The Tar Heel Thursday, July 6, 1978 21
Yesteryear's Tar Heels bring memories
by R.L. Bynum
Sports Editor
Nostalgia was the word of the night as
Big Four basketball stars of yesteryear
gathered for a reunion at Raleigh's
Reynolds Coliseum. The Big Four Alumni
Basketball Bonanza was the event.
As Lennie Rosenbluth drilled a 20
footer to begin Carolina's game, it
brought memories of the great 1957
NCAA championship team.
Lee Shaffer, star of the early 60's,
showed he still had it by scoring a team
high 17 points. "He looks like he could
play pro ball now, the way he played,"
remarked Bobby Jones.
However, most of the older alumni
playing in the event could only make
token appearances. A few of the former
stars looked as if the only team they had
been on recently was a drinking team.
Olin Broadway, a 1959 Wake Forest
graduate, could barely dribble the ball,
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Staff photo by Allen Jernigan
Miller lines up a shot
and fought for rebounds like he was
playing football. Broadway had his
moment though, as he popped in a 25 foot
shot.
For most of the players, a game like this
was just a lot of fun. Organizers tried to
avoid cmbarassing match-ups by putting
the older players in one group and the
younger players in another.
"It always feels good to get out and
play," said Rosenbluth in the dressing
room after Carolina's 103-86 win over
NC. State. "I like being able to see some of
the great ball players of years ago from
other teams, like Sam Ranzino and Dick
Dickey."
Lenny Chappell, a '62 graduate of Wake
Forest, had not played in a real game since
he played for the Dallas Chaparrals five
years ago. Following his squads 100-95
victory over Duke, the big 268 pounder
said he didn't mind just making short
appearances. "Sure the younger players
get most of the playing time, but I feel like
a young man. I could have played more,
but we had to play a lot of people to get the
right combination. We just played enough
to keep everybody happy."
The game reminded fans of the
changing styles of players. Wake's Al
Deporter of the '54 squad knocked in a
one-handed baseline set shot and Duke's
Ray Cox (1964) pumped in an
underhanded free throw. Then Monte
Towe sank a 25 foot jumper and Walter
Davis threw a between the legs pass in
mid air.
"There are a lot better shots now,"
observed Rosenbluth, "but everything is
jump-shooting and layups. When we were
playing, you'd have a two-handed set shot
(like Vic Moladet and Tommy Kearns) and
I had a standing one-handed shot."
Rosenbluth started the game for
Carolina along with 1957 teammates Joe
Quigg, Bobby Cunningham, Danny Lotz,
and Ken Rosemund.
With that line-up against State alumni
of the early 50's, the Heels built a lead
they never relinquished. It reminded fans
of their game against Kansas, when they
surged to an early 19-4 lead, only this time
the opponent didn't come back. Instead,
the result was one that the '57 team saw
more often, a big win.
What was the key to that season?
Rosenbluth believes that the
psychological factors helped them. "We
won them when we hit the court because
the other teams were awed by us. 'Here
comes the number one team, undefeated,'
and by the time they knew they could beat
us, the clock ran out."
That year the team was undefeated
going into the ACC Tournament, and
faced a possibility of being shut out of the
NCAA tournament. Rosenbluth says that
they were still glad to play.
"We wanted to play, we felt that if we
won it, we were the best. We enjoyed it,
and just wanted to play. The extra three
games is where it's all at. The coaches
don't like it, but the way they've got it set
up now (the regular season champion
going to the NCAA's) is great."
In comparing that squad to present
teams, he's honest about the real chances
of success against them. "If we played like
we played in '57, we wouldn't stand a
chance. But with the years added up, if we
are as physically superior to the other
teams as we were in '57, then of course
we'd jump and run faster. It's all relatively
speaking.
"I don't think we would win any
championships. I think we'd have a
winning season, but certainly not the
caliber of a Carolina or a State team.
When I was playing, we just about
dunked the ball. Now the guards go up
and stuff it with two hands. They are just
that much tougher as the years go by.
Twenty years from now, the teams of this
era will not be able to compete with those
teams."
Trade rumors were flourishing
throughout the night, most concerning
the Denver Nuggetts. The most
prominent of these was the one that
would send star forward Bobby Jones to
Philadelphia for, possibly, George
McGinnis.
"Something's in the works," said Jones.
"I don't know really what's going to
happen. I guess 111 know something this
week about Philadelphia or Denver. I
don't know really where I stand now."
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Staff photo by Allen Jernigan
Rosenbluth hasn't lost that touch
It was also rumored that Kansas City
might send Richard Washington to
Denver for an unknown player.
In jest, Tate Armstrong leaked a rumor
that he would be sent to Los Angeles for
Kareem Jabbar, and that the Lakers would
also send cash to Chicago.
On the serious side, Armstrong
revealed one of the frustrations he
encountered in his initial season at
Chicago. "I thought I would play a little
more than I did. It seemed like my playing
time was not contingent with my
performance, which is not what should
happen.
"If you play poorly, you shouln't play as
long. The opposite is true at Chicago. No
matter what you did, you had the same
amount of playing time. Once you realize
that, it's a matter of coping with it in your
own way, and I did manage that in the
middle part of the season. That's why I
enjoyed the season so much."
The former Duke hotshot says that he
has no problem getting motivated for 82
games. "It's a job, and if someone can't
play 82 games, maybe they ought to quit."
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