Episode 27: Brooklyn College Hoops - Rod Strickland & Glenn Braica

It's a neighborhood rivalry between LIU and St. Francis. NBA veteran Rod Strickland is in his first year coaching LIU and Brooklyn native Glenn Braica is in year 13 at St. Francis. Chris digs into their deep histories in NYC hoops.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, what's going on. This is Chris Carino. Welcome to
the Voice of the Nets podcast. This is a Brooklyn
basketball edition centered around one of the great rivalries in
Brooklyn basketball. It is the rivalry between l i U
Brooklyn formerly the Blackbirds now the Sharks, and their rivalry

(00:31):
with St. Francis College the Terriers. And we've got too
great New York City basketball guys that we're centering this
broadcast and this podcast around, and that is of course
one a seventeen year NBA veteran, the pride of the Bronx,
Roger Strickland. What a great basketball life, Rod Stricklands have.

(00:55):
We're gonna talk to him now, the head coach at
l i U Brooklyn in his first season. And then
we're gonna talk to Glenn Breaker, the head coach at St.
Francis College, a prototypical Brooklyn basketball coach, and those guys
are always fun to talk to, so we will talk
to him. I really enjoyed talking basketball with these two guys,

(01:17):
and we'll get into that, But first I want to
bring in my producer here on the Voice of the
Nets podcast, Tom dow T d joining us because these
two guys, Roder Strickland and Glenn Breka were both part
of an extensive, elaborate podcast series that Tommy is working on,
and I wanted to bring him in just to preview

(01:39):
that a little bit. Tommy, how how many guys I
know you? You interviewed who's who of Brooklyn basketball to
get in depth in this historical podcast series Ballparking? For me?
How many guys did you talk to? I am up
to around thirty and uh, there's still a couple more

(02:01):
on the list. I'm trying to get to name drop
a few. Where are some big names we got on
this podcast series? Here? Oh? This is good stuff. This
was fun for me. I mean I went all the
way back. We've got Lenny Wilkins, We've got Billy Cunningham,
We've got the great Larry Brown. We talked to Oscar Robertson,
Stephen Marbury, and and and I got Chris Mullen a

(02:22):
couple of weeks ago. Super excited about that. He's a
guy who grew up watching right the glory days of
the Big East when I was just a kid in
Staten Island watching this Monday, Big Monday Tomp with Mike
Gorman and Bill raft Tree and we got raped. Two,
we got Raft talking about without Raft, our old buddy
p J. Carlissimo m So we went pretty deep. It's

(02:45):
a good thing we're allowed to curse on podcast. I
don't know p J uh kept the clean or not.
He held back. Peter Vessey did not, so we had
to edit around that a little bit. Um. It's so
take me through what's what's sort of the uh the
the podcast about what are you covering? We're going about
ten episodes and it's the kind of thing where you

(03:07):
can go at least ten more if you really wanted
to get into everything in Brooklyn history. So we just
kind of tried to go roughly decade by decade and
pick out some stories that we thought were emblematic of
Brooklyn in that particular time. Uh, narrated by We've got
Michi Darko from Flatbush Zombies. There you go. All right,

(03:31):
So when is this going to be coming out? We're
coming out February six is our premiere episode, which is
gonna be you know, kind of a welcome to Brooklyn basketball.
We're gonna talk about some of the big names that
are coming up and and the style and the attitude
in the places and you know, basically everybody interviewed. I
asked them the first question to start off everybody, which

(03:52):
was what does Brooklyn basketball mean to you? And we
kind of built that first episode of how guys responded
to that question. I'm sure you've got a lot of
a lot of tape to go through. It was a
monstrous task to put this thing together, but really looking
forward to it, t D and you had these two guys,
Rod Strickland and Glen Breka. I know, uh, looking forward

(04:13):
to those conversations absolutely, And I knew you were gonna
have great conversations with these guys because I did a
month ago and it was a blast. You know, we
are gonna have later on kind of an episode talking
about some of the stuff you guys are gonna talk
about today at the St. Francis l I U Rivalry
just kind of dedicated to that. And then it's one
of a bunch of stories we're telling on what we're
calling Basketball's Borrow Brooklyn, New York. There you go, it is,

(04:35):
and uh, we've got Rod Strickland Glen Bricka coming up, Tommy,
stay tuned in the post game. We'll do a little
we'll do a little post game here. But right now,
let's get to our conversation. Rod Strickland, New York City
legend out of the Bronx to Paul drafted by the Knicks.
We get into that and the short lived experiment there
when he got drafted along with Mark Jackson already on

(04:57):
that team. Uh, we're talking about his upbringing, his relationship
with Kyrie Irving because he is Kyrie's godfather, very good
friends with Kyrie's dad. They grew up together in the
Mitchell Projects in the Bronx. And then we'll talk to
Glenn Breca. We cover everything from his time at Queen's
College and Bishop Ford High School. We talked about Farrell's
anybody knows you know, and uh, that's coming up. So

(05:21):
first we'll start off with Rod Strickland, then it's Glenn
Breka and then TD comes back with me on the
post game right here on the Voice of the Nets,
the Pride of the Bronx. Roger Strickland now in Brooklyn
with l i U as a coach. You ever think
you'd end up as a coach? Uh, growing up in

(05:42):
Mitchell Projects in the Bronx, then one day that could
be it. No. No, always thought of being a basketball player.
Probably being an NBA player, never thoughts of coaching, Uh, now,
what thoughts of coach? Probably to the end of my
career when I was trying to figure out what would
be the next steps that came to mind. But that

(06:04):
probably was the last year or two of my career,
and it was a seventeen year NBA career. You played
with a lot of good coaches. Was there anybody that
that kind of made it click for you that this
is what I can do one day? No, I don't think.
I don't think that was the thought process, but I do,
you know, like I adopt to play under Pat Roley

(06:27):
for a year, which like tremendous, just his whole his
whole aura, you know, the way he dealt with players,
the organization. Uh, just a fist competitor he was. And
uh you know then I played for Larry Brown and
Rick Pettino, who were great coaches, Bernie Bickerstaff, Rick Adderman.

(06:52):
So I had so many different, uh kind of styles,
the kind of I guess go back to and think
about now. So so I mean Greg Popovich as an assistant, right,
Greg assistant. It's funny. I just they were just here
played the Knicks and I went to see him before
the game and we had some great conversations kind of reminisced,

(07:15):
and he just gave me a lot of kind of
guess simple advice, which you know, I thought was tremendous.
What's the What's something simple that he would tell you
as a coach that would ring here? Be itself, Be yourself,
don't overdo it, don't overthink it. Uh. You know, you
know basketball, you know, deal with the players the right way,

(07:37):
be straight up with them. Uh. You know, if you
ever had to sit anyone or whatever, make sure there
was a line of communications are open because you may
have to go back to them and just like natural human,
you know, just treating people the right way. You know.
I'm around the Giants in the preseason and uh, and

(07:57):
then I was back for a couple of games during
the regular season. I do some of their games and
do national radio for the NFL. So I was talking
to some of my people, are talking about what a
job that Brian day Ball has done the head coach
of the Giants this year getting the playoffs. And the
thing that I heard from everybody was this coaching staff
is just honest, Like they tell you, if you do this.
We're going to let you do this. You know, if

(08:19):
you if you put in this work, we're gonna give
you this playing time you're or they'll tell you you're
not gonna play or whatever. They just they said that
was so refreshing, just to spell it out that we're
honest with you and and that's the way guys players
just want to be treated. Yeah, well, I think me
as a player, I know I respected that, and I
know I had a lot of I had issues and

(08:40):
coaches when I thought they were phoning when weren't sincere
and that's why me and Papa came so cool and
so close. Like me and Pop almost got into it
one day. Yeah, I want to hear that story. No,
it was just one of those days I think I
would be late to practice meetings whatever. And uh, larry
On had like Sean Elliott and David Robinson come to

(09:03):
my room one night and it was we just got
in lately one evening and I really didn't want to
talk to him. I made them aware of that, and uh,
they tried to talk a couple of times and then
Pop just bust in the room and he was mad
at me, like, oh, you gotta listen and whatever, whatever,

(09:23):
and we had some words and and and I think
we've been cool ever since. But I got kind of yeah,
because I respected that, Like I knew where he was
coming from, I knew what he felt. I didn't have
to worry about him talking to someone else and being
in this basketball world. You know, a lot of times
you don't get that. Uh So that straightforward honesty is

(09:46):
you know, that's who I am. So to have somebody,
you know, regardless, I might not even like it at
that time, but because he was so honest and straightforward,
you know, it kind of won me over with that.
Uh we were we were talking before we came on
about that. I was, you know, I'm born in the Bronx,
lived in Yonker's Europe Bronx guy in New York. Do

(10:08):
you find that's like a New York thing to like
we're just people talk about what the characteristics of a
New Yorker are and and people may think it's a
you know, grittiness, toughness, but there's an honesty. There's a
where you're not gonna be as us like we're gonna
be straight with you. I almost feel like that's a
New York thing. Yeah, I don't know if that's a

(10:30):
New York thing. No, I think that's just a individual
person thing. Uh. You know, I've seen it all kinds
of ways in all different places. Uh that sometimes it
becomes hard. I don't know. I don't know. Sometimes, Uh,
leadership just feels like they have to kind of make

(10:52):
up a way of telling you something or a way
of getting you to do some things. You know, I'll
tell the players all the time, I am who I am.
I'm straightforward. I don't know how to be fake. I
don't have a fake bone in my body. Uh. I'm
gonna tell you whatever I say, I mean it. And
if I changed the next day, I changed the next day.

(11:13):
Like that's just what it is. But you never gonna
get anything or you're gonna get authenticity from you. You
work with John Caliparry both at Memphis and Kentucky as well.
I know you got his some brat on your staff
at l I U. Uh, so you have that that
was a type relationship, and I'm sure that's where you

(11:33):
kind of you You had that NBA experience. You have
n B a uh influencers, the coaches you name, um
the time in Memphis in Kentucky with Cal. I would
imagine that was a huge part of preparing you for
what you're going through right now. Well, I think at
all was like everything, like I think, just a whole
experience from ten years old, you know, like playing basketball

(11:57):
at at whatever level to this day. I think all
those experiences have helped me because I've been in it.
I know, you know, I know the feeling, I know
the vibe. I know I was as a player. I've
been able to be in rooms with some of the
best players that's that I've ever played the game, and

(12:17):
some of the worst players. And I know the personalities,
I know the insecurities, you know, I know all of that.
So I think all my I mean, obviously being there
with Cal and being in the college environment helps so much.
And I would just ask Kyle questions like when Cayle
did certain things, while you do that, while you do that?
Uh So, Yeah, that that was a part of the

(12:38):
whole learning curve. Let's go back then, Let's go back
to the beginning you mentioned ten years old. You're going
to the Bronx, the Mitchell Houses there right on the
crossroads of the the Cross Bronx Expressway in the Bronxhiver Parkway.
I know, and I'm going to pick up my son.
I go by there all the time. Where do you
remember the the playground where it started? Do you remember

(13:00):
the guys you played against? What was growing up like
for Rod Strickland? Oh? Absolutely. Uh. I just remember I
lived in building three oh two three D three O two.
You walk come downstairs, walk through the park, across the
street and there's mittr gym. M make a right before

(13:22):
you get to the gym, go down the block and
it's my elementary school. Uh. And then every block after
that as a basketball court, as a store, and you know,
I just remember going through those blocks. Uh, getting getting
to school. Actually we even we we worked out before
I went to school. So sometimes we get up six

(13:44):
in the morning, go to the gym, get a workout in,
and then go to school. Uh after school was over,
come back to the gym for afternoon session. Uh, then
hang around the gym, tell jokes. Then find a court
to go play basketball, go play one on one. Always
had a ball in my hand, throwing it off the

(14:04):
wall or dribbling, dribbling it to the storm back or
dribbling it around the block. Um. But everything was around basketball.
We watched the pros play. Everybody go to their separate houses,
Uh go watch them. When the game is over, everybody
convene in front of reconvene in front of the gym. Uh.
And that was kind of the everyday occurrence. How old

(14:28):
were you when you when you, like, when you were
new and everybody in the neighborhood kind of knew you
were gonna be something about how old were you? Then
you think that's a good question. I probably would have
to ask them that because I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know when I knew get the accolades. You start,
you know, when people are starting to well talk to

(14:49):
you about the election. Uh, you know, I started playing
with the gall shows. Uh, I want to do great
you program. So we were able to travel, so I
knew to out of something that everybody wasn't a part of.
So I knew, you know, there was something about me,
But I don't know, Like, I don't know. It's funny

(15:11):
because back then, I don't know if people made you
feel special like that because you have so many of
you have so much competition, and you have so many
people who thought they were just as good as you.
You have to always prove yourself and compete. You know,
we didn't have the social media and all the hype
machine and all that. So I don't know if I
ever got a sense of like being like super special.

(15:35):
Right after my sophomore year in high school, I had
a great summer, came back my junior and I was
like rank top ten or top five. Now I know, okay, something,
you know, there's something there. Uh, But I still know
I still always had anxieties to figure out how good
I was, what's the next step, what's the next level.

(15:57):
So I don't know if I ever thought like I
was the guy. Well I asked this because I remember
I talked to Kenny Anderson about this and growing up
over and left right. Yeah, well I was just I
met from the standpoint of that, you know, left Rack there.
It could be a tough place, Mitchell Houses could be
a tough place like but the neighborhood looked out for

(16:19):
him because they said, all right, no, this kid, leave
this kid alone, like we're gonna take care of him.
We're gonna make sure he doesn't fall into bad habits,
he doesn't fall in with the wrong people, Like we're
gonna protect him. Did you get a sense of that
community when you were growing up. No, so some neighborhoods
are different, like everybody you know from in the city.

(16:42):
Sometimes we think everything is the same. But I grew
up I was around basketball. So if you're talking drug dealers,
you know, crime and all that, I'm sure it was
around me. But like my crew, my brothers and all
of them, like, it was basketball. So like I said,
we were in front of the gym. You know, we're

(17:03):
going from park to park. So I didn't I didn't
really have to deal with that element. I know it
was around there somewhat, but it wasn't as infested as
you might think. Uh So I was able to just
concentrate and play basketball. And but I'm sure that what
people looking at and you and you actually had developed
lifelong friendships, right, Is that how you met um Drederick Irving?

(17:27):
You you were growing up together. Yeah, well, I mean
we've known each other since third grade, you know, so
we actually went to school together and so like we
grew up in Mitchell you know, the j h A
gout tied. I like we were like together sh every

(17:47):
day probably for the rest of our lives up until
the point, you know, pros and professionals and older. But
we spent a lot of time together and and we
were He's growing up in basketball, and you know, Dedrick
was a part of the Mitchell Bullets and the Gout Shows,
and you know, we got to travel the world with

(18:10):
the Gout Shows and we were able to compete and
play against some of the best together. Uh So, I
mean that's that's like a third grade relationship, and that's
like family. That's like family, you know. And then you
end up, you know, being godfather to Kyrie. The closeness
there in the family. I'll talk about some of that later,
but you end up going to DePaul. I remember growing

(18:31):
up as a kid, we're about the same age. De
Paul was a big deal, like Mark Aguire and that
crew did that? Uh did you did you? Were you
a fan of those teams? I was just curious to
see your what led you out to Chicago and DePaul? Well,
like you said, De Paul was the top but ten
five program. Yeah, they were on Team Market Choire. They

(18:52):
were like number one in the country at one point.
I think you and and so back then there wasn't
a whole lot of stations. I losed to watch, so
it was NBC was on a Saturday afternoon, Yeah, NBC, CBS.
They played about seven games on national TV, which was
a lot back then. And then they were on w

(19:15):
g N which was nationwide, so they wore on national
TV every game. That's like unheard of. Uh. So I
was able to watch them. Uh. I love the style
of play that they got up and down and what
I knew about me, I was I was better in
the open court. So I wasn't going to any school
who was you know, half court offense. Uh. And then

(19:35):
I was a market guide fan. I was a big
Kenny Patterson fan, and I just wanted to be a
part of that. Like I just thought that Paul was special.
I love the way the uniforms look. They wore the
shirts outside the shorts, right. I just everything about the ball.
Like I don't even really believe they had to recruit

(19:56):
me hard like I was all in, like I was
was I was? I mean they recruited me, but I was.
I was going to the POL. There was no other school.
There were others on the list. The closest school was PITT.
I thought about Pitt because Charles Smith was there. He
and uh became you know, we had we started like

(20:18):
groom this relationship. So if I didn't go to de Pol,
I would have went to the University of Pittsburgh. And
it served you well. You get drafted by the Knicks.
Were you a Nick fan growing up as a kid. Absolutely?
Pearl Earl of Pearl, Walt Clyde Fraser, Clyde Fraser, Man,

(20:38):
I'll never forget this guy, which is always find the
right time to get to steal. I was like, I
didn't do that, Like you know in the game they
need to steally picking somebody pocket and then you know
you had the flash of Earl Monroe like that backcourt
was special. Definitely, definitely. So you get drafted by the Knicks,

(20:58):
but they've got you know the controversies, they've got market
that controversy. But people were questioning it because they had
Mark Jackson. Now, did you have a relationship with Mark
from New York City days? No, I mean I knew
of him obviously he was he was older than me,
so I absolutely looked up to him. Uh uh, you know,

(21:19):
I see I saw his work. So did that did
that surprise you that the Knicks took you knowing that
they had Mark there. Yes, definitely surprised me, and I
was a bit disappointed because I really didn't want to
go there because they had Mark. So it was funny
as I was sitting there and I'm looking at the board,
I'm like, ship, I'm slipping. So I'm like I had

(21:42):
got a call from uh from Joey Meyer, my college coach,
and he said the Celtics and the Lakers have spoken
to him. So I'm like, shot, I'm gonna slip to
the late first round. And I was worried about I
was worrying about slipping to the second round. So when
the Knicks called me kind of took me by surprise. Uh.

(22:02):
I wasn't expecting that at all. Do you think it
would be different today, um, in terms of how to
play with guys. Were you and Market they figure out
a wait, if you guys to play together? Yes? I
always said I tell Mark that, like I wish, I
wish they played us somewhere together sometimes and we would
play well together, but they would only do it in

(22:23):
these little spaces. Uh. But I think me and Mark
would have been great together because you have two basketball heads,
like two real high level ir q uh and would
have made it work, and Mark could have guard the
to guard. I could have guard the point guard. You know,
we could in the change with the ball, and and
at the pace we were playing, we're pushing the ball,

(22:45):
and we're two guys who loved to pass the ball.
We obviously can score as well. But I thought it
could have They could have played us more than they
played us, and I think it would have said it
would have satisfied my appetite because I'm coming in. I
know Mark is just a year ahead of me, So
I don't want to be Baha, because that means if
I stay, yeah, I'm gonna be bhad Mark, you know,

(23:08):
so you know, or they have to make a decision
that I don't know. And Mark Mark was balling, so
they're like I could sit there and say, yeah, they
definitely should have played me in front of Mark. Mark
was balling, So you know, it just got to the
point where like one of us had to go, and
I knew it was gonna be me, and I kind
of forced the issue, but I didn't want to stay

(23:29):
there and have to play be Mark for like, you
know whatever years and plus everything revolved around young too,
you know, so that's a fact. Yeah, I mean, I
mean and rightly so, I mean Patrick was, you know,
an all time big man. So you know you don't
want to you don't want to have him trying to
you know, keep up and running the floor and all

(23:49):
that kind of stuff, right and right, And now that
you say that, I didn't even but you're right, absolutely right.
So maybe the best thing for you was to was
to leave. Do you feel like that was the best
thing at that time? And did you leave for the
right place? Well? I say this now, Oh, I'm like, Dad,
I wish I could have stayed in New York long,

(24:09):
you know, so, but I had to leave. I mean,
one of us was gonna have to go. The ironic
part about it was that they got rid of both
of us, so they traded me and then they like
right away sat Mark. Yeah. It was just weird. That
was all weird. Uh so, But yeah, but then you

(24:31):
found some stability, you know, you had good stretches there
in Portland and Washington. Eventually, Um, what was the what
was the time you enjoyed the most in the NBA?
I enjoyed all of it. I'm like, serciually like being
able to get on that court every night and just
who can compete. I enjoyed it all obviously. You know,

(24:51):
Portland we want a lot, you know, d C we
won a little bit early. Uh, But I enjoyed it all.
Like even I went to Miami uh late in my
career for one year and we started off bad. Uh
and then well you know, pat Rowley kept pushing us,
pushing us, and we almost made the playoffs. Like those
things for me, like I remember those those are moments

(25:14):
because those were things that you had to get over,
you had to figure out adversity. So all those things,
I mean, it's part of basketball. So I enjoyed all
that and it's helped me, you know, learn grow, figure
it out. And it's also given me experiences, even the
good and the bad. Right, I can stand before these
young people now and I can be as authentic as

(25:36):
possible because I've seen it all. I've been through it,
you know, I've done it. Uh. So like I honestly enjoyed.
You know, the whole time you played with a lot
of great teammates over the years, and all the organizations
you played for over seventeen years. Is there is there

(25:57):
a guy or a couple of guys that stand out
for you with teammates. One guy always saying I only
played with him for a year, but it's Kevin Garnett.
I wish like I think, right, you played with him
for a year in the Minnesota, but I think the
world because I watched him and first of all as
a leader and a competitor and the worker, laser focus,

(26:19):
but one of the funniest storytelling would you lever be around,
one of the most authentic. But I watched him be
a leader, be tougher times, but then be cool and
like like I watched him take care of young guys,
you know, make sure they're good, you know, just subtle
things that he did, and then he works and like

(26:40):
I said, he's just he's such a pleasure to be around.
Like everybody see all the growling and he's going to
people in the court but also the court. Like he's
the funniest character. He's a good, good, good good dude.
We had him in Brooklyn and um, you know the
Pierce Garing that thing, and and it was just I

(27:03):
loved being around KG for a couple of years. And
talking about a guy will tell it to you straight,
you know, can't give it to you straight, no way.
He's coming from. And that's one of my that's one
of my things, Like I just want to know where
you're coming from. I want to know who you are.
I can just figure out it just fun me or
not for me, but I just want to know you are.
And that's KG. I. I have a little bit of

(27:24):
a disability. And and and back when KG was with
the Nets, I I wasn't using a device to get around,
and I do now, But I used to get on
the bus and it would take me a while, you know,
so I would wait till there's nobody around to try
and get up onto the bus, you know, get up
the stairs. And one time I didn't see him. So
I had started to go up the stairs and he
was behind me, and I stopped me and I go

(27:45):
and I turned aside, go KG, it takes me a
little while. Why don't you just go up? And he goes, Man,
I don't care if it takes you all night. You
do your thing. He goes to me, You do your thing.
I got you, you know, so I always I always
appreciated him being there. Um, is there a guy that
when you're going against the toughest guy that you ever

(28:10):
played against in your career. I hate this one because
there's so many. And I started talking and I'll leave
the interview and say maybe one, how about one that
like maybe people wouldn't think of, Like maybe there's some
obvious ones, but maybe somebody that's like, man, I don't
think everybody would know how tough, how good this guy was.
I don't know, like I'm just gonna stay off the

(28:31):
top and these guys people know. But Stockton was tough, right,
just physically, uh, competitive wise, and then on the offensive end,
just knowing how to control a game. G P was tough.
Uh Gary Payton, Yes, Gary Payton, just defensively all around,

(28:52):
like you know, coming at you offensively, and then he
has this defensive presence, uh Tim Hardaway, just like on
the offensive end of terror, Kevin Johnson offensive end coming
at you, Nick van Exeu. Uh Man, I can go on.
Mark was a problem, but Mark did it, market and

(29:13):
market Stockton the same, like as far as they can
have eight points in thirteen assistant control again, you know
you got Sam Casell. I mean that's I know I'm
missing some guys, but they played in a golden age.
I mean therese there were great point guards when you
today you get guys like Luca don Like, if you

(29:38):
had to play point guard today and and Lucas out there,
I mean, I don't know if you would guard him,
But what do you think of a guy like that
and the modern the way that these big guys can
play like that? Well, I think that I don't know
who else is out there, but I probably would be
going someone else, maybe Tim Ottaway Jr. Or something. Yeah,

(29:59):
so somewhat more, you know, but now it would be tough,
But it would be tough for Luca to be standing
to stay in front of me as well. Like I
think I'm a phil day on Luca. Yeah, I once
I once talked to Bill Russell. Uh it was during
the finals and O two and the net You're playing
the Lakers, and uh we have Bill came out of
halftime with us and I said, and your Shock was playing,

(30:20):
I said, Bill, how would you guard Shack? He goes, well,
I make sure shot guarded me. I him up and
down the floor. Well that's what we did back in
that era. Right, We're gonna We're gonna see if you
can defend you know, so gods like that, you know, Luca,
obviously that's a problem for me. But now you know
I'm getting up and there on the court. You know,

(30:41):
we isolated me ball screens, and you know he's gonna
have his issues as well. And one thing I say
about this era, my era, you know, gods could elbow,
you can put the hands on you physically going to
the basket. You know, gods could have more contact. You know,
nowadays you can't touch anyone. So for me, how I

(31:02):
feel if I'm out there and the way the game
is now, we play three out to in, so we drove,
we're driving into people. Now everything is spread, So that's
a different ball game. So that making harder as a defender,
I would think now it's it's more important to be
able to contain the dribble than it ever was. Well,
so if you watch the game, I don't know how

(31:24):
many people actually contain the dribble. So what it seems
like they do is they're they're forcing guys to help
and then they're rotated, you know what I mean. I
don't know if anybody you got the Pat Beverley, I
don't know who else, but there may be a few
more that's like guarding guys. But a lot of times now,
you know, God's is on your side. They're forcing them

(31:47):
to space trapping or they're helping and then skip passes.
So it's not Actually, I really think stand in front
of people was more back in the day than now.
I always think of you. I think of what a
great finisher you are, you know, and and because because
I watch you were talking about Kyrie, I watched Kyrie

(32:09):
and he's he's such an amazing finishers. Different. Yeah, how
is it? How is it? I know, I know sometimes
you like, I know, you don't think it's a great companion,
fair comparison, but people do kind of compare Kyrie a
little bit to where you played. How do you think
it's the same. How do you think it's different. No,
that's a comparison. That's without it, doubt. I mean, just

(32:31):
get into the lane and taking contact and switching hands
and using the backboard. I mean, there's there's similarities in that.
He he has a score is you know, dominates me
in that respect. You know, his range is shooting ability,
that's just you know he has that you could shoot

(32:52):
you had it, you had it, Well, I can shoot
from that fifteen seventeen range, you know, But he extend,
he extends his shout out further. His left hand is
probably better than mind, even though I have one. But
you know, it's almost like seeing something and did you
take it to another level? He just I was a

(33:15):
reactionary dribbler, So I come at you hard and then
you know, I get you one way and react the
other way. Kay plays what you plays, what you plays
with you and then reacts, you know what I mean.
So I don't know. I look at him and I'm
in all of him, you know, I say, And I
know people think I'm Homer, but when I look at

(33:36):
the basketball game from my perspective, for what I've seen
with my eyes, I don't. I don't know if there's
a another person that is as skilled as he is.
And I know people say Kobe, you know I would
put a said Thomas and that. You know, there's so
many guys. I'm sure you can say. But skill wise

(33:57):
shooting the ball left hand right then getting into spaces,
I don't know. Yeah, he's not six seven, I mean
he's a he's a He's a smaller guy to be
able to do that the way he does it, and
he likes to use the glass. He throws it so
high off the glass. Is that did you practice that

(34:20):
angles and knowing knowing how to softly put it off,
let it softly fall in the rim? Is that something
you would have been doing as a kid. Is that
go all the way back to that absolute Billy Donovan,
he always tells me, He says, you the only person
I saw in the gym that spent hours just throwing
the ball up off the back part. So I saw

(34:40):
one commercial something Kyrie did and he was talking about
he was just sitting under the basket doing that, and
I'm like, guy said, you know, and like I said,
you know, Dedrick, you know we are. I mean, we've
known each other since third grade. We've come up together,
so we've all worked on that m. It's like Krby

(35:00):
just got a little taste of that and then he
his imagination took us somewhere else. I always say, this
game is about creativity and your imagination. You look at
John Moran and Luca and all these guys, like the
imagination is probably if you go and talk to them
and backtrack it eventure. They just did different things. They
imagine things differently, and I think, yes, Kyrie talks about

(35:23):
it being like an art and that's kind of the
way that you know, art is about creativity. It's a
little different, I think, but with sports only because there's
a the scoreboard doesn't care how artistic you are. Like
there's a scoreboard and they don't care how you did it.
But um from uh, you know, I think that the

(35:46):
creativity can get you. It could be the difference between
being just a good, solid, fundamental player and being a
Hall of Famer. No, absolutely, And the creativity helps you
to be different. Like I even think about myself, you know,
creating all these different shots from different angles. I mean
that gave me an advantage, right, not being like this

(36:08):
three point shoot or a long range shooter. But I
knew how to get these spots, and I knew how
to use the backboard, use my body, use angles, And
that was the thought process, you know. I watched Dr Jay,
I watched George Gerb and I watched Magic Johnson. I
watched all those guys and Pete Marriage and I saw

(36:28):
some things. I took it and then I made it,
you know myself. Obviously I'm not those guys, but I
took from pistol Pete was. I hear that all the time.
Being an influence on guys today. He was you know
he uh, he was way ahead of his time in
terms of the things he did right, tricky, and I

(36:49):
had to catch myself. I had a conversation with one
of my friends the other day and he was like, well,
you never mentioned Pistol Pete anymore because I used to
mention him a lot. And I said, man, you're right.
I don't know why, but like I remember getting his
videos and watching his videos, watching them on NBA court
and doing a little trick passes and that was a
big influence. He was like a myth. He was like

(37:11):
a legend, you know that was it was Pearl Washington
like that for you back in New York City days. Yes, yes, yes,
Pearl was it like and I I was gonna get
to him. I was like trying to put the kind
of the stars of NBA stars at that but Pearl
was everything. You know. We followed Pearl around wherever he
played to watch him play. Was he and you'r when

(37:34):
he a couple of years older than you? Yeah? Like
ye too, Yeah, I think a couple of years older,
but watching him, you know, I lived when he passed. Uh.
I watched his video again, like I went on YouTube
watching this video and I was like that there, I
go like, I saw his influence, you know, and in transition,

(37:54):
throw the ball out in front of him, getting the
lane with the guy in front of him, you know,
all around and make a layup like the in and
out starting everything with the in and out Like that
was Pearl Washington influence for me. Yeah, and he was
just power right. I just that that that two footed
stopped and then spinning up and under and I mean

(38:15):
just unbelievable. Yeah, if youngsters out there listening, go watch
Pearl Washington highlights at Syracuse even earlier if you can
get it. Um he was, he was it your your
guys at l I U must be getting. Uh, it's
a master's course. You have a point guard that you
kind of lean on and and try and teach him
what you were. No, it's it's funny because the guy,

(38:38):
the the young person who's playing a point now, he
played the four outside and a you in high school,
so he's learning on the fly. Did you make him
a point guard? Yeah, well so it's funny. He comes in.
I don't look at him as a point guard, but
maybe you can say who it is. It's odd Jay.

(39:00):
He's a freshman and he came in as a as
a you know, to be honest, he came in as
a walk on m So we're playing pick up games,
or we're playing not pick up, but we're going up
and down and I'm watching him make plays, watching him
get to the cup. But I'm also watching as we
do secondary ball screens. He can see over the you know,

(39:23):
he could see over the screens and make passes. Uh.
So I'm like, man, let me put the ball in
his hands a little more, let me work around. Because
he's a freshman, so you know, let's start him now.
And not that he's going to be a point guard. Uh,
but he's been that for us now. So you know
he's been working and trying to get better and better.

(39:43):
Uh So you know he's kind of that project, but
he's but he's been Uh he's been pretty good, been
pretty good. But he'll he'll get better, uh with this experience.
But uh, you know, the point guard is something we
we're still trying to fill in. Yeah. I mean he's
got a great teacher and uh it's different. You have

(40:04):
a son that plays at Temple, right, it's how he
started washing He's a she's at Georgia Southern Georgia Southern. Now, okay, uh,
what kind of players he? Uh, he's kind of a
combo guard. Okay, you know he likes to score the ball. Uh.
You know, he can get to his spots and big shots.

(40:25):
You know, defensively, he's getting up in your guard and you, uh,
probably better up in the transition. But he's a he's
a combo guard. Likes to scarter ball. And we saw
with Dion Sanders took over at Colorado, brought a some
with him. Do you think you could have coached your
son on your own team? Absolutely? And I have another

(40:47):
one in James Madison. He's a sophomore. Uh, probably more
of a point guard facilitator. But yeah, no, no, I
definitely could. I just think at the time coming here,
I got here like July first, you know, so late.
It was late, and then these players have been there,

(41:08):
so I was trying to do the right thing. Uh
uh So yeah, I think I don't think. I know,
I couldn't, but just the time, it just wasn't. Because
sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's hard, like you, for your
kids to develop, Sometimes they've got to hear it from
another voice. It's hard to live up to your standard.

(41:30):
I would think that sometimes it's good for you know,
you could tell him, but somebody else might get through
to him more because your dad, I know, you're great,
but that somebody else tells him and it maybe has
more of an impact. Yeah, that's that's a fact. I think.
I think we all are mature enough now to do it.
I don't know if we could have done that, uh

(41:52):
years ago, just for that which was saying you know,
and I think even for my oldest son, that probably
was a thing grown up, you know, working him out
and being dead, but then having a critique criticize you
sometimes that goes into the ears differently exactly just with
and then on this topic going back, like when you

(42:13):
were with Dedrek Irving, did when did it realize like
that Kyrie was gonna be kind of a player? Did
you know early on? Did you did he ask you
what you thought? Did you what? What was that? Yeah?
So the thing where Kyrie I was, I was playing
and then I was coaching. So I have been gone

(42:34):
like I was in Memphis, I was in Kentucky, so
I hadn't seen Kyle like playing much. But my brother
called me, I think Kyrie was the ninth of tenth grade,
and he said, man, Roy, he's a pro. And my
brother don't give a lot of people credit like that,
you know. And then I finally got a test, is

(42:56):
really see Kyle at the Lebron James camp. And I
watched him and I was like wow because I saw
this left hand, the scoop shots, you know, the angle
was getting in the lag. I was like, that's different,
that's different, and all knew he was special right then,
Rod Strickland, I said a couple of things just to

(43:16):
quickly finish up here. I I always, um, you know,
we've talked about your coaching influences. I like to make
all my guests just to get make him a little
more personal. Um, you remember that Jim Valvano speech. He
gave it the SPS to never give up. It's always
been important to me in my life. So I would
ask just to get a little insight into into Rog Strickland.

(43:40):
He would say there were three things every day someone
should do to have a little full life. One is laugh,
one is cry, bring your just feel your emotions, and
and three is think, you know, spend some time and thought.
So what makes Rog do you mentioned laughing at KG. Uh,
is there anything else that makes you laugh on a

(44:01):
regular basis? I don't know if anything makes me half
on a regular business. KG. Your funniest teammate, Yeah, yeah,
Marcus funny, Mark Jackson is Elias. Yeah so yes, Marcus hilarious. Uh.
But I don't know what made Probably my kids, you know,

(44:22):
having those conversations and them critiquing me or making fun
of me or just you know, I don't, I don't,
I don't know. Just it's probably the family and friends.
What about stirs your emotions where you feel it? You
know where? I mean, if you're a crier, but I
can cried a good car commercial. But what what is

(44:42):
it that that that maybe gets you emotional? My kids,
my four kids, my two boys and my two daughters.
Your daughters one is one place soccer. She's she's just
committed to Kentucky, but she'll be going there next year,
a soccer all the daughter just had. I had my
first grand baby. Congratulations, that's awesome. Yeah, So those are

(45:07):
the ones, like you know, grand children do that. Yeah.
But my kids, they're they're the ones who move like
you know, I watched them watching them grow and develop
and become young young men, young women, young ladies, and
just watching them mature and the way they move, you know,

(45:27):
the humility, you know, all those things like my kids
are like, that's that's it for me. And finally that
the think part of it. I always say, there's this
oculus outside the Barkley Center of a video board where
everybody can see it when they come out of the
subway or they're walking in to go see a basketball
game or a fight or a concert. If you could
put something on that board, a message to just to

(45:50):
just get through the people, make them think about something.
What do you think that might be? Oh no, it
would be probably like you're never as good as you
think you all and you know as bad as you
think you are. Right, I have empathy for others. Be humble.
You know, we live in a crazy world right now
where like everybody's the tough guy, everybody's talking about it,

(46:14):
you know, just things like that. So I would just like,
you know, I've been in this game for so long
as basketball world, and you know they build you up,
tear you down. Just gotta find that medium and be
self aware and you know, I have empathy for others
and stay in your lane and just you know, uh,
like even even being here at l I U right,

(46:36):
was struggling and trying to get some WS head, trying
to put this program together. And you just gotta be
a part of something and know that you're a part
of it. You don't have to be you know, you
don't have to be the one. You got to be
a part of it all. And probably just just this
conversation like that, that's a great message. I always thought

(46:57):
of you. I always thought of you man when I
thought of you as a player, because you weren't this
you were you were a stoic player, you know you
you you did your thing. You didn't overly celebrate or
uh rub it in the opponent's face. You just were
like a silent killer out there. So yeah, I always believe,

(47:17):
like you, you are who you are, right. You can't
fake that people see you, right, So if you're really
good or really bad, that's who you are. If you
got money, if you got well, got help, like it
is what it is. Uh. But I've always I've always
tried to be as normal as possible. I've always tried

(47:37):
not to take myself too serious. You know, when when
I played, when you step between those lines. I want
to be the show. I want to be the best
on the court, but I also want to make sure
I'm helping other outcome, helping us with But once I'm
off the court, I'm just like you. So when I
walk out there, people kind of give you the praise
for having this specialty or this a true gift or

(48:00):
whatever you want to call it. It's that. But me
ro strictly as a human being. I got my own issues.
I got my own problems. I gotta deal with insecurities.
You got to deal with you know, family, friends, associates,
I go through all of that. So once I step
off the court as a player, as a coach, now
I'm regular and I don't want anyone to think of

(48:21):
me differently because I don't even want that pressure, you know.
I think that's the problem too. It's like hard everybody
wants you to be perfect. I'm not, so I'm not
even gonna pretend that. Rob. That's a great message. Thank
you for uh for opening up dust like that, and
I really appreciate you join us. Good luck here with
l I U. Now you got to think game with St.

(48:44):
Francis College coming up. I know you just got here
for that. But that's a pretty nice college basketball Riberry,
New York City. Yeah, yeah, thanks, I appreciate driving me.
Thanks Ron. All right, we turned from the Bronx to Brooklyn.
It was really fun to talk with St. Francis College

(49:05):
head coach Glenn Breaker right here on the Voice of
the Nets. Glenn Breaker, we're getting set here to to
to spotlight New York City basketball, Brooklyn basketball, your rivalry
with l y U Brooklyn. We're gonna have Roger Strickland.
We had him here on the podcast, going to talk

(49:25):
to you. But what I love about you is, and
I really respect this, is that coaching can be the
kind of profession where you are a vagabond. You have
to travel all over the country, sometimes all over the
world to have a career, let alone get to coach
in the place where you grew up. But you are

(49:48):
a Brooklyn guy through and through, born and raised your
entire career in Brooklyn, except for a little spot where
you went out to St. John, you went over to
Queens Um. It was that ever an option for you
to be the vagabond coach who was all over or
has your you're guiding like kind of been I wanna

(50:09):
make my career and stay right here in New York
City and never leave. Well, when I first got into coaching, UM,
I was still you know, I had all my friends
in the neighborhood. I was living a great life, you know.
And UH had a couple of opportunities to move on,
but I didn't feel it, didn't feel it was right.

(50:31):
And uh I was very comfortable and very happy doing
what I was doing. And uh, you know, I just
stayed with it. I never thought about the next job,
always thought about what I was doing at the time. Uh.
Then Norm got the job at St. John's. We were
college teammates, good friends, and uh it came out of nowhere.

(50:54):
And uh, I actually grew up right in between St.
Francis and St. John's. So if I go one direction,
you know, I come to St. Francis. The other direction,
I go to St. John's. So I worked out pretty well.
You were talking about Norm Roberts, who was your teammate
at Queen's College right when you played Uh you played
a Bishop Ford, which I were sharing this before we

(51:15):
went on the air. My wife went to bishop Ford.
My wife is crushed that Bishop Ford is no longer there.
That's a shame, right, Yeah, you know, it's un fortunate.
A lot of the Catholic schools have closed in New
York City. Um, my Grammars School closed and my high school.
Both my high schools I started saying Agnes in Manhattan

(51:38):
and then transferred to bishop Ford and they're both closed.
It's very sad they couldn't get Jimmy Iven to get
some of that Beats money and save the school. I
don't know what happened he Bishop. Oh wow, n What
what was your Brooklyn growing up? What was your what
was your neighborhood? Well, I grew up in Williams or

(52:00):
Green Point, you know, kind of like right on the borderline.
I had a great childhood. You know, we didn't have
much money. You know, we left at the place, you know,
and you know, but we I would never trade it
for anything. We had a great experience, a lot of
great friends. Um. You know, they say it takes a village,

(52:21):
and it really wasn't that type of community. Um, you know,
Williamsburg now is the place to be. I've seen it
change before my eyes. Um we were growing up, you know,
they were all abandoned factories and and it wasn't really crowded.
You know, there's a lot of crime and stuff. And
now it's like a place where everyone wants to live. Um,

(52:44):
I think we're looking for something in between. I don't
necessarily like the new the new place, but uh, the
old place needed some things to change. Yeah, I didn't
have to go so far the other way. Yeah. And
then yeah, and then you uh, you played for you
went to you you said you standard started sat Agnes,

(53:04):
you went to bishop Ford. Um, when you were playing
who were the great New York City players at the time?
It was like the early eighties, right, Yeah, I mean
you had a lot of great players, Jack Chris Mullen,
Mark Jackson, Kenny Smith, Pearl Washington, Whendell Alexis, Roger McCready.

(53:27):
I mean it was unbelievable. The talent level was insane.
Did you play against those guys? Yeah, yeah, I got
a chance to play against those guys, uh from time
to time. Um. And and the competition was fierce. The
coaching was good, very good. Uh, kids were held accountable. Um.

(53:48):
You know, we lived in the day and age now
with the ranking sixth graders that wasn't going on. But
back then, um, you know, the great and the best
and the best high school players played in high schoo
in your in your city. Now they're playing wherever I
amg or or these prep schools, and it's like the
great New York players are playing in New York. Now

(54:08):
it's hard to tell with the great high school players
where they're even from. Well, it was an honor to
play high school basketball in New York back then, and uh,
some of that's been lost over time with kids moving
around the country, uh, to prep schools being exposed to
different things with regard to the au travel. Um, you know,

(54:31):
big road trip for us was going to Queens, you know.
But uh, you know that was fierce back then, and
you had to be a really good player just to
make your high school team. And uh, you know, I'm
not so sure. It's it's like that at every place today. Yeah. Well,

(54:52):
so now let's sit head. Now you're you're coaching, and
you're recruiting your assistant coach for a long time there
at at att Rancewers College before you become you know,
you leave to go to St. John's and you come
back as the head coach of St. Francis, but you're
an assistant coach and assistant coaches have to go out
and recruit. I mean, that's your big thing, and that's
the most important thing for assistant coaches at a college level.

(55:12):
Did you recruit in New York mostly? I mean it's
it's always been a base for where wherever I've been, uh,
being at New York City schools. I think a good
formula for us here at St. Francis is recruiting New
York City and the surrounding areas. Uh. In addition to that,

(55:36):
I think international kids are very comfortable here, and junior
college kids seem to work out well. Why do you
think international kids are comfortable. I think they grow up
a little quicker. I think they're mature, and I think
they used to being on their own. I don't think
they're looking for some of the things that the kids

(55:57):
here in the States are looking for. UM, and I
think they liked being in the city. It's usually one
fight in, one fight out, and a lot of them
are from cultures that that transcend, you know, and are
a little bit like New York City. Yeah, I have
my my radio party. Tim Capstraw when he was at
Wagner always you know, had success with some European guys

(56:19):
except he He would say he didn't really know when
they were cursing them out because they were using a
different language. I'm sure I've been cursed out a few times.
He has a great story about Dale Brown stealing one
of his one of his international kids. He was a
really good player, didn't say. By the time you get
off the phone with Dale Brown, he wanted to go
to l s U. What do you Dale Brown could

(56:42):
sell anything? What are some of your favorite you have
a you know, favorite recruiting stories or things that that
have happened to you over the years in your time
recruiting around the country. You know, I'd have to think
about it. One time I was in the park a
lot and I sat in UH in the game next

(57:02):
to Jamie Dixon and we left to go to another
Jim and I banged into his car. We had a
little accident on the way out. But h I'd have
to think about though. What there's a lot of them
and what you know. I I went to Fordham and
Tom Conchulski was a Fordham guy and we we lost him.

(57:25):
But a great UH New York City basketball icon who
would would recruit, not recruit, but he would scout. And
I know a lot of you coaches always leaned on
Tom and his scouting reports, and he had a great
way of uh of turning a phrase and analyzing UH players.

(57:45):
What was your relationship with Tom and and and those
sort of guys who scouted and saw people great people.
Tom is one of the best people ever to walk
the face of the earth. Um. He's almost like just
a saint. I mean, he was a very close friend.

(58:06):
He loved coming in to Remsen Street. Uh. Many hours
in the car with him, driving to and from events,
many hours in the diner with them after you drive.
He always needed a ride, but just a assault to
the other person. I was glad that before he passed. UM,

(58:29):
myself and Barry Rawson we had a game on his Saturday,
and it was a few days before he passed, and
we actually went up to see him in the hospital.
UM and the visiting hours were over, and it was
almost like a stroke of God. We walked in and

(58:49):
we kind of Brooklyn that you know when you walk
in and you kind of look like your bong, and
the security guard never flinched, and we walked right past them,
right into the elevator, and I was so happy. I
got to chance to see him one more time. Um,
I mean, you're not gonna meet anyone who's a better

(59:10):
person than Tom Kinchowski. Yeah. And uh, when you're you're
coaching heroes, I'm sure you you know you knew Luke
Carneska when you were at St. John's. Uh. And I
love talking to New York coaches like you. Um, who
were you some of your coaching heroes. Well, it's always

(59:30):
a lot of times the guys should play for So
I had a j V coach in high school, John Conboy,
who unfortunately passed away very young. But he, Um, he
made me a player. He really made me work hard.
He was tough on me. He told me what I
needed to hear, now what I wanted to hear. Uh.

(59:54):
Mr Nash obviously, Uh, great coach when I transferred to
Bishop for the same thing. Um, and my college coach
Don Lezak Um. Now, having said that, you know, I
think growing up in New York City, everyone looked up
to coach Khanda Ska. Um. You know I spoke to

(01:00:16):
him actually the other day for his birthday, and it
was it was great here in his voice, and he's
doing well, he's amazing. I mean years old and he
can relate to eighteen year old kids. He's the best.
He's a wonderful human being. Um, and it's just great
that we have him around. And I probably when I

(01:00:38):
was at St. John's didn't take enough time to go
over and see him because you're just so busy. And
you know, he's just a treasure in New York City
treasure and I you know him and all my coaches,
and also you know, Tim Leary was a good friend
who coached St. Francis Prep. Uh and uh, I had

(01:01:01):
a lot of respect for him and you know, spent
a lot of time with him. Just a great person.
You know, Donnie Kent a lot of the New York
City coaches, and I don't want to miss anyone, so
I don't want to keep mentioning names. But these are
all great people. These are all guys that I would
just love to just be at Farrell's with you know,

(01:01:22):
a container and just hearing stories right like and maybe
maybe maybe if al McGuire were around and we could
bring him in right and tell those kind of stories, Oh,
he'd be great that And Farrell's a legendary place, just
a Brooklyn institution, I'm sure you may have probably spent
a few times a couple of days and there a

(01:01:43):
couple of hours. Yeah, definitely definitely what your uh, this
rivalry got with l I You Brooklyn and now Roder
Strickland is thrown into the mix. You played already, you
gotta win. You'll be playing again for like the the
the I will retrophy there between St. Francis and l

(01:02:03):
I You. What has that been like to be a
part of and over the years you've been You've been
around as an assistant and as a head coach for
a long time. It's a rivalry where you never know
what's gonna happen. When I was an assistant here, um
Ronnie Ganielin got thrown out of the game and I
had to take over the team. And I remember walking

(01:02:25):
off at halftime and the school was sixties six sixty
and we were losing at halftime at halftime, and I said,
I looked up and I thought to myself, this is
a normal It's gonna be one of those days. Well,
the game wentn it's uh, I think double overtime. Um
Anton Dolby hit a runner from half court to put

(01:02:46):
it into one of the overtimes and we brought a
guy off the bench, John Quintana, who hadn't really played.
He was a freshman, and he got like twenty six
points in twenty four minutes or something like that, and
we won one forty two to one forty and nobody
could guard each other. And the kids were playing hard,

(01:03:07):
they just couldn't guard each other and it was just incredible.
And then there was another game. I saw Charles Jones,
who's an assistant at l i U now, and we
played them on a Friday night and the game was
on MSG I believe, and the game actually came down

(01:03:28):
to Charles with the ball in his hands and Ray
Mineland guarding him, and Charles was leading the country and
scoring and Ray was second, and and unfortunately Charles hid
a pull up jump into beat us. So those are
the two that stick out there. There's been many others. Uh.
And and you know your your your time in New York,

(01:03:50):
did you? Uh? So the Nets have an assistant coach,
Royal Ivat. I think you coached him at the Empire
State Games. Yes, Royal is a great guy, and uh
played for Clario at Cardoza. But the funny thing is
we actually were one of only two schools to recruit
him coming out of Cardoza. It actually came down to

(01:04:11):
US at Marist and he chose prep school. So he uh,
he went to I believe it was Blair Academy and
went to Texas, had a great career and played in
the NBA. While he was at Texas, he played. I
was fortunate to coach the Empire State Games, the open
team for three years and Royal played one of those years.

(01:04:35):
And he was just a quality guy, tough guy, hard worker,
and a great human being. And his his family was
terrific as well. Yeah, Roal one of those guys that
just he's just got infectious energy about him. A great guy.
His name has come up for the Texas job. To boy,
that would be awesome. I would love to see that
for him. Yeah, um you you you uh you went

(01:04:59):
to play. You said you you played with Norm Roberts
at Queen's College and Norm said when he got the
job at St. John's that he brought you in because
he said, I needed a guy who would tell me
the truth. Uh. Is that your relationship with your coaches
and assistant coaches. I would imagine that's a that's a
huge part of it. Right, you gotta be surround yourself
with people who will tell you the world as it is. Yes,

(01:05:24):
the most important job of an assistant is to have
the head coach's best interest at heart, and myself at
norm were have been great friends since college. I just
got off the phone with him five minutes ago, so
you know, he UM, and he put together a great
staff at St. John's and he had we were all

(01:05:47):
together and everyone's doing well and he's very perceptive with
regard to that and picking the right people. UM. But yeah,
you need a guy to be loyal to UH, to
have the program and the head coach's best interests at heart,
and to tell you some things you don't want to hear. Um,

(01:06:08):
if it's if it's for the good. UM. And you know,
I think the best thing is we all walked in
into together, and we all walked out together, and me
and norhim probably closer today than we've ever been. And
that's the one thing about the guys from Brooklyn. They're
gonna tell you the truth, you know, like you're not

(01:06:29):
gonna you're real people. You know, you're gonna tell it
that you gotta be you know, and it's Uh, there's
a way to do it in the right manner. Um,
you don't want to be obnoxious, but I think the
worst thing you can do is hold something in and
and that helps someone even if and it's the same
thing with players. If you're a coach, you can't tell

(01:06:52):
guys everything they want to hear. You gotta tell him
what's best for them. And what do you think of Uh,
you know in college basketball today, with n I l
s and the transfer portals, what do you think is
that having a positive or negative effect on a college level? Well,

(01:07:13):
it's it's a tough question. You know a lot of
a lot of kids come from tough backgrounds and the
money that they're being paid is life changing. I can't
say that, you know that shouldn't happened. They're out there playing.

(01:07:34):
This is a hard job when you're a college basketball player.
It's a grind. They deserve it. Now, the problem comes
with how do you control it, keep guys heads on straight.
I don't know that I would have been ready for
that at eighteen nineteen years old. I don't know what
I would have did. So it's hard. I want to

(01:07:54):
see the kids get the money, but I don't know
how you how you keep every one grounded and keep
them working towards their goals and teaching them the right things.
It's difficult, you know, the transfer situation. You know, I
transferred high schools. I had to sit out a year.

(01:08:15):
I thought it really hurt me. It hurt me a
lot as a player. UM, But I do think there
has to be some control. When I did it, I
knew what the consequences were and I chose to do it,
so I lived with it. You know, this free agency
the thing, it's I don't think it's teaching kids the
right things. To stick it out. I don't see why

(01:08:38):
a kid can't sit out a year and and do
it that way where there's some deterrent. But you know,
if it's in your best interests, do it. Sit out,
get better, get stronger, get a master's degree, and then
you don't lose any eligibility. But this free agency thing

(01:09:00):
is crazy. I don't think it's teaching kids the right thing.
I don't think it's good for the kids on the schools. Um,
it's very difficult to coach in this environment. Has it
lessen your enjoyment? Well, the springtime isn't as fun as
it used to be. There's no downtime. Every time your

(01:09:21):
phone rings, you're holding your breath. It's tough. At time.
A lot of people would say, well, coaches are allowed
to leave and they break contracts. I mean, but I
guess in those situations, But Chris, I think if a
coach leaves, I think then the kids should be allowed
to If a coach is fired or he chooses to leave,
I do believe in that situation the kids should be

(01:09:43):
entitled to leave with no penalty. But this free agency
is insane. Think about if you were running the NBA
and at the end of every year, guys could go
to whatever team they wanted, what would you have? It's crazy? Yeah, no,
I agree. Hey, before I let you go, so I'm
sure you're you know, talking about other New York great

(01:10:06):
coaches who were quotable. Jimmy Valvano. You remember Jimmy. Did
you have a chance to know him? Yeah, I didn't
know Jim. I'm friendly with his brother, Bob, who actually
coached here. Um, you know, he actually coached here when
I played against him. We played them when I was
at Queen's College being norm and Bobby was the coach

(01:10:27):
and he's a great guy. But I did not know Jim.
He was a great coach. Probably one of the most
memorable things in college basketball is when they be Houston.
It was incredible. Also the teams he had an Iona, well,
high level teams, j ruland and those guys. Yeah, they

(01:10:48):
were great. I bring it up because I always end
these things by h I bring up his speeches. Never
give up speech at the speech, which you remember, right,
which is incredible and it's always meant a lot to
me in my life. And he used to say, Yeah,
to to have a full life, you need to do
three things every day. You need to laugh, cry, have
your emotions stirred, and uh, and and think, spent some

(01:11:12):
time and thought. So I always in this by saying,
all right, Glenn, what makes you laugh? Or who? Well?
I got a lot of characters in my life. I
can imagine you a lot of entertainment. Uh is there one?
Is there one guy that you can do when you're well,

(01:11:35):
that's great? Hey, But I Chris regard to Jimmy, Jimmy
Valvano thinking of courage he showed with that speech and
what he was dealing with and what he was facing
and uh, you know the way he even made light
of it. During the speech you talk about courageous and

(01:11:58):
also him trying to help others and the amount of
money they've raised. I know Diggy V has done an
unbelievable job and a lot of other people in helping
raise money and it all goes to research. He had
an unbelievable impact on the world and healthcare. What about

(01:12:19):
what stirs you to your emotions? I don't know, You're
you're probably a Brooklyn guy that that a lot of
a lot of Brooklyn guys I know are real tough,
but they're off also real softies and get emotional. It's up.
What's something that maybe, uh gets you emotional? You know,
I'm not I'm not real emotional. UM. You know obviously
when when you lose somebody close to you or I

(01:12:40):
think about my grandmother or my mother who passed away.
You know, that's all my some of my good friends
that I've lost, UM and other relatives. But that's really it.
You know, I don't get two emotional. There's a there's
the Oculus sign outside Barkley Center, and you know the
video board that when everybody coming out of the subway
sees and everybody going into Barkley Center season everybody walking

(01:13:02):
down Flatbush or Atlantic season. If you could put something
up there, a little message that you want people to
think about, to get in their heads. Uh, and maybe
something that that you live by. Uh, what do you
think it would be? You know, I think in this
country right now, people gotta come together. You got a
lot of people with agendas, a lot of people going

(01:13:26):
one way or the other for not the right reasons.
And I think we got to get back to a
common right and wrong and a good and bad and
just live by that. And I think what we're experiencing
right now is a lot of nonsense, and I think
it needs to change. And I think, you know, in

(01:13:48):
our world, in the sports world, in the college basketball world,
we don't have any of that. You know, we don't
have any of that. Everything's done for the right reasons.
You know. We got people from all different cultures, different
types of people, and they get along like brothers, and
everything is based on um. You know, what you do,

(01:14:10):
what you earn, your health accountable, good or bad. And
I think that's the way the world needs to operate. However,
we can get the message across. I think it's in
the best interest of everyone. Come together. Yeah, coach, Glenn
Bryk St. Francis College coach, we really appreciate you joining us.

(01:14:31):
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me on. Chris.
You guys are awesome. You do an unbelievable job. Thank
you very much. Coach. Good luck this season. Thank you
very much. Take care. St. Francis College hosting l i
U Brooklyn on January. That's the rivalry game. St. Francis

(01:14:54):
Brooklyn won a game back on January sixteenth. That's just
like the the non rivalry game. I'm not sure how
they decide which one is they do. The second game
is always the rivalry game. Um, but he could January Saturday. St.
Francis Brooklyn against l i U Brooklyn. That game at
l i U Brooklyn, one o'clock start on Saturday, January.

(01:15:18):
Uh t d joining us again our producer here on
the Voice of Nets podcast. Uh that was fun talking
to those guys. Glenn is just uh, such a nice
man and and and just so Brooklyn through and through.
It's so rare that a college you can go into
that profession and not only stay in one place for
as long as he had, but stay in the place

(01:15:39):
where you grew up for as long as he had.
He really is just like a Mr. New York Basketball
kind of guy. Like I remember I used to cover
the Empire State games and I'd run into him up
there when he was coaching. You know, he would coach
the men's open team and the Empire State games in
the summer. So he's just always been, you know, super
invested in New York City basketball, appreciates New York City basketball.

(01:16:01):
He loves being a part of it. And uh and
Roder Strickland was really uh open and honest with us
about a lot of things. I enjoyed talking to him. Man,
he was such a great player. Um, I get a
sense that it was like later his career, finally he
got stuff that maybe he didn't get early in his career. Um,
but what a what a basketball life, Rod Strickland is like, Yeah,

(01:16:25):
I mean, I know, you guys talked about it was
kind of a weird situation, just him getting drafted by
the Knicks and um and being paired with Mark Jackson
and it it kind of I think it just kind
of took him a while to to reorient himself after that.
If he had gotten into a different situation when he
first got into the NBA. Maybe the course of things

(01:16:45):
run a little different for him. You and I have
bonded over the years about our love of music, and
I always like to throw something in here at the
end about what to watch or uh, what to listen
to first? And one throw away a little PostScript to
the Shaka King interview that we did on the last episode.

(01:17:06):
Um he mentioned being a fan of Sidney Lament. And
when I think of great New York City movies or
movies that took place in New York City, there's Dog
Day Afternoon. We talked about it briefly there with Shaka King.
But Glenn Breyko went to bishop Ford High School, which
is now uh is no longer there, but he used

(01:17:28):
to be right there next to the Prospect Expressway, and uh,
I passed it every every day. Get off the Prospect,
going to the Arena, I go past the old where
it used to be, and you loop around and right
on the opposite corner was where they filmed Dog Day Afternoon.
Without Pacino yelling Serpico, Not Serpico. He was in Serpico.

(01:17:49):
He was yelling Attica right there on the corner. You're
are you a fan of Dog Day Afternoon? I love it.
I love um and I'm familiar because I often go
to the the exact same way UM, so I know
the area really well. I love Sydney Lamette's movies Love
Dog Day, Love Serpico, and it the interesting obviously Network.

(01:18:11):
But the funny thing with me and Sidney Lamette is
he's so known for those New York City movies, but
my favorite movie of his is the one set in Boston.
And that's the verdict. A great movie. Paul Newman. Yeah,
to this day it's I mean the lineup of that
You've got directed by Sydney Lamette, starring Paul Newman, screenplay

(01:18:33):
by David Mammott, And to me, it's the best thing
Newman and Mammott ever did, and it might be the
best thing Sidney Lamette ever did, except maybe from Network.
And I just think that's such a powerful combo. And
Mammett had such great screenplays. And you know, I always
know that when people work on on Mammot screenplays, it's

(01:18:54):
like they don't change your word. I mean, like there's
no ad living like you go by the age, wasn't
um Glenn Gary Glenn Ross amendment Absolutely, And you know
I saw a revival of that a couple of years
ago on Broadway where Pacino, who had played you know,
kind of that the hot shot Ricky Roman character in

(01:19:16):
the movie. Now he plays the older guy Shelley Levine
who Jack Lemon played in the movie. Um, and it
was terrific and and and something a lot of people
know this, Not everybody does, but because most people know
the movie, the Alec Baldwin character in the movie, not
in the play man that wrote that specifically for the movie. So,

(01:19:36):
you know, people who didn't know that maybe went back
to that revival I saw five or ten years ago
and and they were waiting for that. Yeah, he's not there,
the character is not there. And you and he got
nominated for an Academy Award for like a five minute
appearance in the movie. And it was well deserved. It
was absolutely spectacular. It's the one everybody quotes. Um this
in New York City Brooklyn Basketball. I said, you know,

(01:20:00):
you and I are music guys. What's your what's your
top best New York City song? And we can't go
the obvious ones. We can't go um New York State
of Mind by Billy Joel. We can't do uh New York,
New York by Frank Sinatra. Can't do um oh, and
by the way, it just does inside. It's a tragedy

(01:20:21):
that the Yankees play the Frank Sinatra New York, New
York now every game after the game, whether they win
or lose. It should only be for wins, only after whatever.
And they used to play Liza Minnelli's version after a loss.
I'm sorry if I'm sorry, if you're a tourist and
at your one time coming too Yankee Stadium and you
want to hear Frank Sinatra, it should only be after

(01:20:42):
a win. The fact that it was playing when the
Houston Astroids were celebrating on the field last year is
a tragedy, absolute tragedy. Um. So we can't use those
you can't use uh Alicia keys, you know, empire state
of mind? No no, no, so so thinking with that
with those parameters, give me a few What do you
What do you got for me? There's a couple I leave,

(01:21:06):
excuse me. I love. R M has a song called
Leaving New York. Probably ask Coward back about that one.
He'll do that one real well. Um you too, I
think was on the same album that had Beautiful day,
they had a New York song talking about Alphabet City. Uh.
I'm a big Ryan Adams fan. Love his music. He's

(01:21:26):
got that great song h New York, New York that
was going to be one of mine. Yeah, vividly written.
And then I'll throw another old one in and it's
gonna tie into my My Basketball's borrow. Podcast. Spoke with
Jack Armstrong, who I'm sure you know well podcast Toronto
Raptors Games and and he just talked about growing up
in Brooklyn and playing ball in the schoolyard and then

(01:21:48):
you go, you open up the hydrant and because it's
ninety degrees out and he just said it's his whole
childhood and it just always reminds me of that song
Hot Time Summer in the City. There you go, all right,
I the Bryan Adams, Ryan Adams, when I I love um,
make Ryan Adams fan. Although you know, I kind of
got canceled a little bit, But but that is a

(01:22:11):
great that is a great song. I still love you
in New York, Um Simon and Garfuncle only living boy
in New York. It's a good one. Um. And but
I'm not and and I said I couldn't go Billy Joel,
the obvious ones, but fifty second Street. Sure, there's a
great one. Great that was the first album, the first
album I ever bought really on cassette. Obviously, that album.

(01:22:33):
It feels like it's said on the streets of New York. Yeah,
great vibe to it. He wanted to get a little
jazz influence, you know, and and uh yeah, I love that.
Very nostalgic for me. And I know you and I
are not disco guys. I don't think you're a disco guy,
but I love the disco era. Do you really shocks me?

(01:22:55):
That shocks me, But you like good music, So I'm yeah,
I never minded disco. I'm just not. I'm not gonna
listen to it all the time, but I do hear it.
My wife loves it, so I'm always hearing it. I mean,
I think it was first of all, it was to
a degree, it's kind of a natural extension of like
that early seventies are and be stuff like there are
disco songs that you know, is disco songs that like

(01:23:16):
you'd be surprised how early they came out, whether it
was like seventy three, seventy four, But it wasn't like, yeah,
you know the bgs are, and I mean for me,
I'm I'm born in seventy two, so to a certain extent,
it's kind of the background music of my childhood, right,
It's just what was around in seventies. It's just that
that's the feel of the seventies. If you weren't like,

(01:23:37):
if your parents weren't into rock, you know, you weren't
listening to The Who the Rolling Stones, you were listening
to disco. So I'll give you this one. This was
the one. This is my choice song by a group
called Odyssey, Native New Yorker. Yes, yes, I feel like
you've heard that song five times a days ago. So
there's your there's your New York City Songs. T D.

(01:23:58):
Tom Doubt our producer, thanks for joining. We gotta a
we'll do this more. You've gotta come on the post Game.
I think you're gonna have to be a regular edition
of the post Game. I would love to flest to
the Postgame a little bit more, all right way. Thanks
to Isaac Lee, Thanks to Glenn Breca, the Great Rod Stricklin,
uh and look for in a couple of weeks, uh
TDS produced New York City Brooklyn Basketball podcast is Do

(01:24:22):
we have a name for this yet? Is this gonna be?
It's Basketball's Borrow. Okay, Basketball's Barrow is kind of the
overarching thing, and we're gonna have a pretty cool video
series coming out that's affiliated with it. That's a little
bit further down the road. All right, that's t D.
I'm Chris Carino. Thanks again. Subscribe to the Voice of
the Nets podcast. We'll talk to you next week. Thanks.