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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Wednesday, October 28, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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Barkley brings his
A-game to town
By
Brian Bailey
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Royalty paid a visit to
the East Carolina
basketball program on
Saturday. Sir Charles,
NBA Hall of Famer and
TNT analyst Charles
Barkley, was in
Greenville to visit his
former coach, East
Carolina’s Mack
McCarthy.
Coach Mac said that he
and his staff had
several meetings in the
off-season about how to
drum up interest in the
basketball program. He
said getting Barkley to
Greenville wasn’t really
part of the plan. But
the two talked a couple
of months ago, and
Barkley said he’d come.
Barkley was great with
the Pirate fans. He took
dozens of pictures,
signed anything and
everything, and then
hosted a question and
answer session with the
fans.
He talked to the media
about his relationship
with the Pirate coach.
"I was leading the SEC
in rebounding, but Mack
was on me all the time,”
said Barkley. “I didn't
appreciate it until
later. Great coaches
will push your buttons
all the time, but a lot
of times young kids,
myself included, don't
understand it.
"I was lazy and fat in
college, but I was
successful because I was
really talented. Then
when I got to the NBA, I
wasn't better than
everybody else."
“I asked Moses Malone
why I wasn't getting to
play," Barkley
continued, "and he said
because you are fat and
lazy. It was different
coming from Moses Malone
than it was from these
guys. They were right
and I was wrong.
"When I started being
successful I kept in
contact with this guy.
Mack, Sonny (Smith) and
my high school coach all
had a great influence on
me and if they call and
ask me to do something
I'll do it if I can."
Barkley even had words
of wisdom to the Pirate
players. After the
scrimmage he spoke to
the entire squad.
He then met with the
three Pirate big men,
Chad Wynn, Daquan Joyner
and Darrius Morrow. He
got on them for not
getting back on defense.
He told them he had seen
three instances where a
guy didn’t get back on
each side, giving up a
layup.
Barkley told the team
that three layups were
six points. He then
asked how many games
they had lost by six
points last year. I’d
say the point was made.
He told the big men that
most big men just don’t
like to run the floor.
He shared a story about
Tim Duncan, the Wake
Forest All-American who
owns a couple of NBA
championship rings.
Barkley told the squad
that Duncan probably
scores ten points a game
just by beating his man
down the floor.
The Pirates will be a
young team in 2008, but
they look like they have
once again upgraded the
talent.
For years this program
just didn’t shoot the
basketball very well.
Now, Sam Hinnant and
James Legan are among
the top shooters in
Conference-USA.
Some of the youngsters,
especially freshman
guard Chris Turner, will
have to play beyond
their years for this
team to find success
this season. Turner is
that rare player who can
create his own shot,
another area that ECU
has had trouble with in
the past.
The Pirates open the
basketball season on
November 14th.
Who turned out the
scoreboard?
The scoreboard
malfunction at Dowdy-Ficklen
Stadium for the Memphis
game certainly showed us
all just how important
that board is to the
flow of a football game.
Coach Skip Holtz
revealed on Monday that
the players thought he
had pulled the plug.
Laughing, Holtz said,
“Several of the players
asked me afterwards if I
had turned it off."
"I preach to them all
the time not to look at
the scoreboard," he
explained. "I tell them
to forget about the
clock, don’t worry about
the score, and just play
every play as hard as
you can. Some of them
seriously thought I
pulled the plug to get
the point across.”
The point was obviously
made. The Pirates were
able to snap that
three-game losing streak
with the victory over
Memphis.
Hopefully, the
scoreboard won’t be a
problem the rest of the
season.
BB
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10/28/2008 02:59:02 AM |
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Monday night's
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p.m. on Pirate Radio 1250-AM and 930-AM.