Kings basketball vice president Wayne Cooper says Pete Newell was as influential in his career and life as anyone.
Newell, a coaching icon as well as one of the world's nicest people, died Monday following a long illness.
Kings scouting director Scotty Stirling knew Newell for 50 years and said his touch still reaches today.
"In August 2007, I went to his (big man's) camp in Las Vegas and there were two college kids who became first-rounders," Stirling said from his Bay Area home. "That was (former Oak Ridge and Cal star) Ryan Anderson and Jason Thompson. That's the first time Jason showed up on our board. We scouted him pretty heavily after that."
Twenty-seven years before Thompson, Cooper prospered from Newell's golden touch. Former Golden State Warriors small forward Purvis Short, former UCLA and Denver forward Kiki Vandeweghe and former Portland power forward-center Kermit Washington worked out under Newell's tutelage.
Each benefited greatly from the sessions, especially about footwork. Washington was the first, but ultimately those summer sessions grew to be known as the Big Man's Camp.
"I went there 12 years in a row," said Cooper, a 1978 second-round draft choice made by Stirling when he was with Golden State. "(Newell) probably is more responsible for me playing 14 years than anyone. He had a counter for anything.
"He was great with body balance and most of all, he was a great teacher with a passion for the game. And like anything else with Pete, you could take lessons off the court and apply them to your life."
Mills doing work at Saint Mary's
The Saint Mary's Gaels are hardly a perennial basketball power, but they are a force to be reckoned with right now.
Coach Randy Bennett, whose crew was 25-6 last season, has another team that likely will be in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. Sophomore point guard Patty Mills, who last summer started at the point for Australia in the Olympics and gave Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Jason Kidd more than they wanted, leads the Gaels.
Mills and four other Gaels are from Australia, but 6-foot-4 junior guard Wayne Hunter is a Valley High School grad, and 6-7 wing Ian O'Leary is from Woodland.
The Gaels, from Moraga, play in the West Coast Conference with more recognized schools such No. 11 Gonzaga, San Francisco, San Diego and Pepperdine. However, Bennett has a deep and versatile squad that also features 6-7 senior forward Diamon Simpson, last season's WCC Defensive Player of the Year.
It'll be interesting to see if the lightning-quick, 5-11 Mills stays beyond his junior year.
Attention: Hawes is a big man
It's clear youngster Spencer Hawes can shoot from outside, but he should spend far more time in the low post to be most effective for the Kings and for himself. He's got too much low-post game to be wasted on the perimeter.
In fact, Hawes, listed at 7-1, is the only King receiving rotation minutes to play like a big man. The Kings have enough players shooting jumpers to waste their low-post threat joining them.
He loves to shoot that jumper, so pick-and-pop plays will provide opportunities as well as the pick-and-roll option.
Call The Bee's Martin McNeal, (916) 326-5504.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.