50 Chi-Town's Finest per Slam Magazine's September issue...

[CaribouJim]

...and MU has three representatives - Bo, Doc, DWade - on the list which was not ranked 1-50, but alphabetically. Said another way, MU represents 6% of the top 50. The underlying theme is that Chicago is the country's best BASKETBALL CITY. Written by Aggrey Sam - really good Chicago b-ball reporter for Comcast Sports Net.

Also, interesting article on ex-Buck Dave Meyers. Today he is a 4th grade teacher in SoCal. Couple good pics of him in his home uni at the Arena. The biggest thing that jumped out at me was this: "His father Bob, was a former Marquette hoops star who captained the '44-'45 season..." I don't recall that at all about him. I knew he retired early in his career, but did not remember that he played only 4 seasons. Bill Walton's description of his game: "He was like Connie Hawkins. He could soar through the air, had fantastic hands and was a great rebounder. He was phenomenal on the fastbreak and great on the press." The most lasting memory I have of him is falling back with that last shot attempt in the loss to ND in '74 breaking the 88 (?) game UCLA winning streak.

Jim, also of note in the issue is an article on the genesis of Nike's creation of the EYBL (Elite Youth Basketball League) - article says "changed the game for the better". Is that true?

[MU88]

Walton compared Dave Meyers to Connie Hawkins? Maybe it was the "frogged legged jumper" as Eddie D used to call it. Meyers looked like Illysova, but a bit more meaty. He was a much better rebounder, but only had range to 15 feet or so. He retired to preach the word as a Jehovah Witness, right after the Bucks acquired Lanier. Really cost the Bucks with his sudden retirement. It led to the Bucks never ending search for a power forward during Lanier's last years in the league. With Meyers, the Bucks probably would have gotten past Boston and Philly in the east, at least once or twice and won a title or two. (They always had the Lakers number back then). From Pat Cummings, Mickey Johnson, Dave Cowens and Alton Lister, the last of a decent power forward held them back.

[CaribouJim]

Walton compared Dave Meyers to Connie Hawkins? Maybe it was the "frogged legged jumper" as Eddie D used to call it. Meyers looked like Illysova, but a bit more meaty. He was a much better rebounder, but only had range to 15 feet or so. He retired to preach the word as a Jehovah Witness, right after the Bucks acquired Lanier. Really cost the Bucks with his sudden retirement. It led to the Bucks never ending search for a power forward during Lanier's last years in the league. With Meyers, the Bucks probably would have gotten past Boston and Philly in the east, at least once or twice and won a title or two. (They always had the Lakers number back then). From Pat Cummings, Mickey Johnson, Dave Cowens and Alton Lister, the last of a decent power forward held them back.

Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins is my favorite b-ball player of all-time and I too had trouble with Walton's comparison, but as we know Bill has hyperbole tendencies. I remember Meyers as incredibly active - good at lot of things, but not great in any one thing. I thought he had played at least 5-6 seasons though before hanging it up.