Basketball
Dick Parsons, ex-Time Warner boss, tapped as interim Clippers CEO
USA TODAY – The NBA went business class in picking the Los Angeles Clippers’ interim CEO. Former Citigroup and Time Warner chairman Dick Parsons was selected to run the Clippers in the aftermath of the lifetime ban of Donald Sterling, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Friday. The NBA took control of the Clippers in order to place Parsons in charge as the league proceeds with its plan to force Sterling to sell the team. “Like most Americans, I have been deeply troubled by the pain the Clippers’ team, fans and partners have endured,” Parsons said in a news release. “A lifelong fan of the NBA, I am firmly committed to the values and principles it is defending, and I completely support Adam’s leadership in navigating the challenges facing the team and the league. The Clippers are a resilient organization with a brilliant coach and equally talented and dedicated athletes and staff who have demonstrated great strength of character during a time of adversity.” Parsons played basketball at the University of Hawaii in the late 1960s. He stepped from Albany Law School into a successful career in law and later corporate management. He has been CEO of Dime Bancorp in addition to his run as president and then CEO of Time Warner from 1995 through 2007. He was Citigroup chairman from 2009 into 2012. READ THE FULL STORY HERE: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/clippers/2014/05/09/richard-dick-parsons-los-angeles-ceo-donald-sterling-adam-silver/8906441/
NBA players protest racist talk attributed to L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling
(CNN) — The players in the National Basketball Association spoke out Sunday about racist comments attributed to Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. The Clippers players staged a silent protest. As they warmed up for an NBA playoff game, the players removed their warmup shirts bearing team logos to reveal red T-shirts worn inside out, with the logos hidden. They finished warming up, removed the red shirts and played the game wearing their regular uniforms. The National Basketball Players Association demanded Sterling be barred from all playoff games this season. The players also want an accounting of past accusations of racism against Sterling; an explanation of what kind of discipline might be issued; assurance that the league commissioner will work with the association; and assurance the investigation will be conducted swiftly. And throughout the day, past stars including Michael Jordan slammed Sterling. Sterling wasn’t there to see the protest or his team lose 118-97 to the Golden State Warriors. He agreed to stay away from the game because of the controversy that heightened Sunday when the website Deadspin released an additional audio recording of a conversation that purports to be Sterling talking with girlfriend V. Stiviano earlier this month. Neither Deadspin nor TMZ, which released a similar recording Saturday, said where they got the recordings. Stiviano’s lawyer’s office said Sunday that she didn’t release the recordings but that they’re legitimate. “This office understands that the currently released audio tape of approximately 15 minutes is a portion of approximately one (1) hour of overall audio recording of Mr. Donald T. Sterling and Ms. Stiviano, and is in fact legitimate,” Mac E. Nehoray said in a news release. “Ms. Stiviano did not release the tape(s) to any news media.” The 15-minute Deadspin recording purports to be Sterling talking with Stiviano about her Instagram photo feed. The photos include images of her with African-Americans, including NBA great Earvin “Magic” Johnson. If authentic, the remarks seem to reflect Sterling’s embarrassment and frustration with Stiviano over her associating with African-Americans at Clippers games and for posting such pictures on her Instagram account. READ FULL STORY HERE: http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/27/us/nba-team-owner-alleged-racist-remarks/
Shabazz Napier most outstanding
ESPN.com news services ARLINGTON, Texas — Connecticut’s exclusive club of elite guards welcomed a new member Monday night. Amid a rain of confetti, Shabazz Napier basked in the celebration on the court after being named the most outstanding player of the Final Four following the 60-54 win over Kentucky. “You’re looking at the hungry Huskies,” Napier told the crowd and TV audience. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is what happens when you banned us.” A year ago, the Huskies were preparing for their first season in the new American Athletic Conference after being booted from the Big East and not welcomed by any of the so-called power conferences. Jim Calhoun, who built the program, had left because of health problems. And most damaging — the NCAA postseason ban had triggered an exodus of five key players to the NBA or other schools. But Napier stuck around. On Monday night, he had 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting with six rebounds and played lockdown defense in his final collegiate game. His career began as a freshman on the 2011 Connecticut team that won the title behind star guard Kemba Walker. Now, Napier is the man. “I will say one thing when they say Ray, Rip, Ben, Emeka, Kemba — they’ll soon say Shabazz,” Calhoun, who won the 2011 title, said after watching the 2014 squad cut down the nets. Calhoun was referring to Ray Allen, Richard “Rip” Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor and Kemba Walker. All except Okafor were guards. Not bad company at all. READ FULL STORY HERE: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/tournament/2014/story/_/id/10747545/shabazz-napier-connecticut-huskies-named-most-outstanding-player
UConn’s Shabazz Napier proud to be from Roxbury
By Michael Vega | Globe Staff March 28, 2014 NEW YORK — Shabazz Napier says there is a distinction to where he is from and where the University of Connecticut senior guard was born and raised. Every time he takes the court for the Huskies, as he will Friday night in a Sweet 16 matchup against Iowa State in the NCAA East Regional semifinals at Madison Square Garden, Napier makes certain he is announced from Roxbury, Mass., and not just Boston. “I was born and raised in Roxbury,’’ Napier said. “It’s in the inner city of Boston and there’s definitely a pride in that. It’s the inner city and when you can come out of a place like that, all you can think of is, hope and blessings.’’ Boston’s inner city also gave him a swagger on the court that came from his rough-hewn background. “At the end of the day, it depends on what path you choose and I chose the right path,’’ Napier said. “Not to say that I’m better than anybody else, but I just feel like I was blessed to be put in this situation where I knew what I was worth. That’s what’s lost in a lot of kids — they don’t understand what they’re worth.’’ While Napier might have been born Boston Strong, he forged a Roxbury toughness on the court, where his hardscrabble upbringing influenced his fearless approach to the game. “It was just the way I was raised — by my mother [Carmen Velasquez] and by the community,’’ Napier said. “I was always raised to be tough. That’s what I feel like I show out there — my toughness. Whether it’s diving for a loose ball or never giving up on a play, that’s the toughness that you get — wherever you’re from — so that’s where everything I exert out on the court comes from.’’ FULL STORY HERE: http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/03/27/that-uconn-shabazz-napier-from-roxbury-mass/pE1CwHv41ANV7YvMZmp90I/story.html
Achievements of Charlestown’s Centeio help unify large family
By: Zolan Kanno-Youngs (Boston Globe) As the list of textbooks, deposits, and other expenses continues to grow for incoming college freshmen, every earned dollar becomes more essential. But for Charlestown’s Sara Centeio, receiving a $3,000 Boston Globe scholarship known as the Boston Globe/Richard Phelps Scholar Athlete award means more than its dollar value. It represents how her passion for sports paved the way not just for her success but also the unification of her with her 15 older siblings. “We’re all separated,” said Centeio, who lives with only five of those siblings. “Once they got to know who I really was, it’s an amazing feeling to have your family know exactly what you love to do.” With a lack of communication between Centeio and her siblings, none of them were really aware of her love for soccer and basketball. But once one sister witnessed one of Centeio’s basketball games, she immediately obtained film to show the rest of the family. What they saw was a small piece of what would be an amazing career for the Holy Cross-bound senior. Centeio was an all-star all four years on the basketball team and in her sophomore and junior years on the soccer team. As a freshman, she was voted Charlestown’s student-athlete of the year. As a senior, she led the basketball team in scoring at 19.5 points per game. She did it all while maintaining a 4.82 GPA and recently graduated second in her class. “Being the youngest of 15 children, one may find it difficult to be unique or stand out, but one student manages to defy this stereotype with flying colors,” said Centeio’s guidance counselor, Kristyn Hughes. “Sara Centeio does anything but fly under the radar. She is one of the most outgoing, vibrant, and top-notch students I have ever worked with in my 10 years as a guidance counselor.” As Centeio achieved more and more on the court and the playing field, she noticed a growing presence among her siblings. One of her brothers, who is based in Brockton and to that point had been practically absent in her life for years, reached out to her upon hearing of the scholarship. “The scholarship definitely kind of made him come back to me and made him realize he’s missing out on a lot in my life,” Centeio said. She also noticed her siblings beginning to form stronger relationships among each other. “All my accomplishments have them recognizing me now and they’re talking to each other about it,” Centeio said. “Before, everyone was doing their own thing and they didn’t talk to each other as much.” It wasn’t the first time Centeio’s efforts unified people for a common cause. In her freshman year, she was one of the leaders in the push to create Charlestown’s first girls’ soccer team. Not only did she achieve her goal but the team went undefeated. “That was really memorable for me because we made history,” she said, “and it was just an amazing feeling for the Charlestown community.” READ FULL STORY HERE: http://www.boston.com/schools/extras/bps_sports/2013/06/centeio_unifies_and_strides.html
Winning in the cards for Fenway’s Veiga-Lee
By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent If basketball doesn’t work out for Tajanay Veiga-Lee, she could probably have a career as a professional poker player. The standout senior guard who led Fenway High to the city and state championships last season can just as easily make you believe she is indifferent about missing the city tournament or waiting to land a basketball scholarship as she is adept at running a fast break or darting down the lane into a forest of taller players. The Panthers (10-7) — who will launch their Division 4 state title defense Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Notre Dame-Lawrence at Greater Lawrence — missed a chance to defend their city title last week because they forfeited four games for playing junior varsity players too long during varsity games. “We got kicked out, it’s definitely going to motivate us to want to do better in states, want to go far and win another state championship,” Vega-Lee said in a calm voice, showing not a hint of regret over her team’s recent forfeitures. Vega-Lee, who is averaging 22 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, has not received scholarship offers to play college basketball. “Deep down inside it’s probably killing her because you see all these other girls getting signed, but she hasn’t officially signed yet,” her father, Sam Lee said. “That’s just a good poker face. She’s not letting on but I know it’s bothering her because it’s getting late into the last signing period.” Lee said Auburn was interested but it didn’t work out because their post players got hurt so they needed to replace them. He said Providence, Georgia State and Loyola University at Maryland are interested in his daughter but have yet to make an offer. Lee said his daughter has had Division 3 offers but ”right now that’s not the direction we want to go yet,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s killing me,” Veiga-Lee said. “It is what it is.” Veiga-Lee said she inherited her cool demeanor from her father. “He’s like a quiet type of guy, he doesn’t say much,” she said. “I just learned from him.” She will also forego her senior year of spring AAU basketball so she can play with the Fenway softball team for the first time in her high school career. READ FULL STORY HERE: http://www.boston.com/schools/extras/bps_sports/2013/02/fenways_veiga-lee_brings_strong_poker_face_to_state_tournament.html
Father and son guide Boston English to new lengths
By Zolan Kanno-Youngs (Boston Globe) Change the culture. Freshman Ernie Chatman has been hearing those three words practically every morning since early September. His father, Joe, whispers the words in to his ear as they go through their morning shooting and dribbling workouts, all in an effort to improve Ernie’s game. It’s not too bad for his father either; Joe’s been able to watch Ernie benefit from the morning workouts from the assistant coach’s seat on English’s bench. The city league’s leading scorer and his father have helped guide English to a state qualifying 10-7 overall record. “I want him to do it because he wants to do it,” Joe Chatman said. “I played and I did things on my own and that’s how you get better. You get better when nobody else is watching.” While some of English’s other key players have participated in the workouts, Ernie is there with his father everyday. It’s a morning ritual the father and son have built since Ernie was just 7-years-old. It was at that age when his mother, being a huge Allen Iverson fan, gave the potential point guard early exposure to the sport Ernie now calls his craft. While Ernie calls the former NBA star his hero, he credits his father for everything he’s been able to do on the court. “Everything we work on, I try and bring it to the game,” Ernie said. The freshman added that one of his best moves, his cross over, was modeled not off of Iverson, but off of his father. “A lot kids don’t understand that what you do with your right hand, which is most kids dominant hand, you have to be able to do with your left,” said Joe, a former UMASS Lowell and BC High point guard. “That’s what separates him from most guards.” This is just one of the many advanced parts of Ernie’s game that has come from his father’s hard coaching style. Based off the amount of times the assistant coach confronts his son in their games, one may think Ernie has it easy. However, Joe said this is just not the case. “I’m so hard on him off the court that when we get on the court, he knows what I expect of him so I find myself a lot of times just telling him something once and him being able to do it,” Joe said “That just comes from years and years of being coached.” This in no way has made Ernie invincible to his father’s intense coaching during practice. “Do I sometimes get on him a little more than everybody else? Yes, and that’s only natural only because I expect more of him but I never single him out and he never gets special treatment,” Joe said. It’s only Joe’s second year on the coaching staff at English, however, he’s been coaching his son for the past four years on his AAU team, the Boston Spartans. While there might have been a time Ernie wasn’t used to his father’s hard coaching, the guard has had practically his entire life to realize its positive effect. “It used to bother me because I used to think he would pick on me but now I see he’s just trying to encourage me and get me ready for the next level,” Ernie said. “I used to think it was a bad thing, now I think it’s a good thing.” The fact that Joe has never forced Ernie to play basketball has also helped ease the relationship. Ever since Ernie first saw some of those Allen Iverson highlights, the two both confirmed that all of the extra work between the father and son is at Ernie’s request. “Because I coach him so hard, because I work with him so hard, other people misconstrue the fact or think that I force him. No, he does that on his own. He’s been doing that since he was 5 or 6 years old,” Joe said. Of course, Ernie entering English this year motivated Joe to take the basketball program’s assistant coaching job. But coaching his son means much more to the man who didn’t have a father figure in his life while growing up. “It means everything to me,” said Joe, who credits his mother for her strong single parenting. “I want him to feel like he always has a positive influence in his life, a male influence. I’m his best friend in that regard.” While Joe has loved coaching at English so far, being a father as well as a coach can come with its challenges. One of them came two weeks ago when Joe was made aware his son had gotten in trouble in school for his behavior. Instead of playing his son, whom he could have since Ernie still met the team’s GPA requirement, Joe and English’s head coach Barry Robinson suspended Ernie for two games. The games were against Dorchester and West Roxbury, two games that if won could have put English in contention with Dorchester for a spot in the city tournament. “I just wanted to prove to him more so as a dad that I don’t care if I’m your head coach or not. This is the consequence of not taking the academic piece as serious as you should,” Joe said. A lot of freshman could have regressed after that. However, during his hiatus Ernie couldn’t keep away from the game. Instead of lingering on his punishment, the freshman went to scout future competition at other city games, counting the days until his return. When that day finally came last Tuesday, the freshman propelled English to a state qualifying win over O’Bryant with 18 points. READ FULL STORY HERE: http://www.boston.com/schools/extras/bps_sports/2013/02/father_and_son_guide_boston_english_to_new_lengths.html
Former Burke basketball star joins NJCAA Hall of Fame
By Justin A. Rice (Boston Globe) Although she has been living, coaching, and teaching in Miami for the last 27 years, when Susan Summons reminisces about her basketball exploits at Burke High, in the Boston Neighborhood Basketball League, at Roxbury Community College, and for the New England Gulls, she makes it sound as though she were lacing up her sneakers just yesterday. ‘I’m a Beantown baby, what can I say?’ Summons said during a telephone interview Monday. In real time, however, the Miami Dade College women’s basketball coach has spent the last 27 years taking her Lady Sharks to 22 Region 8 championship tournaments while maintaining a 93 percent graduation rate among her players. And on Jan. 7, the Roxbury native was selected to be enshrined in her fourth Hall of Fame in just five years: the NJCAA Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. She will be inducted alongside her former coach at Roxbury Community College and current school committee member, Alfreda Harris, during an awards ceremony July 26 at Northwest State College in Niceville, Fla. ‘It’s really huge when you think about a kid who grew up in Roxbury, who dreamed big,’ she said. ‘I always dreamed big while I was in Roxbury, I never focused on the gangs and the street violence around me and I tried not to let it get the best of me. ‘Fortunately, I had basketball in my life and basketball has taken me around the world.’ After helping the Bulldogs win back-to-back city championships, Summons graduated from the Burke in 1975. She also led the Burke, which at the time was an all-girls school, to a state title. ‘We wore special uniforms, blue uniforms, which had pleats,’ said Summons, who was also a six-time BNBL MVP. ‘It looked like a skirt but really underneath, if you didn’t know, it had bloomers. Isn’t that crazy, when you think about the uniforms players wear now, compared to what we wore then?’ Basketball wasn’t the only experience at the Burke that left an indelible mark. Summons said she also learned how to speak Spanish from a teacher named Mr. Cameron. ‘Imagine, I’m living in Miami so I’m speaking Spanish now,’ she said. ‘So thanks, Mr. Cameron, because I wasn’t sure when I would need it, but it certainly came in handy.’ Summons, who went to school during the infamous court-ordered desegregation in Boston, also credited a history teacher and assistant basketball coach named Judith Baker for teaching her about the city’s history. ‘She was very instrumental in helping me learn about the history of the city of Boston and the impact history has on who you are and where you are going and how you are going to get there,’ Summons said. ‘In order to understand where you are going, you have to know where you come from.’ During that time, she was one of the first Boston 350 Jubilee Award recipients under then-Mayor Kevin White. But with few opportunities for female athletes after high school, Summons enlisted in the Army. She was granted an early honorable discharge after serving three years because she had an opportunity to play for the newly created women’s basketball team at Roxbury Community College, coached by Harris. After leading RCC to back-to-back national championship appearances in 1977 and 1978, she went to play basketball at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, where she set an NCAA record by netting 43 points in one contest. Summons was then the first African-American woman and first woman from Boston to be drafted in the country’s first women’s professional basketball league, the Women’s Professional Basketball League, by the New Jersey Gems before she was traded to her hometown team, the New England Gulls. The league folded in 1981, a year after she joined, but Summons considers herself a pioneer who paved the way for today’s women’s league, the WNBA. READ FULL STORY HERE: http://boston.com/schools/extras/bps_sports/2013/01/former_burke_basketball_star_joins_njcaa_hall_of_fame
Recap: East Side (N.J.) 50, No. 22 Dorchester 25
By Chris Bradley | ESPNBoston.com BOSTON -– Behind a dominant full-court press and outstanding team defense, Paterson, N.J.’s East Side knocked off Dorchester 50-25 on Saturday night at Emmanuel College. East Side was able to shut down the Bears’ star senior forward Dakari Wornum, who has emerged in the last several weeks as one of the MIAA’s best rebounders. East Side was led in scoring by Jator Brown (16 points), a smooth-scoring guard with a versatile game and deep range. Though he didn’t need to do much in the scoring column, senior point guard Thomas Rivera was the catalyst for East Side’s pressure defense and ran their offense to near-perfection. “Jator and Thomas are our best two players: they handled the ball, they score the ball, and they make other people better,” East Side coach Juan Griles said. “They’re very crucial for us. Jator is more of a scorer, but Tom is a very good defensive players. He’s one of the best guards in the state of New Jersey.” Zoning it up: Both teams played zone for nearly the entire game. Dorchester mixed it up between a 2-3 and a 3-2 depending on personnel, while East Side pressured Dorchester’s ball handlers full court via a 1-2-1-1 trapping press. It is a press that East Side is known for; gaining an advantage over their opponents in an aspect of the game that is often overlooked: patience. “We gameplanned, but we do that all the time and I figured they didn’t really see us that much,” Griles said. “Even the teams in Jersey that see us and watch us and prepare, they still have problems with [the press] because a lot of teams aren’t patient enough to just move the ball.” Dorchester was rarely patient going up against the press. East Side forced over 25 turnovers, many of which came before the Bears had even crossed halfcourt. Even in several situations where Dorchester had no problem beating the press, they often took rushed jumpshots after only one pass. “Sometimes you’re not going to get a lay-up, you have to reverse the ball and get it over halfcourt, and just run your offense, but most teams just try to run and go fast and panic because most of the spots that they’re supposed to go to are not available[when we press]),” Griles said on the forced turnovers. Shutting down Wornum: As previously mentioned, Wornum has often dominated opposing teams on the glass this season. He averages around 20 rebounds per game, and gets the majority of his point on offensive putbacks. East Side wouldn’t let that happen, holding the 6-foot-7 senior to six points and nine rebounds. “I think our big guys did very good on him, they were very physical,” Griles said. “Not many guys get 20 rebounds on us because we’re so big and athletic and physical. So we’re able to cut that down. Early on he started to get some rebounds on us, but I think in that process it kind of slowed him down a little bit.” Dorchester had a very hard time scoring after the first quarter. Ceejae Agnew-Carter nailed three first-half 3-pointers for the Bears, while they kept the game within three after the first quarter. However, Dorchester managed to barely match their first half scoring effort for the rest of the game, an effort Griles credits entirely to his defense. “Yes, I am very pleased,” Griles said. “They had eleven points in the first quarter, and fourteen for the rest of the game. We held them to four or five points [each quarter] for the rest of the game, and that’s tremendous defense. Also, my team offensively definitely made some clutch shots against their zone, against a zone you have to make jumpshots.” It was an effort the coach has come to expect out his team this year, with the win they moved to 13-1 overall, eyeing a chance to win their second New Jersey state championship in three years. “We know in order to reach the state championship that we won two years ago, when you’re going up against better teams, you have to protect the ball,” Griles said. “You can’t have 15 turnovers, be loose, and lackadaisical with the ball because against better teams they will score if you keep giving them opportunities. “In New Jersey we don’t have a shotclock, so we’re able to hold the ball and make free throws when we’re winning in the fourth quarter. So if we make free throws we’re going to win the game. “ Off-court experience: Coming to Emmanuel College to play Dorchester was much more than simply a basketball game for the players of East Side, it was a cultural experience. The team was able to experience sights in Boston, visit Emmanuel College and learn about other Boston-area academic opportunities. Read Full Story Here: http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/high-school/post/_/id/21979/recap-east-side-n-j-50-no-22-dorchester-25