INQ article: Speedy Morris belongs in the Basketball HOF

[GlitterBro #2]

Selected excerpts below:

www.inquirer.com/college-sports/la-salle/speedy-morris-basketball-hall-of-fame-ballot-20201220.html

“When it came out, I hated it,” Morris said. “I said an idiot put that rule in.”

Let’s be precise here, per the Dec. 11, 1986, Inquirer:

It’s ludicrous. You have a guy in the paint making a hell of a shot with two people on him, and it’s only worth two points. Then you have a guy shooting from the outside, and he makes one with no one on him and it’s three points. Idiots put that rule in.

Well, Speedy?

“I hated it,” he said, “but I learned to love it.”

For Morris, the three-pointer was the great leveler, equalizing everything between La Salle – a program that, whether in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, or the Atlantic 10, was always trailing in the recruiting and resources arms race – and its opponents. The university didn’t have an on-campus basketball facility that could accommodate home games until Tom Gola Arena, a bandbox hardly comparable to the palaces of college basketball’s elite, opened in 1998. La Salle’s recruiting budget, Morris said, never surpassed $24,000. Each season, he would help fund the program by scheduling three games that would come with a healthy payout from each opponent. When he became La Salle’s men’s coach in 1986, his starting salary was $37,000 – the equivalent, in 2020 dollars, of less than $88,000.

I was a student at La Salle, a writer and editor for the university’s newspaper, from 1993 to 1997, just after things were really good for him there, just when things started to go bad. Back then, a lot of students and alumni wondered why his teams didn’t win more. In the 19 years since Morris coached his last game at La Salle, the program has had five winning seasons. Maybe we should have wondered how he won as much as he did. Maybe, in retrospect, with the three-point shot’s accepted and indispensable presence in the sport now, with the way basketball has changed, with the way he helped change it, it’s easier to understand.

I don’t know if that’s enough to get him into the Hall of Fame. I do know that it, and the rest of his life in the game, should be.

[walkon]

Nice article. I love the Philadelphia grit Speedy embodies, especially growing up in Manayunk. I hope he gets the recognition.

[GlitterBro #2]

I always appreciated that he had the team come to the band concert every spring. He said once, "you guys get on a bus to watch us play all year, so we should walk across the street to hear you play."

[1863]

Yes! He deserves to be in the Naismith Memorial National Basketball Hall of Fame. Speedy did so much for the sport and to put Philadelphia on the map as a basketball town.

[stlexplorer]

Dec 20, 2020 10:06:35 GMT -5 GlitterBro #2 said:

I always appreciated that he had the team come to the band concert every spring. He said once, "you guys get on a bus to watch us play all year, so we should walk across the street to hear you play."

That's awesome

[hykos1045]

For those who still get the paper, this is the top story in the Inquirer Sunday's Sports section (above the fold).

As most of you already know but he also mentions in this article, Sielski (like his colleague, Murphy) is a university grad and was on our student newspaper. When prospective students tour our Communication department, they see on bulletin boards that there is a wide range of journalism talent, both in the area and nationally that came out of La Salle.

[23won]

Speedy is a legend and worthy of a spot given his long career and achievements. Probably wouldn't even be a debate if we held on and beat Clemson in 1990.

[diehardexplorer]

Dec 20, 2020 15:25:29 GMT -5 23won said:

Probably wouldn't even be a debate if we held on and beat Clemson in 1990.

did you really need to bring that up?  going to have nightmares tonight.

[GlitterBro #2]

Dec 20, 2020 15:25:29 GMT -5 23won said:

Speedy is a legend and worthy of a spot given his long career and achievements. Probably wouldn't even be a debate if we held on and beat Clemson in 1990.

I was there for that, playing in the band.  If memory serves me correctly, we would have been at the Meadowlands playing UConn in the next round if we had held on.

[GlitterBro #2]

Dec 20, 2020 15:36:29 GMT -5 diehardexplorer said:

Dec 20, 2020 15:25:29 GMT -5 23won said:

Probably wouldn't even be a debate if we held on and beat Clemson in 1990.

did you really need to bring that up?  going to have nightmares tonight.

That and the Terry Dehere dagger 2 years later in North Carolina....

[victoriouslasalle]

My slant on this.
The early to mid 90's gave way to a recruiting drop off at La Salle (quite pronounced in the later part of the decade). And, our record year after year during the later time of Speedy's tenure took a hit. In my view we did not well adapt to major changes that redefined college basketball that started early in the decade. Understandably, Speedy also took a hit for this but in fairness he is a piece of it (he nor La Salle did not seem to have an answer). Speedy realizes greater recognition for his coaching ability if previous recruiting maintained I am thinking. It is hard to ignore but during Speedy's time the program declined. But to be fair, even good coaches need "players". Per Speedy's coaching ability, had the caliber of players maintained and maybe up-ticked a bit I believe Speedy would have shown well and appreciation for Speedy's coaching ability would have been amp-ed rather than taking the hit.

I am interested in others thoughts about this.

[MisterD]

I was a student at La Salle, a writer and editor for the university’s newspaper, from 1993 to 1997, just after things were really good for him there, just when things started to go bad. Back then, a lot of students and alumni wondered why his teams didn’t win more. In the 19 years since Morris coached his last game at La Salle, the program has had five winning seasons. Maybe we should have wondered how he won as much as he did. Maybe, in retrospect, with the three-point shot’s accepted and indispensable presence in the sport now, with the way basketball has changed, with the way he helped change it, it’s easier to understand.

With all due respect to the author ... what? We moved up and every coach, very much including Speedy, has struggled. No one is wondering what happened because what happened couldn't be more clear.

[JoeFedorowicz]

I hinted to this to him on Twitter and this was his response:

which equally doesn't make sense.

[MisterD]

Sometimes you have to abandon a hypothesis.

[GlitterBro #2]

In fairness, we are 0-2 this season against two teams that were MAAC members when we were in the conference.

[JoeFedorowicz]

Dec 21, 2020 7:49:48 GMT -5 GlitterBro #2 said:

In fairness, we are 0-2 this season against two teams that were MAAC members when we were in the conference.

In fairness to whom

[ogbj20]

Dec 20, 2020 15:25:29 GMT -5 23won said:

Speedy is a legend and worthy of a spot given his long career and achievements. Probably wouldn't even be a debate if we held on and beat Clemson in 1990.

You didn’t have to bring up that painful memory again!

[ogbj20]

Dec 20, 2020 17:46:36 GMT -5 victoriouslasalle said:

My slant on this.
The early to mid 90's gave way to a recruiting drop off at La Salle (quite pronounced in the later part of the decade). And, our record year after year during the later time of Speedy's tenure took a hit. In my view we did not well adapt to major changes that redefined college basketball that started early in the decade. Understandably, Speedy also took a hit for this but in fairness he is a piece of it (he nor La Salle did not seem to have an answer). Speedy realizes greater recognition for his coaching ability if previous recruiting maintained I am thinking. It is hard to ignore but during Speedy's time the program declined. But to be fair, even good coaches need "players". Per Speedy's coaching ability, had the caliber of players maintained and maybe up-ticked a bit I believe Speedy would have shown well and appreciation for Speedy's coaching ability would have been amp-ed rather than taking the hit.

I am interested in others thoughts about this.

We recruited well from 86 into the mid 90’s. We got just about every top player in each HS league every year from the pub, catholic and inter ac. The biggest hit was leaving the maac for the Midwest conference or whatever it was called. We had some players. Sometimes a relationship just goes sour for some reason.

[3ball]

As the article states, Speedy saw the changes coming with the three-point shot and had La Salle playing the best brand of basketball in the city. Speedy did not like the recruiting aspects, especially going outside the area. That, combined with a new administration post Brother Pat, lack of resources, the ill-fated move to the Midwest conference and losing out on high-level recruits such as Reading’s Donyell Marshall all led to the downfall of the program. We did not capitalize on the success we had from 86-92. But given players, Speedy could flat out coach. Witness the fits he used to give Nova and Rollie when he had equal or near-equal talent. Also, coming out of a time out Speedy always had a play that led to an easy basket or a great look.

[JoeFedorowicz]

His ability to coach was evident when, at St. Joe's, he just over performed with less talent year in and year out.

[coachd]

Dec 21, 2020 21:23:42 GMT -5 ogbj20 said:

Dec 20, 2020 17:46:36 GMT -5 victoriouslasalle said:

My slant on this.
The early to mid 90's gave way to a recruiting drop off at La Salle (quite pronounced in the later part of the decade). And, our record year after year during the later time of Speedy's tenure took a hit. In my view we did not well adapt to major changes that redefined college basketball that started early in the decade. Understandably, Speedy also took a hit for this but in fairness he is a piece of it (he nor La Salle did not seem to have an answer). Speedy realizes greater recognition for his coaching ability if previous recruiting maintained I am thinking. It is hard to ignore but during Speedy's time the program declined. But to be fair, even good coaches need "players". Per Speedy's coaching ability, had the caliber of players maintained and maybe up-ticked a bit I believe Speedy would have shown well and appreciation for Speedy's coaching ability would have been amp-ed rather than taking the hit.

I am interested in others thoughts about this.

We recruited well from 86 into the mid 90’s. We got just about every top player in each HS league every year from the pub, catholic and inter ac. The biggest hit was leaving the maac for the Midwest conference or whatever it was called. We had some players. Sometimes a relationship just goes sour for some reason.

Yes, the MCC debacle caused 3 years of misery for the program that was saved when we entered the A10 with the help from rival John Chaney at Temple. Unfortunately we are still waiting for our first A10 crown... hoping Ash can get that done in the next year or two.

[diehardexplorer]

Dec 22, 2020 21:21:47 GMT -5 3ball said:

Speedy did not like the recruiting aspects, especially going outside the area. That, combined with a new administration post Brother Pat, lack of resources, the ill-fated move to the Midwest conference and losing out on high-level recruits such as Reading’s Donyell Marshall all led to the downfall of the program.  

too bad that speedy didn't like recruiting.  it's a major part of the job.  i hate parts of my job, but i do them anyway because i have to.  he got complacent. it's not like he was recruiting nationally either.  most recruits were a car ride away.

speedy also played a major part in the move to the mcc.  him and dayton coach jim o'brien (who played for him at roman) were all on board with it.

so while speedy is a good man, fine coach and deserving of hof consideration, many of his problems were self-inflicted.

[ogbj20]

Dec 23, 2020 8:37:30 GMT -5 diehardexplorer said:

Dec 22, 2020 21:21:47 GMT -5 3ball said:

Speedy did not like the recruiting aspects, especially going outside the area. That, combined with a new administration post Brother Pat, lack of resources, the ill-fated move to the Midwest conference and losing out on high-level recruits such as Reading’s Donyell Marshall all led to the downfall of the program.  

too bad that speedy didn't like recruiting.  it's a major part of the job.  i hate parts of my job, but i do them anyway because i have to.  he got complacent. it's not like he was recruiting nationally either.  most recruits were a car ride away.

speedy also played a major part in the move to the mcc.  him and dayton coach jim o'brien (who played for him at roman) were all on board with it.

so while speedy is a good man, fine coach and deserving of hof consideration, many of his problems were self-inflicted.

How many players outside the area did we have on the team prior to speedy? After speedy? And even with the rise of AAU, the success of the program always came from local players. Our resources always were bad and we were very successful. Only two programs got an abundance of players from other states consistently and that is nova and temple. Legs (VA), Jack (Littiz), Milko (Holland) were the key players outside of Philly area during our run and after. The nucleus of area bread players has always been a staple for teams success. We will never get Burger boys at Lasalle or create national pipeline until we are able to provide better resources. Playing at home in front of your family and friends with the opportunity to contribute greatly is the key here. Now the coach has to put together a plan to build a chemistry and winning culture. As for the move, he had no choice but he didn’t like it one bit. I know this for sure. Who in the hell were you going to recruit telling them that they are going to be playing in the Midwest conference in which you may not win the conference and leaving the Maac where you could at least make the tournament. That was the worse decision, period. Add that to a few players going down help torpedo winning seasons. Doug with the ankle, Donnie Carr getting very ill. 

[diehardexplorer]

Dec 26, 2020 10:56:51 GMT -5 ogbj20 said:

Dec 23, 2020 8:37:30 GMT -5 diehardexplorer said:

too bad that speedy didn't like recruiting.  it's a major part of the job.  i hate parts of my job, but i do them anyway because i have to.  he got complacent. it's not like he was recruiting nationally either.  most recruits were a car ride away.

speedy also played a major part in the move to the mcc.  him and dayton coach jim o'brien (who played for him at roman) were all on board with it.

so while speedy is a good man, fine coach and deserving of hof consideration, many of his problems were self-inflicted.

As for the move, he had no choice but he didn’t like it one bit. I know this for sure. 

thanks for the clarification regarding the move to the mcc.  i guess i should know better than to believe what i read in the papers back then.  the spin by the local sports media was that speedy and o'brien pushed for the move.  not surprised that it was bullshit. 

[GlitterBro #2]

Word on campus at the time (my senior year was the MCC move) was that Ray Heath (I think he was VP of student affairs) architected the MCC move, much to the chagrin of many of the coaches in most sports who were recruiting more regionally and hated this move. Heath had a daughter that was a swimmer for Notre Dame, who, coincidentally, was in the MCC for everything except hoops and football. He left La Salle around the time La Salle left the MCC and went to the A10.