25 year ago today ...

It was once a popular fashion statement.









I swear there are photos out there of El Deano wearing a plaid jacket and bell bottoms, but I can't find any on the Google.

 

I thought he only did that on his first free throw of each game.

 

You might be correct. I just remember watching him shoot left-handed. Chris Long could tell us for sure.

 

Jeff Fryer was a man possessed in that Michigan game.

 

If I get time in the next day or two (snow day tomorrow, maybe), I'm hoping to find some of those games on YouTube. Anyone know for sure if they're available?

 

Wasn't there some blowback on that from LMU teammates who said Hank and Bo weren't all that close, and Bo was being a bit of a showman there while Hank's actual friends were off on the fringes?

 

My own two cents, Long Beach State had fired Ron Palmer after the 1986 season, and hired Joe Harrington from George Mason as their new head coach. He was a hurry-up offense coach as well (although not nearly in the Westhead mode).
I was a student at that time, and on a sunday afternoon in the fall, watched the Harrington-led Beach team play LMU in the old West Gym at Long Beach State. It was the most breathtakingly exciting game I ever watched live. Both teams sprinted up and down the floor (Beach's best player was pg Morlon Wiley, who played in the NBA several years). It was like I was watching a different sport. I remember Long Beach player Jeff Eastin standing during a time out, gasping to catch his breath. What a game. And if you had the worst seat in the house, you were five rows up.

Either Kimble or Gathers didn't play in that game, due to injury. Westhead had them running, though.

 

And later, Westhead took over at George Mason. 93-97, I believe.

 

It's not the whole game, but here are 20 minutes worth of highlights from Loyola Marymount vs. LSU in Baton Rouge in February 1990:

LSU won 148-141 in overtime. Gathers had 48 points and 13 rebounds. Kimble had 32 and 11.

Chris Jackson scored 34 for LSU despite going 1-for-7 on 3-pointers. Stanley Roberts had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Shaquille O'Neal (who was a 17-year-old freshman) had 20 points, 24 boards and 12 blocks.

Boxscore:

LSU 148, LMU 141 (ot) - Loyola Marymount Official Athletic Site

 

Remembering Hank Gathers on 25th anniversary of his death - ESPN

 

If there was, that seems kind of petty by them. He was the best player on a team where the other best player died on the court. Close or not, it seems like it was perfectly justified for him to take the lead on something like that. (Reminds me a little of Joe Girardi announcing to the crowd at Wrigley Field that the game had been canceled due to Darryl Kile's death.)

 

It was the 87-88 season in which LMU burst upon the scene. Gathers and Kimble joined Corey Gaines after sitting out the previous season as transfers.
Yes, Kimble shot his first free throw each game left-handed. Gathers was a horrible free-throw shooter (I wrote a feature on that in which my lede was: What's worse, the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard or Hank Gathers shooting a free throw?). He tried shooting them left-handed and that's why Kimble did it that way. It gave LMU an incredible boost in all of its NCAA games, when he did that, the crowd went nuts.
And it is true Gathers and Kimble actually weren't the best of friends, but they did rely on each other. Kimble was lazier and Gathers had to prod him to do the extra work required.
I know the two radio guys mentioned in the story linked above. In fact, one of them, Berger I think, told me about the medication issue. LMU went to Philly for 2 games, against St. Joseph's (?) and Temple. It was a glorious homecoming for Gathers and Kimble. Gathers sucked in the first game. Before the second game, in the layup line, he threw down a monster dunk and circled around in front of the two radio guys courtside. He said to Berger, "Ain't gonna be all drugged up for this game."
I was going to dig up that LMU-LSU game for Reacher, but Sneak beat me to it. Chris Jackson said it was the most fun he ever had playing basketball. Gathers battled Stanley Robert AND Shaq the entire game. He had a bunch of shots rejected, but he never backed down. LMU would have won but Lowery missed a free throw near the end of regulation that would have iced the game.
I will say here that LMU was damn lucky to have Westhead as the point man when all the media descended in the aftermath. He was/is a highly intelligent, sensitive, thoughtful person who could concisely and accurately convey what was going on there and give a true reflection of the impact on his team. He was no "WE'RE SAD, BABEEE" or "somebody's got to step up" etc...
Boy, my memory bank is in overdrive.