When I heard about Semi-Pro, I stashed a note in my "Edit Posts" file to do a full column on some ABA memories. Of course, many of those memories involve my oldest brother Tim, especially a sad one - watching the local news coverage of a plane crash of an Eastern Airlines jet at JFK airport and seeing a NY Nets equipment bag amongst the wreckage. (the first sign of Wendall Ladner's death).
ANYWAY- HERE IS A QUICK ITEM FROM NEWSDAY, I PROMISE TO WRITE SOME REALLY GOOD STUFF IN THE WEEKS TO COME-
Semi-Pro Brings Back the Old ABA
BY Mark Hermann
Newsday
This is a special note for anyone who goes to the movies to see "Semi-Pro" and doesn't know that the beefcake/red, white and blue basketball photo of Will Ferrell really was inspired by none other than the New York Nets' Wendell Ladner.
This is a primer for the moviegoers who aren't aware that the bikini-clad ballgirls in the film are based on the real-life ballgirls once employed by the Floridians.
This is a pre-emptive quiz for any "Semi-Pro" ticket buyer who doesn't recognize that the fictional Flint Tropics' uniforms have a little Indiana Pacers in them, a little Carolina Cougars.
Consider this a public service to Ferrell fans, most of whom probably weren't born when the late and great American Basketball Association died in 1976. Take it from someone who watched a whole bunch of it from Section 218 of Nassau Coliseum (and various seats at Long Island Arena, Island Garden, Hofstra and the Felt Forum): You missed a heck of a show.
Kudos, maybe, to the producers of "Semi-Pro" for bringing the ABA back to life (Ferrell plays the owner/coach/player of the Tropics in the league's final season). They used the names of real teams, took pains to re-create the real uniforms (very short shorts), put the referees in authentic red-and-white striped shirts and broke out plenty of red, white and blue basketballs. They have Ferrell shooting free throws underhanded, a tribute to the ABA's first marquee star, Rick Barry.
"I've had a lot of hits," Arthur Hundhausen, a Denver attorney, said about traffic on his Web site -- remembertheaba.com. As for whether the movie is a tribute to the league's memory is an open question. Too bad the director cut out the cameos of ABA alumni George Gervin, Artis Gilmore and James Silas, and a one-minute history lesson from Bob Costas, then the kid broadcaster for the Spirits of St. Louis.
How does the ABA look on the big screen? "Like a circus, a really crazy circus," Hundhausen, a consultant on the film, said after he attended the premiere in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
"The 'appearance' of the movie is authentic for sure, but there is nothing about the history of the ABA," he said. "Viewed in a vacuum, the movie does make the league appear kind of silly and pitiful. I guess the saving grace is that maybe the movie might prompt people to learn more about the 'real' ABA, and that can't be a bad thing."
Anything that spreads the word is fine by those of us who wish it were still around, those of us who agree with Hundhausen that the best basketball in the world in 1975-76 was played in the ABA. Look it up: One year later, when the Nets and three other franchises were absorbed into the NBA (which drives the plot of "Semi-Pro") a majority of the lowly Virginia Squires were on NBA teams, and some of them (Dave Twardzik of the champion Trail Blazers comes to mind) played quite well.
Casual basketball fans and the younger generation of fans know of the ABA through the legend of Dr. J. What they don't know is that the Julius Erving who played for Philadelphia wasn't anything close to the Dr. J of the ABA (think Michael Jordan with more funk and a huge afro).
What most people don't realize is that it was the ABA that popularized the three-point shot, now a staple of basketball everywhere. The ABA established the Slam Dunk Contest, which launched skills competitions at All-Star games in every sport.
Guess which league pioneered professional basketball in places that are now entrenched NBA outposts: Miami, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Utah, Indiana, San Antonio, Charlotte and New Jersey.
It launched or advanced careers of current NBA executives Dan Issel and Rod Thorn, and coaches such as Larry Brown, George Karl and Mike D'Antoni.
In other words, the league had some serious ball. It wasn't just a real crazy circus.
Not to say it didn't have, um, flavor. "The things we were doing," Silas, the former Spurs guard, said in an HBO special on the movie, "the NBA wasn't doing."
Not just anywhere can you see players on the bench wearing overcoats and gloves because the arena is so cold (Denver Rockets, Christmas night in Commack, 1968). You'd have to look pretty far to find a character like John Brisker, the Pittsburgh Condor who averaged 20 points between his brawls. It's a special circuit that could boast the likes of Ladner, whose coach, Babe McCarthy, once said, "Wendell doesn't know the meaning of the word 'fear.' But he doesn't know the meaning of most words."
Working against the league was that it never nailed down a network TV contract and it just couldn't stay on life support long enough for ESPN to come along. It didn't help that the Boston Celtics and their public relations machine stomped on the ABA's reputation at every turn. Nor was it good luck that the then-dominant UCLA players listened to an adviser who steered them to the NBA.
You do wonder how pro basketball, and Long Island, would have been different had the Commack-based Nets not flubbed their chance to sign Lew Alcindor in 1969 (before he changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
"There's no telling," Abdul-Jabbar said when this reporter asked him about it once. He said it with a smile big enough to suggest he wondered himself, sometimes.
A smile is just the right response to the ABA. It sure had style. Players had nicknames: Gene "Goo" Kennedy, Billy "The Whopper" Paultz, Roland "Fatty" Taylor, Marvin "Bad News" Barnes. Even the coaches had nicknames: Horace "Bones" McKinney, Bob "Slick" Leonard.
Connie Hawkins was a star (Pittsburgh Pipers). Wilt Chamberlain was a coach (San Diego Conquistadors). Willie Wise and Jimmy Jones (Utah Stars) were the two best players you never heard of.
Yes, it was run-and-gun, but there was defense, too. In several games during the Nets' 1974 championship postseason, neither team reached 90 points.
Long live the ABA. Basically, the whole thing was fun, as long as you weren't one of the league's accountants. In terms of basketball, this much is absolutely for certain. It was a heck of a lot more entertaining than anything you can see around here now.
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One comment on the last line of the story: I love the way people romanticize about the ABA as though it was packed to capacity, great basketball every single night of the league's existence. I remember half-empty Island Garden dates where, I swear, they had swept the popcorn up from the floor from the prior game to sell it again. While the likes of Lavern Tart, Sonny Dove, Joe Dupree, Bill Melchionni and Willie Sojourner were pro level players, they were 'not exactly' the 'Wonder 5" of basketball entertainment.
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Has anyone seen the British Bulldog fantasy basketball team in the annual Larry Bird NBA fantasy league?
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The Phoenix Suns will miss Shawn Marion more than they realize.
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In the category of "post Viet Nam war" progress, my official USOC Olympic hat came via mail today, promoting the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. The label inside the hat said: "Made in Viet Nam."
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Early in November I predicted that St. John's would win 4 or 5 games in the BIG EAST this season. With two games left (ND, West Virginia), it looks as though the "five Ws" will hold true.
The clock is about to strike "Eleven" on Norm Roberts' tenure with the Redmen. The University A.D. Chris Monasch gave Norm a vote of confidence, stating they would honor the final year of his contract and that Norm's progress is being rated on more than wins and losses. Very nice move, to be sure. Time will tell if Roberts gets a second contract.
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