UGA Basketball
Great work…
KyeRon Lindsay
Terry Roberts
More about Roberts:
12-13-21
Journal Star: How a Bradley basketball player became 'Mr. 40' and found his way from NYC parks to Peoria
PEORIA — “Terry Roberts is making a name for himself as the starting point guard in his first season with Bradley University.
Not that he needed one.
In New York City, he's known as "Mr. 40" a streetball name earned from his prolific performances in the parks and gyms in the mecca of organized pickup games.
"They called me Mr. 40 in New York," Roberts said. "I grew up playing street ball, a lot of parks. Bolden Mack Park, Dyckman Park, Gersh Park, Lincoln Park, those were the places I played."
Bolden Mack was his Amityville destination. Gersh Park is in Brooklyn and Lincoln Park is in Queens.
Dyckman Park is in New York City, an historic court that has hosted future NBA players such as Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Terry Rozier and J.R. Smith.
"My first game was at Dyckman, I was about 14," Roberts said. "It went well. We won the championship. I was playing against older kids, I liked to play up some (in age groups).
"These were organized tournament parks, AAU or neighborhood teams that come together and play in these parks for bragging rights."
Mr. 40 was born in a game at Bolden Mack Park.
"I had 40 that game, and it was an easy 40, too," said Roberts, grinning. "A guy named Arlis gave me that name, and it stuck. I was 19. At Dyckman, we'd play with older guys (adults), get into some games there. Those would get a little competitive. But I was going around parks and having 40 points, so they gave me that nickname."
Mr. 40 showed up with 4.5 seconds left in Bradley's 71-69 win over Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Conference opener earlier this month.
He barged down the lane, with two defender stacked, and left them disoriented, one lunging left, the other right, while Roberts finished with a finger roll.
"That was a Mr. 40 move," laughed Roberts. "Euro step. I saw the floor open up and I had the lane and I knew the guy guarding me couldn't stand in front of me. I ran at him and threw him off guard and he let me go right around him. The second guy couldn't stop it either. He gave me an open layup.
"That game gave me a lot of confidence, but I'm not going to get too high from it. I'm always looking forward to the next game."
Roberts, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound point guard, spent his childhood between Amityville, N.Y. and Brooklyn, N.Y. His home in Amityville was 10 minutes from the house in the famous 1979 movie, "The Amityville Horror."
"I've driven by it but never been there," Roberts said. "It's crazy, and people live there now, too. I don't know how they can do it."
He could walk to Bolden Mack Park and shoot hoops.
"New York has a lot of basketball parks and I was doing that for fun from the time I was a little kid," Roberts said. "That's all we did, especially when we were really young. Go to the park and hoop with each other. I didn't start taking it seriously until about 9th or 10th grade."
He'd play in Amityville, then go play in Brooklyn and stay with family that lived there.
But for a while, football was his first love.
"I was really good at it, too. I was a running back," Roberts said. "My mom watched me and it scared her, she didn't want me to play. I was 13 and I was the one doing the hitting. But my mom said, 'I can't watch this.' It was around the time someone had passed away from a football hit. So she said, 'No, you're a basketball player.'"
It worked out great.
They watch him play for Bradley now on live streams, his dad, Terrence ("He just got in an accident so he can't work right now."), his mom, Allison, his two older brothers, Aaron and Armani, and his younger sister, Tiana.
"My brothers were bigger than me and kicked my butt a little, you know how it is with big brothers," Roberts said. "But on the court, no, they couldn't do anything with me."
His mother has a business called Sistah Chatta where women get together and discuss new ideas, issues and share cosmetics tips and trends.
"I loved the transition between Long Island and Brooklyn," Roberts said. "They were different and I liked them both."
Roberts was different, too. A New York kid whose favorite NBA team was ...
"The Boston Celtics," Roberts said. "I know, I know. But it's because they had the best point guard ever, Rajon Rondo. He was just magical on the court, and I was in love with the way he played.
"I'd like to meet him some day. Even better, play against him."
Roberts was spotted for his talent early.
He was invited to play in gym sessions, reserved for pro players, by Isaiah Washington and Isaiah Whitehead.
Washington was a point guard from Harlem selected Mr. New York Basketball in 2017.
He went on to play college ball at Minnesota and is a pro now in Europe. He also co-founded the popular Jelly Fam social media tribute to finger roll layups.
Whitehead, a Brooklyn native, was chosen by Utah in the NBA Draft and played two seasons with the Brooklyn Nets before heading to Europe. He plays now for Beşiktaş Icrypex in the Basketball SuperLeague.
"We became friends, and Whitehead introduced me to a lot of professional players, more than I can name," Roberts said. "Every time he had a gym session he would let me know and invite me to come in and work out with them. He gave me a lot of wisdom. He showed me how to be a point guard.
"He showed me you have to be tough on the floor. He's a tough, really tough guard. He doesn't take anything from anybody, doesn't back down. He showed me how to be more of a dog."
There were, of course, coaches in his life who provided guidance, too, like legendary New York City youth basketball coach Kevin Jackson of Believe Prep Academy, and AAU Brooklyn coach and former NBA D-League player Gary Ervin.
"Kevin Jackson helped me a lot coming up," Roberts said. "He really changed my life, helped me become a man on and off the court. I give him a lot of kudos because he definitely helped me get to where I am.
"Gary Ervin, he was my AAU coach in Brooklyn. He's an elite coach and he taught me so much about the game, and about life."
Roberts played two seasons at Florida SouthWestern State College and finished as its all-time leader with 122 steals, while ranking third in school history in assists (214) and eighth in points (524).
He was named to the FCSAA All-State and All-Tournament Teams, while earning first-team all-conference honors as a sophomore and leading the team to a Top 25 ranking.
NCAA Division I teams noticed, but Peoria native and Bradley grad Dillon Jenkins -- an assistant coach with the Florida team -- helped Bradley get him.
"Terry Roberts is as good a two-way player as you'll find coming in ready to play," Jenkins told the Journal Star in April. "His willingness and ability to guard guys is elite, too. He takes pride in shutting someone down. What is going to separate him from the other guys is he'll get in the lane and stop you, you won't get past him."
Jenkins knew Bradley head coach Brian Wardle because years ago Wardle had hired him to stain his deck. True story.
Last spring and summer Wardle was pouring through tape and watching Roberts play live as Bradley began rebuilding its guard position.
"Just extremely talented, the way that he moved with the ball in his hands, very shifty and really nice pace to his game," Wardle said, recalling the first time he saw Roberts. "He made it look easy. I thought when he was locked in defensively; he was a disruptor. I saw some huge playmaking ability
"I fell in love with him the more I watched him. One thing about evaluating guys is, do you like what you see during adversity? It was after a game where he probably didn't play well that I knew, 'We gotta turn it up and get him."
Jenkins mentored Roberts and was at the table with the player and his family, weeding through 16 Division I offers, including Bradley, South Florida, Wichita State, Akron, St. Bonaventure, Southern Miss and Southern Illinois.
"The Bradley coaches recruiting me were genuine, it seemed so pure," Roberts said. "I felt like it was a family right away. My coaches from my other school, and my family, we all got together and talked about it and felt Bradley was the right decision for me.
"I wasn't worried about going somewhere to a higher level program, I just wanted to be somewhere where I'd be able to play my game, play how I want to play."
And "Mr. 40" was a Brave.
Ten games into his first season here, he is averaging a team-high 15.4 points per game, and has team bests in assists (3.8) and steals (1.7) while playing 27.4 minutes per game for the Braves (4-6).
He won the Northern Iowa game, and this week nearly made a buzzer-beating 3 at Toledo, which rimmed out in a 67-65 loss.
No. 0 on the court has emerged as BU's go-to guy. Oh, and about that uniform number.
"I really wanted to wear 11, but it was retired," said Roberts, referring to the number worn by forward J.J. Anderson, who played at Bradley from 1978-82. "So I picked zero because that was my number in high school. I wore it for Russell Westbrook."
Word Association game
The Journal Star began playing the word association game with Bradley players and coaches during the pandemic-challenged 2020-21 season.
Terry Roberts kicks off 2021-22:
NBA: "Michael Jordan."
Amityville: "Home. Mack Park. So close I could walk to it."
Streetball: "Dyckman Park."
Bradley: "Family. Great community, awesome fans, great coaches and great teammates."
Brian Wardle: "Great person. Intense, focused."
Dillon Jenkins: "A big brother."
Mom: "My heart. I love her so much."
Celtics: "Every time I see them, I think Rajon Rondo."
Lunch: "Chick-fil-A. Never had it until I moved here. It's just pretty damn great. Don't have one back home."
New York fast food: "PDQ Chicken. It's amazing."
If basketball didn't exist: "Football. Sorry mom."
3-03-22
WCBU: “Roberts, a junior college transfer, led Bradley with a scoring average of 14.4 points per game. He became the first Braves player to be named to the All-Valley first team in 11 years, while also capturing the league's Newcomer of the Year honor.
“It's very exciting to me, with my teammates congratulating me,” said Roberts. “I commend them too, because without them I wouldn't be able to do anything. So I'm just very appreciative for it.”
Wardle said Roberts has been a welcome addition, and his growth suggests even greater potential.
“It's been great having Terry. It's well deserved,” said Wardle of Roberts’ newcomer honor. “I thought he was one of the most dynamic players in the league. He suffered a tough ankle injury that slowed him up a little bit, but I think he's getting healthier right now.
“He’s just an explosive player, I'm very proud of him. I think he's come a long way from the end of his junior college season to now with the type of point guard and player he is. So I think the sky's the limit for him as the future moves forward.”
Prior to final matchup with Loyola:
“Bradley point guard Terry Roberts is a formidable defender as well, so the matchup between the two first-team picks will be can’t-miss basketball.
“The first time we played [against Roberts], he got into some foul trouble,” Valentine said about containing Bradley’s Terry Roberts. I thought we did a good job of keeping bodies on him. But we’ve just got to do our best to individually guard him with physicality because, if not, he’s so long, he’s got great speed, and he plays with great toughness and intensity.”
SEC Basketball
Kentucky
Lexington Herald: In ‘new SEC,’ which two teams should UK basketball want as its permanent rivals?
: https://amp.kentucky.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/mark-story/article262184207.html
College Basketball
Field of 68: Your college hoops weekend recap
thefieldof68.substack.com
Raleigh News Observer: ‘It doesn’t work anymore’: Coach K on where NCAA sports are, and where they’re headed
“One thing for certain, Krzyzewski said, is college football will lead the way in these changes.
“SEC football is the best college sports product on TV except for March Madness,” Krzyzewski said, adding the SEC adding Texas and Oklahoma is “building an empire.”
www.bostonherald.com
One of the top remaining portal entries:
Connecticut
Florida State
Gonzaga
Spokesman Review: Transfer guard Malachi Smith ‘looking to make something special happen’ at Gonzaga
Ohio State
Columbus Dispatch: As freshmen arrive, here are five things to know about the newest Buckeyes
Washington
Washington State
Seattle Times: WSU Cougar men bolsters frontcourt, signs French forward Mael Hamon-Crespin
www.seattletimes.com
NBA
Boston Herald: The Celtics accomplished the mission with a split, but did they really?
www.bostonherald.com
NYP: The refs let Draymond Green ‘push it to the edge’ and beyond in NBA Finals
nypost.com
History
Hoops Birthdays
Charles Williams 6-06-1946 76 years old
Who is Charles Williams, the Colorado graduate and masters degree recipient wasn’t a star, but his career was a who’s who of the old ABA…
Between 1970-71 and 1977-78, Williams would play in 638 regular season games in the pros, 500 in the ABA and 138 in the NBA. He averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 assists per game. He appeared in 37 playoff games, all in the ABA, averaging 11.9 points and 4.1 assists per contest.
His teams, teammates included:
Pittsburgh Condors - John Brisker teenage star
Denver Nuggets - Larry Brown
San Diego Conquistadors- The late Tim Bassett (UGA), Caldwell Jones
Kentucky Colonels - Louis Dampier, Dan Issel, the late Artis Gilmore, Rick Mount, John Roche
Denver Nuggets - Roger Brown, Larry Finch, Dan Issel, David Thompson, Marvin Webster
NBA
Denver Nuggets - Bobby Jones, Paul Silas
Buffalo Braves - Adrian Dantley, Ernie D, Moses Malone, Bob McAdoo, Tom McMillian, Johnny Neumann - Marvin Barnes, Mike Glenn, Jim McDaniels, Swen Nater, Bill Willoughby
And in the final year of the ABA he was part of two great playoff series…
“The Nuggets were a vibrant franchise, as Denver fans packed the new McNichols Sports Arena. With a roster that included Williams, David Thompson, Dan Issel, Ralph Simpson, Byron Beck, Marvin Webster, Claude Terry, Gus Gerard, Monte Towe, the Nuggets were favored to win the postseason title after posting a 60-24 record to win the regular-season championship.
But after eliminating Artis Gilmore and the Kentucky Colonels in the semifinals, the Nuggets ran into Julius Erving and the New York Nets, and Williams’ hope of bringing the title home ended as the Nets won the finals in six games.
“That was a great team, and it would have been outstanding to win that last championship,” said Williams, a Denver East High School product who went on to the University of Colorado before signing with both of Denver’s ABA teams, the Rockets and the Nuggets. “I would have loved to bring it back to Denver.”
Williams has become part of a legend, as the sixth game of the 1976 playoff finals is considered a classic. Thompson scored 42 points for Denver, but the Nets came from 22 points down to win 112-106 in New York. After the season, the ABA folded and the Nuggets, Nets, San Antonio and Indiana joined the NBA…
Denver Kentucky - The game without a clock
“GAME SUMMARY (by Al Hoffman and Arthur Hundhausen): "Wild," said longtime Nuggets veteran Byron Beck after this game. "It was just like the old days when the league started."
Certainly, Game 1 of this series was "wild" even by ABA standards. Ever seen a professional basketball game played without any visible game clock? That was the situation as the new McNichols Arena scoreboards and clocks were inoperational. The complete breakdown was the result of a blown fuse and broken computer (yes, a broken computer). No backup equipment was available. When informed of the situation an hour before gametime, ABA brass allowed the game to proceed.
Official time was kept by stopwatch, at the scorer's table. By agreement, Denver PA announcer Gene Price announced time remaining on a periodic basis. He also counted down the last 5 seconds of each quarter, with an airhorn to indicate the buzzer. This would come into play in a very controversial finish.
Denver maintained a small lead over the defending champs throughout. Clutch 4th quarter scoring by Ralph Simpson, David Thompson & Chuck Williams seemed to have the game in hand at 109-104 late. Jan van Breda Kolff converted a 3-point play with 0:04 left to cut the lead to 109-107. Louie Dampier then intentionally fouled Williams with 3 ticks left. Williams made the 1st shot, but missed the 2nd. Claude Terry batted the ball out where Kevin Joyce grabbed it and passed to Dampier. Dampier launched a 3-pointer that swished through the net. The basket would have tied the game and sent it into overtime. The Colonels felt that the shot came just before the end of the PA announcer's countdown of the last three seconds. The referees summarily disagreed, ruling that the shot didn't count.
A furious Hubie Brown engaged both referees in a shouting match, and then chased them to their locker room, to no avail. "We got screwed, it's terrible," Brown told reporters after he calmed down. "They're trying to tell us three seconds went by. The guy on the PA says '3, 2, 1,' the game's over. You can't do it like that. You've got to go 1,001, 1,002, 1,003. And then when it's over they [the officials] just walk off the court. Incredible. You'd think in a situation like that that they'd go to the table and talk to the guy on the clock. But my protest is nothing. What can we protest? There was no clock! We agreed before the game that we'd play under these primitive conditions. You know, we're playing for big money and prestige and this is our first game on their floor. A big thing for us. And then to have the game end like this is ridiculous. It's a difficult thing to accept."
Colonels GM David Vance decided to protest the game to the ABA Commissioner's office. Kentucky's protest was denied. But the Commissioner's office did fine the Nuggets $2,500 for what it termed "conditions detrimental to the game of basketball.”
Game 7 Denver Kentucky
GAME SUMMARY (by Al Hoffman and Arthur Hundhausen): Before tipoff of Game 7, Hubie Brown and Larry Brown buried the hatchet. As an all-time ABA-record crowd of 18,821 fans settled into McNichols Arena to watch the contest, Hubie Brown noted: "This crowd and this game will be a credit to our league. I compliment the people of Denver and their outstanding demonstration of civic pride."
The record crowd saw Kentucky again start hot as they led 42-35 in the 2nd period behind Averitt & van Breda Kolff. David Thompson would score 10 points in the last 5 minutes as Denver outscored Kentucky 22-14 to close the half. Kentucky held a 57-56 lead at the break.
In the second half, Averitt hit a 12-footer that gave the Colonels their last lead, 70-69. Thompson knocked down a 16-foot jumper off a feed from Simpson; 2 of his 15 3rd quarter points. He then hit a spinning drive while being fouled. His free throw gave Denver a 74-70 lead. With Bobby Jones blocking shots, clearing the boards and getting the Nuggets into the break, Thompson unstoppable with 15 points in the quarter, and Ralph Simpson dealing out several of his 14 assists, Denver broke the game open.
Issel & Webster shackled Gilmore in the 2nd half. Gilmore hit a layup with 4:48 left in the 3rd, but would not score again until there was 4:19 left in the game. By that time, Denver would be ahead by 19 points.
A final Colonel run was squelched when Averitt missed a dunk on the break that would have cut the lead to 6 points. Instead, Issel threw down a dunk on the other end to make it a 10 point game and Kentucky would get no closer than 8 the rest of the way. With a 133-110 victory, the Nuggets vanquished the defending-champion Colonels and moved on to face the Nets in the 1976 ABA Finals.
In the decisive Game 7, Dan Issel emerged to hit for 24 points and snare 10 rebounds (all after a relatively low totals in the first six games). Hubie Brown emphasized what he called a "great, great series. I'm happy that if we had to lose that Dan Issel could put together a great game like that. He did an excellent job in the middle." Issel concluded his thoughts on the emotional series by noting that: "I thought it could have been a super year in Kentucky. But things didn't work out that way. I'm very thankful it's me going to the championship series."
On his part, Nuggets boss Larry Brown summarized things: "I'd like to think our team deserves what happened tonight. I've been in this league all nine years and this is as competitive a series as I've seen."
Denver New York ABA Championship:
Game 1 of the ABA Finals was a tense, back-and-forth affair. The notoriously raucous Denver fans vibrated Big Mac with noise every time Thompson or Simpson would drive the lane, as if they expected something big to happen every moment. Conversely, the best player on the floor and arguably the basketball world, Dr. J, amazed the partisan Nuggets crowd with a scoring explosion, keeping the Nets in the game by sheer will.
For all the accolades that Game 6 gets in the annals of misty-eyed ABA remembrances, it is Game 1 that should be lifted up. Dr. J finished with 45 points and scored 18 in the fourth quarter. Tied at 118 with almost no time on the clock, Erving made a long two from the corner to beat the Nuggets with the clock showing zeroes, and he did so with Bobby Jones on him like a rented suit. Erving took over, and over the course of the subsequent six games cemented his legacy as the greatest ABA player; 19,000 fans were crestfallen.
“We lost Game 1; we had home court advantage, and Julius had 18 points in the fourth quarter,” Issel recalls. “That was going against Bobby Jones, who was arguably the best defensive forward in basketball at the time.”
What should be really memorable for Nuggets fans, however, is the tremendous fan response in the following game. In Game 2, the Nuggets bounced back and beat the Nets 127-121. The Nuggets had four players score 24 or 25 points and overcame a ridiculous 48 points from Dr. J. Scheer managed to squeeze in roughly 100 more fans than Game 1 into Big Mac before the fire marshall put a stop to it. The fans in Denver showed up better than anyone in ABA history for two games in a row.
The Nuggets and Nets were tied at one game apiece as the series shifted back to New York. While the Nuggets remained confident, the loss of home-court advantage loomed large as the Nuggets dropped games three and four in close affairs in New York. Thompson and Issel led the way in scoring both games, but Erving was dominant at home. The Nuggets would pull close but couldn’t quite get over the hump with the Nets pulling away down the stretch in both games.
The series returned to Denver in a must-win game for the Nuggets. The fans responded again by packing nearly 19,000 into McNichols as the Nuggets faced a do-or-die challenge down 3-1 in their series. Behind a 42-point third-quarter explosion, the Nuggets coasted to a 118-110 victory, sending the series back to New York for what became the most iconic game in the ABA’s nine-year history.
Coming out of Game 5, Thompson was facing criticism for what some regarded as a poor showing in the playoffs. While Thompson had his “Skywalker” moments, they weren’t as consistent as they’d been in the regular season; the Nuggets’ rookie ABA All-Star guard was struggling against the physical defense of Nets All-Star John Williamson. He hadn’t lost the confidence of their other star player Issel, however, who recalled: “Not only was David athletic, but he was a great basketball player without that athleticism. He didn’t have to get to the rim and dunk to score. He could score in any number of ways.”
Entering Game 6, Thompson had really yet to show the explosive potential that amazed the country for the regular season and in college at North Carolina State. This would change after the opening tip in New York, as Thompson would emerge from a series-low 19 points in Game 5 to play the single best game of his playoff career.
Thompson was aggressive, attacking the basket from the start of the game as the Nuggets built a small lead in the first quarter. They began to expand that lead in the second quarter, keeping up the pressure, double-teaming the heretofore unstoppable Erving. The Nets had trouble finding their offensive footing as Thompson and Issel stepped up on the scoring end for the Nuggets. The Nuggets’ most consistent offensive player in the series, Simpson, couldn’t get on track.
With two minutes remaining in the third quarter, on the backs of Issel (who finished with 30 points and 20 rebounds) and Thompson, the Nuggets built a 22-point lead at 80-58. It looked as if the series was headed back to Denver for Game 7
And then the roof caved in.
The Nets switched Erving on Thompson, allowing Williamson and others to freelance, essentially shutting down the rookie in the fourth quarter. Erving (who “only” scored 31 points in Game 6) eventually exploited the Nuggets on defense with his superstar patience, taking the first-half double-teams and turning them into points for his teammates.
According to Issel, the officials also let the Nets get away with increased physical play: “What I remember the most about Game 6 was how physical it was. John Williamson just started beating people up and the officials let him get away with it.”
The physical play and Dr. J’s decision to act as facilitator opened up Williamson to score 28 points, most of them in the fourth quarter. The Nets swallowed up the Nuggets in the fourth and catapulted themselves into basketball lore by defeating Denver 112-106 in the last-ever ABA game.
What a way to go out.”
A few highlights
Great work…
KyeRon Lindsay
Terry Roberts
More about Roberts:
12-13-21
Journal Star: How a Bradley basketball player became 'Mr. 40' and found his way from NYC parks to Peoria
PEORIA — “Terry Roberts is making a name for himself as the starting point guard in his first season with Bradley University.
Not that he needed one.
In New York City, he's known as "Mr. 40" a streetball name earned from his prolific performances in the parks and gyms in the mecca of organized pickup games.
"They called me Mr. 40 in New York," Roberts said. "I grew up playing street ball, a lot of parks. Bolden Mack Park, Dyckman Park, Gersh Park, Lincoln Park, those were the places I played."
Bolden Mack was his Amityville destination. Gersh Park is in Brooklyn and Lincoln Park is in Queens.
Dyckman Park is in New York City, an historic court that has hosted future NBA players such as Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Terry Rozier and J.R. Smith.
"My first game was at Dyckman, I was about 14," Roberts said. "It went well. We won the championship. I was playing against older kids, I liked to play up some (in age groups).
"These were organized tournament parks, AAU or neighborhood teams that come together and play in these parks for bragging rights."
Mr. 40 was born in a game at Bolden Mack Park.
"I had 40 that game, and it was an easy 40, too," said Roberts, grinning. "A guy named Arlis gave me that name, and it stuck. I was 19. At Dyckman, we'd play with older guys (adults), get into some games there. Those would get a little competitive. But I was going around parks and having 40 points, so they gave me that nickname."
Mr. 40 showed up with 4.5 seconds left in Bradley's 71-69 win over Northern Iowa in the Missouri Valley Conference opener earlier this month.
He barged down the lane, with two defender stacked, and left them disoriented, one lunging left, the other right, while Roberts finished with a finger roll.
"That was a Mr. 40 move," laughed Roberts. "Euro step. I saw the floor open up and I had the lane and I knew the guy guarding me couldn't stand in front of me. I ran at him and threw him off guard and he let me go right around him. The second guy couldn't stop it either. He gave me an open layup.
"That game gave me a lot of confidence, but I'm not going to get too high from it. I'm always looking forward to the next game."
Roberts, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound point guard, spent his childhood between Amityville, N.Y. and Brooklyn, N.Y. His home in Amityville was 10 minutes from the house in the famous 1979 movie, "The Amityville Horror."
"I've driven by it but never been there," Roberts said. "It's crazy, and people live there now, too. I don't know how they can do it."
He could walk to Bolden Mack Park and shoot hoops.
"New York has a lot of basketball parks and I was doing that for fun from the time I was a little kid," Roberts said. "That's all we did, especially when we were really young. Go to the park and hoop with each other. I didn't start taking it seriously until about 9th or 10th grade."
He'd play in Amityville, then go play in Brooklyn and stay with family that lived there.
But for a while, football was his first love.
"I was really good at it, too. I was a running back," Roberts said. "My mom watched me and it scared her, she didn't want me to play. I was 13 and I was the one doing the hitting. But my mom said, 'I can't watch this.' It was around the time someone had passed away from a football hit. So she said, 'No, you're a basketball player.'"
It worked out great.
They watch him play for Bradley now on live streams, his dad, Terrence ("He just got in an accident so he can't work right now."), his mom, Allison, his two older brothers, Aaron and Armani, and his younger sister, Tiana.
"My brothers were bigger than me and kicked my butt a little, you know how it is with big brothers," Roberts said. "But on the court, no, they couldn't do anything with me."
His mother has a business called Sistah Chatta where women get together and discuss new ideas, issues and share cosmetics tips and trends.
"I loved the transition between Long Island and Brooklyn," Roberts said. "They were different and I liked them both."
Roberts was different, too. A New York kid whose favorite NBA team was ...
"The Boston Celtics," Roberts said. "I know, I know. But it's because they had the best point guard ever, Rajon Rondo. He was just magical on the court, and I was in love with the way he played.
"I'd like to meet him some day. Even better, play against him."
Roberts was spotted for his talent early.
He was invited to play in gym sessions, reserved for pro players, by Isaiah Washington and Isaiah Whitehead.
Washington was a point guard from Harlem selected Mr. New York Basketball in 2017.
He went on to play college ball at Minnesota and is a pro now in Europe. He also co-founded the popular Jelly Fam social media tribute to finger roll layups.
Whitehead, a Brooklyn native, was chosen by Utah in the NBA Draft and played two seasons with the Brooklyn Nets before heading to Europe. He plays now for Beşiktaş Icrypex in the Basketball SuperLeague.
"We became friends, and Whitehead introduced me to a lot of professional players, more than I can name," Roberts said. "Every time he had a gym session he would let me know and invite me to come in and work out with them. He gave me a lot of wisdom. He showed me how to be a point guard.
"He showed me you have to be tough on the floor. He's a tough, really tough guard. He doesn't take anything from anybody, doesn't back down. He showed me how to be more of a dog."
There were, of course, coaches in his life who provided guidance, too, like legendary New York City youth basketball coach Kevin Jackson of Believe Prep Academy, and AAU Brooklyn coach and former NBA D-League player Gary Ervin.
"Kevin Jackson helped me a lot coming up," Roberts said. "He really changed my life, helped me become a man on and off the court. I give him a lot of kudos because he definitely helped me get to where I am.
"Gary Ervin, he was my AAU coach in Brooklyn. He's an elite coach and he taught me so much about the game, and about life."
Roberts played two seasons at Florida SouthWestern State College and finished as its all-time leader with 122 steals, while ranking third in school history in assists (214) and eighth in points (524).
He was named to the FCSAA All-State and All-Tournament Teams, while earning first-team all-conference honors as a sophomore and leading the team to a Top 25 ranking.
NCAA Division I teams noticed, but Peoria native and Bradley grad Dillon Jenkins -- an assistant coach with the Florida team -- helped Bradley get him.
"Terry Roberts is as good a two-way player as you'll find coming in ready to play," Jenkins told the Journal Star in April. "His willingness and ability to guard guys is elite, too. He takes pride in shutting someone down. What is going to separate him from the other guys is he'll get in the lane and stop you, you won't get past him."
Jenkins knew Bradley head coach Brian Wardle because years ago Wardle had hired him to stain his deck. True story.
Last spring and summer Wardle was pouring through tape and watching Roberts play live as Bradley began rebuilding its guard position.
"Just extremely talented, the way that he moved with the ball in his hands, very shifty and really nice pace to his game," Wardle said, recalling the first time he saw Roberts. "He made it look easy. I thought when he was locked in defensively; he was a disruptor. I saw some huge playmaking ability
"I fell in love with him the more I watched him. One thing about evaluating guys is, do you like what you see during adversity? It was after a game where he probably didn't play well that I knew, 'We gotta turn it up and get him."
Jenkins mentored Roberts and was at the table with the player and his family, weeding through 16 Division I offers, including Bradley, South Florida, Wichita State, Akron, St. Bonaventure, Southern Miss and Southern Illinois.
"The Bradley coaches recruiting me were genuine, it seemed so pure," Roberts said. "I felt like it was a family right away. My coaches from my other school, and my family, we all got together and talked about it and felt Bradley was the right decision for me.
"I wasn't worried about going somewhere to a higher level program, I just wanted to be somewhere where I'd be able to play my game, play how I want to play."
And "Mr. 40" was a Brave.
Ten games into his first season here, he is averaging a team-high 15.4 points per game, and has team bests in assists (3.8) and steals (1.7) while playing 27.4 minutes per game for the Braves (4-6).
He won the Northern Iowa game, and this week nearly made a buzzer-beating 3 at Toledo, which rimmed out in a 67-65 loss.
No. 0 on the court has emerged as BU's go-to guy. Oh, and about that uniform number.
"I really wanted to wear 11, but it was retired," said Roberts, referring to the number worn by forward J.J. Anderson, who played at Bradley from 1978-82. "So I picked zero because that was my number in high school. I wore it for Russell Westbrook."
Word Association game
The Journal Star began playing the word association game with Bradley players and coaches during the pandemic-challenged 2020-21 season.
Terry Roberts kicks off 2021-22:
NBA: "Michael Jordan."
Amityville: "Home. Mack Park. So close I could walk to it."
Streetball: "Dyckman Park."
Bradley: "Family. Great community, awesome fans, great coaches and great teammates."
Brian Wardle: "Great person. Intense, focused."
Dillon Jenkins: "A big brother."
Mom: "My heart. I love her so much."
Celtics: "Every time I see them, I think Rajon Rondo."
Lunch: "Chick-fil-A. Never had it until I moved here. It's just pretty damn great. Don't have one back home."
New York fast food: "PDQ Chicken. It's amazing."
If basketball didn't exist: "Football. Sorry mom."
How a Bradley basketball player became 'Mr. 40' and found his way from NYC parks to Peoria
In New York City, he was given the name "Mr. 40." In Peoria, he's making a name for himself with the Bradley men's basketball team.
www.pjstar.com
3-03-22
WCBU: “Roberts, a junior college transfer, led Bradley with a scoring average of 14.4 points per game. He became the first Braves player to be named to the All-Valley first team in 11 years, while also capturing the league's Newcomer of the Year honor.
“It's very exciting to me, with my teammates congratulating me,” said Roberts. “I commend them too, because without them I wouldn't be able to do anything. So I'm just very appreciative for it.”
Wardle said Roberts has been a welcome addition, and his growth suggests even greater potential.
“It's been great having Terry. It's well deserved,” said Wardle of Roberts’ newcomer honor. “I thought he was one of the most dynamic players in the league. He suffered a tough ankle injury that slowed him up a little bit, but I think he's getting healthier right now.
“He’s just an explosive player, I'm very proud of him. I think he's come a long way from the end of his junior college season to now with the type of point guard and player he is. So I think the sky's the limit for him as the future moves forward.”
Prior to final matchup with Loyola:
“Bradley point guard Terry Roberts is a formidable defender as well, so the matchup between the two first-team picks will be can’t-miss basketball.
“The first time we played [against Roberts], he got into some foul trouble,” Valentine said about containing Bradley’s Terry Roberts. I thought we did a good job of keeping bodies on him. But we’ve just got to do our best to individually guard him with physicality because, if not, he’s so long, he’s got great speed, and he plays with great toughness and intensity.”
SEC Basketball
Kentucky
Lexington Herald: In ‘new SEC,’ which two teams should UK basketball want as its permanent rivals?
: https://amp.kentucky.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/mark-story/article262184207.html
College Basketball
Field of 68: Your college hoops weekend recap
Your college hoops weekend recap
Including scheduling news, recruiting tidbits, and what to watch for this week
thefieldof68.substack.com
Raleigh News Observer: ‘It doesn’t work anymore’: Coach K on where NCAA sports are, and where they’re headed
“One thing for certain, Krzyzewski said, is college football will lead the way in these changes.
“SEC football is the best college sports product on TV except for March Madness,” Krzyzewski said, adding the SEC adding Texas and Oklahoma is “building an empire.”
Guregian: The Celtics accomplished the mission with a split, but did they really?
Even with the desired split, the after-taste of the Celtics’ Game 2 loss is rather unsettling.
www.bostonherald.com
One of the top remaining portal entries:
Connecticut
Florida State
Gonzaga
Spokesman Review: Transfer guard Malachi Smith ‘looking to make something special happen’ at Gonzaga
Ohio State
Columbus Dispatch: As freshmen arrive, here are five things to know about the newest Buckeyes
As freshmen arrive, here are five things to know about new Ohio State basketball players
Get to know Ohio State freshmen Roddy Gayle, Bowen Hardman, Felix Okpara, Brice Sensabaugh and Bruce Thornton.
www.dispatch.com
Washington
Washington State
Seattle Times: WSU Cougar men bolsters frontcourt, signs French forward Mael Hamon-Crespin
WSU Cougar men bolster frontcourt, sign French forward Mael Hamon-Crespin
The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Hamon-Crespin joins the Cougs after spending three years at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance.
www.seattletimes.com
NBA
Boston Herald: The Celtics accomplished the mission with a split, but did they really?
Guregian: The Celtics accomplished the mission with a split, but did they really?
Even with the desired split, the after-taste of the Celtics’ Game 2 loss is rather unsettling.
www.bostonherald.com
NYP: The refs let Draymond Green ‘push it to the edge’ and beyond in NBA Finals
The refs let Draymond Green ‘push it to the edge’ and beyond in NBA Finals
The NBA got its wish — a Finals series now tied and a potentially long battle in the offing.
nypost.com
History
Hoops Birthdays
Charles Williams 6-06-1946 76 years old
Who is Charles Williams, the Colorado graduate and masters degree recipient wasn’t a star, but his career was a who’s who of the old ABA…
Between 1970-71 and 1977-78, Williams would play in 638 regular season games in the pros, 500 in the ABA and 138 in the NBA. He averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 assists per game. He appeared in 37 playoff games, all in the ABA, averaging 11.9 points and 4.1 assists per contest.
His teams, teammates included:
Pittsburgh Condors - John Brisker teenage star
Denver Nuggets - Larry Brown
San Diego Conquistadors- The late Tim Bassett (UGA), Caldwell Jones
Kentucky Colonels - Louis Dampier, Dan Issel, the late Artis Gilmore, Rick Mount, John Roche
Denver Nuggets - Roger Brown, Larry Finch, Dan Issel, David Thompson, Marvin Webster
NBA
Denver Nuggets - Bobby Jones, Paul Silas
Buffalo Braves - Adrian Dantley, Ernie D, Moses Malone, Bob McAdoo, Tom McMillian, Johnny Neumann - Marvin Barnes, Mike Glenn, Jim McDaniels, Swen Nater, Bill Willoughby
And in the final year of the ABA he was part of two great playoff series…
“The Nuggets were a vibrant franchise, as Denver fans packed the new McNichols Sports Arena. With a roster that included Williams, David Thompson, Dan Issel, Ralph Simpson, Byron Beck, Marvin Webster, Claude Terry, Gus Gerard, Monte Towe, the Nuggets were favored to win the postseason title after posting a 60-24 record to win the regular-season championship.
But after eliminating Artis Gilmore and the Kentucky Colonels in the semifinals, the Nuggets ran into Julius Erving and the New York Nets, and Williams’ hope of bringing the title home ended as the Nets won the finals in six games.
“That was a great team, and it would have been outstanding to win that last championship,” said Williams, a Denver East High School product who went on to the University of Colorado before signing with both of Denver’s ABA teams, the Rockets and the Nuggets. “I would have loved to bring it back to Denver.”
Williams has become part of a legend, as the sixth game of the 1976 playoff finals is considered a classic. Thompson scored 42 points for Denver, but the Nets came from 22 points down to win 112-106 in New York. After the season, the ABA folded and the Nuggets, Nets, San Antonio and Indiana joined the NBA…
Denver Kentucky - The game without a clock
“GAME SUMMARY (by Al Hoffman and Arthur Hundhausen): "Wild," said longtime Nuggets veteran Byron Beck after this game. "It was just like the old days when the league started."
Certainly, Game 1 of this series was "wild" even by ABA standards. Ever seen a professional basketball game played without any visible game clock? That was the situation as the new McNichols Arena scoreboards and clocks were inoperational. The complete breakdown was the result of a blown fuse and broken computer (yes, a broken computer). No backup equipment was available. When informed of the situation an hour before gametime, ABA brass allowed the game to proceed.
Official time was kept by stopwatch, at the scorer's table. By agreement, Denver PA announcer Gene Price announced time remaining on a periodic basis. He also counted down the last 5 seconds of each quarter, with an airhorn to indicate the buzzer. This would come into play in a very controversial finish.
Denver maintained a small lead over the defending champs throughout. Clutch 4th quarter scoring by Ralph Simpson, David Thompson & Chuck Williams seemed to have the game in hand at 109-104 late. Jan van Breda Kolff converted a 3-point play with 0:04 left to cut the lead to 109-107. Louie Dampier then intentionally fouled Williams with 3 ticks left. Williams made the 1st shot, but missed the 2nd. Claude Terry batted the ball out where Kevin Joyce grabbed it and passed to Dampier. Dampier launched a 3-pointer that swished through the net. The basket would have tied the game and sent it into overtime. The Colonels felt that the shot came just before the end of the PA announcer's countdown of the last three seconds. The referees summarily disagreed, ruling that the shot didn't count.
A furious Hubie Brown engaged both referees in a shouting match, and then chased them to their locker room, to no avail. "We got screwed, it's terrible," Brown told reporters after he calmed down. "They're trying to tell us three seconds went by. The guy on the PA says '3, 2, 1,' the game's over. You can't do it like that. You've got to go 1,001, 1,002, 1,003. And then when it's over they [the officials] just walk off the court. Incredible. You'd think in a situation like that that they'd go to the table and talk to the guy on the clock. But my protest is nothing. What can we protest? There was no clock! We agreed before the game that we'd play under these primitive conditions. You know, we're playing for big money and prestige and this is our first game on their floor. A big thing for us. And then to have the game end like this is ridiculous. It's a difficult thing to accept."
Colonels GM David Vance decided to protest the game to the ABA Commissioner's office. Kentucky's protest was denied. But the Commissioner's office did fine the Nuggets $2,500 for what it termed "conditions detrimental to the game of basketball.”
Game 7 Denver Kentucky
GAME SUMMARY (by Al Hoffman and Arthur Hundhausen): Before tipoff of Game 7, Hubie Brown and Larry Brown buried the hatchet. As an all-time ABA-record crowd of 18,821 fans settled into McNichols Arena to watch the contest, Hubie Brown noted: "This crowd and this game will be a credit to our league. I compliment the people of Denver and their outstanding demonstration of civic pride."
The record crowd saw Kentucky again start hot as they led 42-35 in the 2nd period behind Averitt & van Breda Kolff. David Thompson would score 10 points in the last 5 minutes as Denver outscored Kentucky 22-14 to close the half. Kentucky held a 57-56 lead at the break.
In the second half, Averitt hit a 12-footer that gave the Colonels their last lead, 70-69. Thompson knocked down a 16-foot jumper off a feed from Simpson; 2 of his 15 3rd quarter points. He then hit a spinning drive while being fouled. His free throw gave Denver a 74-70 lead. With Bobby Jones blocking shots, clearing the boards and getting the Nuggets into the break, Thompson unstoppable with 15 points in the quarter, and Ralph Simpson dealing out several of his 14 assists, Denver broke the game open.
Issel & Webster shackled Gilmore in the 2nd half. Gilmore hit a layup with 4:48 left in the 3rd, but would not score again until there was 4:19 left in the game. By that time, Denver would be ahead by 19 points.
A final Colonel run was squelched when Averitt missed a dunk on the break that would have cut the lead to 6 points. Instead, Issel threw down a dunk on the other end to make it a 10 point game and Kentucky would get no closer than 8 the rest of the way. With a 133-110 victory, the Nuggets vanquished the defending-champion Colonels and moved on to face the Nets in the 1976 ABA Finals.
In the decisive Game 7, Dan Issel emerged to hit for 24 points and snare 10 rebounds (all after a relatively low totals in the first six games). Hubie Brown emphasized what he called a "great, great series. I'm happy that if we had to lose that Dan Issel could put together a great game like that. He did an excellent job in the middle." Issel concluded his thoughts on the emotional series by noting that: "I thought it could have been a super year in Kentucky. But things didn't work out that way. I'm very thankful it's me going to the championship series."
On his part, Nuggets boss Larry Brown summarized things: "I'd like to think our team deserves what happened tonight. I've been in this league all nine years and this is as competitive a series as I've seen."
Lost ABA Playoff Series: 1976 Nuggets vs. Colonels
www.remembertheaba.com
Denver New York ABA Championship:
Game 1 of the ABA Finals was a tense, back-and-forth affair. The notoriously raucous Denver fans vibrated Big Mac with noise every time Thompson or Simpson would drive the lane, as if they expected something big to happen every moment. Conversely, the best player on the floor and arguably the basketball world, Dr. J, amazed the partisan Nuggets crowd with a scoring explosion, keeping the Nets in the game by sheer will.
For all the accolades that Game 6 gets in the annals of misty-eyed ABA remembrances, it is Game 1 that should be lifted up. Dr. J finished with 45 points and scored 18 in the fourth quarter. Tied at 118 with almost no time on the clock, Erving made a long two from the corner to beat the Nuggets with the clock showing zeroes, and he did so with Bobby Jones on him like a rented suit. Erving took over, and over the course of the subsequent six games cemented his legacy as the greatest ABA player; 19,000 fans were crestfallen.
“We lost Game 1; we had home court advantage, and Julius had 18 points in the fourth quarter,” Issel recalls. “That was going against Bobby Jones, who was arguably the best defensive forward in basketball at the time.”
What should be really memorable for Nuggets fans, however, is the tremendous fan response in the following game. In Game 2, the Nuggets bounced back and beat the Nets 127-121. The Nuggets had four players score 24 or 25 points and overcame a ridiculous 48 points from Dr. J. Scheer managed to squeeze in roughly 100 more fans than Game 1 into Big Mac before the fire marshall put a stop to it. The fans in Denver showed up better than anyone in ABA history for two games in a row.
The Nuggets and Nets were tied at one game apiece as the series shifted back to New York. While the Nuggets remained confident, the loss of home-court advantage loomed large as the Nuggets dropped games three and four in close affairs in New York. Thompson and Issel led the way in scoring both games, but Erving was dominant at home. The Nuggets would pull close but couldn’t quite get over the hump with the Nets pulling away down the stretch in both games.
The series returned to Denver in a must-win game for the Nuggets. The fans responded again by packing nearly 19,000 into McNichols as the Nuggets faced a do-or-die challenge down 3-1 in their series. Behind a 42-point third-quarter explosion, the Nuggets coasted to a 118-110 victory, sending the series back to New York for what became the most iconic game in the ABA’s nine-year history.
Coming out of Game 5, Thompson was facing criticism for what some regarded as a poor showing in the playoffs. While Thompson had his “Skywalker” moments, they weren’t as consistent as they’d been in the regular season; the Nuggets’ rookie ABA All-Star guard was struggling against the physical defense of Nets All-Star John Williamson. He hadn’t lost the confidence of their other star player Issel, however, who recalled: “Not only was David athletic, but he was a great basketball player without that athleticism. He didn’t have to get to the rim and dunk to score. He could score in any number of ways.”
Entering Game 6, Thompson had really yet to show the explosive potential that amazed the country for the regular season and in college at North Carolina State. This would change after the opening tip in New York, as Thompson would emerge from a series-low 19 points in Game 5 to play the single best game of his playoff career.
Thompson was aggressive, attacking the basket from the start of the game as the Nuggets built a small lead in the first quarter. They began to expand that lead in the second quarter, keeping up the pressure, double-teaming the heretofore unstoppable Erving. The Nets had trouble finding their offensive footing as Thompson and Issel stepped up on the scoring end for the Nuggets. The Nuggets’ most consistent offensive player in the series, Simpson, couldn’t get on track.
With two minutes remaining in the third quarter, on the backs of Issel (who finished with 30 points and 20 rebounds) and Thompson, the Nuggets built a 22-point lead at 80-58. It looked as if the series was headed back to Denver for Game 7
And then the roof caved in.
The Nets switched Erving on Thompson, allowing Williamson and others to freelance, essentially shutting down the rookie in the fourth quarter. Erving (who “only” scored 31 points in Game 6) eventually exploited the Nuggets on defense with his superstar patience, taking the first-half double-teams and turning them into points for his teammates.
According to Issel, the officials also let the Nets get away with increased physical play: “What I remember the most about Game 6 was how physical it was. John Williamson just started beating people up and the officials let him get away with it.”
The physical play and Dr. J’s decision to act as facilitator opened up Williamson to score 28 points, most of them in the fourth quarter. The Nets swallowed up the Nuggets in the fourth and catapulted themselves into basketball lore by defeating Denver 112-106 in the last-ever ABA game.
What a way to go out.”
A few highlights
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