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The Ballgame! State preview w/Vier, Carcich & Mosca · NorthJerseySports.com

• 0:08
  Back on the Ball Game, North Jersey sports.com original
• 0:13
  multimedia series talking all things hoops across North Jersey
• 0:18
  and you guessed it, it's a snow day.
• 0:20
  I am Corey Doviak, being joined by the assistant coach at the
• 0:25
  Fighting Felicians who are having one heck of a year.
• 0:29
  He is Brad Forestery. What's going on, Brad?
• 0:32
  What is going on My partner in crime?
• 0:34
  CD The Powell Park legend. The opposite of a legend.
• 0:39
  But Powell Park is fine, all right?
• 0:42
  Yeah, No, it's great. I listen, I I had a chance to
• 0:46
  get back to the old neighborhood the other day.
• 0:48
  Wrote the story on Chris Kasparian, who we talked about
• 0:51
  last week. So a success story out of Powell
• 0:54
  Park. The all time leading points
• 0:57
  getter in Powell Park boys basketball.
• 0:59
  So good, dude there. All right, Brad, so we got a
• 1:02
  zillion things to talk about. Let's just set up the show.
• 1:05
  We. This is the state tournament
• 1:06
  preview show. We're gonna have three different
• 1:08
  coaches on starting with Ramapo's Nick Veer.
• 1:11
  The Raiders are the sixth time defending N One Group 3 state
• 1:16
  sectional champions and they will open defense of their
• 1:19
  title. What is it on Wednesday against
• 1:23
  Morris Knowles. So we will talk to him about
• 1:25
  that. We're going to have Rob
• 1:27
  Carsichon. He is the head coach of the
• 1:29
  third seeded Westwood Cardinals in North One Group 2.
• 1:33
  They will host Leonia in the opening round.
• 1:35
  And we will finish up with Perrin Moska, the head coach at
• 1:39
  Lynnhurst, whose team is the number two seed.
• 1:42
  And as you'll hear in the interview, he fills us in
• 1:45
  Lyndhurst having really what amounts to one of the best
• 1:48
  seasons in their boys basketball history, at least in
• 1:50
  contemporary times. Since I've been around like, you
• 1:53
  know, since the early 90s or late 80s even as it were.
• 1:57
  So we get we got some good guys coming on the show here tonight.
• 2:01
  Yeah, really excited about the, you know, the three coaches we
• 2:04
  have going on covering, you know, covering different groups,
• 2:08
  different sections, you know, and, and just, you know,
• 2:11
  successful programs, you know, and it's good to talk to some of
• 2:13
  these guys to now that we're kind of getting to the, you
• 2:16
  know, the surviving advance time of the year.
• 2:19
  So yeah, we're looking forward to to to topping it up with
• 2:21
  these guys. Yeah, it's gonna be gonna be
• 2:24
  really fun show. Yes, let's tie up some loose
• 2:27
  ends, though that happened over the past week.
• 2:30
  The Jambo is over and we, you know, we'll spend little time on
• 2:34
  it because we've spent A, A, we've spent so much time on it
• 2:38
  over the last month or so. And B, for as great as it was,
• 2:42
  the round of 16, the quarter finals kind of ended in, you
• 2:45
  know, you know, not bad fashion, but it kind of finished the way
• 2:49
  we thought it would. The Aiden Goldschneider injury
• 2:52
  for Tenafly in the semi finals kind of took a little bit of air
• 2:55
  out of that round and Bergen Catholic was too good for
• 2:59
  Teaneck. And then Saint Mary, which was a
• 3:01
  great story, making its first ever trip to the Bergen County
• 3:04
  Jamboree final on Friday night. But again, Bergen Catholic too
• 3:08
  good and went up early, stayed up and, you know, stretched it
• 3:12
  out as the game wore on. So Bergen Catholic won its 13th
• 3:16
  Jamboree title, which I believe ties it for the most all time.
• 3:19
  And this was Bergen's year, Brad.
• 3:22
  Yeah, yeah. And and I'm sure, well, you
• 3:25
  might even touch on that a little bit with Nick Beer.
• 3:26
  You know, I'm sure he's got one or two titles as well with the
• 3:29
  Jamboree, Yeah. But yeah, it's just.
• 3:32
  You know, there's just too many weapons there.
• 3:35
  And then, you know, you know, unfortunately, you know, we, you
• 3:39
  know, I would love to see almost like a almost like a sanctioned
• 3:43
  county tournament where we got the parochials in one and the
• 3:46
  public in another because, yeah, it's almost, it's almost too
• 3:51
  unfair, you know, and I'm not knocking Bergen, you know, good
• 3:54
  for you guys, you know, and they can compete on a national scale
• 3:56
  if they wish. But yeah, I mean, it's just,
• 4:02
  yeah, yeah. It's not some of the, some of
• 4:05
  the, it's just take some of the pizzazz out of it.
• 4:07
  Yeah, take some of the flair out of the comedy tournament, you
• 4:09
  know? Well, you know, but it's it's
• 4:12
  it's everywhere though, too. And, and again, like you said,
• 4:15
  take nothing away from Bergen. The they're playing by the
• 4:18
  rules. So this is not a bash, Bergen.
• 4:20
  Oh yeah. Yeah, no, there's nothing.
• 4:23
  It's just there's Liz. You know what, when you're when
• 4:25
  you, when you start, I mean, listen and, and basketball, you
• 4:28
  know, when you're, if you have ideations of being a college
• 4:30
  basketball player at the highest level, you possibly can go, you
• 4:34
  want to go to the team that's that's successful and that like
• 4:37
  it's going to give you the best opportunity to try and, you
• 4:39
  know, accomplish those goals for yourself.
• 4:42
  And, and, and Billy Armstrong is doing that over there.
• 4:44
  You know, he's, he's putting guys at the next level.
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  They're good, they're competitive, they win, he
• 4:50
  coaches them well, you know, so, you know, it's, it's no knock on
• 4:53
  on that. You know, kids just want to go,
• 4:55
  you know, test, you know, test out the borders and, and if
• 4:59
  they're good enough and they're going to play and if you know,
• 5:01
  then they're not, then it is what it is.
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  But you know, he's doing it the right way.
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  And, and, and it shows, yes, you know, it's just a little, it's
• 5:08
  just a little unfair for everybody else.
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  That's it. The other side of it, you know,
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  there is another side of the coin and that's the fact.
• 5:13
  If you look at the Bergen County, at all the levels of the
• 5:17
  Bergen County tournament this year, I mean, Burton Catholic
• 5:19
  won the Jambo, the varsity tournament, Burton Catholic won
• 5:22
  the JD tournament and Burton Catholic won the freshman
• 5:25
  tournament. So I mean a real stranglehold on
• 5:27
  Burton County basketball. Now listen, everything goes in
• 5:30
  cycles and and you know, it's cyclical and they'll be ups and
• 5:33
  downs. It wasn't so long ago that Bosco
• 5:35
  was dominating or Saint Joe's has had great teams and so
• 5:39
  whatever it is, but this is, you know, go back to Teaneck, those
• 5:42
  type of things. But at this point in time, I
• 5:44
  mean, Burton Catholic has really put a stranglehold on Bergen
• 5:47
  County basketball. And the only place to go for a
• 5:49
  reprieve was the BIT final that I was at on Saturday.
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  And what a great day of basketball I had on Saturday.
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  I covered the Bergen County girls basketball final, which
• 5:59
  was two public school teams, Ramapo and and demarest demarest
• 6:04
  won its first ever Bergen County girls basketball championship,
• 6:08
  so that was. Cool.
• 6:09
  OK, Vikings. OK, Vikings this season.
• 6:11
  See there you could tell you are a not a girls basketball
• 6:15
  aficionado because they are not the Norse.
• 6:18
  Well, it's also this really, if you think about it, the
• 6:21
  stupidest mascot in the world because it's a picture of a
• 6:23
  Norseman and it's a girls basketball team.
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  So it's a little all out of whack.
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  But that game was at Padstag Valley High School.
• 6:31
  Then I got in the car and drove over to Saint Joe's Saint Joseph
• 6:34
  Regional High School in Montville and I saw what was one
• 6:38
  of the most fun games that I've covered this year, which was
• 6:41
  Richfield Park against Ramsey. And the story is on North Jersey
• 6:45
  sports.com. You can check it out there some
• 6:47
  some quotes and and everything else.
• 6:49
  But it that has become really the de facto, you know, like
• 6:53
  public school championship now you know Nick Veer, who we'll
• 6:56
  talk to shortly. He's had teams they made the the
• 6:59
  year that Dylan Harper was a senior and and Peyton Seals for
• 7:02
  for Don Bosco and Peyton Seals was a senior for him.
• 7:06
  Ramapo beat Burton Catholic in the semi finals and lost to
• 7:10
  maybe the great one of the greatest players, arguably the
• 7:12
  greatest player in the history of Bergen County basketball and
• 7:15
  Dylan Harper and that Bosco team.
• 7:18
  So, you know, it's not like public school can't get to the
• 7:21
  final, but it comes, you know, even for as good as that Ramapo
• 7:25
  team was, they weren't able to compete with that down Bosco
• 7:29
  team. So, you know, one of the best
• 7:31
  Rambo teams against one of the best down Bosco teams down Bosco
• 7:34
  by plenty. Anyway, there are a couple teams
• 7:37
  that can compete at that level in the public schools.
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  But when you're talking about group ones and group twos, like
• 7:41
  Richfield Park is a Group 2, you know, traditional public school.
• 7:46
  And I talked to Chris Gaskin after the game, and he was
• 7:49
  emotional. Like, that was a huge win for
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  Richfield Park, which still brings a fan section, which has
• 7:57
  a great fan section at home, which gets great community
• 8:00
  support. And they've just been waiting
• 8:01
  for this opportunity where they could go win something.
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  And it's the first ever Bergen County title of any kind in the
• 8:09
  history of Richfield Park boys basketball.
• 8:11
  That's. Yeah.
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  And I half off, half off to the Scarlets.
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  I mean, I, I just, I enjoy, I enjoy that like, and, and I've
• 8:18
  known Chris for a long time, not longer than you.
• 8:22
  Right. But yeah, like older than me
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  the. Implement the implementation of
• 8:27
  that BIT. And I've heard people look at it
• 8:30
  and be like, that's like the NIT, except, you know, the
• 8:34
  people who can't cut it in the Jamboree go yeah, call it what
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  you want, call it what you want, but it, it gives the smaller
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  schools and and, you know, I, I think the best, I think the
• 8:46
  best, you know, the best schools in Bergen County outside of, you
• 8:51
  know, the Procos for the Procos year in and year out can be very
• 8:54
  good. And, and, and it changes the
• 8:56
  the, the playing surfaces a little bit because of the, the
• 8:59
  talent that they can get from. But yeah, I mean, you know, that
• 9:03
  means a lot. You know, like I said, it's the
• 9:05
  first Burton County title in Ridgefield Park.
• 9:08
  You know, as a group to a school, you're not going to see
• 9:10
  many of them. Yep.
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  And he's had very good players, you know, along the way.
• 9:13
  And then, you know, Yeah. You know, Yeah.
• 9:15
  You know, it's a very tough mountain to climb with the state
• 9:18
  tournament. Right.
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  And every year, you know, that's the goal with those, you know,
• 9:21
  four games. But, you know, to win this
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  tournament and it'll be a very good Ramsey team.
• 9:25
  Yeah. You gotta you gotta.
• 9:27
  Yeah, it's definitely emotional. And.
• 9:29
  And it's good. It's cool to see that that guy
• 9:31
  still get emotional with accomplishments.
• 9:35
  That's what this that's what it's all about.
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  Yeah, I mean, the kids were emotional.
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  The kids were pumped. The gym, that's the other thing
• 9:40
  about it. Like the gym was packed.
• 9:42
  And you know, the one thing I was talking to Mike Mayer, who
• 9:46
  helps run all those tournaments, He's the Waldwick athletic
• 9:49
  director and he does a great job.
• 9:50
  You know, this the BIT tournament was Joe Del Bueno,
• 9:53
  the former Rambo head coach. It was his brainchild because,
• 9:56
  you know, they're just, he was just trying to get teams games,
• 9:59
  you know, good games. And it's turned into this, this
• 10:01
  is the 16th year of the tournament.
• 10:03
  And it's it, it's run so well. Like this year, they brought
• 10:07
  back as many coaches that could make it who have won the
• 10:10
  tournament over the past 15 years, you know what I mean?
• 10:12
  So they're like already recognizing their own history
• 10:15
  and then seeing the way the tournament has grown and you
• 10:18
  know, it, it really is a great double header.
• 10:21
  Well, it's four games actually in a row because they played the
• 10:24
  Challenge Cup, which Pascack Hills won this year.
• 10:27
  Then they played the JV final, then they played the BIT final
• 10:31
  and then the overlap to the freshman final, which brings a
• 10:34
  lot of fans. And by the end, you know, by
• 10:37
  halftime of Richfield Park Ramsey, you had a full house at
• 10:41
  Saint Joe's. And then you had some neutrals
• 10:42
  watching the game, getting involved.
• 10:43
  You know, there was just it was great.
• 10:45
  And like you said, a very good Ramsey team.
• 10:47
  And I'll tell you, Julian Quinerly was fun to watch the
• 10:50
  point guard for the Rams, just, you know, great ball handler,
• 10:54
  smart with the ball, great passer, both teams.
• 10:57
  Yeah, runs in the family. Runs in the family for sure.
• 11:00
  Yes, it is a. Favorite thing and, and let me,
• 11:03
  let me ask you this and I, I, I don't, I didn't do too much
• 11:05
  research about the BIT and I know you know more about it than
• 11:08
  I do, but like, have they have they changed a lot of like how
• 11:13
  like so like call, call for what it is.
• 11:17
  I remember when the gym when I was in high school, the Jamboree
• 11:19
  was the best 16 teams in the county at a 750.
• 11:22
  What a percentage it was either you're in or you're out.
• 11:25
  You know, I don't. The BIT has probably been the
• 11:28
  same, you know, qualifications or the same format the whole way
• 11:32
  through, right? Yes.
• 11:34
  Well, it it no, it has actually changed since the beginning
• 11:36
  because at the time when the BIT started, the Jambo was still
• 11:41
  taking only 16 teams. So the BIT took the next however
• 11:46
  many they put in their brackets. And one of the, well, Joe Del
• 11:50
  Bueno, very creative, the whole thing.
• 11:51
  Like he named them the the regions.
• 11:54
  There was the mall region, the mountain region, the monument
• 11:57
  region, the meadowland. Yeah, I like that.
• 11:59
  Yeah, I like that. Yeah.
• 12:01
  So cool geography. And and I actually gave him the
• 12:04
  idea to use the red, white and blue basketball like the old
• 12:07
  ABA. And I think they did it one
• 12:10
  year. But Al Coleman put the kibosh on
• 12:12
  it from Basque Valley. He's like, I'm not playing with
• 12:14
  these balls. So they haven't gone back to it
• 12:16
  since, but I, I just think, you know, delineate them to make to
• 12:20
  differentiate the BIT from the Jambo.
• 12:22
  But so anyway, to answer your question, how it changed when
• 12:26
  the Jambo started taking 24 teams, what they did is now the
• 12:29
  first round losers from the Jamboree drop down into the BIT.
• 12:33
  So cool thing about the BIT is they guarantee you 2 games.
• 12:37
  Even if you lose in the first round, you get to play 2.
• 12:40
  So that's, you know, 2 PowerPoint games that are big
• 12:44
  for state tournament seeding and everything else.
• 12:46
  And then, you know, a team like Richfield Park, they having a
• 12:49
  great season. They only had two losses when
• 12:51
  they were seeded in the Jambo. They had a tough one in the
• 12:54
  opening round against Riverdale. Then they dropped down to the
• 12:56
  BIT and then you can say like, OK boys, let's go.
• 13:00
  And they obviously took it seriously.
• 13:02
  They loved being there. And it really has provided A
• 13:05
  secondary, a real secondary tournament, a legitimate
• 13:09
  tournament to which is something to play for in Bergen County and
• 13:12
  this Challenger Cup now, too, which is the teams that don't
• 13:15
  make the BIT play in it too. And they're playing like, you
• 13:19
  know, teams that are having their types and maybe not the
• 13:21
  greatest seasons in the world, but they're playing somebody
• 13:24
  different. They're playing for something.
• 13:25
  And this year's pack, this year, pass guy kills, wins.
• 13:27
  And they'll go into the state tournament as the number 15, say
• 13:30
  north on Group 2. They'll have a little
• 13:31
  confidence, like, hey, we won something.
• 13:33
  Yeah, well, that's definitely playing with confidence.
• 13:35
  Yeah, I, I, I like it. And you know, and they used to,
• 13:39
  you know, it used to suck when you're like, if you didn't get
• 13:41
  into the Jamboree, that was it back in the day.
• 13:43
  And it's like, man, we're having a really good year.
• 13:45
  But like we did like we're not getting, like we're not getting
• 13:48
  enough to play with these teams. And so I'm glad that that things
• 13:50
  have changed over the years and they, and they've increased the,
• 13:53
  the Jamboree. I think the, the BI team is also
• 13:56
  really cool because it gives those teams who are having
• 14:00
  really good years and opportunity to, to compete
• 14:03
  against each other and give them something, you know, some more
• 14:06
  confidence and something to go into, you know, preparing for
• 14:08
  the state tournament and, and you know, that's what it's
• 14:11
  about. You know, I, I think, you know,
• 14:13
  I, I think, you know, especially from a, a North Jersey and a
• 14:16
  Bergen County standpoint where you're trying to get as many
• 14:19
  teams to be successful as possible and, and given an
• 14:22
  opportunity to, to play extra games without, you know, having
• 14:26
  to count towards your season, right.
• 14:28
  With this amount of slated games, you get definitely helps
• 14:31
  about preparing these guys for the state tournament.
• 14:33
  And you know, you want, you want to try and produce as many
• 14:36
  champions as possible, right? You know, we, we really Bergen
• 14:39
  County kind of touches on realistically 8 brackets, right?
• 14:42
  N 1 and N two across four groups, you know, and then
• 14:45
  you've got the pro fields. So I mean, it's a really good
• 14:48
  job, you know, for them to maximize, maximize the season,
• 14:52
  maximizing the guys ability to to play games and even even from
• 14:56
  a recruiting standpoint, right, from a college standpoint,
• 14:58
  right? If you're, you know, a kid
• 14:59
  that's, you know, looking to play at the next level, you
• 15:02
  know, the more games you play, more opportunity that could just
• 15:05
  have a chance to see you. So yeah, I mean, it's it's it's
• 15:08
  it's good all the way around. You know what else is nice too
• 15:11
  is that the guys who run those tournaments are also very
• 15:13
  welcoming to the local media. They seem to appreciate when you
• 15:15
  show up, yes, which is a, you know, sometimes it's a nice
• 15:20
  change of pace too. Anyway, we're not here to talk
• 15:23
  about the VIT any longer. We are going to switch speeds
• 15:27
  now and move on to the state tournament preview that we
• 15:31
  started with the last episode. But let's move switch gears.
• 15:34
  Let's welcome in our first guest of the evening.
• 15:38
  He is the head coach of the sixth time defending state
• 15:41
  sectional champion Ramapo Raiders.
• 15:44
  He is Nick Veer coach. Thanks for joining us.
• 15:47
  He here on the ball game. Excited to be on.
• 15:50
  Thank you guys for having me and listening.
• 15:52
  Been a big fan so I'm excited to chop it up with you guys.
• 15:55
  That is awesome. Yeah.
• 15:57
  And here we are. It's state playoff time and
• 16:00
  usually this is where Ramapo does its best work, especially,
• 16:04
  you know, specifically under your leadership the last few
• 16:07
  years. So 6 times Ramapo has won N one
• 16:11
  group three in a row. I was there last year in the
• 16:13
  most recent addition when you went on the road and knocked off
• 16:16
  Demarest. A little bit different this time
• 16:19
  around the 11 seed. I don't know how you feeling
• 16:22
  going in this year. You know, it's it's always the
• 16:25
  same opportunity. So you know how you feeling
• 16:28
  going to the state playoffs this year.
• 16:30
  We are actually the 6th. Seed.
• 16:33
  Is that what I said or no? Yes, you host Morris Knowles.
• 16:40
  My bad. First mistake of the day.
• 16:42
  Many more to follow. No, no worries.
• 16:45
  Last year we were the seventh seed coming in, so we feel
• 16:48
  pretty good about the six seed. No, in all seriousness, I, I,
• 16:52
  you know, at this time of year, we're playing our best
• 16:54
  basketball. So I feel pretty good about
• 16:56
  going into the tournament at this point.
• 16:59
  You know, group three, I think is, is stacked, but also teams
• 17:02
  can beat each other on any given night.
• 17:04
  So I feel good about where we are.
• 17:07
  Do you think Morris Knowles wants a piece of you?
• 17:11
  I think everyone wants a piece of us, but yeah, I'm sure they
• 17:15
  did. We had a great match up last
• 17:16
  year in the first round that was an overtime thriller where we
• 17:20
  needed a Charlie Wingfield put back at the buzzer of regulation
• 17:24
  to force overtime and give us that chance.
• 17:26
  So, you know, expecting another battle.
• 17:30
  Yeah, always, I mean N one Group 3.
• 17:33
  I I wish I had the time that I should have probably gone back
• 17:36
  to bracket by bracket and see the last time that like seeds
• 17:39
  123 and 4 played in the semi finals of North one Group 3.
• 17:42
  I mean, it's a meat grinder every year.
• 17:44
  There's no bad teams in the entire bracket.
• 17:46
  So it's, it's, it's up for grabs any, every year, which makes it,
• 17:50
  you know, just about more impressive with what you've been
• 17:54
  able to do over the last few years because, you know, like
• 17:58
  you said last year, you were the seven and you won it and you got
• 18:01
  another shot this year. Why don't we talk about, you
• 18:04
  know, you mentioned Charlie Wingfield.
• 18:05
  He's now a £250 tight end. I saw his brothers at a
• 18:09
  basketball game earlier this season.
• 18:11
  I got the update on Charlie at Wake Forest.
• 18:15
  So it's a different kind of squad this time around.
• 18:17
  And you know, I know you had some youth last year.
• 18:20
  You had some very important seniors behind Charlie when, you
• 18:22
  know, beside Charlie Wingfield. Maybe give us a state of the
• 18:26
  Green Raiders heading into the postseason.
• 18:30
  So yeah, we did graduate a great class again last year, led by
• 18:33
  Charlie Wingfield and Ryan Goldman, Peter Keith, among
• 18:37
  others. But we also had a couple
• 18:40
  underclassmen in that lineup, including Finn Mara, our junior
• 18:43
  point guard. Now he's a sophomore last year
• 18:45
  and AJ, Greg started and LED our team in scoring as a freshman.
• 18:49
  So now he's back as a sophomore. And so those guys have been
• 18:53
  leading the charge for us. But in addition to those two, we
• 18:57
  have Michael Moody, who's senior who's been shooting it great for
• 19:01
  us. He's he's got close to 70 threes
• 19:04
  on the season and they were complimented by a mix of
• 19:08
  underclass and seniors guys that have been really stepping up and
• 19:12
  playing well. So, and, and we've been playing
• 19:15
  our best basketball as of late. You know, we came into the
• 19:19
  season, I think we were fighting 7 through the 1st 12:00 and then
• 19:21
  we finished up 11 and three over the last 14.
• 19:25
  Didn't do great the first time through our league and then came
• 19:28
  back and, and got most of those games back.
• 19:30
  So feel pretty good about where we are and the trend that we're,
• 19:35
  you know, exactly we were on. But as you know, I it's just one
• 19:39
  game at a time do or die now. So it's all about the next one.
• 19:44
  No doubt. Go ahead, Brad.
• 19:45
  Yeah, you know, the, you know, the ability to reload is is
• 19:49
  always is always good, man. It's always good to see that
• 19:52
  Brown Post have established themselves as a as a program
• 19:55
  where, you know, there's not too many kids going out to
• 19:59
  parochials anymore. Yeah, I know, you know, really
• 20:03
  big back in the day, you know, make you're a parochial kid.
• 20:05
  You know, you played with some some talented guys over there at
• 20:08
  Bergen and and you know, it's good to, you know, have a a.
• 20:12
  A buy in, you know, where they know every year, you know, our
• 20:15
  athletics program across the board is going to be
• 20:17
  competitive. So you know, just when you know,
• 20:19
  you would think, oh, Rand Paul's gonna have it down here.
• 20:21
  They graduate all these guys, they went straight times, but
• 20:23
  you guys reload, you know, you know, I think Finn, you know,
• 20:25
  dynamic duo Finn and AJ, you know, power you guys and
• 20:30
  everybody kind of ships in and you guys have such a, you know,
• 20:33
  an intricate offense and everybody buys into the system
• 20:36
  and and you coach, you coach your butt off, man.
• 20:38
  You know, not Samberg. Samberg did a very good job
• 20:42
  before you took it over. And and just, you know, all
• 20:45
  those kids just buy into you know what you you guys have have
• 20:48
  been building there and and it's good to see.
• 20:51
  Yeah, I mean it's listen, Northwind Group 3 is a is a
• 20:54
  grind. I mean from the top to the
• 20:56
  bottom, you know, anybody can anybody could beat anybody.
• 20:59
  Everybody's kind of, you know, been solid all year.
• 21:03
  But yeah, you know, what are you?
• 21:04
  What are you? What are you looking forward to
• 21:06
  most? Yeah, I know everyone wants to
• 21:08
  talk about the second game potentially, but I we don't get
• 21:13
  ahead of ourselves. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 21:16
  I'm not going to look past Morris Knowles.
• 21:18
  We're certainly not going to disrespect that.
• 21:20
  They came into like our place, like I said last year and game
• 21:23
  is all we can handle it more so, you know, definitely not looking
• 21:27
  past them. I think Highlands is obviously,
• 21:30
  you know, a great team and they've been they've had our
• 21:32
  number. We we were able to get them the
• 21:34
  last time, but that was minus a very important Pharaoh Dixon for
• 21:38
  their lineup. So I expect if we are able to
• 21:41
  get past more snow, that game to look a lot different at
• 21:44
  Highlands, you know, and then past that, you know, is it can
• 21:50
  be difficult. But Highlands has been, you
• 21:52
  know, a team that's been born in our side for like we've been
• 21:55
  hearing over the last couple of years, it had some great teams.
• 21:58
  And this year has no exception. So that's definitely going to be
• 22:02
  a tough one, yeah. You know what, Nick?
• 22:06
  It's something that we've talked about in the past, something
• 22:08
  I've written about in the past and something that I really
• 22:10
  admire that you do like because like Brad said, you don't lose a
• 22:14
  lot of players to the non publics.
• 22:18
  It's because you you've made the conscious effort to treat your
• 22:21
  program. You know, you play a non public
• 22:23
  schedule. I mean, you're, you're looking
• 22:25
  for, you know, like this year you lose that great class of
• 22:28
  seniors. The year before that you lost an
• 22:30
  all time class of seniors. And every year, instead of
• 22:33
  saying, you know what, we'll take our time and and ease into
• 22:36
  the season and get a couple of early wins, you're like, which
• 22:39
  inner city can we go play at right on New Year's and really
• 22:42
  test ourselves. Like you said, you got also a
• 22:44
  slower start to shoot because, you know, you gave yourself no
• 22:46
  brakes on the schedule on purpose.
• 22:48
  I mean, just talk about how important that is.
• 22:50
  You know, this year's side. I think that has been such an
• 22:54
  important factor, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but
• 22:56
  such an important factor in the building of your program where
• 22:58
  kids want to stay home because they're not missing.
• 23:01
  They're not really missing out on anything.
• 23:03
  You're going to go play the best teams you can in the non
• 23:05
  conference. You're going to have a chance in
• 23:06
  the Jamboree. You're going to have a chance in
• 23:08
  the state tournament. You're going to have a chance to
• 23:09
  win a state title. Yeah, you're totally right.
• 23:13
  You know, I can point to meet myself as an example and Coach
• 23:17
  Stanberg before me. We were two guys that grew up in
• 23:20
  Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff. And what if one Duranto, but
• 23:23
  chose to go the other route, go to parochial And so unable to
• 23:28
  speak to, you know, what the difference was then versus now.
• 23:30
  And you know, how do I come up now?
• 23:32
  I definitely would have gone to Ramapho because we're able to
• 23:35
  play that same competitive schedule.
• 23:36
  But also we we feel like we can compete at that level year in,
• 23:41
  year out. And you know, Ramapho produces a
• 23:44
  bunch of great athletes in this area.
• 23:46
  And so if we're able to just keep those kids home, I feel
• 23:49
  like we can compete and play at that level.
• 23:52
  And, you know, by playing that schedule, like you said, it's
• 23:55
  going to be more attractive to a kid that's weighing his options
• 23:57
  coming in. And so I'll be able to sell him
• 23:59
  on that. And it just prepares us, right?
• 24:02
  Like you've seen, you know, last year going into it as a seven
• 24:05
  seed, I don't think any of our kids fear anyone at that point.
• 24:10
  You know, you know, we've gone through the meat grinder playing
• 24:13
  the who's who and, you know, showing success and sometimes
• 24:16
  knocking those teams off. And so, you know, by the time we
• 24:19
  get to the state tournament, going on the road, playing home,
• 24:23
  doesn't matter really the opponent, I think we're going to
• 24:25
  show up and we're going to play the same way and stay style and
• 24:29
  not really fear anyone. And I think that's important.
• 24:31
  You know, high school kids, you know, they read the the
• 24:34
  headlines and the social media everywhere.
• 24:35
  So, you know, it's easy to get caught up in that stuff.
• 24:38
  But when you've seen it first hand and you've experienced it,
• 24:42
  they give you a different perspective and maybe a
• 24:44
  different confidence. No doubt, Brad, you got another
• 24:47
  one. So, you know, I, I don't, I
• 24:52
  don't want to beat a dead horse because we just talked a lot
• 24:53
  about Jim, but you know, just, I really just want to get your,
• 24:57
  your gauge on the, you know, the, the competitiveness, right?
• 25:04
  Of, of, you know, we, we talked, me and Corey talked about it.
• 25:06
  We, you know, this was like the year of the public school, you
• 25:09
  know, you know, for lack of a word, you guys have been a
• 25:12
  powerhouse as far as the public schools are concerned, right?
• 25:15
  Not just, you know, in Bergen County in North Jersey, but you
• 25:18
  know, along across the state. Really you've turned out guys
• 25:23
  to, you know, Division One, division two programs and very,
• 25:26
  very, very good Division Three programs.
• 25:30
  You know, when you look back at it, you know, what do you, what
• 25:33
  do you think is the difference? You know, that's, you know,
• 25:37
  maintaining, maintaining that status.
• 25:39
  You know what, how do you how do you continue to keep those guys
• 25:42
  here? You obviously you talked about,
• 25:43
  you know, you kind of went to Bergen and you know, you played
• 25:46
  with a lot of great guys. I guess like I said before, but
• 25:49
  you know what, what do you think it is?
• 25:50
  It's just the athletic program overall or do you think, do you
• 25:53
  think it's the, you know, the coaches that that Randppo has
• 25:57
  put in place that that are able to connect with these, with
• 26:00
  these young kids and, and, you know, build this, you know,
• 26:03
  community? I think coaching is extremely
• 26:06
  important and I know there's a lot of coaches listening that
• 26:10
  they take this wrong way, but I still put a ton of value into
• 26:15
  the players game, right? Like coaches are an integral
• 26:18
  part, but players ultimately, you know, they, they play the
• 26:21
  game, they win the game. And so we've been very fortunate
• 26:23
  to have talent and I think we've done a good job.
• 26:27
  I'm very involved at the youth level, I think, and not just
• 26:32
  over the time at Randppo, but for the last 10-15 years.
• 26:35
  And so I've been able to coach a lot of these kids as they come
• 26:38
  up. I like to think that, you know,
• 26:40
  Randall probably still a football school.
• 26:42
  And I don't know if we're ever going to take that reign from
• 26:44
  them or that title from them, but I do think basketball is
• 26:48
  definitely. Of a predominant.
• 26:51
  Sport in our area and I think it starts at the youth level and
• 26:54
  getting those kids involved and you know, just getting an.
• 26:57
  Exposing and exposing the. Process of coming to Rampo.
• 27:01
  So I think that's been a big factor.
• 27:04
  I think we've had some great coaches.
• 27:05
  Obviously I followed Joey Sandberg to Ramp to Burton
• 27:08
  Catholic and then when he got the job at at Rampo, I went and
• 27:12
  with his assistant there. So I followed him again, you
• 27:15
  know, he's left me with the unbelievable class, you know,
• 27:18
  and people want to give me credit.
• 27:21
  That's fine. But let's be real.
• 27:23
  Like I had state and field. Why did I go to man?
• 27:26
  I had all these great players and the players are the ones
• 27:28
  that, you know, because they ultimately win these games.
• 27:31
  And so it it takes great athletes and we've been
• 27:34
  fortunate that, you know, Ramapho has always produced
• 27:37
  this, this district has always produced great athletes.
• 27:39
  It's just a matter of keeping them home and maybe making them
• 27:42
  into more basketball players and making them just more excited
• 27:46
  about basketball at the youth level.
• 27:48
  So by the time they're in high school, maybe they're a little
• 27:50
  bit more developed, a little bit more ready.
• 27:53
  And I think that's been a big advantage for us.
• 27:56
  What was that first class you had when you came in?
• 27:58
  I can't remember. There was 1 senior on that team,
• 28:02
  as in Grant Sloan, and he's a senior now at Stevens plays
• 28:05
  there and then I had 10 sophomores on that team, maybe
• 28:09
  one or two juniors. And that sophomore class was the
• 28:13
  class with Peyton Seals. Wide includes Manor, Chris
• 28:16
  Sorvino, and I surely can't forget we got the addition late.
• 28:21
  Nate Burleson was a junior. Me and Maya.
• 28:24
  Burleson was a sophomore, you know that Charlie was a
• 28:27
  freshman, that that class was a freshman still.
• 28:29
  But that sophomore class, Zach Schnorbush, right?
• 28:32
  Like there's a lot of great players, but then there was a
• 28:35
  bunch of guys that were just absolute dogs and played their
• 28:38
  roles tremendously. You know, Zach is probably the
• 28:41
  greatest example. He might be the best defender
• 28:44
  I've coached. I would say he is, but he didn't
• 28:48
  care about the accolades, didn't care about the offense, just
• 28:50
  went in there and he would shut down opposing team's best
• 28:53
  defenders. So you get kids like that, that
• 28:55
  are football players that are, you know, great basketball
• 28:58
  players as well. And so Reynolds always got a,
• 29:02
  we're not just going to get old basketball players.
• 29:04
  We're going to pick in, you know, from the football and the
• 29:07
  baseball team. And we've had some great
• 29:08
  athletes on those sides. So I think it's the addition of
• 29:12
  those guys and, and just overall we've had just great athletes up
• 29:16
  and down. And that's that's probably the
• 29:17
  biggest thing. And I, and I know you're a big
• 29:20
  opponent of it too, but I mean, I think you guys do, you do a
• 29:22
  very good job of developing these guys too.
• 29:24
  I mean, you know, not for nothing.
• 29:26
  You know, I'm sure CC wasn't the the, you know, the best
• 29:30
  basketball player to walk through the hallway.
• 29:32
  I'm sure on the gridiron and on the baseball diamond or he's
• 29:37
  pretty, he's pretty, pretty good.
• 29:39
  But yeah, like, you know, the the ability to develop these
• 29:42
  guys, right, that they've taken all these guys that are two and
• 29:44
  three sport athletes and and still developing them when it's
• 29:47
  time for basketball season, you know, goes a long way as well.
• 29:50
  So, you know, my hat's off to you with that too, because it's
• 29:53
  tough to, you know, to there's not many.
• 29:55
  We talked about this off the air, man.
• 29:56
  And Corey, you know, there's not many kids these days that are
• 29:59
  that are still playing two or three sports.
• 30:02
  And I think, you know, you do a good job of, you know, welcoming
• 30:06
  those kids to your program and developing them and they all
• 30:09
  become productive. And I think that's what that's a
• 30:12
  little bit feather in your cap that helps you guys, you know,
• 30:14
  continue its dominance. Well, I appreciate you saying
• 30:18
  that. I do think it speaks to
• 30:20
  specifically the last two seasons where you know, we come
• 30:24
  in play decent at the beginning of the season, but you can see
• 30:28
  the progression as the season goes on.
• 30:30
  I think that's just, you know, it's a lot of those two and
• 30:33
  three sport athletes that didn't have a preseason, didn't have
• 30:37
  the offseason to to work on their games.
• 30:39
  And so it'll take maybe a little time to get them acclimated and
• 30:43
  playing at the highest level. And you know, that's again, been
• 30:46
  something that we've really tried to do by scheduling these
• 30:49
  tough opponents, especially early when the showcase is
• 30:52
  typically are. So by the time you get into a
• 30:54
  lead play, you can start to figure out who you are and then
• 30:58
  by the end of the season, hopefully you know, like this
• 31:01
  last couple of seasons I feel like we've progressed and gotten
• 31:04
  better. So that's, you know, I think
• 31:06
  that speaks to, you know, having those other non basketball.
• 31:09
  Players. Multi sport athletes just
• 31:11
  getting acclimated and I do have a great staff.
• 31:14
  You know, I don't want to I do want to give them credit.
• 31:18
  Aidan Cole. So to ring who is, you know,
• 31:21
  legend, his own right, and then you know.
• 31:25
  I bought I. Took over a program that was in
• 31:28
  a great place. I didn't take over a program
• 31:30
  that need to be rebuilt. Coach Stanberg had laid the the
• 31:33
  foundation and I do a lot of the same things that he does.
• 31:37
  You know, we focus on defenses that are, you know, that's been
• 31:41
  what we really lay our hat on. And I think defense obviously
• 31:44
  travels. And so if you could have a great
• 31:46
  defense, I feel like you can continue at the high high school
• 31:48
  level always and then get the addition of some good offensive
• 31:52
  players and with you all in the top.
• 31:55
  So yeah, I feel like if you look at the development at least, I
• 31:59
  do feel good about how we've done at the program and the
• 32:02
  coaching staff and especially over these last two years and
• 32:05
  getting our teams ready and get towards the end of the season.
• 32:09
  Yeah, we were talking about it last week, Brad.
• 32:11
  I was another round poke kid Grace Saxton, because I had just
• 32:13
  covered the semi finals of the girls basketball tournament last
• 32:16
  weekend and we were talking about how, you know, basketball
• 32:19
  is probably her third sport. I mean, she's going to go to
• 32:22
  Upenn to play soccer. She's a first team all county
• 32:25
  player in softball and then, you know, she's a rebounder and
• 32:31
  inside player in in girls basketball.
• 32:33
  And it's very, you know, similar to Charlie Wingfield, who was,
• 32:38
  you know, Division One football recruit, a first team all county
• 32:41
  pitcher hitter in baseball. And his third sport was probably
• 32:44
  basketball and he had a huge impact there too.
• 32:46
  So I, I think, you know, just looking at those kids and they
• 32:51
  should be the example for the other kids.
• 32:53
  I mean, I I don't know if we if this was off the air on the air
• 32:56
  when Brad and I were talking about it last week, but if I
• 32:59
  said it, I'll say it again. But Dave Estevez at Riverdale,
• 33:02
  who was who had a great career, he played in the nest CAC in
• 33:05
  football and you know, Riverdale quarterback, great shortstop,
• 33:10
  first team, all county shortstop, but his third sport
• 33:12
  was basketball and he would go out and set picks and play
• 33:14
  defense. And those are the, you know, you
• 33:17
  get that like bonus athlete that can take a team right, Nick,
• 33:21
  from, you know, eighteen wins to 2223 wins in a sectional
• 33:25
  championship. I mean, it can make that much of
• 33:27
  a difference. No doubt about it.
• 33:30
  I couldn't agree more. You know, we don't have Charlie
• 33:33
  Wingfield and like you said is the third third sport is is
• 33:37
  probably basketball, definitely basketball.
• 33:39
  But he's a second team all county and averaged a double
• 33:42
  double. You know, if I don't have him,
• 33:44
  we don't do what we did last year, you know, and he was a big
• 33:48
  part. You started since his sophomore
• 33:49
  year. So is a big part of all of those
• 33:52
  teams. And you know, I can point to
• 33:55
  those kids as I have a couple of kids, for example, that are
• 33:58
  going to be freshman next year that they want to play
• 34:00
  basketball and they also want to play football or they also want
• 34:03
  to play baseball. And it helps that we have really
• 34:06
  strong baseball and football and other sport programs so they can
• 34:09
  come here and play all those sports at a high level.
• 34:13
  And I can point to those kids and say, look like you guys are
• 34:15
  examples of multi sport athletes that have been successful in all
• 34:19
  of their sports and now they're on to the college level and
• 34:22
  having success there. So it definitely helps to have
• 34:25
  players like that lead as example, Casey Hunt comes to
• 34:29
  mind and so many more. Yeah, Hi.
• 34:32
  Let me get, I, I just want to get to the really important
• 34:35
  topic that we have to talk about here.
• 34:38
  Saturday, February 21st, Vermont countermounts 70, NJIT 64.
• 34:44
  Nick, we're going to get over the line this year in the
• 34:45
  America East. I mean, it's been a little.
• 34:47
  Bit of a struggle. For your, your alma mater and my
• 34:49
  favorite team A. Little bit of a strut.
• 34:51
  Wow, they are. I just saw a stat last night,
• 34:54
  the coach tracker. I think he was going 10 or 15
• 34:58
  straight seasons with 10 or more Americans, so I think they're
• 35:02
  doing OK. I know NGRT is having a good
• 35:05
  season, so that's a great win. It would be nice to see them
• 35:09
  dancing again, but can't ever count out the catamounts.
• 35:13
  Got out to see them play. Boyd, Peyton Fields and
• 35:16
  Princeton over the holiday break.
• 35:19
  That was a great game when Princeton knocked them off.
• 35:21
  But yeah, I think Catamounts, Catamounts are looking all right
• 35:25
  right now. You never doubt that when it
• 35:26
  comes to this time of year. The portal is killing the
• 35:28
  America East, though. I mean, it's just, you know,
• 35:31
  it's a similar story in a lot of conferences, but you know, you
• 35:34
  see a freshman come into the America East and you don't even
• 35:36
  want him to play well because you know, it'll be gone the next
• 35:38
  year. It's true, It's true, yeah.
• 35:42
  Unfortunately, you know, those those leagues at the, you know,
• 35:46
  bottom end of the Division One, they're probably feeling it the
• 35:49
  most through the portal, but the product in the floor is still
• 35:53
  very high level. So they're also benefiting, but
• 35:57
  I just don't know what it means in the long term.
• 35:59
  All right, now the two questions sent in by our friend of the
• 36:03
  pod, the assistant coach at Richfield Park.
• 36:09
  Brad, I, I don't know, we, I got, we'll use the two that we
• 36:12
  used last week too. I, I love the bench, you know,
• 36:17
  the start bench cut, but it puts the coaches in.
• 36:20
  I don't want to make them choose between foreign players.
• 36:23
  So we'll go with here's the first one, Nick, the best
• 36:26
  player, best basketball player you have ever coached.
• 36:31
  Payton Fields. That's an easy one.
• 36:33
  I mean, Gee, you know you. Literally give them a layup.
• 36:37
  That's a layup to start. Showing the guys you get fired.
• 36:41
  That's it. We need we need bench cuts.
• 36:43
  All right, All right, here's here's a little one with some
• 36:46
  more nuance. The player you would bring back
• 36:49
  if you could, to help this year's playoff run, Whether it
• 36:53
  be probably the same answer. Yeah, probably the same answer.
• 36:59
  You know, the first guy that changed my mind was Neil Quinn.
• 37:03
  OK, because he's black and. Inside also not fair.
• 37:07
  Yeah, true. Wow.
• 37:09
  I mean, he was a pretty good player and has just gotten light
• 37:12
  years better since he's been around both.
• 37:14
  To his credit, the kid continues to suck his butt off and he's
• 37:18
  now playing professionally in the second league over France
• 37:21
  and so he's feeling awesome. But I wouldn't mind having a 7
• 37:24
  footer down there to get some of those rebounds and play that
• 37:28
  role for us. But it'd be hard to go against
• 37:30
  pain fields. Yeah, it really goes down the
• 37:33
  list. It's going to come back to pain.
• 37:34
  I was. Saying But the good thing is
• 37:36
  these guys and these guys still come around.
• 37:38
  You know, Neil, Neil has been in our gym plenty of times in the
• 37:40
  offseason. He works out with our guys and
• 37:42
  and you know, I'm sure, I'm sure P will find his way at some
• 37:46
  point to a Felician open run. But yeah, I, I mean, yeah, it
• 37:51
  always helps to have a 69610 kit down there that that just
• 37:54
  dominates. And honestly, like, that's
• 37:57
  probably my, my biggest joy in coaching is, you know, during
• 38:01
  the Christmas breaks or spring, summer or whatever, all these
• 38:03
  guys are back in the gym. They come back.
• 38:05
  They love to be, you know, at practice, at games, at camp,
• 38:09
  whatever they can do. And so they've been mentors to
• 38:12
  our current players and that's another way of, you know,
• 38:16
  getting these 8th graders and kids that are considering Rampo,
• 38:20
  you know, get in contact with these guys and they're happy to
• 38:22
  speak to these guys. They're just great people first
• 38:25
  and foremost. And so that's been a huge part.
• 38:29
  Awesome. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna
• 38:30
  leave it with this. I'm gonna leave it with this
• 38:31
  because, you know, obviously kind of curious since, you know,
• 38:34
  since you guys are Vermont guys and I'm I'm probably in full
• 38:38
  schedule. See what they're doing 1811
• 38:40
  right solid. And then I look at their first
• 38:41
  two games, these exhibition games, Saint Mike, Saint
• 38:45
  Michael's of the NE 10, right, D2 right, lost 7974, same age,
• 38:53
  win 80 to 70, win 80 to 78 against same age, right.
• 38:57
  So 2NE10 schools. And I'm just speaking with this
• 39:01
  St. Mike's, we didn't play this
• 39:03
  year. We probably we might have an
• 39:04
  opportunity to see them in the NCAA tournament, same age.
• 39:07
  We beat them by 14 at home, so I'm just going to say if if
• 39:14
  Vermont wants to make a trip down here, we would welcome
• 39:16
  them. I don't know if they would go
• 39:17
  home happy either. But we would welcome them.
• 39:21
  Are you familiar with? The goth bus.
• 39:25
  No. No guys.
• 39:27
  Goth bus. I don't even know his last name
• 39:29
  to be honest, but he played at Wisconsin out of high school,
• 39:33
  and then he was at Seton Hall University.
• 39:35
  It was Shaheen last year. He's at Vermont now.
• 39:38
  I don't know if he was playing the beginning of the season, but
• 39:40
  he has come on strong and he is quite the character and quite
• 39:43
  the player. So might be a little bit
• 39:46
  different team than they were in the beginning of the season, but
• 39:48
  go check out the gut box. He is pure entertainment and the
• 39:51
  guy can play. He's got a tremendous boy
• 39:54
  mustache. Oh yeah, big boy, big boy 6. 9.
• 39:58
  Yeah, yeah. Don't tell anybody about him,
• 40:00
  Nick. He's going to, you know, he's
• 40:01
  going to wind up somewhere else. Just let him.
• 40:04
  Let him sit up there in Burlington in the snow.
• 40:06
  Keep a low profile in the, you know, hatchet gymnasium.
• 40:12
  Just let him marinate. Maybe we should.
• 40:14
  I know they would love that because they love him up there,
• 40:17
  but he's on his third school in three years and you know how
• 40:20
  that works. Yes, they usually go 4 for four
• 40:23
  in that circumstance anyway. Nick Beer, head coach of the
• 40:27
  Fighting Raiders of Ramapo, opening up the state tournament
• 40:31
  in a couple of days. Best of luck making it, trying
• 40:34
  to make it seven in a row, and we'll definitely be out to see
• 40:37
  you as the tournament moves on. Thank you gentlemen pleasure
• 40:42
  speaking to you guys and keep these podcasts going.
• 40:46
  I think we're all big fans and we all love to talk and listen
• 40:49
  to North Jersey Hoops and you guys let us do that so
• 40:52
  appreciate it well, we. Appreciate.
• 40:53
  It I want to go. Friends with my brother.
• 40:56
  And if it keeps snowing? Well, good luck with the rest of
• 40:59
  your season then. I know you guys are rolling so
• 41:01
  keep it up. All right, Brad, from North One
• 41:04
  Group 3 now to North One Group 2 as we welcome in the head coach
• 41:09
  of the Fighting Cardinals from Westwood.
• 41:11
  He is Rob Corsets coach. Thanks for joining us here on
• 41:15
  The Ball Game. Thanks for having me, pleasure
• 41:19
  to be here. Now, we invited you on our
• 41:22
  previous edition of the ball game last week and you you
• 41:26
  accepted. Then you failed, then you failed
• 41:30
  because you claim to have lost your voice.
• 41:34
  Now do you want to name who you were yelling at to lose your
• 41:36
  voice, or was it just circumstances behind?
• 41:42
  We just had a little like everyone was getting sick and I
• 41:45
  guess that was just my time to get sick.
• 41:47
  And then and I, you can even hear it now, you know, you know,
• 41:50
  at the end of the year, you kind of lose your voice.
• 41:52
  But it was it was comically bad last week.
• 41:55
  So I had to unfortunately bow out.
• 41:58
  It has been, I mean, we're laughing about it, but this is
• 42:01
  our 10th Snow Day edition of the Ball Game on North Jersey
• 42:05
  Sports. Back out.
• 42:07
  I can't, you know, stand up straight.
• 42:10
  It's killing me. So whatever.
• 42:12
  But it, it what it does lend itself to is the opportunity to
• 42:15
  talk in depth about high school basketball in North Jersey.
• 42:18
  So it it is there. If there is a silver lining that
• 42:21
  is that. And let's talk about Westwood
• 42:23
  here. I mean, you know, you lost some
• 42:24
  good players from last year's team and pick right up where you
• 42:28
  left off. I mean, 17 and 7 qualified for
• 42:30
  the Jamboree, you know, won a game in the BIT.
• 42:33
  So it's been, you know, pretty good for Westwood this year.
• 42:38
  It has, you know, kids are tallest starter 61.
• 42:43
  So it's not like we have any any big kids.
• 42:45
  But you know, Joe Cerratelli gets after rebounds like
• 42:50
  rebounding is just an attitude as every you know, that's been
• 42:54
  said forever. And our kids, Joe and Vin, his
• 42:57
  his younger brother was a freshman.
• 43:00
  There are two leading rebounders.
• 43:02
  You know, just you can't ask for more than that.
• 43:07
  Yeah, it's definitely want to. And you know, Joe Cerratelli
• 43:10
  again, we just talked about it with Nick there too.
• 43:12
  But you know, multi sport athlete and you know that that
• 43:15
  that pays off so much with just competitiveness.
• 43:18
  And and nowadays, you know, it used to be, well, I hate to
• 43:21
  sound like an old man, but I I feel like competitive
• 43:24
  competitiveness was a given. Nowadays it really stands out
• 43:28
  and a kid like Cerratelli has it.
• 43:32
  That is so true. We were just talking about it
• 43:34
  the other day where as a freshman all he wanted to do was
• 43:37
  shoot. You know, we, we we joked he was
• 43:40
  allergic to defense as a freshman.
• 43:43
  Yeah, but he didn't score. He scored eleven straight
• 43:46
  points. And in the state game, when we
• 43:49
  beat Vernon, we were the 14. They were the three in the first
• 43:53
  half. He came in and just, he was just
• 43:55
  unconscious, kept us in the game.
• 43:59
  You know, we then still joke about it today that he was old
• 44:03
  for the second-half, but he did go 11.
• 44:06
  Straight for us. In the first half, but he plays
• 44:10
  defense now he dies on the floor.
• 44:12
  He he gets after rebounds. He he is the an absolute
• 44:16
  complete, complete player. It's a pleasure to have him
• 44:18
  around. And his brother is we, of
• 44:21
  course, we joke everything everyone jokes about.
• 44:24
  But his, his brother's even better than him.
• 44:28
  You rarely see a freshman with this intelligence and strength
• 44:32
  and stamina and drive. It's it's, it's really, it's
• 44:36
  impressive to watch. Do does his brother, does the
• 44:40
  older brother concede that fact that the younger brother is
• 44:42
  better? I can't imagine that that is
• 44:44
  true. Oh no, absolutely not.
• 44:46
  We can see he's going to be better.
• 44:48
  He's going. To be better.
• 44:50
  Not yet, not yet. But it it they, you know how
• 44:56
  brothers always fight like I, I know my two kids.
• 44:59
  All they did was fight. These two kids are like each
• 45:02
  other's best friends and, and, and you know, they help each
• 45:06
  other up and, and each other's biggest supporters.
• 45:09
  It's, it's just, it's a wonderful sight to see.
• 45:12
  It's really, it's great. Like as a coach, you just sit
• 45:14
  there and wow, I'm really thankful we got these guys.
• 45:17
  Yeah, go ahead, Brad. Yeah, I mean that that
• 45:19
  definitely makes it easier, you know, especially when you have
• 45:22
  siblings who who feed off from each other as well.
• 45:24
  You know, they both scored over 300 points.
• 45:27
  They rebounded really well. And, you know, and you have a
• 45:30
  really good point guard, really good junior point guard.
• 45:32
  And and you know, Anna Keeney, I think RJ is pretty solid.
• 45:36
  I I've seen a bunch of film on him.
• 45:39
  Yeah. You know, the make up of your
• 45:41
  team and, and Westwood's always been a very competitive school
• 45:45
  across the board, just like we're talking with code here at
• 45:48
  Ranfo. You know, Westwood's known, you
• 45:50
  know, football, basketball, baseball, they're they're, you
• 45:53
  know, when it comes to small school athletics and they're
• 45:55
  they're they're no easy out on any given day.
• 45:58
  So, yeah, I mean, just, you know, just, you know, it's good
• 46:02
  to, you know, see you continuing that tradition with the
• 46:04
  Cardinals and you know, you don't have a Courier IG in the
• 46:07
  middle, but you are making it work really well for you guys.
• 46:11
  You know, I mean, it's, you know, like I said, everybody,
• 46:13
  everybody contributes, everybody buys in.
• 46:15
  It's really cool to see. You know, what's funny is is you
• 46:19
  talk about snow days. So yesterday was the all league
• 46:22
  meeting and we said it was going to go, it got cancelled so it
• 46:26
  was going to be virtual. So I just got in touch with all
• 46:29
  the coaches in our league and said let's come to my house.
• 46:31
  Like make, you know, like make it a social thing and have a
• 46:33
  have a blast. So we were here for three hours
• 46:37
  at my house doing the all in meeting.
• 46:39
  And it it was funny how like we all see our teams differently.
• 46:45
  Like there's one, one person thinks that RJ is our best
• 46:48
  player. One person thinks it's Joe,
• 46:50
  another person loves Vin. And then, you know, we had
• 46:55
  another freshman who was starting, RJ Charles,
• 46:58
  unfortunately got injured. And one of the other coaches
• 47:01
  said, you know, that I thought he was one of your best
• 47:03
  contributors. So, you know, to see it from the
• 47:06
  outside is it's a little bit different.
• 47:09
  We have so many kids contributing and it is it's just
• 47:13
  trying to keep it all together. It's just, it's just fun.
• 47:17
  Yeah, I it really Westwood does punch above its weight.
• 47:22
  You know, we were kidding around before we came on the air about
• 47:24
  Dan Babina. But what a great job he does as
• 47:26
  the athletic director. Just, you know, all it feels
• 47:29
  like. And again, I'm an outsider
• 47:30
  looking in, but, you know, it feels like all sports are
• 47:33
  supported. All sports are.
• 47:36
  You know, it seems like the coaches work well together and
• 47:38
  sharing athletes. And, you know, we just had Nick
• 47:42
  Veeram. They do it at Ram PO and the
• 47:44
  great athletic programs across North Jersey, the ones that do
• 47:48
  that, that have coaches working together and are willing to, you
• 47:52
  know, maybe share kids, that makes it huge.
• 47:56
  And you know, you got multi sport athletes running around
• 47:58
  there at Westwood and they're a lot of good athletes in the
• 48:01
  building. You seem to be able to keep them
• 48:03
  home and you, you know, seem to be able to compete in certainly
• 48:08
  the big sports, you know, basketball, football and
• 48:10
  baseball every year. And wrestling, you know, and
• 48:14
  right good. Call.
• 48:16
  Yeah, I really it's, it's at the beginning of the year, people
• 48:20
  said it was going to be a down year and I think wrestling went
• 48:24
  to the final match in in the league and lost it like I did.
• 48:29
  I know I I don't, I'm not up on my wrestling stats, but I I
• 48:34
  think they were, they were wrestling for the league in the
• 48:37
  in the last match. But as far as as as sharing
• 48:41
  kids, it's you know, me, herbs coach guy, there'll be times
• 48:45
  where the three of us will be in the same room, just end up there
• 48:48
  and we'll just start be asking about whatever.
• 48:53
  And there's there's no animosity.
• 48:55
  And yeah, congratulations. Great job with this.
• 48:58
  You know, everyone is on everyone's side and like you
• 49:00
  said, probably does start at the top with Danny.
• 49:04
  But no, it is it's it's definitely unique.
• 49:07
  Of all places I've been, this is one of the ones where everyone
• 49:10
  is is supporting everybody. That is, that is true all.
• 49:13
  Right. We're going to get to a place
• 49:14
  that you've been shortly, but I'm going to give Brad the
• 49:16
  chance another to ask another question before I hit you.
• 49:20
  Go ahead, you know. You know, one of the things
• 49:23
  that, you know, I you know, every year, year in and year
• 49:26
  out, you guys are always, you know, in confession league in in
• 49:29
  the States, you know, now with your, you know, with your
• 49:32
  seeding now, you know, coming out and everything else, you
• 49:35
  know, as a, you know, a three seed, which is very deserving,
• 49:38
  You know, with how the bracket shook out, you know, what are
• 49:42
  you looking forward to? You know, you know, obviously
• 49:44
  nobody likes to look past their first game, you know, as it's a
• 49:47
  game by game thing, right, Survive in advance.
• 49:48
  But but you know, I think it's a pretty favorable bracket.
• 49:52
  You know, you know, there's some good teams in here.
• 49:55
  But yeah, I mean, I think I think this is a very cable
• 49:59
  racket that can put you in a position to, you know, get back
• 50:01
  to the the semis or or even a final in a championship run.
• 50:04
  I mean, like I said, you have you have pieces, you got great,
• 50:08
  great assistance. You know, I think all those
• 50:12
  things kind of help out. What's your, you know, what do
• 50:14
  you look forward to most? Obviously just, you know, being
• 50:16
  in the state tournament is always fun.
• 50:17
  But you know, what do you look forward to now in your
• 50:19
  postseason play? You know what's funny is I mean,
• 50:25
  it sounds cliche, but this is my 63rd season coaching high school
• 50:31
  athletics. That's crazy.
• 50:33
  Between it, it's nuts between football, basketball and
• 50:35
  baseball. So one of the one of the things
• 50:40
  I've learned is your seating really means nothing.
• 50:44
  I, you know how many times you you've seen guys try to
• 50:48
  manipulate and especially in baseball, like, alright, let's
• 50:50
  play a double header on this last day so we could try to get
• 50:53
  this and then go there and we want to get this.
• 50:56
  We got this arm going here and and it doesn't matter.
• 51:01
  They get one game in the first round.
• 51:04
  Yeah, yeah. I mean I, I, I lived in North
• 51:06
  One Group 3 basketball forever at at Say Valley.
• 51:10
  And. We went, we, we won the section
• 51:13
  of the year, we won the section, we were the seventh seed, we
• 51:16
  went to the sectional final once as a. 10 all my favorite teams
• 51:20
  too and then. Yeah, and then we hosted 3 home
• 51:24
  games as an eighth seed one year.
• 51:26
  So like, yeah, like, OK, like, yes, we got the three, but what
• 51:30
  does it mean you only have to come in and beat us?
• 51:33
  You know it, It means nothing. And the first thing I said to
• 51:37
  the kids after we beat Lakeland on Saturday, my guys, Congrats
• 51:43
  on a great regular season. Really proud of you.
• 51:45
  What's our record? And Joe's like 17 and seven.
• 51:48
  He was really proud of it and he knew it.
• 51:51
  And I'm like. It's.
• 51:53
  Zero and zero and. Zero and he just.
• 51:56
  He's like, Oh yeah, you're right.
• 51:59
  You know. 'Cause you really are like
• 52:01
  that's what it is, is that's the beauty about it.
• 52:04
  It we're zero, we're O&O doesn't matter.
• 52:07
  All right. So I know that's not that's not
• 52:09
  really the answer you're looking for.
• 52:11
  No, but it's it, it is the right, it's the right answer.
• 52:14
  I mean, I, I find the guy who complaints about his seeds and
• 52:18
  you find the guy who's going to get upset in the first round.
• 52:22
  Yeah. You know, I've seen it a zillion
• 52:24
  times too. Like if that's what you're
• 52:25
  worried about. But you should have been the
• 52:27
  five instead of the six. And I, I was talking to Nick
• 52:30
  Veer even before like last week or the other day when I saw him
• 52:34
  at the girls final or whatever. And we were just chatting on the
• 52:36
  sidelines of the game or whatever.
• 52:37
  And he's like, yeah, I mean, it doesn't matter what seed you
• 52:41
  are. It's, you know, you take what
• 52:44
  comes in and to get a state championship, you got to beat
• 52:46
  everybody in the bracket anyway. Who cares when you have to do
• 52:49
  it? If you can't do it, you're not
• 52:50
  winning. Yeah.
• 52:51
  And, and one of the what are the odds that he's going to play
• 52:53
  Morris Knowles in the first round of the state tournament
• 52:55
  back back years in a different seed.
• 52:57
  Yeah, it's crazy. That was nuts, but.
• 53:01
  Years ago when I was at Wayne Hills, the former Ramapo coach,
• 53:09
  they were the one seed, we were the 16.
• 53:12
  And we meet up at Ramapo and he goes, Rob, you know, I, I think
• 53:17
  whoever wins this game is going to win the section.
• 53:20
  And we had gone through a tumultuous regular season.
• 53:24
  We finally were getting everything together And I was
• 53:26
  like, I was kind of thinking the same thing.
• 53:30
  And they beat us at overtime and then their next three games they
• 53:34
  they won by over 15 points. So if if we had survived that,
• 53:39
  we legitimately might have won the section as the 16th.
• 53:44
  Yes, and we forget that, you know, it's about PowerPoints and
• 53:49
  it's about this, but it's high school sports.
• 53:51
  Like, you know, the, the comparables, even though it's
• 53:54
  gotten, you know, so much better over the years or whatever, it's
• 53:58
  still apples and oranges when you're comparing, you know, a
• 54:01
  team from Sussex County to a team from Union County.
• 54:04
  You know, it it it, it matters not at all the that's either,
• 54:09
  correct? Alright.
• 54:10
  So, Rob, here's the trivia question for you.
• 54:12
  Where were you on the night of Friday, March 5th, 2010?
• 54:17
  Do you remember we were in the same room at the same time?
• 54:22
  Are you going 5 overtimes? The greatest basketball game
• 54:25
  that I have ever covered, the best game ever, excuse me, ever
• 54:30
  written up on North Jersey sports.com in all of my time of
• 54:35
  doing this, which started in 1999.
• 54:37
  So we are 26 years into it. And Brad Pat Passaic Alley went
• 54:43
  into old Japan in the North one Group 3 state sectional semi
• 54:48
  finals. They played five overtimes.
• 54:51
  It was nuts. And I just pulled up the story
• 54:56
  and I remember, I remember I, I've never gotten this look
• 54:59
  before from a coach. I mean, I don't always interview
• 55:02
  the losing coach, but I had to go over there to talk to you,
• 55:05
  Rob, because of just the greatest thing that it was.
• 55:09
  And you just could not even like I, I remember this is now 1516,
• 55:15
  however many years later, I still remember the look on your
• 55:17
  face when I came over to talk to you, said you want to talk to
• 55:20
  me. PV head coach Rob knew that he
• 55:22
  had been part of one of the greatest state playoff games in
• 55:24
  New Jersey history and was more than gracious in meeting with a
• 55:28
  reporter afterwards. But the words just wouldn't come
• 55:31
  out. I don't even know what to say, I
• 55:33
  really don't, is all we can muster.
• 55:35
  There's something to be taken out of this from our side, but I
• 55:38
  just can't think of it now. First of all, I am the world's
• 55:45
  biggest douchebag for walking over there and asking you a
• 55:48
  question and you are the world's greatest guy for spitting out
• 55:52
  that quote after losing him 5 overtimes.
• 55:54
  But I mean, I we, we can't not mention it because what a game
• 55:58
  that was. And I mean crazy.
• 56:01
  You'll never play a better one than that.
• 56:03
  I don't care what happens, even though you came up on the short
• 56:05
  side. Dom Koro getting fouled out,
• 56:09
  getting called for his 5th foul on a charge as he's dribbling
• 56:13
  away from the basket, away from the basket.
• 56:17
  I'm not going to mention the referee, I'm not going to
• 56:21
  mention his name, but I still remember exactly who it is.
• 56:25
  He's still around and we do not have him often, and that's not
• 56:28
  by mistake. I was going to say I can figure
• 56:30
  it out. Does anybody have a copy of the
• 56:33
  Westwood no list? Oh.
• 56:39
  I remember that and then they had a sophomore.
• 56:42
  Who hit a? Three, to send it into like the
• 56:47
  second overtime and then in the fourth overtime, that was
• 56:51
  whatever. That was Chris Besser.
• 56:54
  And didn't play as a junior or senior, that was he was done.
• 56:59
  Are you kidding? Me.
• 57:00
  Oh my. God 98 that was.
• 57:02
  This moment and he, he was like, Yep, OK, I'm done.
• 57:06
  I'll never have a better moment than.
• 57:07
  This So I quit. Like here's my walk off, I said.
• 57:09
  I'm walking into the sunset. So it took me, it's never taken
• 57:13
  me longer to write a story than that one.
• 57:16
  I I could probably still be writing the food.
• 57:18
  All right, here's the other. Here's the other stuff.
• 57:20
  Now back into the contemporary time and place, but two
• 57:24
  questions that we're asking the coaches that come on here.
• 57:27
  I messed up against Nick Veer. I handed him a a layup that I
• 57:31
  should have. Taken which you which you still
• 57:32
  could ask him because he's had a couple stops.
• 57:34
  So I mean, you you could ask him.
• 57:36
  It's a valid. It's a valid.
• 57:36
  One, OK, yeah, but I'm going to ask it properly this time.
• 57:41
  It's pretty hard on on Sean Macisaac, our contributor.
• 57:43
  I take it all back, Sean, but Rob, no.
• 57:46
  He doesn't. No, he doesn't.
• 57:47
  Sean the best player you have ever coached against against
• 57:54
  Goof? Yes, because I asked Nick Beer
• 57:57
  and he goes Peyton Seals. I asked him who was best the
• 58:00
  best player he ever called. He was Peyton Seals, which was a
• 58:02
  no brainer. Take this, take this layup right
• 58:08
  here and let me know. Let me know if this is a hard
• 58:10
  question for you. Peyton actually played with with
• 58:14
  my son Robbie in an eighth grade team and also had Jeremy
• 58:18
  Clayville on the team who was who was an all county kid at
• 58:23
  DePaul as a freshman and then went on to Yep, he doesn't touch
• 58:25
  him. Sweet.
• 58:26
  Crazy. Yeah, that was that.
• 58:27
  And that was that NJT. Yes, exactly.
• 58:31
  Yep. But that was that team was
• 58:34
  insane. Like he's an eighth grader.
• 58:38
  He was. Peyton was still good.
• 58:42
  You can't use Peyton seals are the best.
• 58:43
  You can't use Peyton Seals either.
• 58:45
  We're Peyton down? Yeah.
• 58:46
  No, I never coached you. I was smart enough never to go
• 58:49
  there. You want to play?
• 58:51
  No. No, I want to go against
• 58:53
  Randall. No, it's going to snow.
• 58:57
  A couple of those Patterson Catholic teams that we played
• 59:00
  really good. Take one of them, Fukuanet.
• 59:03
  I mean, there was so many. Yeah, I'll understand.
• 59:06
  You can go on and on. Yeah, like I, I and then.
• 59:12
  Take Patterson Catholic outlet Take Patterson Catholic out.
• 59:15
  What are you? Talking about the 66 kid from
• 59:19
  Kennedy years ago and I it was in 2007 with when I had Joey
• 59:25
  Castro and he covered him. I I forget his name, but he was,
• 59:29
  he was a manchild. My God, he was so good.
• 59:34
  I think you're at Manchester. At at Kennedy Kennedy.
• 59:39
  It was a Kennedy kid in 2000, maybe 2006, 2000.
• 59:42
  I am. Furiously scouring the North
• 59:44
  Jersey sports.com archives as you're talking, so if you can.
• 59:48
  The only kid, the only, the only thing he'd I think he was at,
• 59:52
  maybe he was at. The only kid I could think it
• 59:54
  would be Tyquise Franklin who was at, but he was at, I think
• 59:56
  he, he was at Manchester. No, no, he was like a manchild.
• 1:00:02
  Kennedy. This.
• 1:00:03
  Just look like I covered Kennedy in 2007, and it's ridiculous
• 1:00:07
  that I have the opportunity to know that.
• 1:00:11
  I bet you I can get that. I'll have to.
• 1:00:12
  I'll have to send out a couple text messages, but I'm sure I
• 1:00:14
  can get that answer. For you, you, you, you have to
• 1:00:18
  make these archives public, man. I know I want.
• 1:00:21
  To go back and and and I agree and I.
• 1:00:23
  Want to go back to 2003? Well, I, I mean, all kidding
• 1:00:27
  aside, I am trying to release them in some some way that is
• 1:00:33
  like searchable. But the best way to do it
• 1:00:35
  really, and I just did it before because I was looking for your
• 1:00:38
  five overtime game rather than go through my like, I remember
• 1:00:42
  the headline greatest game ever played.
• 1:00:44
  So I put in Google search greatest game ever played
• 1:00:47
  Passaic Valley, old Japan. So I mean, that's, that's
• 1:00:50
  probably the best way to do it because the search feature on on
• 1:00:53
  my website, we put it in like 2007.
• 1:00:55
  It's it's changed, you know, it doesn't work and so the best way
• 1:01:01
  to do it is that way. But as you say that I am desk
• 1:01:04
  because so many people come up to me and say do you still have
• 1:01:06
  the and I do, except I have to go find it so.
• 1:01:13
  There's so many good ones, so many good ones, Core.
• 1:01:16
  Yeah, I mean, really, I'm just looking at your story too.
• 1:01:19
  You know that the five overtime game and even before that I
• 1:01:23
  linked back before that the year before both the pan played
• 1:01:27
  Teaneck in a three overtime game in the in the section final in
• 1:01:31
  North one Group 3. So I mean, those were crazy,
• 1:01:34
  yeah, times and. Some big ones that too.
• 1:01:38
  The game after that, the game, if they beat us, they went and
• 1:01:42
  played Teaneck and they beat him.
• 1:01:44
  And we had played Teaneck that year and we had to lead and we
• 1:01:48
  just blew, totally blew it in in the fourth quarter.
• 1:01:54
  And we were look, if we had won that game, we were we were
• 1:01:57
  getting Teaneck at home and the kids were yeah, it was you
• 1:02:04
  bring. I am now devastated to the
• 1:02:06
  course this. Is your life?
• 1:02:10
  Of course. And you still haven't answered
• 1:02:12
  the question, who is the best player that you ever coached
• 1:02:14
  against that didn't play for Brad's cat?
• 1:02:17
  Patterson Cat You know what? I'm the McLaughlin kid from old
• 1:02:20
  Japan because they beat us in that 5.
• 1:02:22
  Overtime game James, he was a problem.
• 1:02:25
  Yeah. He was really good.
• 1:02:27
  Troy. Troy or Shane?
• 1:02:28
  Which one? Which one you going with?
• 1:02:31
  They're both pretty good. I don't, yeah.
• 1:02:33
  I don't know. That's too long ago.
• 1:02:34
  I don't remember which one that's.
• 1:02:36
  It. Shame was the older brother, he
• 1:02:40
  he played at Bryant and he just got, he's getting inducted this
• 1:02:43
  year into the Northern Valley Old Japan Athletic Hall of Fame.
• 1:02:47
  I just had lunch weeks ago. We're still friends after having
• 1:02:50
  covered them for so many years. So their relationships in this
• 1:02:54
  business go all the way back. All right.
• 1:02:55
  Last question, if you could bring back one player that you
• 1:02:58
  have coached at any of your stops to help this year's state
• 1:03:03
  tournament run and it could be, you know, for whatever reason,
• 1:03:06
  intangibles, defense flat out scoring, who you bringing back
• 1:03:10
  to help the Cardinals this year? That is so unfair.
• 1:03:15
  Oh my God, do. You want me to go through the
• 1:03:18
  archives again? It's I know, I know what his
• 1:03:21
  answer should be. I know what his answer should
• 1:03:23
  be. Go ahead.
• 1:03:25
  I me right, because you're saying you you need some size,
• 1:03:28
  right, That the kid that you had who ends up ends up recruit, I
• 1:03:31
  forget his name. He has he was an all American at
• 1:03:33
  the state county Community College.
• 1:03:34
  He was a 6768, rebounded the ball really well, dunked
• 1:03:38
  everything. Aldrich, Sean.
• 1:03:39
  Sean Aldrich. Sean Aldrich, yeah.
• 1:03:43
  That's who I that's who I would bring back. 611 he was, he was
• 1:03:47
  legit. 610 and then yeah. Whatever he was, I I missed that
• 1:03:50
  on that one. That was 1 recruit I missed on
• 1:03:52
  no. He was.
• 1:03:55
  Good. He was really good.
• 1:03:57
  But even like my best center ever though was only 6263 was
• 1:04:02
  was Dave Clough. Dave was off tremendous.
• 1:04:07
  Yeah, I did. Again, didn't get recruited, but
• 1:04:11
  you could just count on him for anything.
• 1:04:15
  And then, you know, the year we won it, those those big guys,
• 1:04:18
  George Aviad, Damien Diorio, Jon Coral, they weren't gigantic,
• 1:04:23
  but they played above their heads.
• 1:04:28
  Who wouldn't want Joey Castro? Who?
• 1:04:31
  I mean, yeah, Tom Coral, Tremendous point guard.
• 1:04:33
  Who doesn't want Phil Parsh shooter Brad, Jake, Bella like
• 1:04:37
  I? Rob, no Rob stinks at this game.
• 1:04:42
  You stink. Yes, Yes.
• 1:04:46
  Because I love all of them. Yes, very, very indecisive.
• 1:04:50
  He is he, he, he would be great at dodgeball.
• 1:04:53
  He's Rob. You're a very good dodgeball
• 1:04:54
  player, aren't you? Well, I was not, not anymore,
• 1:04:58
  but yeah, yeah, it's so great. That is.
• 1:05:02
  Oh, that's so. No, no, I won't.
• 1:05:04
  I'm not. I'm not falling for it.
• 1:05:05
  All right. We can't ask the follow up
• 1:05:07
  question because the follow up question is who's The Who was?
• 1:05:09
  We could have said who was the best player you you coached.
• 1:05:12
  Yeah. So he's just going to, he's just
• 1:05:13
  going to play more. Doable.
• 1:05:15
  We can make it harder. Let's say who's the worst player
• 1:05:17
  you've ever coached that I know. That I know, and we'll never
• 1:05:21
  reveal. But.
• 1:05:24
  It's a good thing you did last one for you, Rob.
• 1:05:29
  How are the boys doing? Everybody knows your sons, the
• 1:05:31
  twins, Michael and Robbie. Give us an update.
• 1:05:35
  Where are they? They're they're doing great.
• 1:05:38
  Thank you. Robbie went to mom and
• 1:05:41
  transferred to to Ithaca and he got he got hit and just in a
• 1:05:48
  perfect spot Torres Labrum, but he's on the way to recovery.
• 1:05:52
  So he's playing football up there and Mike is playing
• 1:05:55
  baseball at Muhlenberg. Great.
• 1:05:59
  They're both loving it. They're both doing well.
• 1:06:01
  So yeah, knock on wood that that's.
• 1:06:03
  Because because Robbie couldn't find a colder place to go to
• 1:06:05
  school than Ithaca, NY. Yeah, well, I'm looking around
• 1:06:09
  right now. Yeah, Northfield new.
• 1:06:11
  Jersey, I mean, in fact, that doesn't look, it looks pretty.
• 1:06:14
  It looks pretty similar, you're right.
• 1:06:15
  Yeah, I'm like Robbie, sure you don't want to go South.
• 1:06:17
  Come on, Dad, Come watch me play in Ithaca in December, please.
• 1:06:24
  Great. All right, Rob Polkich.
• 1:06:27
  This was fun. I mean I.
• 1:06:29
  That was great. We could do this all day and we
• 1:06:31
  will because it's never going to stop snowing.
• 1:06:33
  So answer your phone when we call, please.
• 1:06:36
  And good luck in the North One Group Tuesday sectional play.
• 1:06:39
  All right. Appreciate it, guys.
• 1:06:40
  Thanks so much for having me. Take care.
• 1:06:42
  All right, Brad, from North One Group 2 to North Two Group 2 as
• 1:06:47
  we welcome in our next guest on this episode of The Ball Game.
• 1:06:51
  He is Lyndhurst's parent Moscow coach.
• 1:06:55
  Thanks for joining us here on The Ball Game.
• 1:06:58
  Thanks guys for having me. Appreciate it.
• 1:07:01
  It has been an unbelievable season for the Lyndhurst Golden
• 1:07:05
  Bear boys basketball team. I mean, I saw you against
• 1:07:08
  Tenafly in one of the great games of the early rounds of the
• 1:07:11
  Bergen County Jamboree, and it's only gotten better for you from
• 1:07:15
  there. Heading into this, you know, as
• 1:07:17
  I said, N to group to state sectional tournament, maybe just
• 1:07:20
  a little state of the state on Lyndhurst as you, you know,
• 1:07:24
  probably brimming with confidence as you head into the
• 1:07:26
  state playoffs here. Yeah, we've been playing.
• 1:07:29
  We've been playing pretty well lately.
• 1:07:31
  Everything's starting to click. My three guys are finally
• 1:07:34
  starting to all score and you know, my big is doing all right
• 1:07:41
  in the middle. We we, like I said earlier,
• 1:07:43
  well, not odd, but I did lose a big earlier in the year.
• 1:07:48
  So that's that's where we're struggling a little bit with our
• 1:07:50
  bigs. But I think we're playing our
• 1:07:52
  best basketball right now. Yes, and you've attracted a lot
• 1:07:55
  of attention from my Co host and the Felician University
• 1:07:59
  assistant coach, Brad Forrest. Theory, right Brad?
• 1:08:02
  Absolutely. You know, and, and, and it's
• 1:08:04
  cool because, you know, you know, when we had started our
• 1:08:07
  spring league, you know, we just wanted something local for the
• 1:08:11
  local teams to play in. And, and, and it's been really
• 1:08:16
  good. And, and, you know, Perrin was,
• 1:08:18
  was like the first one that hit me up and I was like, lenders,
• 1:08:21
  yeah, lenders is good. Sure.
• 1:08:24
  Then they came up to the gym and, and, and you know, his, his
• 1:08:28
  son who was going into his freshman year and this other
• 1:08:30
  kid, Avery and, and had John. And I'm like, oh, man, this guys
• 1:08:35
  are going to be pretty good. And now you Fast forward, you
• 1:08:39
  know, you know, two seasons in, you have #2 seed in the state
• 1:08:43
  tournament and and, you know, grown, you know, an attachment
• 1:08:47
  to your program. You know, one of his assistants
• 1:08:49
  is also a Felician alum. But yeah, I mean, it's just cool
• 1:08:53
  to see the evolution of your guys, you know, have grown and
• 1:08:58
  matured over the past couple years and and cool it to be
• 1:09:01
  around it. Yeah, that that solution league
• 1:09:05
  was great for us. I think, you know, you know,
• 1:09:08
  gave us some great games in the spring and then, you know, just
• 1:09:12
  having these kids out there against good competition always
• 1:09:15
  helps. So I appreciate that Spring
• 1:09:17
  League and I hope you guys are still doing it this year.
• 1:09:20
  No, we are. We are.
• 1:09:21
  I will send out after after things calm down with our with
• 1:09:24
  our season. We're, you know, we're trying to
• 1:09:26
  everything off here trying. To win a national championship
• 1:09:29
  over there, Coach, you think I got time for the spring league
• 1:09:34
  just I mean, best, best boys. Listen you there's so much left
• 1:09:38
  to play for and you're definitely a player in in North
• 1:09:40
  two Group 2, but best boys basketball season in Lyndhurst
• 1:09:44
  Since when? Well, if you look at when the
• 1:09:48
  last time we won a county game, that was over 20 years ago.
• 1:09:52
  So you know, we've completed that.
• 1:09:54
  We've you know, the NGIC went to like conference championships
• 1:09:58
  maybe like 8-9 years ago. That's the first time we went to
• 1:10:00
  the NGIC finals. We're kind of know in our league
• 1:10:03
  that's the second time we've done it in the last three years.
• 1:10:06
  Before that we only, we won a league title back in 2012.
• 1:10:10
  So we've been doing some good things these last couple years.
• 1:10:13
  I would say this is probably our best overall season since I took
• 1:10:18
  over 4 years ago. So you know, we've never, we've
• 1:10:21
  never been a, a A2 seed in the States.
• 1:10:24
  So this is this is a good, real good season for us.
• 1:10:28
  Yeah, no doubt about it. You want to give us a little,
• 1:10:31
  You know, Brad and I have seen him.
• 1:10:32
  I mean, I saw you against Tenafly too.
• 1:10:34
  But maybe, you know, mention some of the boys here who are,
• 1:10:36
  you know, lifting Lyndhurst to these heights.
• 1:10:39
  All right, so I, I got to start with Johnny, who's my senior
• 1:10:43
  point guard. You know, he came out of the
• 1:10:46
  scene last year. He, he, he played for me as a
• 1:10:48
  sophomore, but when, when he was a sophomore AT-55 seniors
• 1:10:52
  starters. So he didn't really get as much
• 1:10:54
  time. But when he came in, he, he was
• 1:10:57
  very good for it. But no one could have saw what
• 1:11:00
  what was coming up with him from last year to this year.
• 1:11:04
  He scored over 600 points last year on his on pace of scoring
• 1:11:07
  over 600 points. This year he's he's on pace to
• 1:11:10
  become the all time leading scorer in our history.
• 1:11:14
  One of my players a couple of years ago, Anthony Kazuti broke
• 1:11:17
  the record. He he has 1341 total points.
• 1:11:23
  Johnny's if he, if he keeps his average for the next couple of
• 1:11:27
  games and we play and we continue to play in the States,
• 1:11:30
  he'll break that record too, right?
• 1:11:33
  So he's, you know, he's, he's been carrying us this year a
• 1:11:36
  lot. Like I said, my other guys, my
• 1:11:39
  other two guys, my 2 sophomores, so failed off at 8:00 or Canal.
• 1:11:43
  They have been on and off like one guy's been doing good,
• 1:11:46
  another guy's been doing good. But Johnny's been consistent all
• 1:11:48
  year. And, and like I said recently,
• 1:11:51
  those two guys have been playing a lot better too.
• 1:11:53
  So that's why you know, these last couple weeks with them,
• 1:11:56
  we've been getting some big wins.
• 1:11:59
  So that's Johnny. And then another senior started,
• 1:12:05
  Sam Isaac, 5A, Very athletic, active, big.
• 1:12:14
  You know, he's he's definitely been working on his game a lot
• 1:12:17
  better and he's just a presence in the middle.
• 1:12:19
  He does a good job for us on defense, you know, altering
• 1:12:22
  shots, blocking shots, getting rebounds.
• 1:12:24
  So he's he's been doing a good job for us inside.
• 1:12:30
  And then I got my 2 sophomore guards, Avery Cano and
• 1:12:33
  Philadelphia. Those guys been starting since
• 1:12:37
  last year as freshman and they're only getting better.
• 1:12:40
  Avery is is like a freak athlete on the court.
• 1:12:45
  He does everything on the court. He plays defense, passes the
• 1:12:49
  ball, hit, drives to the rim, gets the free throw line.
• 1:12:53
  He does everything. So he's he's amazing out there,
• 1:12:58
  like does all The Dirty work for us on defense so quick.
• 1:13:02
  Like he could guard somebody one-on-one.
• 1:13:05
  He could guard anybody, you know.
• 1:13:07
  So he he's just a tremendous athlete.
• 1:13:10
  He's also one of the best, you know, football players in the
• 1:13:14
  conference too. So that that tells you a lot
• 1:13:16
  about him. Yeah.
• 1:13:18
  We've been talking about multi sport athletes all this whole
• 1:13:20
  show and when they all get involved in every day, yeah, I
• 1:13:24
  mean this year I think part of the.
• 1:13:27
  Reason we started off flow is all three, all three of those
• 1:13:30
  guys, Phil, Teo, Avery and Johnny all played football, OK,
• 1:13:33
  so that this fall we didn't get as much as we did previous.
• 1:13:36
  Years. So maybe that's why I took them
• 1:13:38
  a little bit to get back on it. But you know, it's I, I, I have
• 1:13:42
  no problem with kids playing multiple sports.
• 1:13:45
  I think it's great for them athletically.
• 1:13:46
  So yeah, go ahead, Brad. Big thing, you know, being a.
• 1:13:51
  Good basketball team is being athletic.
• 1:13:53
  So if you have that, you're a step ahead.
• 1:13:56
  So I don't mind them playing these other sports.
• 1:13:59
  No doubt about it. Go ahead, Brad.
• 1:14:00
  Yeah. And you know, they're, they're
• 1:14:02
  all. Coachable too.
• 1:14:03
  I mean, I know, I know, you know.
• 1:14:05
  I've had no. Parent over the last few years
• 1:14:07
  and, and you know, he's very, very vocal to say the least, you
• 1:14:14
  know, so is that. An app description Coach Yeah, J
• 1:14:19
  Mahoney. He's not.
• 1:14:20
  He's not very J Mahoney, but. But he's vocal, and you know
• 1:14:23
  what, man? And these kids thrive off of it.
• 1:14:25
  They really do, you know, these kids allow him to allow him to
• 1:14:29
  coach them. And I think that's that's why
• 1:14:32
  they're they are playing so well because, you know, he holds
• 1:14:36
  these guys in in such high regard, like he expects, he
• 1:14:38
  expects them to be at at their best and he holds them to that,
• 1:14:41
  you know, that standard. So, you know, I think that's why
• 1:14:44
  you know, these sophomores are responding and and you know,
• 1:14:48
  they're and Johnny, you know, as a senior leader can can lead
• 1:14:51
  because you know, Karen, I think Karen holds him accountable and
• 1:14:55
  he holds those guys accountable. So I, I think it's, it's kind of
• 1:14:58
  works, you know, and, and I said, you know, when most of
• 1:15:02
  these kids, you know, stay at home, you know, you know, I'm
• 1:15:04
  sure, I'm sure, you know, after Johnny's junior year, he could,
• 1:15:08
  he had probably had an opportunity to go somewhere
• 1:15:09
  else. He wanted to, I'm sure, you
• 1:15:11
  know, people would probably say that about Avery next time.
• 1:15:13
  But do these kids stay? I mean, they're gonna, I'd
• 1:15:16
  rather be the big, the big fish in a small pond, you know, work
• 1:15:18
  for my brother. And I think these kids are gonna
• 1:15:20
  do the same. They're gonna stay home and
• 1:15:21
  they're gonna, they're gonna put Lindhurst, you know, athletics
• 1:15:24
  back on the map across the board.
• 1:15:27
  Yeah, I mean they definitely. Play hard for me.
• 1:15:30
  And, you know, they know that if I'm not yelling at them, that
• 1:15:34
  means, you know, I don't think they could do it when I'm
• 1:15:37
  yelling and I'm telling them what to do.
• 1:15:38
  I, I, I have confidence in them that they could do it.
• 1:15:41
  So that's, that's the reason why I do it.
• 1:15:42
  And they know that and they play hard for me.
• 1:15:46
  Yeah. And, and it is, you bring up a
• 1:15:48
  good point, Brad. We do get a lot of our guys do
• 1:15:51
  stay in Lyndhurst. We don't really lose many kids.
• 1:15:53
  So it's it's nice to have that opportunity to coach these guys,
• 1:15:57
  you know, and I see them, you know, through the system, 7th,
• 1:15:59
  8th grade and then, you know, getting ready for them for high
• 1:16:02
  school. So it's it's nice.
• 1:16:05
  Let's talk about this bracket real quick.
• 1:16:07
  Nor two group. 2 is one of those crazy brackets with a disparate
• 1:16:10
  geography. You know, it's like, it's like 1
• 1:16:13
  from column A, Bergen County, one from Hudson County.
• 1:16:16
  I don't even know what county Voorhees is in, to be honest
• 1:16:19
  with you. You got some S can tell you
• 1:16:22
  what, what is it can tell you. I can tell you.
• 1:16:25
  Let's just let's just go. From everybody else, that's not
• 1:16:28
  probably. Yeah.
• 1:16:30
  Yeah, I mean from. You know from.
• 1:16:32
  Lynnhurst. To Hackettstown.
• 1:16:33
  You got it all covered. It's crazy.
• 1:16:35
  You got some Newark in there, you got some, you know.
• 1:16:38
  So anyway, let's see, Skyland Valley.
• 1:16:41
  I think that's like Sussex. That doesn't help me.
• 1:16:44
  I like Sussex. Yeah.
• 1:16:47
  It's just it's. Far.
• 1:16:48
  That's just quite far. Yeah.
• 1:16:50
  Yeah. So that's.
• 1:16:50
  Nice if you get the if you do get a chance to.
• 1:16:52
  Play in the second round, they got to take a long bus ride in
• 1:16:55
  the cold and they'll probably be stuck in some snow.
• 1:16:57
  So maybe, you know, that helps us a little bit.
• 1:17:00
  Yeah, no doubt about it. But you know what?
• 1:17:02
  Like, do you like the fact that this?
• 1:17:04
  Bracket is pretty much made-up of teams.
• 1:17:06
  I mean on the lower half where you guys are, I see Becton as
• 1:17:09
  somebody either you may have played or at least know
• 1:17:12
  something about maybe Richfield Park at the top of the bracket
• 1:17:16
  too. But you know everybody else.
• 1:17:18
  I don't know how much you know about McNair academic and you
• 1:17:21
  know, do you like it being, you know, Bergen County?
• 1:17:24
  We we can get a little obstetuous place, whether over
• 1:17:26
  and over again, you know, all that stuff.
• 1:17:28
  Do you like getting out into the world a little bit and maybe
• 1:17:31
  these teams, Hillside of Voorhees or McNair don't know
• 1:17:33
  all your strengths and everything else haven't seen you
• 1:17:35
  up close. Do you like?
• 1:17:36
  Well, yeah, I don't. I don't mind that.
• 1:17:38
  And we we do a. Lot of film so you know I I try
• 1:17:42
  to get tendencies for these other teams but yeah, it's nice
• 1:17:45
  it's not I I don't mind it, but I also go out and play a lot of
• 1:17:48
  these teams from these other from these other towns.
• 1:17:50
  So I like, I went out and played Jersey City teams, I played
• 1:17:53
  network teams, you know, so I, I like to get out and play all
• 1:17:56
  these different kind of teams and don't stay in Bergen County
• 1:17:58
  because of that, because our bracket is so crazy and, and all
• 1:18:02
  over the place. So, you know, I, I feel like we
• 1:18:05
  tried to get these guys ready for the States and I, you know,
• 1:18:07
  I think we did a good job of that.
• 1:18:09
  Yeah, no doubt about it, Brad. Yeah, I mean, you know, umm.
• 1:18:16
  That's I think that's a huge proponent, especially north too,
• 1:18:18
  you know, north too, like I said, especially everybody was
• 1:18:21
  not in Bergen State County. That's like above the Driscoll
• 1:18:24
  Bridge. Like, yeah, we'll just go all in
• 1:18:26
  the north to bracket. Yeah.
• 1:18:29
  You're not, you're not, you're not N 1, but you're not central
• 1:18:32
  either. So we'll just we'll just put you
• 1:18:33
  in this bracket. Yeah.
• 1:18:34
  And like I said, I mean, you got Morris County substance.
• 1:18:38
  It's pretty much everybody else. Yeah, but yeah, I mean, I think
• 1:18:43
  it's wide open for you. I really.
• 1:18:46
  Do I've seen some of these? Scenes.
• 1:18:47
  I know what you guys bring. To the table.
• 1:18:49
  I think it's wide open, yeah. I mean I.
• 1:18:53
  You know the the three. 6th match up, you know, second round
• 1:18:57
  would be Richfield Park Caldwell.
• 1:18:59
  So that's, you know, it's a good, that's a good both of
• 1:19:03
  those teams are doing really well.
• 1:19:04
  So that's going to be a tough, you know, semi final round if we
• 1:19:06
  get there. But the, even the 7:10 I, I
• 1:19:09
  mean, I don't really, I haven't really seen worries too much.
• 1:19:11
  But Hillside played a couple bird guys and they played up
• 1:19:14
  close. So they're, they're, they're
• 1:19:16
  pretty decent teams. So, you know, that's not going
• 1:19:18
  to be easy, but you know, the IT does line up but a little nice
• 1:19:22
  for us this year. So I mean, two years ago we we,
• 1:19:26
  you know, we won our first game. Then we had to travel to Arts,
• 1:19:29
  who was like the best team in the state.
• 1:19:30
  They were loaded. So, you know, we don't have to
• 1:19:32
  deal with that. And Art, you know, Arts dropped
• 1:19:34
  out of Group 2. They went to Group 1, which was
• 1:19:37
  nice. So, you know, we already got to
• 1:19:38
  deal with, you know, Newark colleges out of Newark, But you
• 1:19:42
  know, it gets kind of crazy. So we're kind of we kind.
• 1:19:45
  Of lucked out this year with the Newark.
• 1:19:46
  Teams which only have one pretty good team.
• 1:19:49
  You know, most of the time it's more than one Yep, and I but
• 1:19:53
  even much even like West side at the.
• 1:19:55
  Bottom of the bracket they're. They got A7.
• 1:19:57
  Footer and they got like a six or six kids.
• 1:19:59
  So I mean they're not they're not push over either.
• 1:20:01
  But yeah, I mean they're going up against they're going up
• 1:20:03
  against collegians. Good.
• 1:20:05
  They almost wrote. They wrote like. 4/10 of a or 4
• 1:20:09
  hundredths of a point away from 15 seats.
• 1:20:11
  So that would have been our first round game, which, you
• 1:20:13
  know, then would have been a little bit harder, you know?
• 1:20:17
  Yeah, here you go. Newark Collegiate.
• 1:20:19
  They're all yours. I just saw.
• 1:20:20
  Richfield Park on Saturday when the BIT in a great game against
• 1:20:23
  Ramsey and they're good too. They got a big three with the
• 1:20:27
  Cartagena and Francisco then, and they they got a six more
• 1:20:31
  too. So yeah, I mean, they really
• 1:20:33
  came out of nowhere, you know, like, you know, they lost.
• 1:20:36
  A a few kids for graduation. We've actually played them last
• 1:20:39
  year in the States. Yeah, they would have beaten us
• 1:20:41
  like we lost at the buzzer, but they got they got a nice little
• 1:20:44
  squad. I mean, I haven't actually seen
• 1:20:47
  a play. I've seen some of them, but I
• 1:20:49
  know they've got a pretty good squad.
• 1:20:51
  Yep. So we're looking for some
• 1:20:52
  looking for some payback in the semi finals.
• 1:20:54
  Potentially. I, I definitely, you know,
• 1:20:58
  definitely. Will not play that again.
• 1:21:00
  All right, Coach, the two questions that we've been asking
• 1:21:04
  everybody. That we've had on the show today
• 1:21:07
  The best player you have ever coached against.
• 1:21:18
  Let's see, catch me and where were you before Lynhurst 1 coach
• 1:21:26
  the Lynhurst girls, OK? And then I coached.
• 1:21:29
  I was a Hackensack Girls and I was.
• 1:21:31
  Coaching Leonard. Girls before that so I was
• 1:21:32
  Winners girls Hackensack girls winners girls.
• 1:21:35
  The answer could be a girls basketball player too.
• 1:21:38
  It very. Well, could be, yeah, yeah.
• 1:21:41
  I mean, Hackensack, you were in the league with Ramapo, right?
• 1:21:43
  So you probably. Played some of their We played
• 1:21:46
  against good, really good girls and Ramapo.
• 1:21:49
  But I I would probably say I'm gonna have to say one of those.
• 1:21:55
  Kids from arts a couple years. Ago, alright, I mean, I, I, I
• 1:22:02
  don't know. Which they they were all really,
• 1:22:04
  really good players so. I mean, let's see, they had Fan
• 1:22:08
  Anthony Condos here. Mosley, Holman, Holman was on
• 1:22:13
  that. They were all, I mean, that
• 1:22:14
  team. Was.
• 1:22:15
  Loaded at that Boston University, yeah, they're pretty
• 1:22:18
  good. We.
• 1:22:19
  Were we were a good team they they beat us by 50 I think.
• 1:22:22
  It was like it was. It was, it's not even a game.
• 1:22:25
  And, you know, that was the year Pizzuti was a senior and we just
• 1:22:29
  couldn't do anything against them.
• 1:22:30
  So I I would probably say one of those kids.
• 1:22:33
  Not bad arts. Yeah, definitely.
• 1:22:36
  More of Brad's Alley than. Mine here on the north.
• 1:22:39
  Jerseysports.com That's kind of in the middle.
• 1:22:41
  That's plus I'm not driving to Newark on a Tuesday night.
• 1:22:44
  I also played. I forget this girl's.
• 1:22:47
  Name. She was at at Randolph.
• 1:22:48
  She was stuck. The heck was her name?
• 1:22:52
  She went to Virginia. Oh, was she?
• 1:22:56
  This was like 10. This was like 10 years ago.
• 1:22:59
  Yeah, she was. She was amazing, all right, and
• 1:23:03
  if you could bring one player. Back that you have coached that
• 1:23:07
  can help you with this year's state tournament run.
• 1:23:09
  Who would it be for whatever reason intangibles scoring
• 1:23:13
  whatever defense. Yeah, I I think if if we had
• 1:23:17
  Anthony on this. Team we we'd definitely if I
• 1:23:22
  locked up that that state title he I mean if we had if we had
• 1:23:27
  someone inside consistent score inside it would be it would be
• 1:23:32
  lock I think so if I'd answer again and just and just take
• 1:23:35
  activity yeah, I mean he's very I mean I like I went to their.
• 1:23:38
  Game. I believe you guys played
• 1:23:40
  Caldwell that game. Yeah, I think what I think
• 1:23:45
  called on the. Beat in you, I think in that
• 1:23:46
  game. Umm.
• 1:23:49
  So that was we won that game. You guys won that game.
• 1:23:52
  That's you went. To you went to arts after that,
• 1:23:54
  right Yeah, we. Went to arts after that.
• 1:23:55
  Yeah, yeah. You know.
• 1:23:58
  I got to watch him play his activity.
• 1:24:01
  His athleticism, yeah, he was great around the rim.
• 1:24:05
  You bring him? Yeah, you bring him back.
• 1:24:07
  Thunder too. You bring him.
• 1:24:08
  Back and yeah, and with. The core you have now, yeah,
• 1:24:13
  that was the one thing we were missing, the.
• 1:24:15
  Shooting with those kids, they. Were good, some of them were
• 1:24:17
  decent shooters, but we went with the shooting.
• 1:24:19
  Now the IT would be crazy. Well, now you could probably
• 1:24:24
  petition the NJSAA to bring them.
• 1:24:26
  Back I mean the. NCAA has.
• 1:24:29
  Yeah, right. So, you know, maybe I mean, you
• 1:24:31
  can play you. Can play overseas.
• 1:24:33
  You come back to college. Why not?
• 1:24:34
  Why not bring you back to college?
• 1:24:37
  You don't get 4 years. You wanna come back and just
• 1:24:39
  play one more year? High school basketball?
• 1:24:40
  Yeah, I'm going to go back and play one year high school
• 1:24:43
  basketball. Getting up and down.
• 1:24:45
  I actually feel bad for these kids though, man.
• 1:24:47
  They they, these kids coming out of high school.
• 1:24:48
  They they really, it's really tough for them to, to get, you
• 1:24:53
  know, college. I, yeah, get recruited by
• 1:24:55
  college. I feel bad.
• 1:24:57
  I mean, I I this is totally off the beaten path of the.
• 1:25:01
  Newark Jersey high school basketball podcast.
• 1:25:03
  But you know, like I heard Tom Izzo from Michigan State when he
• 1:25:07
  was when Alabama was able to bring the pro back to Alabama or
• 1:25:11
  whatever. And he's like, oh, you can't
• 1:25:13
  blame the coaches because they're they're going to do what
• 1:25:15
  they got to do to win games. You got to blame the NCAA this
• 1:25:18
  like, which is like the the worst take on the whole thing
• 1:25:21
  because no, you could not take them and then they don't play.
• 1:25:24
  So it's on the coaches, first of all.
• 1:25:25
  And second of all, any time an NCAA tries to make a ruling,
• 1:25:29
  everybody sues them and they lose.
• 1:25:31
  So it's not like they can make rules because nobody wants.
• 1:25:35
  They. They only want to abide by the
• 1:25:36
  rules that help them. You know, Iowa State doesn't
• 1:25:39
  want a salary cap in football, so they're not going to sign on
• 1:25:41
  to a $20 million cap. And, you know, so let's blame
• 1:25:45
  the NGSA but not the coaches for bringing back guys from the G
• 1:25:48
  League. You know, I mean, as an Ohio
• 1:25:50
  State fan, I don't want a salary cap on the football.
• 1:25:54
  Well, I'll tell you as a New Jersey.
• 1:25:56
  Taxpayer, let's take. This out of sports a little bit.
• 1:25:58
  I mean, Rutgers, the athletic program lost 78 million dollars.
• 1:26:02
  They're cutting programs at the college level and we're keep
• 1:26:06
  throwing money at a football program that, you know, for $78
• 1:26:09
  million we can win the Nathans Hot Dog Bowl.
• 1:26:12
  I mean, it just doesn't make sense to me.
• 1:26:15
  But you know, Big 10 or bust, I guess I might be the second part
• 1:26:20
  of that equation. But anyway, that's neither here
• 1:26:22
  nor there. What is important is the North
• 1:26:25
  two Group 2 state sectional tournament parent Mosca are
• 1:26:28
  going to carry the Golden Bears in there.
• 1:26:30
  And thanks for coming on here to talk about it with us today.
• 1:26:34
  Yeah, I appreciate you guys for having me.
• 1:26:38
  And we will always, always a pleasure.
• 1:26:40
  Parent and yes I will send out a text message for the spring.
• 1:26:42
  League for year #3 it's always a pleasure having you guys and
• 1:26:46
  hope to do it again. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:26:49
  Like I said, I love that, love that league.
• 1:26:51
  And if it is a Lyndhurst Richfield Park state sectional.
• 1:26:55
  What is that would be 1/4 final. No semi final, semi final.
• 1:26:59
  Tell your athletic they're over there, Mr. Radigan to send.
• 1:27:02
  Me a parking spot please. All right.
• 1:27:06
  Thanks, coach. Talk to you soon.
• 1:27:07
  All right. Thanks guys.
• 1:27:09
  The end. See you next time on the ball
• 1:27:11
  game. Follow the leader.