Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: Search seventy sixers podcast Wherever you get your pots. Hi everyone,
Speaker 1: it's Tom McGinnis and welcome to another weekly installment of
Speaker 1: my new podcasts. This is a chat with a longtime
Speaker 1: friend of the programmers, Ed Pinckney of Villanova fame. Eddie
Speaker 1: grew up in the Bronx in New York City. He
Speaker 1: was a high School of All American player at Adlai
Speaker 1: Stevenson High School. Then, in nineteen eighty one, along with
Speaker 1: other star recruits Gary McLean and Dwayne McClean, Pinckney chose
Speaker 1: to play for Roddie Massamino at Villanova University. Here in
Speaker 1: Philadelphia and really nationally. He's remembered for his role in
Speaker 1: one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history. He
Speaker 1: was the most outstanding player in the nineteen eighty five
Speaker 1: NCUBA Tournament. Pinckney and the Villanova Wildcats knocked off Patrick
Speaker 1: Eween and Georgetown to win the tournament championship. Pinckney's pro
Speaker 1: career has taken him far and wide across the country
Speaker 1: and the NBA, playing coaching and now scouting for eleven
Speaker 1: different franchises. Here's this week's edition of Tom's Talks with
Speaker 1: number fifty four, Eddie Pickney. All Right, welcome to another
Speaker 1: edition of Tom's Talk, and we have a long time
Speaker 1: friend of the program. If this was SNL or a
Speaker 1: late night talk show, we'd say, Eddie, this is an
Speaker 1: eighteen time you've been on the show, so we really
Speaker 1: appreciate it, so Ed, thank you. And now you're working
Speaker 1: with the Houston Rockets as a scout, and as we visit,
Speaker 1: you're going through the process of interviewing college players over
Speaker 1: zoom and that's got to be a whole different process
Speaker 1: than what it would have been in years past, where
Speaker 1: maybe in Chicago you'd meet at the pre draft camp
Speaker 1: or bring a guy in for a workout and talk
Speaker 1: with him afterward. How has that change and what's that
Speaker 1: process like? No, it's I mean, it's been a scramble
Speaker 1: of sorts for everyone, you know, just trying to get
Speaker 1: in front of the players in any way that you can,
Speaker 1: just so you can get a feel for them through
Speaker 1: this particular draft process. You know, I know that in
Speaker 1: the past, what's the norm is that you kind of
Speaker 1: see these guys a number of different times the initial
Speaker 1: college watch when you actually go to their campus or
Speaker 1: another campus and you see them. Then you get a
Speaker 1: chance to see them in Chicago for the pre draft camp,
Speaker 1: and that's a whole other process that you get an
Speaker 1: opportunity to spend some time with them, and then if
Speaker 1: you like them enough, you typically bring them to your
Speaker 1: facility and then you get another work out in conversation
Speaker 1: with them. But you know, many of the agents are
Speaker 1: limiting the amount of time that you can spend. The
Speaker 1: league is also mandating the amount of time that you
Speaker 1: can spend on these you know, these video interviews. So
Speaker 1: you've got to try to deep dive in as much
Speaker 1: as you can with your questioning when you have these
Speaker 1: guys and you spend the time with them on these
Speaker 1: zoom chats. And that's been an interesting process because the
Speaker 1: questioning has got to be Taylor. Taylor made to to
Speaker 1: really deep dive into, you know, their thoughts and how
Speaker 1: they feel about themselves. Are some of the questions, like
Speaker 1: what a typical interview in any profession would be, like
Speaker 1: tell me a time where you've failed, or are they
Speaker 1: more like John Bruten's quarterback camps with you know what
Speaker 1: happened here? Tell me that? Or and I know some
Speaker 1: of the questions are like, all right, you know these
Speaker 1: are nineteen twenty year old men. Sometimes like who's coming
Speaker 1: to town with you? If you if you come, like
Speaker 1: give us a general feel for what some of the
Speaker 1: question the line of question is no, you know, I
Speaker 1: think it's a mixture because of the makeup of your
Speaker 1: scouting staff and of course your general manage or you
Speaker 1: all try to come to an agreement on what the
Speaker 1: questioning will be like and you know, some things that
Speaker 1: are really important to you so you can you know,
Speaker 1: come to a decision on whether or not you like
Speaker 1: the player. But you know, we we here in Houston
Speaker 1: just tend to air on the side about who's close
Speaker 1: to you and your decision making process. I think that's
Speaker 1: really important, um, for the God, for us, for our staff, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, just to get a feel for you know,
Speaker 1: how you think you know, how you would react, uh
Speaker 1: in an NBA environment. And that's what we tend to
Speaker 1: focus on a lot when we when we do these interviews. So, um,
Speaker 1: there there is some general questioning, but um, you know
Speaker 1: they're also is some questioning to the athlete about how
Speaker 1: they how they actually see themselves in an NBA environment.
Speaker 1: Your most recent coaching stops were Minnesota that year in
Speaker 1: Denver and Chicago. But I want to go back in
Speaker 1: a long time with Jay Wright as well. I want
Speaker 1: to go back though to your playing career, and again
Speaker 1: we're going to get into the National Championship Game, which
Speaker 1: everybody here in the Philadelphia area and nationally remembers the
Speaker 1: big upset in nineteen eighty five in Lexington, Kentucky over
Speaker 1: Georgetown and one of the great sports upsets in the
Speaker 1: history of the game in sports in general. But you
Speaker 1: started right after that in nineteen eighty five, you got
Speaker 1: selected in the first round by the Phoenix Suns. John
Speaker 1: McCloud was the coach. Walter Davis was still on the team,
Speaker 1: kind of winding down his career. What was that like,
Speaker 1: you still you always shoot like over fifty percent during
Speaker 1: your career. What was that like when you first started
Speaker 1: out for those couple of years in Phoenix. No, it
Speaker 1: was you know, when I go back to my time
Speaker 1: with the Phoenix Suns, it was a huge learning experience
Speaker 1: for me. At the time, the team wasn't very good
Speaker 1: and they were sort of trying to fight their way
Speaker 1: out of mediocracy. Of course, you know at that time
Speaker 1: the Lakers ruled the Roust. I mean they were they
Speaker 1: were the best team by far in the West. And
Speaker 1: you mentioned Larry Nance and Walter Davis. Those two guys
Speaker 1: were the leaders, and John McLeod was. You know, I'm
Speaker 1: actually glad that I got drafted by Phoenix because he
Speaker 1: was a great teacher by nature. And many of the
Speaker 1: lessons I learned in the NBA and what helped me
Speaker 1: sustain my career for as long as I did, Many
Speaker 1: of those lessons were learned by John McLeod when I
Speaker 1: first came into the NBA, because he was constantly trying
Speaker 1: to teach you about how to live a professional life
Speaker 1: as a professional athlete. I mean, many of the times
Speaker 1: you get athletes that come in and they certainly enjoy
Speaker 1: what the life of an NBA uh, you know, paycheck provides,
Speaker 1: but you don't really learn how to work. And he
Speaker 1: made sure that every player that came in onto that
Speaker 1: team knew you're gonna work. You're gonna you know, you're
Speaker 1: gonna have a daily plan in a workout regiment and
Speaker 1: you've got to complete it. You know, it's not gonna
Speaker 1: be about you know, doing other things. And you know,
Speaker 1: I got a great lesson learned from from being under
Speaker 1: that under that rule early on. So that was two
Speaker 1: years in Phoenix and coach McLoud got let go in
Speaker 1: your second year and Dick van Arsdale came in. But
Speaker 1: eventually you get traded a Sacramento and I guess people forget.
Speaker 1: But Bill Russell was the head coach of the Kings.
Speaker 1: What was that like to play under Bill Russell? Well,
Speaker 1: it's it's interesting because in this you know, this coronavirus world,
Speaker 1: I mean, Willis Reid was Bill Russell's assistant at that time,
Speaker 1: and you know, like I'm obviously everyone's seen the Last
Speaker 1: Dance and the Jordan thing, but you know, the Knicks
Speaker 1: are put out their own uh you know, information about
Speaker 1: their championship years and there are these specials on Willis
Speaker 1: read that are amazing. But anyway, you know, those two
Speaker 1: were my coaches. Um, you know when I went to Sacramento,
Speaker 1: and you know, both championship level players, and you know,
Speaker 1: they had a they had a preparation mentality that they
Speaker 1: always tried to come in with. I mean they were
Speaker 1: constantly talking about how to prepare as a player, how
Speaker 1: to prepare before the game, how to get ready for
Speaker 1: the next game. After the game, they were all about that.
Speaker 1: And there's this, there's this story I always tell about
Speaker 1: Bill Russell because he was a stickler for conditioning and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, certainly during this this error in time, you
Speaker 1: would never do this to a player as a coach.
Speaker 1: But he put the water bottles up on the third
Speaker 1: level of the stadium, so anytime you wanted to get water,
Speaker 1: he wanted to make sure you were working during that
Speaker 1: time on your conditioning, so you'd have to climb all
Speaker 1: the way. And he told me later, you know, I
Speaker 1: always wanted to know who needed the most water that
Speaker 1: you know. That always told me that the guy was
Speaker 1: not mentally tough. So all of the players would go
Speaker 1: through these two and a half three hour practices would
Speaker 1: absolutely no water at all. Everyone was afraid to climb
Speaker 1: up the steps and go get there a drink of
Speaker 1: water and stuff. You would never do anything like that now,
Speaker 1: but you know, he was a stickler for conditioning in preparation.
Speaker 1: Both both those guys were. Turns out, the rules on
Speaker 1: hydration have changed a little bit. Yeah, I would say,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm from the same era where a couple
Speaker 1: of years apart, but where they used to tell you
Speaker 1: to spin it out, like really, because I think I'm
Speaker 1: actually supposed to consume it. So then you moved out
Speaker 1: to Boston and Larry Bird was toward the end of
Speaker 1: his career. He was having issues with his back, but
Speaker 1: he's still the one year he averaged nearly thirty points,
Speaker 1: nine rebounds, seven assists. And you play with Bird and
Speaker 1: McHale and Parish and the iconic Boston Celtics. What was
Speaker 1: that experience like, No, it was. It was a great experience. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, I can't believe I'm reashing the boss the
Speaker 1: Celtics with with you. But we've had many many occasions
Speaker 1: where we've talked about sort of a championship mentality because
Speaker 1: we didn't win any championships during that time, but they
Speaker 1: certainly had that mentality, you know, going from Sacramento to Boston,
Speaker 1: and it was a great experience for me. I mean,
Speaker 1: you mentioned all the three great the players that played
Speaker 1: at that time, but certainly Dennis Johnson was still on
Speaker 1: that team as well too, and he was a joy
Speaker 1: to play with. But you know, it was the first
Speaker 1: time for me being an NBA player where I would
Speaker 1: go to practice every single day and I would have
Speaker 1: to mentally get myself ready for practice, because very often
Speaker 1: early on in my career, I'd go to practice and
Speaker 1: I would just sort of practice and really not get
Speaker 1: much accomplished. I was just practicing. Well. In this particular practice,
Speaker 1: you were expected to get an individual move and or
Speaker 1: shot down that you were working on as the year
Speaker 1: went on, and then you really had to compete. It
Speaker 1: was some of the most competitive practices that I had
Speaker 1: ever ever been a part of. And certainly there was
Speaker 1: a lot of talking turn during the course of it.
Speaker 1: I mean Bird never stopped talking, mcale never stopped talking,
Speaker 1: and you always had a sprinkling in of Robert Parish
Speaker 1: trying to trying to talk to you as well too.
Speaker 1: So they were fun, fun times and just some of
Speaker 1: the most competitive practices that I had ever been a
Speaker 1: part of. Man you moved on to Milwaukee and then
Speaker 1: five ninety six you were with the Toronto Raptors, and
Speaker 1: it was the first ever obviously with Vancouver Basque professional Basketball,
Speaker 1: not the first ever because I know about the Huskies,
Speaker 1: but where the NBA moved to Toronto at that time
Speaker 1: when they first cut into the league. And I don't
Speaker 1: know if you remember this, so you had. You were
Speaker 1: with them in the preseason. Do you remember playing the Sixers.
Speaker 1: We played two games, so it was their first ever
Speaker 1: pro game. One was in Halifax and one was in
Speaker 1: Saint Johnson Brunwick, Brunswick, So it was nineteen ninety five.
Speaker 1: You were you part of that. I was. I was
Speaker 1: definitely a part of that group. And you know, at
Speaker 1: the time we were, we were on tour. We played
Speaker 1: the Sixers. As you mentioned, we also played Vancouver as
Speaker 1: well too. Vancouver had had a spot going on up
Speaker 1: there in Canada. I just remember that the crowd and
Speaker 1: Halifax and they had minor league basketball up there, but
Speaker 1: it literally was like a church. They were so respectful
Speaker 1: and I was doing the game on the radio that
Speaker 1: was my first year. I could not believe how quiet
Speaker 1: it was. It was like polite applause. It was. It
Speaker 1: was so unique, and that's why I bring it up.
Speaker 1: It was I'll never forget that setting, and it was
Speaker 1: you know, they were so respectful, and it was like, wait,
Speaker 1: this is pro sports. It's okay to get after a
Speaker 1: little bit. Well, I'm gonna tell you a funny story
Speaker 1: about that particular game. Because that team was comprised of
Speaker 1: a lot of guys who were left in the expansion draft.
Speaker 1: At that time, you had an expansion draft and protected
Speaker 1: Vancouver picked some guys and Toronto picked some guys. So
Speaker 1: on this particular squad we had John Sally. John Sally
Speaker 1: was on that team, and John Sally in that game
Speaker 1: stood up during the game and said, is anybody gonna
Speaker 1: say anything? I mean, like by point, Yeah, no, I
Speaker 1: remember that. I remember that. But Sally, like during the
Speaker 1: course of the game, he was just like, I just
Speaker 1: left Detroit and this is the kind of crowd we're
Speaker 1: gonna play in in front in Toronto. I mean, it
Speaker 1: was unbelievable. That's great. And then later that season you
Speaker 1: came to the seventy six ers and John Lucas was
Speaker 1: the coach, and I would imagine that's part of your
Speaker 1: association currently with the Rockets as Lucas part of that
Speaker 1: staff with Mike D'Antoni. And it was toward the end
Speaker 1: of your career. It was an eighteen win season. But
Speaker 1: you come back to Philadelphia as a pro player. Your
Speaker 1: thoughts there, No, it was you know, I came back
Speaker 1: to Philadelphia, my second home, and it was sort of
Speaker 1: a home. It was homecoming for me, but I came
Speaker 1: back in sort of like a mentoring role, which was
Speaker 1: which was great. I mean, I was excited about coming back.
Speaker 1: The top rookie on the team at that time was
Speaker 1: Jerry Stackhouse. And you know, I tell you know, I
Speaker 1: tell everyone this story. We'd go to these practices and
Speaker 1: we had this coach that was always constantly in my
Speaker 1: ear on the team bus, and that practice, this coach
Speaker 1: turned out to be Tom Thibodeaux. So you know, that
Speaker 1: was my introduction to Tom Thibodeau. Very early after practice,
Speaker 1: Tom Thibodeau would occasionally work out this very young player
Speaker 1: who John Lucas would occasionally allow us to practice with.
Speaker 1: That player was Kobe Bryant. So that, I mean, that
Speaker 1: was my introduction back home to Philadelphia basketball. And you know,
Speaker 1: you talk about some of the relationships that you're able
Speaker 1: to create when you're in this game and in this business.
Speaker 1: And you know, obviously we know about about Kobe Bryant
Speaker 1: and how great he turned out to be. And uh,
Speaker 1: you know, I've had a nine ten year coaching relationship
Speaker 1: with Tom Thibodeau and he's turned into one of the
Speaker 1: the you know, the top coaches of all time. Now
Speaker 1: I knew you were down to earth back then because
Speaker 1: one time we were standing outside Saint Joe's after practice
Speaker 1: and you go, hey, you can be right in Center
Speaker 1: City at the time, at the time they were they
Speaker 1: were redoing my home and I was staying in a
Speaker 1: hotel I had, you know, I was just like, hey,
Speaker 1: let me try to get a riding back downtown. Man. Well,
Speaker 1: and then after that you go to Miami and you
Speaker 1: finish your playing career there and you end up working
Speaker 1: for the Heat. But obviously coach Riley was still the
Speaker 1: head coach of Miami and you know, we've talked over
Speaker 1: the years about, you know, different things and the intensity
Speaker 1: of Riley. We came to know then the ice bucket challenge.
Speaker 1: But he might have been invented it. Tell the story
Speaker 1: about one time pregame he was trying to coach, showed
Speaker 1: you guys something about you know, drive or resilience here
Speaker 1: or whatever, and he put his head in an ice
Speaker 1: bucket and had held his breath and all you guys
Speaker 1: were sitting around. Is that how it went? Well? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it This happened to Detroit and it was during um,
Speaker 1: you know, just not a good stretch of basketball, and
Speaker 1: he he has this this catalog of great speeches. I
Speaker 1: mean he would present to the team, um, you know
Speaker 1: before each and every game, and he I mean, he
Speaker 1: was really good at it. But for some reason, um,
Speaker 1: he didn't do it this time. And you know, he
Speaker 1: would always come in. He would do what I call
Speaker 1: is making entrance into the pregame talk. It was, you know,
Speaker 1: very well calculated. But this one, uh didn't happen this time.
Speaker 1: In Detroit. He kind of just walked in and the
Speaker 1: bucket of ice was on the side already, the trainer
Speaker 1: had had put it there. So he's talking to us
Speaker 1: about the you know, what we have to do in
Speaker 1: this upcoming game, and he says, in order to break
Speaker 1: this losing streak, we have got to win this game,
Speaker 1: like it's got to be your last breath of air.
Speaker 1: And he reaches over to the bucket and sticks his
Speaker 1: head in the bucket. And I'm looking over at Alonzo
Speaker 1: morning like, okay, he's gonna lift his head up at
Speaker 1: so I mean, he literally he kept his head in
Speaker 1: the ice bucket. It's like, you have to go after
Speaker 1: this with your last breath. And Old team just comes
Speaker 1: into the middle of the locker room and we go
Speaker 1: out there and we win the game, and it was
Speaker 1: just an unusual way to motive pervade the team. But
Speaker 1: you know, he's one of the best, if not the best,
Speaker 1: that I've ever been around in terms of preparing his
Speaker 1: teams to win at any cost, and he was great.
Speaker 1: We'll continue my conversation with former Villanova stand out and
Speaker 1: longtime NBA veteran player and coach Ed Pinckney in a moment.
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Speaker 1: my conversation with Ed Pinkney. Eventually you come back to
Speaker 1: Villanova and you spend I believe four years of Coachwright
Speaker 1: as an assistant with Villanova. What was that like and
Speaker 1: what did you learn A big takeaway from Coach Jay Wright? Well, Jaywright.
Speaker 1: You know, I think everyone has this perception obviously of
Speaker 1: him being this icon. And you know, I had known
Speaker 1: Jay right because he had been around m Rolie Massamino
Speaker 1: during his time in Nevada, Las Vegas and then eventually Villanova.
Speaker 1: So you know, during my stint in Miami, I really
Speaker 1: wanted to coach, and uh, you know, I had talked
Speaker 1: to Jay about that, and his one of his assistants,
Speaker 1: Joe Jones, who's currently the head coach at Boston Boston
Speaker 1: U left and I got the opportunity, and you know
Speaker 1: what I learned from Jay was essentially how to coach,
Speaker 1: how to coach players, how to coach high level players.
Speaker 1: At the time, he had a high level recruiting class,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, I had been a part of
Speaker 1: the NBA for a very long time, and coaching college
Speaker 1: kids is very different from coaching professional basketball players. You've
Speaker 1: got to bring in every day intensity to the practice
Speaker 1: floor that you really don't bring in an NBA environment.
Speaker 1: And Jay is very fiery, and he's an underrated defensive coach.
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, it's obviously shown with the
Speaker 1: two championships that Villanova has been able to win. But
Speaker 1: I really learned how to coach at a high level
Speaker 1: from him. I mean he was just you know, he
Speaker 1: some of the things that he would talk about on
Speaker 1: a daily basis is bringing an all out effort and
Speaker 1: being great every single day. And you know, if things
Speaker 1: don't work out that particular day, come with the same
Speaker 1: intensity the very next day. And that's that's something you know,
Speaker 1: I'll always bring with me that I learned from him.
Speaker 1: And speaking of always bringing, everybody remembers nineteen eighty five
Speaker 1: NCAA championship victory for Villanova over Georgetown. Nobody gave you
Speaker 1: guys credit. It was an emotional day in Lexington and
Speaker 1: that former coach Al Severance had passed away in Lexington
Speaker 1: in the hotel, Jake Nevin oft Chorus, a long time trainer,
Speaker 1: was battling New Garrett's disease. You didn't even think you
Speaker 1: were going to make the final for at one point,
Speaker 1: after a hard, difficult loss at pitt in the in
Speaker 1: the waning moments of the regular season, you beat North
Speaker 1: Carolina to get into the final four, and then the
Speaker 1: big day walk us through that and how coach Mass
Speaker 1: got you guys ready for the win over George Down No,
Speaker 1: he was great. I mean, you know, in terms of
Speaker 1: preparing a team for winning, I mean, he did a
Speaker 1: fantastic job. He used to taylor our practices on a
Speaker 1: daily basis to play against Georgetown, So people always ask us,
Speaker 1: how did you prepare? I mean, we didn't really have
Speaker 1: to prepare that one particular day. It was something that
Speaker 1: Massimino always talked about. I mean, if you're if you're
Speaker 1: gonna absolutely beat the best, you got to prepare to
Speaker 1: play against the best. So he had instilled a great
Speaker 1: confidence in us to be ready to play. And then
Speaker 1: we just got some amazing performances by guys who you know,
Speaker 1: really stepped up. I mean, you know, Gary McClain was
Speaker 1: somebody who just did a fantastic job of handling what
Speaker 1: at the time was probably the top defensive team in
Speaker 1: the entire country. Uh you know, Harold Jensen making huge shots,
Speaker 1: Howard Pressley making amazing shots along with Dwayne McClain. We
Speaker 1: just had contributions from from guys all over the place,
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, we were really together. I mean,
Speaker 1: it was a fantastic and a great team to be
Speaker 1: a part of. And uh, we all we all give
Speaker 1: all of the credit to ROLEI Massmino. He was just
Speaker 1: a fantastic coach and just in the regular lost Developer
Speaker 1: Georgetown twice in the regular season, but one of those
Speaker 1: games the second time. I wasn't going to bring that up,
Speaker 1: but I wasn't going to bring up the two losses,
Speaker 1: but to narrowly lose to them at overtime, you knew
Speaker 1: you were pretty close. Even though it's the old saying
Speaker 1: it's hard to be the team three times that had
Speaker 1: a factor in like, you know, hey, and we're the underdogs,
Speaker 1: but let's give it a shot, right, Well, no, you're
Speaker 1: you're absolutely right. I mean, they just were so dominating
Speaker 1: and we felt is I mean, they call this game
Speaker 1: the perfect game, and it really had to be that
Speaker 1: way because they just they didn't beat themselves. I mean,
Speaker 1: they were talented, they were smart, they played very physical,
Speaker 1: well coached, just coming off a championship game the year
Speaker 1: prior to the game in which we beat them in
Speaker 1: the finals, so they had all the elements that would
Speaker 1: lend itself to being heavily favorite in that game. But again,
Speaker 1: you know, Massimino just unbelievable masterful in getting us ready
Speaker 1: ready to play and what would be the biggest games
Speaker 1: of our lives. Well, at Duke they call the former
Speaker 1: players of Brotherhood. You guys have that too, and Coach
Speaker 1: Right has really done a great job of fostering with
Speaker 1: the former players, the current players, the history of the program,
Speaker 1: tremendous tradition and that's got to be special to be
Speaker 1: part of that group and have that as a home
Speaker 1: of basketball home for all of you players. Correct, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're you're, You're absolutely right. I mean, you know I
Speaker 1: will Whenever the Dallas Mavericks come through town, you know,
Speaker 1: I make sure I get a chance to spend some
Speaker 1: time with Jalen Brunson and talk to him about his career. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, the same with us the Chicago Bulls. When
Speaker 1: Ryan Archidiacano comes through, you know, I make sure that
Speaker 1: I spend a little bit of time with him and
Speaker 1: talk with him. And I mean there are so many
Speaker 1: Jay has done a great job of pairing guys for
Speaker 1: the NBA. So this sprinkling of Villanova guys all over
Speaker 1: the NBA, and they all understand what the brotherhood means.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, many of them, what weren't even
Speaker 1: born when I played, but they still have that sense
Speaker 1: of hey, I'm a part of Villanova, and you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's great to be a part of that brotherhood.
Speaker 1: It's amazing that people still remember you and that team
Speaker 1: you were talking about when you got the Boston Larry
Speaker 1: Bird said, Hey, in nineteen eighty five, I've been with
Speaker 1: you in Charlotte one time. We were walking down the
Speaker 1: street and people recognize you from that. It's still one
Speaker 1: of the most watched college game progames ever, basketball games ever.
Speaker 1: And like you say, what a neat thing to be
Speaker 1: associated with. Well, it's you know, it speaks to the
Speaker 1: power of college basketball and how many people watch those games.
Speaker 1: You know, it's unfortunate we don't get a chance to,
Speaker 1: you know, get a whole new slate of you know,
Speaker 1: college basketball fantastic games this year. But I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: wherever I go, wherever I go, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: everyone talks about that game. They don't talk about certainly
Speaker 1: the Celtics or my time with the Celtics, but they
Speaker 1: talk about that that last game. And certainly the Big East.
Speaker 1: The Big East at the time was the premier conference
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, Dave Gavitt was a guy who
Speaker 1: just did a fantastic job of promoting that conference and
Speaker 1: giving us all the platform to to show out talents
Speaker 1: well as much basketball as you know, and you know,
Speaker 1: as weird as you as you are into the NBA.
Speaker 1: What do you think of, you know, the star two
Speaker 1: players for the Sixers in Ben Simmons and Joel Eenb. Well,
Speaker 1: all I gotta say is the last two years that
Speaker 1: I've coached in Philadelphia haven't been the best of home comings. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, one has been a thirty point just destruction
Speaker 1: and the other, you know, a twenty point destruction. Those
Speaker 1: two guys are the future of the NBA. Um. They
Speaker 1: are a combination of strength, finesse, high skill level and
Speaker 1: uh are on their way certainly to you know, to
Speaker 1: to providing some some great years for the Sixers. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know that the great thing about them both is
Speaker 1: that they're still very young and they're still learning, um,
Speaker 1: you know, how to win at a high level. But
Speaker 1: you know, I have no no doubt in my mind
Speaker 1: that in the future both are gonna, you know, just
Speaker 1: set the East on their ears. I think it. It's
Speaker 1: difficult coaching against them, I know that, but uh, you know,
Speaker 1: they both have very bright futures for sure. It's like
Speaker 1: before basketball has been your life, and you know so
Speaker 1: many people and keep in touch with so many people,
Speaker 1: including your New York roots, and you know, and watch
Speaker 1: basketball as much as anybody I've ever met, a true
Speaker 1: hooped if you will, everything from like New York basketball
Speaker 1: in the high school level. It's still college basketball clearly
Speaker 1: the pros. I mean that's a that's a pretty neat thing.
Speaker 1: It's a compliment and it's a testament to your joy
Speaker 1: and love of the game. But that's true, is it,
Speaker 1: I mean, cover the whole breath of the sport. Well, no,
Speaker 1: it's uh listen, I mean it's a part. It's been
Speaker 1: a part of my life. Basketball forever. I mean ever
Speaker 1: since I've been a small kid. It's a sport that
Speaker 1: I love. I mean, you know your current general manager.
Speaker 1: I watched play Au days. I mean that's you know,
Speaker 1: that's how far I go back. I mean, I just
Speaker 1: love it on all levels and uh, you know, enjoy
Speaker 1: how the game has evolved into what it has today.
Speaker 1: I mean again you mentioned the two stars for the Sixers.
Speaker 1: Look at how versatile they are. I mean, it's it's
Speaker 1: just great to watch how the game has evolved and
Speaker 1: how players just continue to get better and take the
Speaker 1: game the great heights, and I really like watching the
Speaker 1: evolution of that and watching players, you know, kind of
Speaker 1: develop into what they have and what they can be
Speaker 1: in the future. It's a lot of fun to sort
Speaker 1: of see that process. I'll let you go with this,
Speaker 1: but I want to wrap it up. So you've done
Speaker 1: pretty much everything in the game, including broadcasting. During the
Speaker 1: O nine ten NBA season, you were the color analysts
Speaker 1: with markom Off what is now NBC Sports Philadelphia. An
Speaker 1: assistant coach for many years now, a little bit of
Speaker 1: the scouting front office angle. Do you those still have
Speaker 1: a handkering if you will to be a head coach
Speaker 1: and either the college or the pro game, what would
Speaker 1: be mat told me the five year plan for ed picking. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I always leave it to this. I think
Speaker 1: I can. I just help wherever I can. I love
Speaker 1: helping young kids. I've enjoyed my pro coaching career. You know,
Speaker 1: I coach four years in college and I think, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, as long as you're able to sort of
Speaker 1: give knowledge and help either a staff or lead a staff,
Speaker 1: is you know. I mean, when the opportunities present themselves,
Speaker 1: I'm I think I'm prepared and ready for them. And
Speaker 1: you know, I've been lucky, I mean each of us.
Speaker 1: If you're in the game long enough, you're gonna wear
Speaker 1: many hats. And I've been lucky enough to do that,
Speaker 1: so I don't I don't really close the door to anything,
Speaker 1: you know, whether it be coaching or scouting or managing whatever.
Speaker 1: As long as it's in the game of basketball, I'll
Speaker 1: be fine. But I gotta leave you with this because
Speaker 1: I see what you're wearing and I'm talking to zoom Off.
Speaker 1: Zoom Off doesn't hook me up. You gotta get you guy,
Speaker 1: Chris Heck, to give me some swag. I mean, I
Speaker 1: need some sixer swag. Man. That's great, You got it right,
Speaker 1: Oh right, listen. If not the shirt, I'd love to
Speaker 1: have a hat, if a golfing hat. When I go
Speaker 1: to Aronomic, that would be nice to lock the six
Speaker 1: a year. You got it. Well, Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: We so much appreciate your time. Nice talking to you.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Tom's talks with me Tom McGinnis
Speaker 1: on the seventy six Ers podcast network. Check for new
Speaker 1: episodes every weekend.