Mike Looks Back
Mike Looks Back: ’80s Atlanta Hawks
Monday, June 27th, 2011Mike Looks Back: Fellow Jersey Boy Jon Bon Jovi
Thursday, May 20th, 2010Jon Bon Jovi is coming up in concert at the New Meadowlands Stadium for three nights next week. I’ve been to his show before. In fact, I’ve been on stage with him. In Cleveland we had run into his manager the night before his show and he arranged to bring a group of us up on stage, off to the side. We stayed there for two or three songs. Then that group got off and the next group came up on stage, but they told me to just stay. So I wound up staying up there for almost the whole concert. I was actually behind Jon looking out at the crowd from his perspective. It was sensational.
Jon Bon Jovi and Mike Fratello at the Annual Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation Gala.
Jon and I first met at a Cleveland Browns game back when Bill Belichick was the head coach. Jon and I were both down on the field before the game. It was freezing, snowing. We were introduced and eventually I said, “Come on Jon, we sit in the box up there.” But he said, “No, I want to stay down here.” Then just before halftime he called me on the cell phone and said, “How do I get up there?” because it was so damn cold out on the field. So he came up and sat in the box with us for the rest of the game.
Jon is one of the nicest people you’ll meet. He’s also one of the hardest working guys I know. And he love sports – he’s a great sports enthusiast. He was one of the co-majority owners of the Philadelphia Soul AFL football team, which won the ArenaBowl in 2008. He’s also a Jersey guy who, like Frankie Valli and Bruce Springsteen, is one of the guys in the entertainment field who’s just done so much for the music industry. That‘s Jersey pride.
Mike Looks Back: Villanova Then and Now
Saturday, March 20th, 2010Prior to my NBA debut with Hubie Brown and the Hawks, I coached under Rollie Massimino at Villanova University from 1975-78. That was a period when Villanova turned it around and it was an exciting time in my career. We had some outstanding recruiting classes, which included the talented guard Rory Sparrow whom I would again coach at the NBA level in both Atlanta and New York. During my third season with the Wildcats we wound up the number one team in the Eastern Eight Conference. That year we made it to the NCAA Elite Eight after squeaking past Bobby Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers in the Sweet 16 round with a 61-60 victory, thanks in large part to Sparrow’s contributions on the court. Eventually we lost to the NCAA Tournament runners-up, the Duke Blue Devils, but we had a terrific run.
I have a lot of great memories from that chapter in my basketball career. And because of my rich experience and my relationships with coaches Rollie Massimino and Jay Wright, I’ve maintained ties to the program ever since. I remember the night Villanova upset heavily favored Georgetown to win the National Championship in 1985. I was a young head coach of the Atlanta Hawks. We were playing the Detroit Pistons at Joe Louis Arena that night. I found a cab driver before the game and paid him on the condition that he be waiting for me outside the arena when our game ended. As soon as we got finished with the press conference I raced back to the hotel to watch the game. The Wildcats were seeded eighth in their bracket and wound up defeating the No. 1 seeded Hoyas 66-64. What a night for Rollie – it was magical.
Coach Wright, who is in his ninth year as head coach, has developed the Wildcats into a top 25 fixture. Prior to joining Villanova, he was a successful head coach at Hofstra University and an assistant to Rollie at both Villanova and UNLV. While Villanova has had success in the past, most notably in 1985 when they captured the NCAA title, the basketball program is enjoying arguably its most prolonged period of success in its 81-year history. Last year, Villanova made its first Final Four appearance since the 1985 season when they lost to eventual National Champion North Carolina.
Coach Wright is a homegrown guy and follows in the footsteps of many other successful Big 5 coaches whose roots started in the Philadelphia area. He has shown a tremendous flair for recruiting, no doubt a result of his natural charisma and energy. Villanova now has a national recruiting pool from which to choose and looks poised to be a tough out in the NCAA tournament for years to come.
Wright’s teams are characterized by strong, tough guard play and an overall feistiness that allows them to compete effectively with bigger teams. The current team is no exception and is led by senior guard Scottie Reynolds, who hopes to bring his tremendous career at Villanova to an end with another deep tourney push. Villanova is also well-represented in the NBA right now with recent grads Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry and Dante Cunningham all contributing to their respective teams.
Villanova (2) will face St. Mary’s (10) in the second round of the 72nd Annual NCAA Championships this afternoon at 1:05 PM ET.
Mike Looks Back: ATL HAWKS 1986-87
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Head coach Mike Fratello of the Atlanta Hawks calls out a play and argues a call during an NBA game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California in 1987. Photos by Mike Powell and Rick Stewart/Getty Images
Head coach Mike Fratello sees how he measures up against a Tree Rollins height chart during the 1986-87 season.
During the 1986-87 season, my fourth year as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, we won 57 regular season games to finish first in the Central Division and second in the Eastern Conference behind the mighty Boston Celtics, who would ultimately lose to the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
That year we set the franchise’s best record for regular season wins, which has since been matched by the 1993-94 Hawks team, though it has not yet been surpassed. Dominique Wilkins was among the 20+ Hall of Fame players who competed during the “Golden Era” of NBA basketball. Nique made his second of nine total All-Star appearances that year.
I came across this New York Times article published on April 19, 1987 about our team: “Pro Basketball; Hawks Fulfilling Tall Order” by Ira Berkow
WHEN Mike Fratello – who says he is 5 feet 7 inches (though in a pinch could probably pass for 5-6), and is short enough to have once been turned down for a National Basketball Association head coach’s job because of his height – when Mike Fratello, now the coach of the Atlanta Hawks, stands next to Tree Rollins or Kevin Willis, both of whom are 7 feet tall, and gives them instructions, it looks as if he’s calling up to the second floor . . .
You can read the rest of the article here.
ATLANTA - 1987: Doninique Wilkins #21 of the Atlanta Hawks squares off against Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics during the 1987 NBA game at the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
That season I also made my first and only music video appearance. The local Atlanta band Tom Grose and the Varsity released a 45 rpm record for the Hawks titled “Nothing Can Stop Us, We’re Atlanta’s Air Force.”
Who knew I’d wind up joining my buddy Marv Albert in the broadcast booth for the NBA on NBC several years later.
Dominique Wilkins #21 of the Atlanta Hawks and his brother Gerald Wilkins #21 of the New York Knicks are interviewed by Marv Albert before a 1987 NBA game played at the OMNI Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
Hawks center “Tree” Rollins towered at 7 ft 1 inch tall, while point guard and 1986 NBA Slam Dunk champion “Spud” Webb stood only 5 ft 5 inches small.
Guard Anthony (Spud) Webb of the Atlanta Hawks leaps to victory during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by Stephen Dunn /Allsport
Tree Rollins #30 of the Atlanta Hawks stretches by the bench during a game against the Lakers. Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images
Mike Looks Back: 2003 NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge
Friday, February 12th, 2010
I made it into Dallas and am looking forward to my first event of All-Star 2010: tonight’s Rookie Challenge. It will be interesting to see how the Freshmen and Sophomores wind up approaching the game. Having an extra year of pro ball under their belts arguably puts the Sophomore team at an advantage. And having won eight of the last ten Challenges, they are often favored in this competition.
But I believe the teams’ attitudes will ultimately determine tonight’s outcome. Are the players more concerned about putting on a show or winning? A team that is focused on entertaining the audience with lob dunks is not going to come out on top. Of course the guys should enjoy themselves out there and soak up the All-Star experience, but they shouldn’t disrespect the game. They should come out and play it the way it’s supposed to be played.
The 2003 Sophomore Team and coaches (back row l to r) Head coach Mike Fratello Gilbert Arenas #0, Troy Murphy #1, Tyson Chandler #3, Andrei Kirilenko #47, Richard Jefferson #24, assistant coach Bob Pettit, Jason Richardson #23 (front row l to r) Tony Parker #9, Pau Gasol #16 and Jamaal Tinsley #11
That’s exactly what I told my team when I coached the Sophomores in the 2003 Rookie Challenge down in Atlanta. NBA legend Bob Pettit was the assistant coach and Marv Albert was with me on the bench as my statistician. When you’re coaching this type of game one concern is that you want to make sure to give every player his minutes. Down the stretch you may go with the group of guys who are playing best together to try and win the game. However you also want to be fair to each player and give everyone a chance to perform and contribute.
We faced some tough Rookies in Carlos Boozer, Caron Butler and Amar’e Stoudemire. However there was no shortage of talent on our Sophomore squad: we had Pau Gasol (whom I would coach in Memphis the following year), Gilbert Arenas, Tony Parker and Troy Murphy to name some of the notables. But for some reason we came out playing terrible ball in the first half – it was a three-ring circus. We were doing stupid things: taking silly shots, making dumb plays. By halftime we were getting killed. We were clearly not focused on winning.
Even though the event is supposed to be fun, I was angry and I came down hard on the guys in the locker room. I said something along the lines of, “This is a disgrace. You should be ashamed of yourselves. We’ve got all these Hall-of-Famers here watching; you’ve got Bob Pettit on the sidelines – it’s got to be killing them to watch you play. This is not fun for me. None of you have ever played for me, but the way you’re playing now none of you ever could. “
Well, the team returned to the court on a mission. They wound up playing an incredible second half and winning the game 132–112. The fans got a great show, Arenas made out with the MVP trophy and we were all able to walk out of the arena with our heads held high.
You can catch the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam tonight on TNT at 9 p.m. ET. Afterwards I’ll join Matt Winer, Brent Barry and Eric Snow in the NBA TV studio at 11pm ET.
