Jack Gillespie - MSU Basketball Great

[MSU Toddler]

great story on Jack - part of MSU's legendary history....

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/articl ... |Frontpage" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[BelgradeBobcat]

Nice article.

What he said about post play-so true. Nobody knows how to do it anymore. We have Mohammed Fall-who is a head taller than quite a few centers in the Big Sky-receives the ball at the high post or doesn't get it until he's pushed 15 feet away from the basket on the low post. When he does have position inside, the guard/forwards don't even look at him-or at best throw a bounce pass at his ankles.

Jeff Budnich is about the same size as Gillespie-but Budnich operates 25 feet from the basket.

So who's teaching our guys? No big man assistant coaches-ever on Durham or Huse's staffs.

[bobcats35]

Great article. Proud to say that I and a friend, Pete Gilligan (deceased) and Pete's brother-in-law Jimmy Kernagen had a hand in working with Jack and helping him develope his skills. The four of us spent many a night at the Heisey in Great Falls. Jack was a good learner and had a great desire to become the player he ended up being.
Don't know if we've had or ever will have one like him again. Also a fine yong man.

[Helcat72]

Was almost automatic with a hook shot from the "L" (High post) you surely don't see that today!

[John K]

I loved the interview with Jack Gillespie, and it was surprising to learn that MSU was so competitive against some big time programs during his era. Those were the days...

It makes me wonder why Montana has produced so few D-I caliber players in recent years, because some incredibly talented players have come out of this state in the past. Guys like Krysko, Gillespie, Wayne Estes, just to name a few. And I believe there was a player from Missoula who had a decent career in the old ABA, although I can't remember his name. I mean, we're talking about college superstar/professional caliber players, not just guys who were good enough to be starters for MSU or UM. Now, some years there'e not a single high school player from Montana that gets recruited by either school.

[bobcats35]

Estes may have been a sure thing had he gotten acidently killed his sophomore year. On an eastern road trip that year they played Boston College coached by Bob Cousy. Cousy commented after the game that Wayne was the best college player he had seen in years. As I recall he was leading the nation in scoring that year.
The Missoula kid was most likely Mike Lewis who played at Duke.

[ilovethecats]

Nice article.

What he said about post play-so true. Nobody knows how to do it anymore. We have Mohammed Fall-who is a head taller than quite a few centers in the Big Sky-receives the ball at the high post or doesn't get it until he's pushed 15 feet away from the basket on the low post. When he does have position inside, the guard/forwards don't even look at him-or at best throw a bounce pass at his ankles.

Jeff Budnich is about the same size as Gillespie-but Budnich operates 25 feet from the basket.

So who's teaching our guys? No big man assistant coaches-ever on Durham or Huse's staffs.

i agree with everything you said here but i'll add one thing. i think we're seeing a crazy evolution in basketball as a whole. dudes are getting so big now. it's not uncommon to have football-type huge guys playing hoops. think kenny plummer and bigger. but what is happening, is these dudes are getting so big that the officials don't know how to handle them, more times than not they are not allowed to play physical. i know you old timers think that guys are just way softer today but i don't buy into that fully. i think some big guys would LOVE to be able to bang down low but after 2-3 cheap fouls they avoid it.

again, i'll use kenny as an example as i know him personally and remember talking to him about this very thing. he was really working on his shooting and even the 3-pointed before his time here was done. as much as it annoyed the fans, and probably mick, he simply was trying to stay on the court. he couldn't play physical at all because everything he did looked to be too rough and often drew a whistle. other teams knew this and you would never see so much flopping! i remember trammel for the griz dealing with the same thing.

that said...looking at our current roster i don't see this scenario really being the case. but nationwide i think we will consider to see a decrease in legitimate post play because that kind of physical play is just asking to foul out in todays game.

[WeedKillinCat]

Great story on Jack. I liked how he mentioned not playing patsies on the schedule.

I remember playing around at the Heisey in my youth. Great place.

[[cat_bracket]]

The days of lobbing the ball underneath to some big goon are over, thank goodness. The old school post play required very little athleticism. The game of basketball is much more exciting to watch than it was 30-40 years ago. The 3-pointer has a lot to do with that as does the move away from racism and the way the game is officiated (they used to call everything back in the 70s and prior). I'm not saying every 6-10 giant was an uncoordinated clutz, Gillespie was very agile as were Kareem, Wilt, Russell, and many others and they would do great in this era, but guys like Rolph Drollinger, Mark Eaton, Tom Burleson, and whover that guy for ISU was in the 70s needed to go. Just being tall doesn't mean you deserve to be on the floor these days, thankfully.

[Bengal visitor]

Yeah, that (Steve Hayes) guy from Idaho State -- the all-time leading rebounder and fifth leading scorer in Big Sky history, who once put 41 points on MSU -- yeah he definitely couldn't play a lick.

[John K]

The days of lobbing the ball underneath to some big goon are over, thank goodness. The old school post play required very little athleticism. The game of basketball is much more exciting to watch than it was 30-40 years ago. The 3-pointer has a lot to do with that as does the move away from racism and the way the game is officiated (they used to call everything back in the 70s and prior). I'm not saying every 6-10 giant was an uncoordinated clutz, Gillespie was very agile as were Kareem, Wilt, Russell, and many others and they would do great in this era, but guys like Rolph Drollinger, Mark Eaton, Tom Burleson, and whover that guy for ISU was in the 70s needed to go. Just being tall doesn't mean you deserve to be on the floor these days, thankfully.

I beg to differ. I've watched some 80's era NBA Finals games on ESPN Classic recently, with the Lakers playing either the Celtics or the Sixers. Those games are infinitely more entertaining than the current version of the NBA. The ball movement was so much better back then...much less dribbling and way more passing. Obviously Magic and Bird's passing ability is legendary, but virtually every player on those teams was a good passer. And teams played so much more up-tempo back then. Of course the "Showtime" Lakers had a devastating fast-break offense back in those days, but even the Celtics and Sixers were much more inclined to push the ball than any team does currently. In Game 1 of the 1987 Lakers-Celtics Finals, LA scored 76 of their 126 total points off the fast-break. Can you imagine that in today's NBA? Scoring 126 points in a Finals game is pretty amazing in itself, by today's standards (then they scored 141 in Game 2), but 60% of their total points coming from the break? That's ridiculous. The Lakers would fast-break even after made baskets sometimes. That was fun to watch!! And just because teams scored more points in that era, don't try to tell me that those teams didn't play any defense. They played great defense. It's just that both teams got so many more possessions, because they played so much more up-tempo, so naturally both teams are going to score more points.

[Helcat72]

Not as much team-oriented play these days...more emphasis on individual talent blending with the rest of the team. MSU seemingly has looked for athletes and figure they will develop as basketball players....they need to learn to shoot, handle the ball and play together....