SFCityBear said:

---

joe amos yaks said:

---

OT -- thee W's
Great photo in the green (SF Chron sports, p.1) this morning: Cotton Nash (uK/Rupp) and Guy Rodgers of the W's vs Jerry West, Leroy Ellis and Darryl Imhoff (+other LA) of the Lakers playing at SF Civic (1964).

Thank you, BJ.

BTW- We (me + 2 from uSF) were in the "crowd" of 1,500 vs the Knicks at the Richmond Auditorium (1964).

---

Joe,

Great photo, and thanks. Although it looks like Imhoff was the last guy up the floor. The article by Bruce Jenkins is a a great read. For those who don't buy that rag these days, here is the link to it:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/jenkins/article/How-do-you-get-from-the-Cow-Palace-to-Chase-14491320.php#photo-18376432

Scroll through the other photos, and you will find a photo of one of the Warriors, Cal's great Charlie Johnson, going up for a rebound against another Cal great, the Bullets' Phil Chenier, all in the 1975 NBA Finals at the Cow Palace.

The Civic Auditorium was a great place to watch basketball, as long as your seat wasn't behind one of the posts holding up the roof. It was a crackerbox to some, but there were not many places where you got an up close, intimate look at some of the greatest players and teams of the NBA.

---

I had to laugh at the caption on the first photo: " . . . Cotton Nash shoots from long distance . . . " He was inside the free-throw line

mikecohen said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

joe amos yaks said:

---

OT -- thee W's
Great photo in the green (SF Chron sports, p.1) this morning: Cotton Nash (uK/Rupp) and Guy Rodgers of the W's vs Jerry West, Leroy Ellis and Darryl Imhoff (+other LA) of the Lakers playing at SF Civic (1964).

Thank you, BJ.

BTW- We (me + 2 from uSF) were in the "crowd" of 1,500 vs the Knicks at the Richmond Auditorium (1964).

---

Joe,

Great photo, and thanks. Although it looks like Imhoff was the last guy up the floor. The article by Bruce Jenkins is a a great read. For those who don't buy that rag these days, here is the link to it:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/jenkins/article/How-do-you-get-from-the-Cow-Palace-to-Chase-14491320.php#photo-18376432

Scroll through the other photos, and you will find a photo of one of the Warriors, Cal's great Charlie Johnson, going up for a rebound against another Cal great, the Bullets' Phil Chenier, all in the 1975 NBA Finals at the Cow Palace.

The Civic Auditorium was a great place to watch basketball, as long as your seat wasn't behind one of the posts holding up the roof. It was a crackerbox to some, but there were not many places where you got an up close, intimate look at some of the greatest players and teams of the NBA.

---

I had to laugh at the caption on the first photo: " . . . Cotton Nash shoots from long distance . . . " He was inside the free-throw line

---

In those days, if you shot from farther out than the free-throw line, you were usually benched by your coach for taking such a low percentage shot. I had a friend who once played for Red Auerbach. Before one game, Red was complaining to his players, asking, "Why doesn't anyone shoot a two-hand set shot any more?" In the game, my friend decided to launch one from 45 feet. As the ball was in the air, he looked over at the bench, and Auerbach was up and screaming, "Get that guy out of the game". The ball went right in the basket, but Auerbach yanked my friend out of the game anyway, with some choice words, and benched him.

Yes, Cj and Chenier, and I think those were the SF W's.

Visualize -- @ Richmond:
SF W's --
C Wilt
F Nate Thurmond
the great PG Attles, and
PG Rodgers
Meschery
Hightower
Geo Lee
the great Kenny Sears,

. . . in the petite Richmond Auditorium vs . . .

NY Knicks --
F Boozer
(dual pro -- Bosox/Celts/Knicks) Conley
"Bad News" Barnes
the great T. Gola
uU's Bill "the Hill" McGill
Willis Reed
John's Egan and Green
Komives, and
x-uSC's John Rudometikin.

Floor soft spots and all.

joe amos yaks said:

---

Yes, Cj and Chenier, and I think those were the SF W's.

Visualize -- @ Richmond:
SF W's --
C Wilt
F Nate Thurmond
the great PG Attles, and
PG Rodgers
Meschery
Hightower
Geo Lee
the great Kenny Sears,

. . . in the petite Richmond Auditorium vs . . .

NY Knicks --
F Boozer
(dual pro -- Bosox/Celts/Knicks) Conley
"Bad News" Barnes
the great T. Gola
uU's Bill "the Hill" McGill
Willis Reed
John's Egan and Green
Komives, and
x-uSC's John Rudometikin.

Floor soft spots and all.

---

Quite a list. I remember a pivotal game at Harmon in December of 1958. Cal was 3-0, and then we played #3 Kansas State with All-American Bob Boozer, a terrific athletic player. Boozer got over 20 points, as I remember. They also had a fine point guard, Don Matuszak, whose brother was a starting linebacker for the 49ers football team. Matuszak and K-State burned the Bears several times in the first half, getting behind the Bears defense in transition for easy fast break buckets. I don't know what Pete Newell told the Bears at halftime, but Cal didn't give up a single fast break bucket in the second half. Cal ended up losing 68-65. Cal would lose a few more games that season, but they did not give up any more fast break buckets in the rest of the home games I saw. Their last loss was to Stanford, and then they rattled off 16 straight wins on the way to the NCAA title in 1959.

The friend I mentioned who played for Auerbach was a good friend of Billy McGill's, and they played against each other a lot of times.

I was at that KSt / Boozer game, too. He was challenging.

MSaviolives said:

---

Wow. The exact B-17 plane that I was in a few months ago with my 97 year old friend crashed this morning. Horrible.
B-17 Crash

---

I was on my way to Bradley for a flight when the accident happened. They shut down the airport. I had to turn around and drive 3 hours to Newark and arrived at my destination at 2AM--but that of course is meaningless in light of the tragedy that occured.

cotton nash???????Doesn't the shooter look like meschery???Spitting image!!!

SF City Bear---send me a private message, and, I'll give you an update on some Lowell players...

Tom Meschery wore #14.

BTW -- #17 Cotton Nash also played MLB with the Chisox and the Twins.

helltopay1 said:

---

cotton nash???????Doesn't the shooter look like meschery???Spitting image!!!

---

I agree with you. Especially the way he finished his jump shot. When I first saw him play as a junior at Lowell, he shot the ball from behind his head. In his senior year at Lowell and at St Marys he went to shooting it from above his head, and shooting it mostly with his fingers and forearm, finishing very high with his hands, like in the photo.

joe amos yaks said:

---

Tom Meschery wore #14.

BTW -- #17 Cotton Nash also played MLB with the Chisox and the Twins.

---

You are right that Tom Meschery wore number 14, and the shooter wore #17, Nash's number. I still think the shooter is Meschery. Not only the shooting form, but the body type is more like Meschery than Nash, especially the legs. Much bigger and more muscular-looking legs than Nash. Tom was a very strong player. If you scroll through the photos in the article, there is another photo from the same Laker game, with #17 with his back to the camera. The player had brown or light brown hair and you can see a receding hairline, both of which would indicate the player was not Cotton Nash, who had very light blonde hair, and a full head of hair, parted on the left, with no receding hairline. I don't know why Meschery might have been wearing Nash's number that night, but I believe that was the case for this one game.

Here you go. Nash played for the W's starting the 1965 season. Says the photo is the 1964 season. Meschery is listed as #14 in 1963-65; however, Kenny Sears wore #17 during the 1963-64 season. Could this be a 1965 photo, OR could it be Sears in 1964?

joe amos yaks said:

---

Here you go. Nash played for the W's starting the 1965 season. Says the photo is the 1964 season. Meschery is listed as #14 in 1963-65; however, Kenny Sears wore #17 during the 1963-64 season. Could this be a 1965 photo, OR could it be Sears in 1964?

---

Joe,

basketball-reference.com says Nash played and signed for the Lakers in the first half of the 1964-65 season, then apparently was released, and signed by the Warriors as a free agent on Feb 38, 1965. I think the photo was described as taken at a game in the year 1964. If that was true, Nash could not have taken the shot, because he was a Laker in 1964. If the year is wrong, and the photo was taken in 1965, then Nash did play a game for the Warriors against the Lakers on Feb 13, 1965 and attempted 4 shots. He played a second game against LA, but had no field goal attempts in that one. So it is possible that Nash took the shot, if the year was 1965, and not 1964, except that Nash had blonde hair, and the shooter's hair was brown. Nash's body type was not as muscular as the guy taking the shot.

Sears came to the Warriors in 1962. In 1964 he played one game vs the Lakers in San Francisco on January 10, and had one shot attempt. Sears did not play for the Warriors after that season. Again, looking at body types, Sears was taller at 6-9 to Meschery's 6-6, but Meschery outweighed him 215 to 198. Sears was a taller and thinner player, with long arms, again not as muscular looking a player as Meschery. Sears, like Nash, was a blonde, and Meschery had brown hair, like the shooter appears to have, in both photos.

I don't remember Sears or Nash shooting a jump shot, but I have seen several hundred of Meschery's games, and played on his team at a pickup game at St Agnes, and I copied his jump shot for my own, so I remember it well. I guess I am biased, but I believe #17 to be Meschery in this photo and in the 7th photo in the article as well. I also sent the article and photo to a good friend of mine, who was a teammate of Meschery's in high school. He says it the shooter is Meschery , no doubt. I can't explain the uniform number not being Tom's usual one, but I rest my case.

SFCityBear said:

---

joe amos yaks said:

---

Here you go. Nash played for the W's starting the 1965 season. Says the photo is the 1964 season. Meschery is listed as #14 in 1963-65; however, Kenny Sears wore #17 during the 1963-64 season. Could this be a 1965 photo, OR could it be Sears in 1964?

---

Joe,

basketball-reference.com says Nash played and signed for the Lakers in the first half of the 1964-65 season, then apparently was released, and signed by the Warriors as a free agent on Feb 38, 1965. I think the photo was described as taken at a game in the year 1964. If that was true, Nash could not have taken the shot, because he was a Laker in 1964. If the year is wrong, and the photo was taken in 1965, then Nash did play a game for the Warriors against the Lakers on Feb 13, 1965 and attempted 4 shots. He played a second game against LA, but had no field goal attempts in that one. So it is possible that Nash took the shot, if the year was 1965, and not 1964, except that Nash had blonde hair, and the shooter's hair was brown. Nash's body type was not as muscular as the guy taking the shot.

Sears came to the Warriors in 1962. In 1964 he played one game vs the Lakers in San Francisco on January 10, and had one shot attempt. Sears did not play for the Warriors after that season. Again, looking at body types, Sears was taller at 6-9 to Meschery's 6-6, but Meschery outweighed him 215 to 198. Sears was a taller and thinner player, with long arms, again not as muscular looking a player as Meschery. Sears, like Nash, was a blonde, and Meschery had brown hair, like the shooter appears to have, in both photos.

I don't remember Sears or Nash shooting a jump shot, but I have seen several hundred of Meschery's games, and played on his team at a pickup game at St Agnes, and I copied his jump shot for my own, so I remember it well. I guess I am biased, but I believe #17 to be Meschery in this photo and in the 7th photo in the article as well. I also sent the article and photo to a good friend of mine, who was a teammate of Meschery's in high school. He says it the shooter is Meschery , no doubt. I can't explain the uniform number not being Tom's usual one, but I rest my case.

---

Hi there. Okay, I agree it is Tom "the Russian Hammer" Meschery, but who was the equipment manager? I seriously doubt it was LeRoy Doss or Bobby Dold.

joe amos yaks said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

joe amos yaks said:

---

Here you go. Nash played for the W's starting the 1965 season. Says the photo is the 1964 season. Meschery is listed as #14 in 1963-65; however, Kenny Sears wore #17 during the 1963-64 season. Could this be a 1965 photo, OR could it be Sears in 1964?

---

Joe,

basketball-reference.com says Nash played and signed for the Lakers in the first half of the 1964-65 season, then apparently was released, and signed by the Warriors as a free agent on Feb 38, 1965. I think the photo was described as taken at a game in the year 1964. If that was true, Nash could not have taken the shot, because he was a Laker in 1964. If the year is wrong, and the photo was taken in 1965, then Nash did play a game for the Warriors against the Lakers on Feb 13, 1965 and attempted 4 shots. He played a second game against LA, but had no field goal attempts in that one. So it is possible that Nash took the shot, if the year was 1965, and not 1964, except that Nash had blonde hair, and the shooter's hair was brown. Nash's body type was not as muscular as the guy taking the shot.

Sears came to the Warriors in 1962. In 1964 he played one game vs the Lakers in San Francisco on January 10, and had one shot attempt. Sears did not play for the Warriors after that season. Again, looking at body types, Sears was taller at 6-9 to Meschery's 6-6, but Meschery outweighed him 215 to 198. Sears was a taller and thinner player, with long arms, again not as muscular looking a player as Meschery. Sears, like Nash, was a blonde, and Meschery had brown hair, like the shooter appears to have, in both photos.

I don't remember Sears or Nash shooting a jump shot, but I have seen several hundred of Meschery's games, and played on his team at a pickup game at St Agnes, and I copied his jump shot for my own, so I remember it well. I guess I am biased, but I believe #17 to be Meschery in this photo and in the 7th photo in the article as well. I also sent the article and photo to a good friend of mine, who was a teammate of Meschery's in high school. He says it the shooter is Meschery , no doubt. I can't explain the uniform number not being Tom's usual one, but I rest my case.

---

Hi there. Okay, I agree it is Tom "the Russian Hammer" Meschery, but who was the equipment manager? I seriously doubt it was LeRoy Doss or Bobby Dold.

---

LaRoy Doss, no way. That guy was a hustler. Summer of 1959, I think, he got a job of recreation director of the St Agnes youth center on Page St. All of a sudden the gym was full of college and pro players from all over the Bay Area, and there was not much room or baskets for the young kids of the youth center. I was lucky to sometimes get invited to play, if they needed a 10th man, so I have to thank Doss for the greatest experience I ever had playing basketball. In one pickup game, my teammates were Tom Meschery and Gary Lewis, SF49er fullback, and the other team had LaRoy Doss, Hal Perry, a starter on USF's NCAA champs, and KC Jones, future Hall of Famer. I was not in their league. They were kind to me and did not embarrass me too much.

Doss and Dold were starters for St Mary's best all time team, along with Meschery, Dick Sigaty, and Joe Barry. Also on the team were Gene Womack of Poly, and Joe Gardere, the jumping jack from McClymonds who set the OAL record for points in a season, including a game where he set the single game scoring record with 51 points. That team lost to Cal by a point or two early in the 1958-59 season, but lost to Cal in the Regional final by 20 points. Meschery said the results might have been different if Gardere had not graduated mid-season.

SFCityBear said:

---

joe amos yaks said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

joe amos yaks said:

---

Here you go. Nash played for the W's starting the 1965 season. Says the photo is the 1964 season. Meschery is listed as #14 in 1963-65; however, Kenny Sears wore #17 during the 1963-64 season. Could this be a 1965 photo, OR could it be Sears in 1964?

---

Joe,

basketball-reference.com says Nash played and signed for the Lakers in the first half of the 1964-65 season, then apparently was released, and signed by the Warriors as a free agent on Feb 38, 1965. I think the photo was described as taken at a game in the year 1964. If that was true, Nash could not have taken the shot, because he was a Laker in 1964. If the year is wrong, and the photo was taken in 1965, then Nash did play a game for the Warriors against the Lakers on Feb 13, 1965 and attempted 4 shots. He played a second game against LA, but had no field goal attempts in that one. So it is possible that Nash took the shot, if the year was 1965, and not 1964, except that Nash had blonde hair, and the shooter's hair was brown. Nash's body type was not as muscular as the guy taking the shot.

Sears came to the Warriors in 1962. In 1964 he played one game vs the Lakers in San Francisco on January 10, and had one shot attempt. Sears did not play for the Warriors after that season. Again, looking at body types, Sears was taller at 6-9 to Meschery's 6-6, but Meschery outweighed him 215 to 198. Sears was a taller and thinner player, with long arms, again not as muscular looking a player as Meschery. Sears, like Nash, was a blonde, and Meschery had brown hair, like the shooter appears to have, in both photos.

I don't remember Sears or Nash shooting a jump shot, but I have seen several hundred of Meschery's games, and played on his team at a pickup game at St Agnes, and I copied his jump shot for my own, so I remember it well. I guess I am biased, but I believe #17 to be Meschery in this photo and in the 7th photo in the article as well. I also sent the article and photo to a good friend of mine, who was a teammate of Meschery's in high school. He says it the shooter is Meschery , no doubt. I can't explain the uniform number not being Tom's usual one, but I rest my case.

---

Hi there. Okay, I agree it is Tom "the Russian Hammer" Meschery, but who was the equipment manager? I seriously doubt it was LeRoy Doss or Bobby Dold.

---

LaRoy Doss, no way. That guy was a hustler. Summer of 1959, I think, he got a job of recreation director of the St Agnes youth center on Page St. All of a sudden the gym was full of college and pro players from all over the Bay Area, and there was not much room or baskets for the young kids of the youth center. I was lucky to sometimes get invited to play, if they needed a 10th man, so I have to thank Doss for the greatest experience I ever had playing basketball. In one pickup game, my teammates were Tom Meschery and Gary Lewis, SF49er fullback, and the other team had LaRoy Doss, Hal Perry, a starter on USF's NCAA champs, and KC Jones, future Hall of Famer. I was not in their league. They were kind to me and did not embarrass me too much.

Doss and Dold were starters for St Mary's best all time team, along with Meschery, Dick Sigaty, and Joe Barry. Also on the team were Gene Womack of Poly, and Joe Gardere, the jumping jack from McClymonds who set the OAL record for points in a season, including a game where he set the single game scoring record with 51 points. That team lost to Cal by a point or two early in the 1958-59 season, but lost to Cal in the Regional final by 20 points. Meschery said the results might have been different if Gardere had not graduated mid-season.

---

OK. The equipment manager wasn't Doss or Dold. Maybe it was Pearl Pollard.

joe amos yaks said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

joe amos yaks said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

joe amos yaks said:

---

Here you go. Nash played for the W's starting the 1965 season. Says the photo is the 1964 season. Meschery is listed as #14 in 1963-65; however, Kenny Sears wore #17 during the 1963-64 season. Could this be a 1965 photo, OR could it be Sears in 1964?

---

Joe,

basketball-reference.com says Nash played and signed for the Lakers in the first half of the 1964-65 season, then apparently was released, and signed by the Warriors as a free agent on Feb 38, 1965. I think the photo was described as taken at a game in the year 1964. If that was true, Nash could not have taken the shot, because he was a Laker in 1964. If the year is wrong, and the photo was taken in 1965, then Nash did play a game for the Warriors against the Lakers on Feb 13, 1965 and attempted 4 shots. He played a second game against LA, but had no field goal attempts in that one. So it is possible that Nash took the shot, if the year was 1965, and not 1964, except that Nash had blonde hair, and the shooter's hair was brown. Nash's body type was not as muscular as the guy taking the shot.

Sears came to the Warriors in 1962. In 1964 he played one game vs the Lakers in San Francisco on January 10, and had one shot attempt. Sears did not play for the Warriors after that season. Again, looking at body types, Sears was taller at 6-9 to Meschery's 6-6, but Meschery outweighed him 215 to 198. Sears was a taller and thinner player, with long arms, again not as muscular looking a player as Meschery. Sears, like Nash, was a blonde, and Meschery had brown hair, like the shooter appears to have, in both photos.

I don't remember Sears or Nash shooting a jump shot, but I have seen several hundred of Meschery's games, and played on his team at a pickup game at St Agnes, and I copied his jump shot for my own, so I remember it well. I guess I am biased, but I believe #17 to be Meschery in this photo and in the 7th photo in the article as well. I also sent the article and photo to a good friend of mine, who was a teammate of Meschery's in high school. He says it the shooter is Meschery , no doubt. I can't explain the uniform number not being Tom's usual one, but I rest my case.

---

Hi there. Okay, I agree it is Tom "the Russian Hammer" Meschery, but who was the equipment manager? I seriously doubt it was LeRoy Doss or Bobby Dold.

---

LaRoy Doss, no way. That guy was a hustler. Summer of 1959, I think, he got a job of recreation director of the St Agnes youth center on Page St. All of a sudden the gym was full of college and pro players from all over the Bay Area, and there was not much room or baskets for the young kids of the youth center. I was lucky to sometimes get invited to play, if they needed a 10th man, so I have to thank Doss for the greatest experience I ever had playing basketball. In one pickup game, my teammates were Tom Meschery and Gary Lewis, SF49er fullback, and the other team had LaRoy Doss, Hal Perry, a starter on USF's NCAA champs, and KC Jones, future Hall of Famer. I was not in their league. They were kind to me and did not embarrass me too much.

Doss and Dold were starters for St Mary's best all time team, along with Meschery, Dick Sigaty, and Joe Barry. Also on the team were Gene Womack of Poly, and Joe Gardere, the jumping jack from McClymonds who set the OAL record for points in a season, including a game where he set the single game scoring record with 51 points. That team lost to Cal by a point or two early in the 1958-59 season, but lost to Cal in the Regional final by 20 points. Meschery said the results might have been different if Gardere had not graduated mid-season.

---

OK. The equipment manager wasn't Doss or Dold. Maybe it was Pearl Pollard.

---

OK. Ya got me. Who's Pearl Pollard?

Pearl Pollard; uUtah center, 6'9".
1956-57 western regionals - seattle (win), uSF (loss)
1958-59 western regionals - Cal (loss), IdaStu (loss)
Coach Jack Gardner

Meschery & I lived two blocks from each other..we went to the same grammar school ( grant) and Lowell together. So--we palled around for many years. meschery is the player in the photo..I remember when Lowell played against sacred Heart when Doss was a senior and Meschery was a high-sop. Meschery scored 19 points that day and blocked a shot by Doss as the buzzer sounded. Lowell won by two points.

"sop should read soph