John Adams High School - Clipper Yearbook (Ozone Park, NY)

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the Blackbird's Coach, assembled a squad of spectacular set: shot artists who seldom missed. This team led by Marius Russo was the highest scoring aggregation in the country, showing scores of 80 and 90 points per game. That year they put on the greatest exhibition of basketball by scoring 12 points in tive minutes to beat a dan- gerous Duquesne team by the nar- row margin of two points. Inciden- tally Harry Grant, formerly of john Adams threw in the winning mark- ers. The following year the team met its first defeat at the hands of Stanford University. XVhen anyone mentions Stanford he automatically thinks of Hank Lui- setti, one of the greatest players of all time. The game was far from interesting as Luisetti and Les Stoefen ran wild that night, but the people went home speechless as they watched the greatest one hand exhibition of shooting. Luisetti, besides being a great shot, was a line dribbler and a versatile passer. Many coaches com- ment that they never saw Lusetti make a wrong move on the court. Last year when this 5111116 Stanford squad came to the Garden to play City College, it wasn't Luisetti the shooter. but Lusietti the play maker. He fed Les Stoefen all night, and Les rolled up eighteen points by half time. Stoefen was nnally taken out on fouls and here Lusietti showed his greatness by going on a scoring rampage. Hy reading this description of the Stanford squad, you must think we belittle the tiny City performers, but take that out of your mindg it was a superior City team that lost to Stan- ford. City lost by two points, but they had Stanford gasping for breath in the last quarter as'they scored I5 straight points to fall one point be- hind the highly-touted Stanford Giants. Wfhen the game ended, every per- son went wild whether he was a Stan- ford rooter or otherwise, stood up, and saluted this great City team. The star for the city squad was Bernie Fiegel, and richly he deserved that honor. That night he took the worst physical punishment that any one man absorbed on a basketball court. Another personage who deserves homage was little Izzy Katz who for the first time made Luisetti look silly. He dribbled, passed, and even scored on lay-up shots from men ranging 12 inches above him. At one time during the game, he stole the ball from Luisetti and scored a basket immediately. Hank stood there in amazement and frankly ack- nowledged the cleverness of his ad- versary by patting him on the back when the game was over. Another breathtaking game last year was the Temple,Villanova shin- dig. The game was featured by the great play of Bill Montgomery and Duke Duzminski of Villanova. These two sophomore sensations did the impossible by scoring six points in two minutes of play to beat the highly-touted, undefeated. Temple 25

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24 -, if The Rim Game IZCAUSIZ of the untiring efforts f Ned Irish, collegiate basket- ball after years of obscurity takes a high place in the field of the American game of today. About S or I0 years ago, basketball was a i' or activity in so far as collegiate ports were concerned. A few years ago Ned Irish, a great showmaker, showed the first big time collegiate basketball game. The opening night at Madison Square Garden was far from successful, but Ned kept plug- ging at his new college creation, big time basketball. After weeks of work, Ned finally gained support of the press in his idea, and as if over- night the game caught the fancy of the paying public. . The first team to catch the fancy of the wild-eyed spectators was the Boilermakers from Purdue University, led by their versatile hook shot artist, Bob Kessler. We remember go- ing to the Garden that night, to see our first basketball game Linder big lights. After the preliminary game which featured City College and Geneva, the Purdue squad came out with blistering bronze w a rm-up trunks. On the lips of every specta- tor was the murmur theres Bob Kessler, that tall husky fellow over theref' and his friend in retaliation, no, it's the short stocky fellow. XVell, to the surprise of the public, Bob Kessler was a skinny, anemic ball player who looked as if he would tire after live minutes of play. As the game opened Kessler drew as his guard the versatile high school figure, Lenny Maidmen. As you probably remember Kessler threw up I8 mark- ers that night and had everyone hysterical. The final score showed Purdue on the short end of the score by two points, foiled by the able foul shooting of XVillie Rubenstein. Another team that came to the Garden that year was the fighting Irish of Notre Dame. This aggre- gation was known to all as one of the greatest Middle Wfest teams ever to assemble on a basketball court. Their leading scorer and playmaker was Marty Peters, who was known to all for his great All-American grid- iron exploits. Peters took the court that night with a sophomore squad of such present day notables as Moir and Nowak. These two sophomore sensations were the whole offense that night and Peters the star. Notre Dame was victorious, but the spec- tators went home knowing that they had a great team representing its sec- tor, principally New York University. This team had everything on the ball. a fast break. a good defense. and best of all the determination to win. The team was made up of Len Maid- men. Milty Schumann at forwards, King Kong Klein and W'illy Ruben- stein at guards. and Irv Terieson at center. This team will go down in Violet history as one of the greatest ever to represent the school from Wfashington I-Ieights. Another team from our city which was called the greatest in the coun- try was Long Island University. After years of hard work Clair Bee,

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26 team. Duzminski as you probably remember, was a member of our great team of not so long ago: the team which won the Queens basket- ball championship in 1956. Featured on the Temple team was Mike Bloom, rangy center, who was picked as all-American last year. Besides these thrilling games, there were many drastic rule changes last year. One of these changes was the elimination of the center tap which gave the small man an even chance against a taller adver- sary from a distinctive play from center. Then there is a ten second ruling which enables a team only that amount of time to where a rangy play is needed. This rule also makes the game cleaner as there are fewer body contacts around the center slot. In former days, a clever ball handler used to draw all his fouls from this position because an inexperienced team would muddle themselves around center and foul the players coming through. Before we end our article we wish to submit a team which we believe ranks as the greatest collegiate team of the last three years. Guard: Willy Rubenstein, N. Y. U. Guard: Hank Lussetti, Stanford. Center: Mike Bloom, Temple. Forward: Bob Kessler, Purdue. Forward: Marius Rus- fs.--iii: '..,'5'f. l X . f . V rv? il i bring the ball across the center mark. The l reason for this ruling --- is to try to eliminate the freezing of the ball. Freezing was very com- mon in former days because when a proficient dribbling and passing team had a one point advantage, they would freeze the ball to protect this margin. This was very unfavorable to the pub- lic as it lowered the scoring of games and the thrills which a high scoring aggregation produces. It is said that a well-known basketball star once froze the ball for five solid minutes and his team won by the low scoring margin of 15-12. The three second rule in the circle also speeded up the game as a station- ary pivot man in this circle is prohibit- ed. This is a distinct advantage for the small man, as a set shot is stressed more than a cut from a pivot play so, Long Island Uni- y versity. The players to watch this year are: Guard: Bob Lewis, N. Y. U. Guard: Bob Hassmiller, Fordham. Center: Duke Duzminski, Villanova. Forward: Ralph 'Dolgoff St. johns. Greatest Team of All Time: Guard: Nat Holman, C. C. N. Y. Guard: Hank Luisetti, Stanford. Center: Mac Kinsbrunner, St. johns. Forward: Howard Cann, N. Y. U. Forward: Mac Posnack, St. Johns Basketball should increase in pop- ularity as the years progress because it is being stressed as a major activity in all schools which in former years used to maintain football as their main sporting activity. Another evi- dence of its ever-growing popularity is that basketball outdrew every sporting activity for 1938.