TRIVIA question: Who did the San Diego Rockets choose as their No. 1 draft pick in 1970? Newell is used to
making the big decisionsBonus question: Who could the Rockets have had?
Imagine knowing the answers and then having a chance to debate with the man who made the decision. Pete Newell, opening his fifth Big Man Camp today at the University of Hawaii, was the San Diego general manager and had the second pick of the 1970 draft.
Detroit chose first, taking Bob Lanier of St. Bonaventure. Newell went for substance instead of flash, opting for Michigan's Rudy Tomjanovich over Pete Maravich from LSU.
A newspaper headline asked "Rudy Who?" despite Tomjanovich being a consensus All-American for the Wolverines. This was a town where the high school basketball championships were outdrawing the Rockets.
This was a team that had struggled to a 27-55 record, 21 games back in the Western Division. This was a franchise that desperately needed a young marquee player to complement Elvin Hayes.
While Maravich was lighting it up in Atlanta with a 23.2-point scoring average en route to all-rookie honors, Tomjanovich (5.3 ppg) was being upstaged by fellow rookie teammate Calvin Murphy. San Diego went 40-42 and packed its duffel bags for Houston.
"Choosing Rudy was the best move I ever made," said Newell, who is the Cleveland Cavaliers' consultant and West Coast scout. "Maravich never played for a winning team and you were never going to win with Pete. You have to rely on your own gate and if you're not winning, you're not going to get people to watch.
"As a player, Rudy was compatible with the things you needed to have done in order to have a championship team. You need something besides outside shooting. Rudy was a sound guy. In those days, Pete was a little questionable but he finally squared his life away before he died."
Maravich retired after 10 seasons, Tomjanovich 11. A player, a scout, a coach, Rudy T. just finished his 27th consecutive season with the Rockets, a string begun with that No. 2 draft pick in 1970.
NEWELL is as much a student of the game as he is a teacher. Ask the former head coach at Cal what's wrong with the pro game and you get a 15-minute analysis of the 24-second shot clock and its adverse effects.
"The college game is a lot more interesting than the NBA game," Newell said. "The NBA finally caught up to the 24-second clock and now it's time to change. I've been advocating for years for the clock not to start until it crosses the halfcourt line.
"That means a center has 14 seconds instead of four seconds to get a good pass back out or come away from the basket and open up the area. You'll eliminate the double down. Shooting percentage is down, scoring percentage is down and they fault the 3-point shot for that. It's more a result of the 24-second clock."
Newell also is a strong advocate for a reasonable salary structure. The rejection last week by Kevin Garnett of the $103-million offer from the Minnesota Timberwolves has some NBA executives expecting management to re-open the league's collective bargaining agreement.
"Every year, we're more astounded by the salaries," said Newell, noting that in 1969-70 the Rockets' payroll was $450,000, $100,000 of which went to Elvin Hayes. "The higher the salaries get, the more distant the players become from the common supporter. The salaries are going to force ticket prices beyond what the average family can afford.
"That's one of the reasons we brought this (Big Man Camp) to Hawaii. We can give the people here a chance to see the players for free. It's a better education for the kids, too, because they can see the work it takes to become a professional athlete instead of just seeing the money."
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.