Memory Lane

For the first dozen or so years the two tournaments were considered pretty even. Three times the winners of the two tunaments played a charitable game with the NCAA winner winning each game but most basketball experts thought the NIT had better fields. The NIT was attractive because many teams preferred a week in NYC to the NCAA cities.
This all changed in the early fifties. The NCAA expanded to 16 teams with 10 league champions forced to go NCAA and the point shaving scandal made MSG the place avoid. The NCAA winners of the mid fifties were Gola/ LaSalle , Russell/ USF, the undefeated NC team with basketball greats like the above and Chamberlain, Oscar, Baylor and West.Then Ohio St. with Lucas and Havlicek followed by UCLA with Alcindor and Walton.
The NIT had no teams like those but they had very competitive games with some very good players and every game played in MSG over a ten day period and the fans supported it. In 1975 the NCAA allowed teams that weren’t league champs to be invited and that was the beginning of the end for the NIT. They played only the semis and final in MSG and now there are no games in MSG.
 
GardenCity62 said:
For the first dozen or so years the two tournaments were considered pretty even. Three times the winners of the two tunaments played a charitable game with the NCAA winner winning each game but most basketball experts thought the NIT had better fields. The NIT was attractive because many teams preferred a week in NYC to the NCAA cities.
This all changed in the early fifties. The NCAA expanded to 16 teams with 10 league champions forced to go NCAA and the point shaving scandal made MSG the place avoid. The NCAA winners of the mid fifties were Gola/ LaSalle , Russell/ USF, the undefeated NC team with basketball greats like the above and Chamberlain, Oscar, Baylor and West.Then Ohio St. with Lucas and Havlicek followed by UCLA with Alcindor and Walton.
The NIT had no teams like those but they had very competitive games with some very good players and every game played in MSG over a ten day period and the fans supported it. In 1975 the NCAA allowed teams that weren’t league champs to be invited and that was the beginning of the end for the NIT. They played only the semis and final in MSG and now there are no games in MSG.
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The NIT was owned by the local colleges (including us, obviously) up until the time the NCAA bought it. I used to get free tickets from SJU for the semis every year watching the NIT staff arriving in their official NIT sport jackets sitting courtside. I remember us getting three home games at AH when we really didn't deserve it just to insure human beings attending the games at MSG.

Of course, all memories are subject to correction based on age problems... :)
 
fan since 65 said:
The NIT was owned by the local colleges (including us, obviously) up until the time the NCAA bought it. I used to get free tickets from SJU for the semis every year watching the NIT staff arriving in their official NIT sport jackets sitting courtside. I remember us getting three home games at AH when we really didn't deserve it just to insure human beings attending the games at MSG.

Of course, all memories are subject to correction based on age problems... :)
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First time I took my sons to MSG was for semi-final game of NIT, Malik Sealy et al vs St. Louis.
 
SJU61982 said:
Went to the elite 8 in 90-91, and had most of the players coming back.

Truthfully though, the 90-91 team was a good team that got hot at the right time. It was never a great team.

The next year, we all fell for the short stretch of great play in the NCAA Tournament, vs. the more telling overall body of work.
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The 91-92 team never recovered from early season losses to Duke and Indiana.
 
paultzman said:
Rick in mid season hyperbolic form 😇

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Rick forgot about the time we payed North Carolina, UCLA and Davidson in about 10 days or so. All were ranked Top 5; beat UNC, lost to UCLA (with Alcindor) and beat Davidson on the road.

Sat, Dec 28, 1968REGNorth Carolina (2)ACC18.39W727061W 6Madison Square Garden (IV)
8Mon, Dec 30, 1968REGUCLA (1)Pac-826.69L567462L 1Madison Square Garden (IV)
9Sat, Jan 4, 1969REGNDavidson (2)Southern13.29W7574
 
fan since 65 said:
Rick forgot about the time we payed North Carolina, UCLA and Davidson in about 10 days or so. All were ranked Top 5; beat UNC, lost to UCLA (with Alcindor) and beat Davidson on the road.

Sat, Dec 28, 1968REGNorth Carolina (2)ACC18.39W727061W 6Madison Square Garden (IV)
8Mon, Dec 30, 1968REGUCLA (1)Pac-826.69L567462L 1Madison Square Garden (IV)
9Sat, Jan 4, 1969REGNDavidson (2)Southern13.29W7574
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Loved that team - John Warren, Joe Depre, the Whopper and Ralph Abraham. Finished the year ranked in top 10.
 
fan since 65 said:
Rick forgot about the time we payed North Carolina, UCLA and Davidson in about 10 days or so. All were ranked Top 5; beat UNC, lost to UCLA (with Alcindor) and beat Davidson on the road.

Sat, Dec 28, 1968REGNorth Carolina (2)ACC18.39W727061W 6Madison Square Garden (IV)
8Mon, Dec 30, 1968REGUCLA (1)Pac-826.69L567462L 1Madison Square Garden (IV)
9Sat, Jan 4, 1969REGNDavidson (2)Southern13.29W7574
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loved that stretch. I was in the service at the time and could not see the games but read every article I could get and let all my buddies know about the Redmen. Still don't think we have had a stretch like that playing high ranked teams in such a short amount of time.
 
jackfro said:
loved that stretch. I was in the service at the time and could not see the games but read every article I could get and let all my buddies know about the Redmen. Still don't think we have had a stretch like that playing high ranked teams in such a short amount of time.
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I was in HS at Mater Christi and I would cut out newspaper clips about each game.
 
fan since 65 said:
Rick forgot about the time we payed North Carolina, UCLA and Davidson in about 10 days or so. All were ranked Top 5; beat UNC, lost to UCLA (with Alcindor) and beat Davidson on the road.

Sat, Dec 28, 1968REGNorth Carolina (2)ACC18.39W727061W 6Madison Square Garden (IV)
8Mon, Dec 30, 1968REGUCLA (1)Pac-826.69L567462L 1Madison Square Garden (IV)
9Sat, Jan 4, 1969REGNDavidson (2)Southern13.29W7574
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Was at MSG in the student seats behind the basket for all three Festival games. The place was nuts during the unc game but the steam was taken out against ucla because Lew was a man among boys. Then I remember listening to the davidson game on the radio as The Whopper hit a short baseline jumper at the end to get the win. I still remember the fan yelling, clear as day, "Go home you damn Yankees!" Made the win even sweeter. :)
 
Section9 said:
Was at MSG in the student seats behind the basket for all three Festival games. The place was nuts during the unc game but the steam was taken out against ucla because Lew was a man among boys. Then I remember listening to the davidson game on the radio as The Whopper hit a short baseline jumper at the end to get the win. I still remember the fan yelling, clear as day, "Go home you damn Yankees!" Made the win even sweeter. :)
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Davidson was led by Mike Maloy from Bryant HS in Queens. First black player there.
 
panther2 said:
All ,I said was that RJ set a record for points scored in one half of a Big East Championship game. All SLYFOXX did was agree while mentioning great players who have not scored that many points. A very clear and concise statement,

How and why you read more into his post than was necessary, is totally beyond my comprehension. But then again, since I started college in 1965 and didn't graduate from St John's until 1986, it's obvious that I ain't that bright.
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v



Panther , you are so wrong ! Your last sentence is incorrect .

You are very bright , beyond that , if possible .
Not only in BB fandom but , have a keen perspective on the Human aspects of life and Sports.

You write as skillfully as a Journalist in any publication .

Almost to the entirety of those on this Site , your views are respected and , more so , factual .

Plus , you have a way of calming the eruptions of the back and forths which are often presented here .
Usually a comment or two from you , is enough to end debate . Some of which is often harsh as you know .

Finally , liked your mention of Jim Washington on that 65 Nova team with Billy Melchionni , George Leftwich , etc .

Washington , as I recall battled Sonny Dove quite well , in that game but , didn’t outplay him .
 
SLYFOXX1968 said:
v



Panther , you are so wrong ! Your last sentence is incorrect .

You are very bright , beyond that , if possible .
Not only in BB fandom but , have a keen perspective on the Human aspects of life and Sports.

You write as skillfully as a Journalist in any publication .

Almost to the entirety of those on this Site , your views are respected and , more so , factual .

Plus , you have a way of calming the eruptions of the back and forths which are often presented here .
Usually a comment or two from you , is enough to end debate . Some of which is often harsh as you know .

Finally , liked your mention of Jim Washington on that 65 Nova team with Billy Melchionni , George Leftwich , etc .

Washington , as I recall battled Sonny Dove quite well , in that game but , didn’t outplay him .
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Thanks again for your kind words, if you are ever in New York during the season, please let me know and we can go to a game together.

I owe a lot of who I am today to St. John's where I received my undergraduate degree in Human Service and counseling. I then received my Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from NYU. The most important skill I learned during my career was to listen to understand, not respond.

As for posting, I state what I believe, not to convince anyone to agree with me. Anything over two or three posts on the same topic is redundancy.
 
SLYFOXX1968 said:
v



Panther , you are so wrong ! Your last sentence is incorrect .

You are very bright , beyond that , if possible .
Not only in BB fandom but , have a keen perspective on the Human aspects of life and Sports.

You write as skillfully as a Journalist in any publication .

Almost to the entirety of those on this Site , your views are respected and , more so , factual .

Plus , you have a way of calming the eruptions of the back and forths which are often presented here .
Usually a comment or two from you , is enough to end debate . Some of which is often harsh as you know .

Finally , liked your mention of Jim Washington on that 65 Nova team with Billy Melchionni , George Leftwich , etc .

Washington , as I recall battled Sonny Dove quite well , in that game but , didn’t outplay him .
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Sat in the second row under the basket for Lapchick's last game. I thought Sonny outplayed Jim Washington and was the difference in the outcome. With both McIntyres on the court Sonny did not need to focus on scoring.
 
fuchsia said:
Sat in the second row under the basket for Lapchick's last game. I thought Sonny outplayed Jim Washington and was the difference in the outcome. With both McIntyres on the court Sonny did not need to focus on scoring.
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Fuchsia, agree with you on Sonny outplaying Washington. Was there, and to quote the Maurice Chevalier / Hermione Gingold duet in Gigi: "Yes, I remember it well."
 
panther2 said:
Thanks again for your kind words, if you are ever in New York during the season, please let me know and we can go to a game together.

I owe a lot of who I am today to St. John's where I received my undergraduate degree in Human Service and counseling. I then received my Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from NYU. The most important skill I learned during my career was to listen to understand, not respond.

As for posting, I state what I believe, not to convince anyone to agree with me. Anything over two or three posts on the same topic is redundancy.
Click to expand...


You and I have , from time to time , talked about that 65 team and , in particular the McIntyres and Sonny Dove
For those of us who saw Sonny play , for his 3 years , we nearly all still count him amongst the Redmen greats .

Sonny was 6’7” , maybe 6’8 when he stopped growing . Correct me , if I’m wrong , maybe he weighed 190 with a anvil in his shorts . He was slim .
And , he had kind of a loping style , but , he could burst past defenders pretty easily , when he turned on the jets .
He was also a excellent rebounder , even against much taller and bigger players . He had a really good handle too , if I remember correctly .
And , in that 65 season he was only a Soph .
By the time he graduated in 67 , he was a All American and 1 st round draft choice of the Pistons .

I know you had a close relationship with Kenny McIntyre who was the MVP of that NIT Championship .
 
SLYFOXX1968 said:
You and I have , from time to time , talked about that 65 team and , in particular the McIntyres and Sonny Dove
For those of us who saw Sonny play , for his 3 years , we nearly all still count him amongst the Redmen greats .

Sonny was 6’7” , maybe 6’8 when he stopped growing . Correct me , if I’m wrong , maybe he weighed 190 with a anvil in his shorts . He was slim .
And , he had kind of a loping style , but , he could burst past defenders pretty easily , when he turned on the jets .
He was also a excellent rebounder , even against much taller and bigger players . He had a really good handle too , if I remember correctly .
And , in that 65 season he was only a Soph .
By the time he graduated in 67 , he was a All American and 1 st round draft choice of the Pistons .

I know you had a close relationship with Kenny McIntyre who was the MVP of that NIT Championship .
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I had a close relationship with Sonny, while he was at St Johns and later when he was in the League. He used to live five blocks from me. As for Kenny McIntyre, I didn't really know him but he was my favorite player. I was probably the only Black kid in NYC that wanted to be Kenny McIntyre :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
panther2 said:
I had a close relationship with Sonny, while he was at St Johns and later when he was in the League. He used to live five blocks from me. As for Kenny McIntyre, I didn't really know him but he was my favorite player. I was probably the only Black kid in NYC that wanted to be Kenny McIntyre :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
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You're black?
 
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