Secret scrimmage on Saturday

[JonathanXIV]

Wes Bialosuknia is the answer to a trivia question. He led the ABA in 3-pt shooting when the 3-pt shot was first adopted, during his one and only year in the pros. With that said, Wes B had more of a one-handed push shot rather than a two-handed set shot.

Wes may have lead in 3-point percentage, but he is not listed as the league leader. I suspect it is because Wes did not have enough attempt (only made 29 3-pointers for the season).

 

[oldude]

Wes may have lead in 3-point percentage, but he is not listed as the league leader. I suspect it is because Wes did not have enough attempt (only made 29 3-pointers for the season).

Yes, Wes shot .397 from the arc for the Oakland Oaks during the 1967-68 season. However, Darrel Carrier, of the Kentucky Colonels is listed as the 3-pt leader at .357, hitting 84/235 shots.

Wes didn’t get enough PT to throw up that many shots, but the “Mad Bomber”, as he was known, held another professional record for a very long time, hitting 9 straight 3-pt shots.

 

[f1f1ferrari]

Whatever was the cheapest at Two Guys. I believe this was an NJ store, Two guys from Harrison.

OMG Two Guys! My first twelve years were in Jersey and I haven't heard mention of Two Guys in decades! Serious blast from the past!!

 

[cohenzone]

Wes Bialosuknia is the answer to a trivia question. He led the ABA in 3-pt shooting when the 3-pt shot was first adopted, during his one and only year in the pros. With that said, Wes B had more of a one-handed push shot rather than a two-handed set shot.

He was a classmate of mine. I saw all of his home games. He shot from deep a lot, but not nearly half court. There was no college 3 point line. He shot a jumper, not a set shot. It will never be known what his stats would have been with a 3 point line. He would have been guarded differently. He often had fairly open shots because few players regularly shot from so far out as he did, maybe 23-25 feet. The top of the key is 19 feet. A pretty low % shot without a 3 point line. He was one of the best foul shooters in college ball.

 

[SCNCHuskie]

You hadn't lived until you wore the Naugatuck company store brand (Goodyear). After a game they could smell you in Waterbury. Maybe Torrington.

Growing up in Naugatuck, we used to go to the store that sold their seconds and bought “almost” perfect sneakers for under one dollar. We would literally have 100 pair of sneakers, long before that was cool. I remember a classmate of mine had Converse, and we all thought it was crazy because for the cost of that one pair you could’ve bought 25 from Uniroyal.

It wasn’t the sneakers that smelled like rubber, it was that entire side of town. Our side of town smelled like burning coconut.

 

[Huskee11]

Bialosuknia was nicknamed “the Poughkeepsie Popper”. He was about 6’2” and that was fairly tall for guards back then. One of his best moves was to back down his opponent to around the key area and shoot over him, pivoting and shooting in one motion.

He was at UConn when I was in junior high/early high school in Connecticut. You cannot overstate how big a deal he was to Connecticut in general and in particular to us young guys learning to play.

Some of his teammates were Toby Kimball, another UConn legend; Tom Penders, who went on to be a successful head coach; and Bill Holowaty, legendary Eastern Connecticut baseball coach.

My recollection is that those UConn teams wore black Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars, most of them high tops.

 

[cohenzone]

Bialosuknia was nicknamed “the Poughkeepsie Popper”. He was about 6’2” and that was fairly tall for guards back then. One of his best moves was to back down his opponent to around the key area and shoot over him, pivoting and shooting in one motion.

He was at UConn when I was in junior high/early high school in Connecticut. You cannot overstate how big a deal he was to Connecticut in general and in particular to us young guys learning to play.

Some of his teammates were Toby Kimball, another UConn legend; Tom Penders, who went on to be a successful head coach; and Bill Holowaty, legendary Eastern Connecticut baseball coach.

My recollection is that those UConn teams wore black Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars, most of them high tops.

Don’t remember what sneakers they wore. I wasn’t paying attention to their feet. Kimball and Wes played one year together, my soph year they lost 2 regular season games. Lost to St Joe’s in the NCAA tournament in what was basically a home game for St Joe’s in Phiily. Wes had trouble in that game because he was bring guarded by AA Matt Goukas who was in those days a freakish 6’6” guard. Kimball set what i think is still an tournament game rebound record , an insane 29.

 

[Zarathustra]

OMG Two Guys! My first twelve years were in Jersey and I haven't heard mention of Two Guys in decades! Serious blast from the past!!

I have family from Harrison and Kearney, N.J. Many visits to those small towns... also viewed from the Penn RR out of Newark!

 

[hoopsdiva]

So has anyone heard any comments about the scrimmage itself? Which players got minutes, who played well individually or together? Is Geno still in a good mood?

 

[Charliebball]

OMG Two Guys! My first twelve years were in Jersey and I haven't heard mention of Two Guys in decades! Serious blast from the past!!

how about EJ Korvettes........

 

[EricLA]

Maybe the next horde article will have some quotes from Geno. Keep checking this for updates, but it's devolved into sneaker talk. Maybe lock it up and if we get any Geno comments, someone can post that in a new thread?

 

[The deacon]

He was a classmate of mine. I saw all of his home games. He shot from deep a lot, but not nearly half court. There was no college 3 point line. He shot a jumper, not a set shot. It will never be known what his stats would have been with a 3 point line. He would have been guarded differently. He often had fairly open shots because few players regularly shot from so far out as he did, maybe 23-25 feet. The top of the key is 19 feet. A pretty low % shot without a 3 point line. He was one of the best foul shooters in college ball.

Bialosuknia was nicknamed “the Poughkeepsie Popper”. He was about 6’2” and that was fairly tall for guards back then. One of his best moves was to back down his opponent to around the key area and shoot over him, pivoting and shooting in one motion.

He was at UConn when I was in junior high/early high school in Connecticut. You cannot overstate how big a deal he was to Connecticut in general and in particular to us young guys learning to play.

Some of his teammates were Toby Kimball, another UConn legend; Tom Penders, who went on to be a successful head coach; and Bill Holowaty, legendary Eastern Connecticut baseball coach.

My recollection is that those UConn teams wore black Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars, most of them high tops.

Don’t remember what sneakers they wore. I wasn’t paying attention to their feet. Kimball and Wes played one year together, my soph year they lost 2 regular season games. Lost to St Joe’s in the NCAA tournament in what was basically a home game for St Joe’s in Phiily. Wes had trouble in that game because he was bring guarded by AA Matt Goukas who was in those days a freakish 6’6” guard. Kimball set what i think is still an tournament game rebound record , an insane 29.

Loving your recollections, gentlemen. I was a high school kid when Wes was playing at UConn and I listened to all the games on the radio, usually with my Dad, a Pennsylvania grad. He was especially excited when the Huskies got to play St. Joe's in the Palestra in Philly, where he had sat in on many games years before.

Cohenzone, could well be that's Toby's 29 rebounds were a tournament record, and I'm quite sure at the time (and likely for years to come), it was also a Palestra record... no mean feat.

As for Bialosuknia's struggles in that game, Matty Goukas' height certainly was a factor. The reality was that St. Joe's was a great defensive team and Goukas was simply a better player, headed for an excellent NBA career, than the Huskies star.

I believe Wes was second in the nation in scoring in his senior year at something like 28.8, and still holds the career average record for UConn at 23.6.

As for the moniker 'The Mad Bomber," I never heard that during or since Wes' UConn days. I always heard him referred to as "The Poughkeepsie Popper.

 

[cohenzone]

Loving your recollections, gentlemen. I was a high school kid when Wes was playing at UConn and I listened to all the games on the radio, usually with my Dad, a Pennsylvania grad. He was especially excited when the Huskies got to play St. Joe's in the Palestra in Philly, where he had sat in on many games years before.

Cohenzone, could well be that's Toby's 29 rebounds were a tournament record, and I'm quite sure at the time (and likely for years to come), it was also a Palestra record... no mean feat.

As for Bialosuknia's struggles in that game, Matty Goukas' height certainly was a factor. The reality was that St. Joe's was a great defensive team and Goukas was simply a better player, headed for an excellent NBA career, than the Huskies star.

I believe Wes was second in the nation in scoring in his senior year at something like 28.8, and still holds the career average record for UConn at 23.6.

As for the moniker 'The Mad Bomber," I never heard that during or since Wes' UConn days. I always heard him referred to as "The Poughkeepsie Popper.

Yup on the nickname recollection. Other nickname was Wondrous Wes.

 

[f1f1ferrari]

how about EJ Korvettes........

I've heard of it, but don't remember it from my childhood

 

[cohenzone]

I've heard of it, but don't remember it from my childhood

Best place in downtown Hartford to buy 45rpm
records. Became the American Airlines building. Right across Main from GFox.

 

[f1f1ferrari]

Best place in downtown Hartford to buy 45rpm
records. Became the American Airlines building. Right across Main from GFox.

My first 12 years were in Paterson, NJ. Didn't move to CT until '80, and that was in Stratford. Used to get my 45s at Caldor and Bradlee's

 

[cohenzone]

My first 12 years were in Paterson, NJ. Didn't move to CT until '80, and that was in Stratford. Used to get my 45s at Caldor and Bradlee's

One of my sons lives in LA near UCLA. Just last night he told me he was in a Halloween store with his kids and saw a guy wearing a vintage Caldor t shirt. He asked the man if he was from CT, to which the guy said yes, near Stamford. When my kids were growing up the closest Caldor was in Manchester. 45s were already ancient history.

 

[MooseJaw]

how about EJ Korvettes........

Lived in a Chicago suburb, with an EJ Korvettes, close by we were told at the store that the name came from, Eight Jewish Korean Veterans. It was a great store with good merchandise at fair prices.

 

[oldude]

My first 12 years were in Paterson, NJ. Didn't move to CT until '80, and that was in Stratford. Used to get my 45s at Caldor and Bradlee's

Don’t know when you moved to Stratford, but growing up in the south end of town, we got pretty much everything at the old Stratford Town Fair next to the bowling alley. Groceries, clothes and just about anything else you were looking to buy.

 

[Blueconn]

Just thank you. Thank you to those who thrilled at the sight of another downtown jumper from the Poughkesie Popper. You saw him playing and can’t forget the three seasons when he rewrote all the records. Later his college coach, Fred Schabel, said that half Bialosuknia’s baskets were beyond the 3. Memory is tricky, but that’s exactly what I clearly remember. Don’t be fooled by b&w photos or a few minutes of film. Wes Bialosuknia was the real deal…and all UConn.

 

[f1f1ferrari]

Don’t know when you moved to Stratford, but growing up in the south end of town, we got pretty much everything at the old Stratford Town Fair next to the bowling alley. Groceries, clothes and just about anything else you were looking to buy.

Lived on Main Street near South Ave starting in 1980 - very familiar with Town Fair, used to bowl a league at the bowling alley (and party at the Upper Deck afterwards).

 

[Zanzman]

Had to go back and look at the title of this thread

 

[temery]

This thread is about the scrimmage. Stay on topic.

 

[AmeriConn]

Had to go back and look at the title of this thread

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