A little something to read with your morning coffee/ tea/ water/ juice and your choice for breakfast.
This Rumble will be mostly Chris Mullin, as the Hall of Fame ceremonies kick off today:
1 - Dennis Rodman waxes poetic on Mullin's game. This is from the New York Post:
"Chris had the smoothest jump shot as a lefty - snap and pop and boom,’’ Rodman said. "He was smooth when he shot the ball. He could have been the second coming of Larry Bird. They had the same mannerisms and mindset."
"Chris Mullin is a very smart guy on the court like Larry Bird,’’ Rodman added. "Chris had the opportunity. He was just in the wrong system in Golden State. If he would’ve been in Boston, he would’ve shined big time. That’s his type of game. Slow down, run the offense, come off picks and shoot it. He would’ve been big time. Being on a team like Golden State with what they called Run TMC, he was the slowest guy on that damn team. But he made the best of it. He scored 17,000 points. He deserves to be in."
Video of Mullin's comments and more links to articles, below the fold.
2 - The Indianapolis Star speaks on the impact Chris Mullin had over the three seasons with the Indianapolis Pacers, despite being replaced at the three spot by Jalen Rose. The article includes this tidbit from his St. John's teammate Mark Jackson:
"When I got to St. John's University, I was a gym rat and he taught me how to be a gym technician. There's no way I believe I would have made the pros had I not met Chris Mullin."
3 - Donnie Walsh - who was the GM of those Pacers teams - regrets not being able to hire Chris Mullin as General Manager of the Knicks - and as his successor. And just so you hate James Dolan more:
The source said Dolan did not view Mullin as polished enough to be the face of the Knicks. He once described Mullin's thick Brooklyn accent in the "Book of Basketball" as a cross between Bruce Springsteen and WFAN's Mike Francesa.
4 - A long read on Mullin's senior year as a Johnny (with choice quips from Lou Carnesecca), his alcohol troubles in the pro ranks, and Mullin's tight ties to his family from the New York Times. Take a look, it's worth the read.
5 - As for the incoming Johnnies, Hoopsworld touches on some programs that will depend heavily on freshmen this year, including St. John's:
As reliant as Duke and Kentucky are going to be on freshman, no single program in the country is going to count on their first-year guys as much as St. John's. Steve Lavin is putting his mark on the program by bringing in a massive nine-man recruiting class, six of which are going to be true freshmen. Norvel Pelle, D'Angelo Harrison, Maurice Harkless, Dominique Pointer, Jakarr Sampson and Amir Garrett are all ranked in the top 100 nationally and viewed as the group who will help take the Red Storm to new heights. If they stay together for more than a year they could become the team to beat in the Big East, but that's a big if.
6 - Hoopsworld... y'all forgot all about Phil Greene, the player who didn't get top-100 love from the major recruiting outlets. But no fear, St. John's official site helps us get to know Phil Greene with a Q and A in their "Starting Five" series.
7 - Lastly, a mixtape that includes Amir Garrett from the Chosen League in Philadelphia (as seen on Twitter via Dan and on Dime Magazine). He gets off some nice dunks, starting at about 2:30 in the video.
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