Post by pearl on May 13, 2009 16:15:10 GMT -5
May 14th, is the anniversary date of Dave's passing. I remember being in shock, reading on the internet about his passing. 62 years of age seemed way too young for Dave to leave us. He was such a strong guy, a real horse and it seemed he had no weaknesses.
I remember him providing an autograph for me, made out to my two sons, at the Jacob Javits Center in NY. He was kind enough to personalize for each of my boys. I remember seeing him on the Long Island Railroad train in Mineola, coming from his Garden City home.
The basketball memories are tremendous. I remember his tenacity, durability, competitiveness and his rebounding and defense. I never watched a 2 way player as acomplete as Dave. He did everything very well and most importantly, he never gave less than 200%, each game.
I remember him playing an exhibition game verus Dr. J, ( the only time they ever competed against each other) and Dave outscored him 16-4 and blocked one of his shots.
I remember him playing defense against Paul Silas, Wes Unseld, Bill Bridges, Sidney Wicks, Rick Barry, and of course his legendary matchups versus Gus Johnson of the Baltimore Bullets.
He was a very clutch player, I remember the go ahead basket versus the Lakers in the 1970 Championship series (a jump shot at the foul line- contested well). Moments later, Jerry West hit the amazing 60 foot shot to send the game into overtime, which the Knicks won.
I remember the 19 point comeback versus the Bucks in 1973 with 5 minutes left and a rebound at the end of the game, where Curtis Rowe and Kareem went reeling after the tough contact from DeBusschere. I remember the last play of that game when the Bucks got the ball to Kareem with 2 seconds left and DeBusschere came racing over and helped Willis defend the shot.
Dave was a very good person as well, a good family man and he had the respect of so many players, as evidenced by his funeral, when Havlickek, Cowens, Archie Clark, and Oscar attended to say their goodbyes. Havlickek, in fact, became close friends with DeBusschere.
Enjoy the clip below, cut and paste into your browser.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd3_yjQSKGo
Dave, RIP, you are missed.
Pearl
I remember him providing an autograph for me, made out to my two sons, at the Jacob Javits Center in NY. He was kind enough to personalize for each of my boys. I remember seeing him on the Long Island Railroad train in Mineola, coming from his Garden City home.
The basketball memories are tremendous. I remember his tenacity, durability, competitiveness and his rebounding and defense. I never watched a 2 way player as acomplete as Dave. He did everything very well and most importantly, he never gave less than 200%, each game.
I remember him playing an exhibition game verus Dr. J, ( the only time they ever competed against each other) and Dave outscored him 16-4 and blocked one of his shots.
I remember him playing defense against Paul Silas, Wes Unseld, Bill Bridges, Sidney Wicks, Rick Barry, and of course his legendary matchups versus Gus Johnson of the Baltimore Bullets.
He was a very clutch player, I remember the go ahead basket versus the Lakers in the 1970 Championship series (a jump shot at the foul line- contested well). Moments later, Jerry West hit the amazing 60 foot shot to send the game into overtime, which the Knicks won.
I remember the 19 point comeback versus the Bucks in 1973 with 5 minutes left and a rebound at the end of the game, where Curtis Rowe and Kareem went reeling after the tough contact from DeBusschere. I remember the last play of that game when the Bucks got the ball to Kareem with 2 seconds left and DeBusschere came racing over and helped Willis defend the shot.
Dave was a very good person as well, a good family man and he had the respect of so many players, as evidenced by his funeral, when Havlickek, Cowens, Archie Clark, and Oscar attended to say their goodbyes. Havlickek, in fact, became close friends with DeBusschere.
Enjoy the clip below, cut and paste into your browser.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd3_yjQSKGo
Dave, RIP, you are missed.
Pearl
