All-Time All-City Hoop Team
- Thread starter jerseyshorejohnny
- Start date
Question: which "All-Borough" team would you pick if you were a coach?
The Bronx: Tiny Archibald, Richie Guerin, Ed Pinckney, Malik Sealy, Rod Strickland
Brooklyn: Connie Hawkins, Bernard King, Chris Mullin, Dolph Schayes, Pearl Washington
Manhattan: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Walter Berry, Earl Manigault, Satch Sanders, Charlie Scott
Queens: Kenny Anderson, Bob Cousy, Ernie Grunfeld, Lamar Odom, Metta World Peace
Staten Island: Warren Fenley, Kyle McAlarney, Bill Murtha, Kevin O’Connor, Kenny Page
The Bronx: Tiny Archibald, Richie Guerin, Ed Pinckney, Malik Sealy, Rod Strickland
Brooklyn: Connie Hawkins, Bernard King, Chris Mullin, Dolph Schayes, Pearl Washington
Manhattan: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Walter Berry, Earl Manigault, Satch Sanders, Charlie Scott
Queens: Kenny Anderson, Bob Cousy, Ernie Grunfeld, Lamar Odom, Metta World Peace
Staten Island: Warren Fenley, Kyle McAlarney, Bill Murtha, Kevin O’Connor, Kenny Page
jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
Got to go with Brooklyn.
Voting with my head, Manhattan, presuming that the Goat could play some point guard the defense of Kareem and Satch would cover up a lot of flaws and Charlie Scott and Truth provide plenty of offense. Voting with my heart, Brooklyn all the way with Lennie Wilkens subbed for Pearl who is not in the same league as a player.
Interesting they have Manigault on the squad. If you get into playground legends, my favorite is Johnnie Johnson who at about 6'4'' supposedly used to abuse Wilt at Ruckers to the point where I have heard from basketball people that there were times Wilt wouldn't play if Johnson was there. Another great story about Johnson and his off the charts jumping was his ability to pluck quarters off the top of backboards which evidently made him a lot of money via winning bets.
You are talking about Jumpin Jackie Jackson who played for Boys HS and then Virginia Union College. He was 6'3 but could fly. He was a legend at Rucker Park during summer games against NBA players. He also played 15 years with the Harlem Globetrotters.
He didn't abuse Wilt but he did pin one of Wilt's shots to the backboard. After this, Wilt got mad and just dunked everything.
beast of the east
Active member
Manhattan
jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
Realize you can't name everyone on the starting Queens 5, but could have made a good case for SJU and NBA legend Dick McGuire.
beast of the east
Active member
You are partially correct. According to the book "The City Game", by Pete Axthelm, or "Hawk", it was Connie Hawkins who took the ball to the hoop vs. Wilt in the Rucker League, and hook-dunked over him. Fans had anticipated this game and were everywhere according to the book, having climbed trees to sit in branches and scaled the playground fence to sit on top of it. The fans went berserk when Hawkins dunked. Chamberlain, as the story goes, became so enraged that he went on a full game tear, catching teammates shots in mid air and slamming them home, and blocking nearly every shot that went up by the opposition. Refs, playing into the drama refused to call goaltending either way, and Chamberlain's team won by about 80 points.
These two books helped cement the legends that NYC basketball was the best in the country (and of course, the world). The Rucker tournament with many schoolyard stars whose college careers were derailed by crime, drugs, or academics, was considered by some to be more competitive than the NBA, and where NBA stars would come to earn street cred.
I worked uptown early in my career, alongside some guys who played in the same schoolyards as Kareem. Kareem had no street cred. These guys said Kareem, playing in rough and tumble schoolyard games against much shorter competition would whine and complain of fouls, which at 7-2 he should have just shut up and kicked butt.
I know about what Connie Hawkins did, but Jackie Jackson pinned Wilt's shot to the backboard in a different game. Wilt used to use Rucker League games to stay in shape. However when someone embarrassed him, he took it to the next level. After games, he would invite players to his bar, Big Wilt's Smalls Paradise.
Since we are tapping into Rucker legends, I nominate Joe Hammond. "The Destroyer" according to accounts would abuse NBA players at the Rucker, including Dr. J. Hammond arrived in the second half of that game and still scored 50 points.
He turned down a $50k salary from the Lakers because it would have been a paycut. He asked for a no cut deal from LA, since he was making around $250k in street money.
For basketball junkies, the stories that come out of Rucker are amazing.
He turned down a $50k salary from the Lakers because it would have been a paycut. He asked for a no cut deal from LA, since he was making around $250k in street money.
For basketball junkies, the stories that come out of Rucker are amazing.
Not sure what criteria was used, and have to give this some deep thought when I'm not at work, but for starters IMO Kenny Anderson should be a reserve over Mark Jackson. Jackson was a very good ballplayer at loughlin, but not even close to one of the greatest while in high school. Also how does Phil Sellers get left off the all-Brooklyn team, at the very least? The guy was a stud and one of the top recruits in the country coming out of Thomas Jeff. Dickie V actually bagged him while an asst at Rutgers but left for Detroit before that magical undefeated regular season. Another prolific High School ballplayer that many people never heard of was Jack (aka Black Jack) Ryan out of John Jay in Brooklyn. For a variety of reasons, he went nowhere after high school. His bro is a friend of mine and I played ball with Jackie not to long ago. The guy's in sick shape and can still light it up from anywhere on the court. Here's his wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_(streetball_player)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_(streetball_player)
Biased, since I saw Kareem since he was a grade schooler at St. Jude's in upper Manhattan, but to me he is the best. He revolutionized college basketball. Imagine NCAA banned dunking because of him for a while. In his freshman year on varsity at Power Memorial HS he was a bit uncoordinated, but in Soph year he was a pro.
stjohnschris
Active member
They have Mark Jackson as being born and raised in Brooklyn, but he moved to St Albans Queens when he was 7-ish. Even though he went to Loughlin, I think he should be listed as a Queens player. Those were the playgrounds he learned to play the game on...same neighborhood as McGuire and Cousy several years earlier.