The real secret to
The real secret to my success was I could shoot with either hand. Ironically, I became ambidextrous as a direct result of breaking my right hand. Dolph Schayes
Dolph Schayes
I disobeyed a basic
I disobeyed a basic basketball rule and never boxed out. I figured that if I had the inside position I had enough of an advantage to just go get the ball. And coaches left me alone because I got it. Dolph Schayes
Guys hated to play
Guys hated to play against me because my stock in trade was constant movement. I was quick but not fast so I would move my defender into picks, from one end of the court to another and wear him out until I had him tired and off-guard. Dolph Schayes
I never had a
I never had a postup game, which really hurt me eventually. Later in my career, teams would put smaller guys on me to stop my shooting and driving and I wasn’t able to exploit my height advantage. I would just take bigger guys outside and drive or shoot my setshot. Dolph Schayes
Once people couldn’t trust
Once people couldn’t trust the college game, some checked out the pro game, but that was in big trouble, too. We had no clock and a lot of faults. People looked at the slow pace and at big guys like George Mikan and said pro basketball was just for overgrown pituitary cases. Baseball and football … Read more
I was a center
I was a center in college but I was a high post guy, feeding cutters and rebounding. Going to pro ball, I clearly wasn’t big and strong enough to play center against giants like Mikan so I kept evolving. Dolph Schayes
A basketball diameter is
A basketball diameter is 10 inches and a rim is 18 inches so I made a 14-inch rim I put in to practice on. Few people could do that because it was so frustrating that it drove everyone but me nuts. That led to me shooting very high, which basic physics tells you is the … Read more
As for the work
As for the work ethic, I’m just the kind of guy who takes what he does seriously. I never missed a day of school, I’ve rarely missed work and I played all those straight games; my streak only ended when I broke my cheekbone. Dolph Schayes
It’s fair to say
It’s fair to say that Jews dominated basketball and that started in the 30s in all the big cities. I think it was simply because Jews lived in ghettoes and basketball is a great schoolyard game. You don’t need a lot of space or equipment and you can adapt it to how many players you … Read more
Most people forget that
Most people forget that Danny Biasone was the Wilbur Wright of basketball. Because he invented the 24-second clock, the game took off. Yet he was a man who never played the game. Dolph Schayes