When Rebounding (Or Waiting For The Basketball Hall Of Fame) Keep Your Head To The Sky


“It is the wise coach who, when teaching fundamentals, puts a lot of emphasis on offensive rebounding,” says Arnold ‘Red’ Auerbach in his 1952 book called “Basketball for the Player, the Fan, and the Coach.”

Basketball for the Player, Fan, and Coach

This is Rule # 1 in Auerbach’s section called “Hints On Rebounding”:

Learn to jump with your hands stretched upward.

That thought is echoed on the defensive end by Charles Murphy in his 1938 book, “Basketball”:

The defensive player should leap high in the air, reach up with the arms fully extended, catch the ball in both hands, land on the floor facing the end line, feint one way or the other, dribble sharply to one side or the other, or hook pass out of the danger zone to a teammate at the first opportunity.

This vintage upward thinking reminded me of one of my favorite old school Earth, Wind, and Fire tunes, “Keep Your Head To The Sky.”

Enjoy this rare and beautiful live version of it:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n11wGUEdIyU

But keeping your head to the sky was only part of the story of rebounding in the old days. Footwork was also involved. And something else.

“I learned my trade mostly from John Isaacs,” says former Harlem Yankees player and collegiate basketball star Donald Hinds, now in his 90s, who I spoke with recently.

“I was a jumper, a rebounder, but my jumping didn’t make any sense against Isaacs because he could take a finger and get me off balance and the ball would fall right into his hands.”

The Yankees, a farm team for the New York Rens, produced such top Renaissance players over the years as Hank DeZonie, Puggy Bell, and Sonny Woods. Isaacs played for the team as he neared the end of his pro career, and also helped coach.

“He taught me all the tricks of the trade,” Hinds says of Isaacs.

Hinds was a star at South Carolina State on a basketball scholarship before getting homesick during his sophomore year. He returned to Harlem to play for the Yankees. His teammates included DeZonie, who later played briefly in the N.B.A., George Crowe, and Bennie Garrett, all of whom already or eventually also played for the Rens.

Isaacs was a top rebounder at a time when rebounds weren’t listed in the box score or tracked statistically. Neither were steals, forced turnovers, blocked shots, assists, and other “hustle” stats.

This is what makes it so difficult for some Black Fives Era players like Isaacs to be fairly considered for comparison and recognition, like by the committees of so-called experts responsible for deciding “veterans” enshrinements into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Isaacs isn’t even the only Rens player who ought to be enshrined. What about “Fats” Jenkins? “Puggy” Bell? “Sonny” Boswell?

What about beyond the Rens? Players and contributors like Cumberland Posey, Ora Washington, Hudson Oliver, Edwin Henderson, and Will Anthony Madden?

In those days, greatness as a basketball player was measured not by stats but by the level of talent of your teammates.

In the case of the New York Renaissance Big Five, every player on the court was expected to do everything, so you had to be up to the level of your teammates or you simply wouldn’t play.

No wonder they didn’t keep individual stats.

Coach John Wooden

Coach John Wooden.

Yet there’s a reason why U.CL.A. coaching legend John Wooden keeps repeating himself about what he calls the “breathtaking precision” of the Renaissance.

“To this day,” Wooden said in 2003, “I’ve never seen more beautiful team play than the New York Rens.”

If life is about the joy of the journey, then the Rens players who haven’t been fully recognized in Springfield need not worry. As Coach Wooden says, “Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all.” So, it’s the Hall of Fame’s failure, not the players’.

They will, as Earth, Wind & Fire says, “find peace in every way.” As in rebounding, they need only keep their heads to the sky.

But, as in rebounding, that’s only part of the story. The rest of it is the unfinished business of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

(Wooden photograph courtesy of CoachWooden.com)

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LARRY JOSEPH
6 years ago

DONALD THE REINDEER HINDS PLAYED FOR THE hARLEM YANKEES MY UNCLE/FATHERS TEAM LIVED ONE BLOCK FROM ME I HAARLEM AND ONE BLOCK FROM GEORGE MOORE OF LINCLN UNIVERSITY FAME . WHENEVER I SAW HIM HE WANTED A CONTRACT SO HE COULD GET BACK ON THE ROAD A GREAT GUY
CLARENCE R BELL AKA PUGGY DESERVES TO BE IN THE HAJLL MOST DEFINITELY AS MY FATHER OFTEN POINTED OUT TO ME PUGGY AND FOUR GUYS MADE A TEAM. HE WAS A GREAT ALL COURT PLAYER FOR A LONG TIME I KNEW HIM A A PLAYER MY INSURED AND MY DOUBLES TENNIS PARTNER

[…] oblique), 2) the selections themselves (many have been baffling or gratuitous), and 3) the omissions (some are […]

[…] been knowing about the snubs!  I know they saw this and this and this. But my own comments are just the tip of a mountainous iceberg of discontent.  You know […]

15 years ago

Hi Claude,
My ole’ soul remembers this song. I loved it then and I love it now. It’s inspirational, positive, and a lift. Ironically I’m working on a film about the trial and tribulaitons of this era -the early – mids’s 70’s. Music was a big component of story-prayer-emotion during those days… there was a reason they called it soul. It may not have legs in our hip hop era…

Speaking of soul; talk about the passion and talent of the old school Basketball players. I’m not one to watch much TV, so I’m hoping ESPN or any of the sports bio shows will share this with our history starved people.

Keep the blogs coming….

Ojae
15 years ago

This story reminds me of ALL the HBCU coaches, both men and women, who are not fully recognized by the NCAA powers that be (as we were reminded by the two part documentary aired on ESPN a few months ago – My apologies, I cannot recall the name of the documentary).

What might we have NOT known about C. Vivian Stringer had she NOT left Cheyney State College for Univ of Iowa and later Rutgers? Had she stayed at Cheyney, or moved on to another HBCU, the story of what she has done for women’s college basketball would likely NOT be included in the HOF/NCAA Basketball HOF! The fact that she has accomplished greatness in “mainstream” college basketball (read here: Div I coaching at predominately white institutions) is the primary reason she’s in the hall; she would have not been voted in (in my opinion) on the basis of her extraordinary success at Cheyney alone! Stately differently, had she only coached at HBCU’s the vast majority of her accomplishments would have most likely gone unrecognized and appreciated.

Thanks Claude for another important blog.

15 years ago

Ojae, thank you for your comment and welcome back!

I want to point out, and save more details for a later post, that Ora Mae Washington was recently selected for induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. However, I hesitate using that as a balancing point because — and this is not to take anything away from the wonderful things the WHOF is doing — I didn’t want that to seem like a consolation prize or as a reason to justify further prolonging her enshrinement into the Naismith version.

15 years ago

Thank you Bijan, Nikki, and Pete! I think it’s not about “where we’re not at yet” but rather, the enjoyment of the journey and process along the way … right?! :-)

15 years ago

I support Ora Washington and Dr. E.B. Henderson as Naismith nominees, and figures fans and youngsters should be more aware of. Everyone you cited merits serious consideration- this blog is a valuable edutainment outlet.

[…] are ways around this, of course, and Isaacs, as are several other Black Fives Era stars and pioneers, is deserving of a […]

carl campbell
15 years ago

donald-cat-hinds made the correct call about rebounding on a gentleman who should be in the hall of fame john – boy – wonder isaacs give me the same lesson on rebounding after that i got every rebound i went after this man should be model for all coaches..

Nikki Graves Henderson
15 years ago

Hey Claude,
Thanks for the gentle reminder to the “powers that be”. And thanks for remaining centered, focused and as always “in the spirit”. You are a bellwether for our community!
Fondly,
Nikki

15 years ago

Wow! Vintage EWF! What a great message in the video about how one makes the world one lives in. These guys kept on keepin’ on after many setbacks and became one of the biggest bands on the planet. Yeah, I know, I’m focusing on the tunes, but the struggles and success of EWF can be a metaphor for being great on and off the court. Keep on sending the positive vibes, CJ. They’re much needed.

15 years ago

Good stuff!! EWF can’t miss with that !