That sounds delicious

The Chgo State summer leagues were the absolute best. Didn't pay for anything (parking), they let you hang out in the lots early & late and there were women (beer and music) everywhere. (IIRC Jordan played for I kid you not, Team Playboy in '85) The best thing is that Jordan would show up sporadically and the only ones who knew when he was coming were insiders. Fortunately, Tim lived on the next block & would tell us.

Most of the times Jordan wouldn't come until halftime. Kids would see his truck or Vette, come running into the gym, everything would stop as he would walk across the court, pull off his sweats and go straight to the scorer's table.

Funniest thing I remember was Tracy Dildy absolutely torching Isiah once. I think he & Tim were both working on crossovers then & he (Dildy) REALLY got Isiah. Of course Isiah got pissed and then lit him the hell up, but it was too late. Good times.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

I also heard that Kenny Patterson got a hold of Isaiah at Chicago State? Can you confirm this?

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I also heard that Kenny Patterson got a hold of Isaiah at Chicago State? Can you confirm this?

Yep it was the Black Jersey ed Playboy team. It would be standing room only at IIT.

They have two full courts on the other side of IIT's gym. They would allow us to play on the other side if we wanted. It was a highlight for a group of teenagers just to play pickup games in a place where NBA guys were playing.

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Any guard that had handles got him at least once. Isiah would come out and only really shoot until the inevitable pretender to the Chicago point guard throne got him & the crowd screamed.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Never really made it to IIT. I kinda stopped after the De La Salle (w/no AC) period. But I'd guess that a few guys had to come shoot with you all just to warm up, which had to be cool.

Now that I think about it, Mark Aguirre NEVER made it back on D there. Between sheets of sweat, he'd pick out spots for his next three shots and wait on the ball to make it back down court to him.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

I'm not as big a fan as I used to be. In the late 70s through the mid 80s I ate, slept, and breathed basketball. I just loved it. I became somewhat disillusioned with the rule changes in the college game and the bully ball played by the Pistons and the Knicks.

I think The Tournament can be kind of like those games at Chicago State except with guys really trying their asses off. A guy like Tom Florentine may not have been an NBA player, but I guarantee Isiah didn't want to go against him for 40 minutes.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

The first 86-89 yrs of IIT were the best . Then they moved around a little until they found their way to DE LA Salle in 92. De LA salle was real to me also. I saw a team of Freshmen give the NBA guys all they wanted. I can remember seeing Glenn Robinson Donnie Boyce Tom Kleinshmidt, Finley, Sherrelle Ford
And Juwon Howard give Hardaway and the gang everything they wanted. That was essentially a McDonald's all American team playing in the pro am. This was 92 and they'd all just completed their freshmen yr. I remember seeing Garnett just eviscerate Pete Myers in 95 at Dela Salle. He'd just gotten drafted that summer. It was my first time seeing him play and I said to myself and other people that this kid should have turned pro. You don't get that type of high level talent playing in it these days.

The money may draw some people to watch the million dollar challenge but the lack of talent is going to drive far more people to turn it off after awhile. The reality TV aspect will be intriguing because that crew of guys will have def. Have some interesting stories to tell.

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I can remember watching Auguirre at De LaSalle in 95 or 96. He was out the league then and he just stopped in to get a workout. It was a playoff game in the pro am and the team that he was playing thought they were going to embarrass because he was older and retired. These were some overseas guys and they started the game off by running 4 straight clear outs for the guy he was guarding. They kept saying fuck him up he's old. Aguirre waited for the four clear out stage to be over and simply pointed to the top of his head. It was his way of saying give it here. He 3 point played the guy to kick it off. By the time the third quarter was over he had about 40 and his team was up about 20. He simply grabbed his gym bag and walked out of the gym at that point. He let em know that he was still Mark Aguirre.

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A note to Joe Orr Road Rod -

Very much appreciate you mentioning me earlier. Awesome gesture - I remember those days very fondly. I was lucky to be on the floor with most of those guys - Chicago State was a very well run tournament with plenty of guys in the league as well as great fans and crowds.

Again many thanks - Glen Heiden