Po said:

---

SFCityBear said:

---

I wrote a friend who is a Cal fan living in Reno, to get his take on the Bears so far. Here is his response:

"What you said at the beginning of the basketball season that Monty was excited about Fox's effect/coaching on the team has come true. Defense seems more coordinated, but offense still spotty and inconsistent, periods where no points for 5-7 minutes due to empty possessions. Ball entering the Big's inside reminds me a lot of Benny's teams where the ball isn't tossed in on the first move, but only after the feeder looks at the center/fwd and lets the defender establish defensive position. Maybe its because Benny's there doing the color comments on the telecast. Over-all team's getting better especially @ home, but do have more problems on the road."

---

Benny?

I didn't realize Benny and Marky had so much in common.

---

My friend was misinformed. He meant Ben Braun, of course. There is but one important figure that I know of in Bay Area basketball history named Benny, and that was the legendary Benny Neff, who coached at Lowell High School and St Mary's College. He was the erstwhile high school coach of stars like Clarence Grider, Tom Meschery (St Mary's and the Warriors), Ken Flower (USC), Bob Matheny (Cal). His teams at Lowell won many city championships, and in 1947, his Lowell team with Ward Healy and Bob Matheny won the inaugural Tournament of Champions at Harmon Gym. In 1949, his Lowell team with Kenny Flower went 30-0, and finished 3rd in the TOC. Benny coached my dad, my uncle, and me. He also coached Helltopay1. You either loved Benny, or you were thinking of belting him one, or transferring to another school. He made Bob Knight and Pete Newell look like choir boys. He taught me the few cuss words I hadn't learned by age 13. My dad decked him with one punch, and was promoted to first string the next day, Some of the things Benny said would get him fired today, and some of the things he did as a coach would land him in jail today.

Benny Neff played for the Cal 145's, when Cal participated in lightweight basketball, and he was the team's designated free throw shooter. He graduated from Cal, was a life long Cal fan, and hardly ever missed a Cal home game at Harmon. Anyway, Ben Braun is a very nice man, a good coach, but not a Benny, or not a Benny Neff anyway.

Mama Bear said:

---

SFCity--do you remember the "coins"?

---

Mama Bear - I sure do. Those coins were Benny Neff's calling card. When he wanted to diagram a play, he'd reach in his pocket and pull out some pennies, one for each player. He'd have a dime or nickel to use for the ball. The first game I ever saw the coins, was in a 110's game vs Balboa at their gym. Nearing retirement, Neff had limited his coaching to the Varsity, JVs, and the 120s, and left the coaching of the 110s to Bob Anino, who was a terrible coach, while Neff sat in the stands as a spectator. It was a close game, and at the end of two overtimes, the game was still tied. We went into sudden death overtime, first team to score 2 points wins. One of our players, fouled a Balboa player in the backcourt. He made his first free throw, and Benny came charging out of the stands onto the floor, called time-out, and told coach Anino to sit down, while he took over the team. The player who committed the foul sat down at the far end of the bench to sulk. Neff pulled out the coins, and began to explain a play. Only 4 players were paying attention, and Neff looked around and screamed at the sulking player and asked him if he was part of the team, and then told him to get back over here and learn this play, because he was not being taken out of the game for a sub. We had one All-City player, Eddie Jackson, and the play that Neff diagrammed with his coins was designed to leave Jackson wide open under the basket for an easy layup, with no defender anywhere near him. The game started again, and the Balboa player missed his free throw, and we ran Neff's play and it worked like clockwork.

I have one fond memory of the coins, and that was when 120s team was struggling to run a play. He yelled down the bench, "Doesn't anyone on this team know how to run the wheel?" I said I did, and he put me in the game. Instead of using all pennies to describe the play, he used 4 pennies, and used a quarter for me, because I was to run the play. It made me feel important, somehow, gave me confidence. I ran the play, and we scored. I often wonder what Benny would think about today's coaches with their boards and their magic markers to diagram plays. And what he would think of all the assistant coaches needed. I used to laugh at Ben Braun in timeout, conferring with all his assistants and then in the last few seconds he'd speak to the players to tell them what to do.

Do you remember Benny's hat?