Matthews: Schayes salutes Al Cervi
Bob Matthews – Staff writer
Bob Matthews – November 11, 2009 - 4:00am
File photo 1954
Former Syracuse Nationals star Dolph Schayes, above, said of Al Cervi: “He was tough and rugged, with an acid tongue, but he put his imprint on our team.”
Dolph Schayes was the superstar of the 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals, but he gives the late Al Cervi full credit for putting the team over the top.
“He gave us the toughness we needed to be a championship team,” Schayes said Tuesday from his home in Syracuse. “He was here for seven seasons, and we reached the Finals three times. We lost in six games to the (Minneapolis) Lakers and George Mikan in 1950 and in seven games to them in 1954, and beat Fort Wayne in seven games in 1955. We were behind by 16 at halftime in Game 7. It was the first season with the 24-second clock. Without it, we might not have been able to rally to win (92-91).
“Al was the perfect coach for our team and this blue-collar city. He was tough and rugged, with an acid tongue, but he put his imprint on our team and it was a positive one. He got the best out of us and knew how to work the home crowd against visiting teams and the referees. We were incredibly successful at home. Bob Cousy (star guard of the Boston Celtics) said coming to Syracuse was like entering a war zone.”
Schayes was a star at NYU but many people, including his own college coach, wondered if he was tough enough to play in the NBA.
“Al made me tougher,” said Schayes, a member of the NBA’s “50 Greatest Players” team in 1997. “He was good for the city of Syracuse and for me. I wouldn’t have been the player I was without the aggressiveness he instilled in me.”
When Schayes ended his 16-year NBA career in 1964, he was NBA’s all-time leader in games (1,059) and points (19,249).
Schayes recalled how Cervi would play one-on-one games in practice against the team’s guards (including Billy Kenville, George King and Paul Seymour): “He’d play rough to toughen them up. The games were supposed to be to 10, but if a player scored 10 points before he did, he’d make them continue the game until he got ahead. Then he’d say the game was over. That’s how much he hated to lose. He’d do anything – and I mean anything – to win.”
Schayes said the feisty and demanding Cervi had a “tough-love” relationship with the players. That led to an unfortunate incident that Schayes regrets to this day after the Nationals were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs one season.
“When we got together to divide the playoff money, I don’t think it was more than $500 per man, we voted him no share. That was a mistake,” Schayes recalled. “Our owner (Danny Biasone, who once admiringly described Cervi as a competitor who would “claw your eyeballs out”), overrode our vote and Al got his share, but he never forgot what we did.
“We had reunions through the years, but Al never attended. It wasn’t the same without him. We regretted that vote and some of us reached out and pleaded with him to come. But he never did. He had the courage of his convictions and wouldn’t budge.”
Longtime Brighton resident, former Rochester Royals star and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Cervi passed away Monday at age 92.
Schayes, 81, said he hopes to be able to make the trip to Rochester to finally say goodbye at Cervi’s funeral service.
What happens when a very bad NFL offense runs into a lousy NFL defense? We’ll find out Sunday when the Buffalo Bills play at the Tennessee Titans.
The Bills are 29th in the league in total offense (264.8 yards per game), 31st in average time of possession (27:19), 30th in first downs per game (14.5) and 28th in yards per play (4.5).
The Titans are 31st in total defense (allowing 390.2 yards per game) and 32nd in scoring defense (allowing 28.9 points per game).
One advantage for Tennessee is running back Chris Johnson. He not only leads in the NFL in rushing by a wide margin (959 yards to No. 2 Cedric Benson’s 837); he’s averaging a college-like 6.7 yards per carry. For the record, the NFL record for highest average gain in a season is 8.45 yards, by wanna-be Buffalo Bill Michael Vick for Atlanta in 2006 (123 carries for 1,039 yards). The record for a non-QB is 8.44 by Beattie Feathers in 1934 (119 for 1,004).
The amazing 40-year-old Brett Favre (Minnesota) hits the midpoint of the 2009 NFL season with a 106.0 passer rating, No. 2 in the NFL and behind only Drew Brees (106.1 for New Orleans). Favre’s career passer rating is 86.0, with a personal best of 99.5 in 1995. He has 16 TD passes and only 3 interceptions. His career-low for INTs is 13 (1992, 1995 and 1996). He’s averaging 241 yards passing per game, only 12th in the league, but never has been this efficient. If he stays healthy, he could contend for a record fourth league MVP award.
Believe it or not — and if you watched every Buffalo Bills game this season you will believe it — eight NFL wide receivers have more receptions this season than Buffalo’s Lee Evans and Terrell Owens combined. Evans and Owens each have 23 catches, tied for 78th in the NFL. … Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis) leads the NFL with 44 catches for first downs. Josh Reed and Evans lead Buffalo with 12 (tied for 85th in the league) and Owens has 11 (tied for 95th). … The New York Giants (272.3) and New York Jets (273.4) rank 1-2 in the NFL in total defense. The Jets have allowed an NFL-low 4.5 yards per play. … One of the NFL’s most underrated running backs is Baltimore’s Ray Rice. The versatile former Rutgers star is averaging 5.3 yards per carry and has an NFL-most 381 yards after catches this season.
The Minnesota Twins dropped pitcher Armando Gabino and first baseman Justin Huber from their 40-man roster this week. Huber (.273, 22 HRs, 76 RBI with the 2009 Rochester Red Wings) cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Red Wings, but the Baltimore Orioles claimed Gabino off waivers. Gabino was an unsung hero for the 2009 Red Wings. He was 6-4 with a 2.94 ERA as a starter and reliever. … The Red Wings should be in good shape at catcher entering the 2010 International League season. With Jose Morales likely to stick with the Minnesota Twins as No. 2 catcher behind Joe Mauer, Rochester’s two catchers figure to be returnee Drew Butera and hot prospect Wilson Ramos. Butera was selected the top defensive catcher in the IL by the league’s managers last season but didn’t hit much (.211, 2 HRs, 25 RBI in 99 games). Ramos, rated Minnesota’s third-best prospect (behind only outfielders Aaron Hicks and Ben Revere) by Baseball America entering last season, missed time because of injuries at Double-A New Britain but hit well in the 59 games he played: .317 (65-for-205), 16 doubles, 4 HRS, 29 RBI) and currently is tearing up the Venezuelan League: .405 (32-for-70), 8 doubles, 1 triple, 6 HRS, 24 RBIs in 21 games.
Less than two weeks after the Rochester Knighthawks acquired star forward Gavin Prout and two first-round picks in the 2010 National Lacrosse League draft from the Colorado Mammoth, the K-hawks traded him Tuesday to the Edmonton Rush for draft picks. Said Knighthawks owner/general manager Curt Styres, “We’ve been playing a chess match in preparation for the 2010 draft. We want as many first-round picks as we can get. We have four now and hope to get more.” Syracuse University star Cody Jamieson, Styres’ nephew, is expected to be the plum of the 2010 NLL draft. … Styres denied “100 percent” this NLL trade rumor: Rochester’s John Grant Jr. to Steve Donner’s Orlando Titans for goaltender Matt Vinc and Jordan Hall. … Rochester is well-represented on the 23-man United States roster for the world lacrosse championships in Manchester, England, next summer (July 14-24): Chris Schiller (McQuaid/Penn State/Rochester NLL Knighthhawks), Shawn Nadelen (Rush-Henrietta/Johns Hopkins/MLL Washington Bayhawks), former MLL Rochester Rattler Kevin Cassese, Ryan Powell (Syracuse University/Rattlers) and Alex Smith (Delaware/Rattlers). Only five players return from the team that lost to Canada in the 2006 world championships in London, Ontario. It was the first time since 1978 that the U.S. did not win the title.
