work magic his first year 70-71 until Durrett was injured. The 71-72 team were basically sophs and JR. Jimmy Crawford. Our freshman team that year was great. Back to the varsity. I remember they hung with a top 10 Penn team and had the Palestra rocking. I believe that is where the famous Steve Barufifi box and none strategy garnered us a few baskets. Joe Dicocco did develop into an enforcer in the next 2 years. Jim Crawford had a nice career. The next year, 72-73, freshmen were eligible and the team upped its performance dramatically. Glorydays, I'm looking for your help (if you can break yourself away from writing those alimony checks LOL). Around this time, they had Freshmen teams. I seem to recall hearing about a trip La Salle made to play Maryland. I am not 100% sure but I think Maryland had Tom McMillen and Len Elmore on the team who might have be the #1 and #2 HS recruits in the country. No one could come close to giving UM a competitive game. The Margin of Victory might have been 40 for them. La Salle had I think Kevin McBain 6-8 from North Jersey but the rest of the team draws a blank. The Explorers actually led at halftime and lost the game by 9. I would appreciate anyone with any recollection posting something.
|
|
|
Post by broderickpresident on May 16, 2020 15:17:31 GMT -5
71-72The 71-72 team was 6-19 and considered to be one of our worst. This team has grown on me over the years...and I am not being a wise guy. I am not sure if we were allowed to recruit during the 68-70 suspension. Westhead was able to work magic his first year 70-71 until Durrett was injured. The 71-72 team were basically sophs and JR. Jimmy Crawford. Our freshman team that year was great. Back to the varsity. I remember they hung with a top 10 Penn team and had the Palestra rocking. I believe that is where the famous Steve Barufifi box and none strategy garnered us a few baskets. Joe Dicocco did develop into an enforcer in the next 2 years. Jim Crawford had a nice career. The next year, 72-73, freshmen were eligible and the team upped its performance dramatically. Glorydays, I'm looking for your help (if you can break yourself away from writing those alimony checks LOL). Around this time, they had Freshmen teams. I seem to recall hearing about a trip La Salle made to play Maryland. I am not 100% sure but I think Maryland had Tom McMillen and Len Elmore on the team who might have be the #1 and #2 HS recruits in the country. No one could come close to giving UM a competitive game. The Margin of Victory might have been 40 for them. La Salle had I think Kevin McBain 6-8 from North Jersey but the rest of the team draws a blank. The Explorers actually led at halftime and lost the game by 9. I would appreciate anyone with any recollection posting something. Maryland freshman team was undefeated nat'l champs, but you're right JB (see attachment) Attachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by glorydays on May 16, 2020 20:30:06 GMT -5
I honestly don't recall that freshman game. Reconstructing our Freshmen team roster that year - 70-71 - means that a freshmen team of Jim Haggerty, Joe DiCocco, Frank Moffatt, Frank Doyle, Steve Baruffi and Joe Rapczynski (the core of a 6-19 team as sophs) hung with Len Elmore and Tom McMillan for a while.
I used to see Tom McMillen in Rehoboth. He served in Congress for a couple terms.
PS. I may have told this story before. I have cousin who legally got rid of his alimony payments. He remarried his first wife!! Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, nah!
|
|
|
Post by glorydays on May 16, 2020 20:43:14 GMT -5
The Loyola Marymount game in LA, Randy had 45, Doug had 44, jack Hurd had 29. Highest college scoring game I ever witnessed in person. Louth, was that game on New Years Eve at midnight?? I remember staying in and watching that game.. told the first Mrs. that it was too dangerous to go out on New Years because of all the drunk drivers.
|
|
|
Post by broderickpresident on May 16, 2020 21:29:31 GMT -5
The Loyola Marymount game in LA, Randy had 45, Doug had 44, jack Hurd had 29. Highest college scoring game I ever witnessed in person. Louth, was that game on New Years Eve at midnight?? I remember staying in and watching that game.. told the first Mrs. that it was too dangerous to go out on New Years because of all the drunk drivers. Yeah 12/31/90 midnight tip on the East. Never seen anything like it. At the time Randy and Doug set the record for combined points by teammates (91) but it was broken when Kevin Bradshaw scored 72 against LMU later that season and a teammate had 20. The 120 with Hurd is still a record for 3 teammates tho I think
|
|
|
Post by jellybean on May 17, 2020 7:57:50 GMT -5
I honestly don't recall that freshman game. Reconstructing our Freshmen team roster that year - 70-71 - means that a freshmen team of Jim Haggerty, Joe DiCocco, Frank Moffatt, Frank Doyle, Steve Baruffi and Joe Rapczynski (the core of a 6-19 team as sophs) hung with Len Elmore and Tom McMillan for a while. Thanks to everyone who sent me a text or email. After exhaustive research ( no La Salle FR team in history has seen this in-depth study) I was directed to the 1970-71 team. They were 14-8 that season and won the "very prestigious" St. Edmund's Dad's Tournament in Wilmington. Steve Barruffi (only player on the roster not from a Catholic HS). Joe DiCocco 12.3pts and 14.1 reb from Bonner Frank Doyle 16.8 pts from O'Hara Jim Haggarty 16.3 from Bonner Frank Moffat 9.0pts, #1 in assists and 93% FT shooter from Bishop Eustace. Joe Rapczynski 10.1 and 7 rebs from North Catholic. Tom McMillen had 27 pts and 11 rebs in the game. Jay Trimble had 20 & 9. Len Elmore hurt his knee in the 5th game of the season and did not play against us. Terps averaged 99.8 and allowed 65.9. Went 16-0. They beat Nova FR 106-66 in the game prior to us. Looking at the La Salle and Maryland Media Guides from 70-71, 71-72 and 72-73 I saw some memorable names connected between the two schools. Billy Hahn was FR PG for UM in 71-72. Varick Cutler was HS AA who transferred to La Salle. Mo Howard was a FR on 72-73 team. Some future great HS coaches on the La Salle FR and Varsity teams during that time. Billy Fox, Jim Crawford, Joe Rapczynski and Tony Chapman (Holy Ghost Prep).
|
|
|
Post by glorydays on May 17, 2020 11:24:15 GMT -5
NPOA, JB. I hope that emphasis on "very prestigious" was not an anti-Delaware thing. We were the lower 3 counties of PA but then saw the light and cut you guys loose. The 2 gents who were responsible for the Big 5 freshmen tournament were the St. Ed's coach (Joe McDonald), a La Salle alum, and their AD, (Bill D'Amato), a St. Joe's alum. In 71-72 I saw a couple of games in the tournament and remember thinking that La Salle Frosh Billy Taylor was the real deal. Freshmen teams are relics of a bygone era. The La Salle '65 freshmen team with Bernie Williams, Stan Wlodarczyck, Larry Cannon and Isaih King was no doubt one of the best in the country. (I know there was a Frosh team on the West Coast with Lew Alcindor and Lucius Allen et al.) Here would have been an interesting La Salle Freshmen team we were still locked into that old system: 76-77 - Michael Brooks, Darryl Gladden, Kurt Kanaskie, Reggie Miller, Mark Spain, & Mo Connolly. Quite a haul by Coach Westhead. La Salle - 1976-77
|
|
|
Post by victoriouslasalle on May 17, 2020 11:49:36 GMT -5
If memory serves me correctly the Freshmen team with Billy Taylor, Bobby Jones and Kevin McBain, I think also Steve Wiley? was reputed to be awesome and said to beat the varsity squad at that time (maybe so, definitely if Jimmy Crawford was sick). The rest of the squad if I remember correctly was made up of initially non-scholarship guys due to NCAA hitting us so hard. Westhead recruited the best he could for that 1 season, mostly catholic league guys high on fundamentals somewhat low on basketball talent.
Unfortunately we never saw the real Kevin McBain due to prolonged injury and Bobby Jones transferred after his soph year having been accepted in the naval academy. Charlie Wise helped to soften the Bobby Jones loss for me.
Patching memories together here.
|
|
|
Post by jellybean on May 17, 2020 12:35:15 GMT -5
If memory serves me correctly the Freshmen team with Billy Taylor, Bobby Jones and Kevin McBain, I think also Steve Wiley? was reputed to be awesome and said to beat the varsity squad at that time (maybe so, definitely if Jimmy Crawford was sick). The rest of the squad if I remember correctly was made up of initially non-scholarship guys due to NCAA hitting us so hard. Westhead recruited the best he could for that 1 season, mostly catholic league guys high on fundamentals somewhat low on basketball talent. Unfortunately we never saw the real Kevin McBain due to prolonged injury and Bobby Jones transferred after his soph year having been accepted in the naval academy. Charlie Wise helped to soften the Bobby Jones loss for me. Patching memories together here. Yes and thanks. Only small correction was Bobby Jones transferred to West Point. He was paralazed in a tragic motorcycle accident. I think Kale spoke with him at one of our games in the DC area some years back. A terrific guard. What a back court with him and Wise.
|
|
|
Post by jellybean on May 17, 2020 12:43:47 GMT -5
NPOA, JB. I hope that emphasis on "very prestigious" was not an anti-Delaware thing. We were the lower 3 counties of PA but then saw the light and cut you guys loose. The 2 gents who were responsible for the Big 5 freshmen tournament were the St. Ed's coach (Joe McDonald), a La Salle alum, and their AD, (Bill D'Amato), a St. Joe's alum. In 71-72 I saw a couple of games in the tournament and remember thinking that La Salle Frosh Billy Taylor was the real deal. Freshmen teams are relics of a bygone era. The La Salle '65 freshmen team with Bernie Williams, Stan Wlodarczyck, Larry Cannon and Isaih King was no doubt one of the best in the country. (I know there was a Frosh team on the West Coast with Lew Alcindor and Lucius Allen et al.) Here would have been an interesting La Salle Freshmen team we were still locked into that old system: 76-77 - Michael Brooks, Darryl Gladden, Kurt Kanaskie, Reggie Miller, Mark Spain, & Mo Connolly. Quite a haul by Coach Westhead. La Salle - 1976-77Glorydays, no slight whatsoever to the state of Delaware. I can't wait to drive there as soon as the State Police let me cross the state lines with my PA license plate. Total Wine is calling my wife...the adult Disneyland for wine. While "researching" this Maryland/La Salle story I came across an article where Lefty Driesell was given an NCAA honor for saving the lives of about ten children in a house fire. Lefty and some buddies were doing some midnight fishing on the beach (Rohobeth ?) when they saw the blaze. They rushed to the house, broke down the door and rescued the family. Good thing they did because it took the Fire Department 30 minutes to get to the fire (no slight at the fire department and those brave firefighters). Also that group you mentioned had their pictures on the back page of the Daily News. Awesome.
|
|
|
Post by diehardexplorer on May 17, 2020 13:08:45 GMT -5
If memory serves me correctly the Freshmen team with Billy Taylor, Bobby Jones and Kevin McBain, I think also Steve Wiley? was reputed to be awesome and said to beat the varsity squad at that time (maybe so, definitely if Jimmy Crawford was sick). The rest of the squad if I remember correctly was made up of initially non-scholarship guys due to NCAA hitting us so hard. Westhead recruited the best he could for that 1 season, mostly catholic league guys high on fundamentals somewhat low on basketball talent. Unfortunately we never saw the real Kevin McBain due to prolonged injury and Bobby Jones transferred after his soph year having been accepted in the naval academy. Charlie Wise helped to soften the Bobby Jones loss for me. Patching memories together here. steve wiley led that freshman team in assists and also scored in double figures along with mcbain, taylor, jones, and power forward chuck seltzer from mt lebanon in western pa. he was rumored to have the inside track for the starting pf spot as a sophomore but decided to transfer to ohio u instead.
|
|
|
Post by talkinbball on May 17, 2020 13:17:08 GMT -5
Their freshman year, McBain and Wiley were roommates in a St. Edward's dorm room on our floor. Joe Bryant (also a freshman at the time but was a "Prop 48" for those old enough to remember such things) spent many a night sleeping on a mattress on the floor in their room.
|
|
|
Post by glorydays on May 17, 2020 13:48:24 GMT -5
No offense taken. A lot of Delawareans have moved to Chester County. They stay Delawarecentric. A lot of basketball coaches have hit the Delaware beach towns...Brey, Driesell. A friend of mine drove Gary Williams back to his summer place one night. It seemed that Coach Williams had lost his sense of direction.
|
|