Another McClymonds HS hoops great is gone from the scene. Paul Silas, 79, died this morning. A former Creighton U. and NBA star as a power forward, he was part of a dominant Mack program under Coach Paul Harless that won 110 of 111 games during an era in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Silas also coached for a time in the NBA.
Paul Silas is dead
- Thread starter colhenrylives
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Some other standouts on those old Mack teams that became legendary in the Bay Area: Jumbo Jim Hadnot, Ed Thomas, Aaron Pointer and Joe Ellis. What talent Mack had at that time. Star after star, year in and year out. Hadnot played some pro basketball in the defunct ABA. Ellis, of course, is a former NBA player. Pointer is the brother of the singing Pointer Sisters. He played Major League Baseball.
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I hope the McClymonds community someday helps bring back their Hoops Program. They were the standard.
Here's wishing you great hoops
gentrification has made that nearly impossible. they all now play along the highway 4 schools, elk grove or stockton.
if they can perennially put together 30 football players, why not 10 bball players?
if you havent noticed it takes a different athlete to play football and basketball.
many kids play more than one sport
it's a weird argument that gentrification is what's hurting bball and not football.
it isnt a weird argument (i aint arguing) if you were at the school and know about it. as well as seen the neighborhood. playing 2 sports and being good at 2 sports are completely different. especially considering the football team plays until december. gentrification isnt only a west oakland thing but a thing in oakland period. homes go away, condos go up that families of 4 dont live in.
there are a lot of factors that go into it but student body and lack of success of the basketball team do not help. kids do not want to play if they are not winning.
what about people moving to highway 4? How many relevant BVAL teams have you seen since McClymonds stopped having 20-win seasons?
Agreed. The 2006-08 Warriors with the Great Cherry, Powell, and OTIS are most likely the last of the great OAL teams we will see. The SF Bay Area underwent a major economic shift over the last 20 years with more families moving not only out of bay but out of state. Football has competed well on a lower level. Maybe Mack can do the same in hoops (d2-d3) but the days of d1 and open are long gone in my opinion.
And the hyper growth in places like Elk Grove, Modesto, Manteca , Tracy has resulted in so many new schools that the talent level can get really diluted. (Elk grove good example)
they get spread out over there. hang out in pitt or antioch and every single kid will tell your their parents grew up in the mission, the deep east or west oakland. you can even go as far as modesto and merced and they will all tell you their family is from oakland.
i didnt say highway 4 teams became dominant i simply said that is where all the families went. section 8 housing is real and caused a real shift in demographics of cities. dont believe me? read a story on twitter or facebook when a crime happens in brentwood or antioch and watch the comment section.
No doubt.
You're saying gentrification pushed out the basketball players but all the football players stayed. I don't get it.
I agree there's a million factors why basketball isn't as successful in the last 7 years. Leading with gentrification as the main reason i don't get.
gent has moved families out. that has meant less athletes to have on the team as the student body is mid 300 and only 100 are boys.
the best on campus play football, and that usually runs until 2nd week of dec. by that time they dont want to play basketball because the team isnt good. this is from the mouths of 12 football players.
go to a weston ranch, pitt, lincoln, inderkum, sheldon hoop game and bet them parents grew up in the town or city. it isnt an exact science but condos go up, families go away. lets be honest, the oal as a whole minus oakland and tech have terrible basketball. families are gone.
I also was befuddle about the Macs hoop program till I spoke with someone at Gridley
There are multipal reasons for the decline of Hoops, but here is the best reason I have heard.
As soon as The Football players finish there season, they start running track for conditioning. Then on to a lifting weight program. You have guys running
4.4 track, weighing 250 pounds. It seems this has become their focus.
In other words, not enough time for two sports.
Here's wishing you great hoops
It gets harder and harder for athletes to play multiple sports, partly due to the specialized training (as Marc said), and partly due to sports overlapping more and more...
Most of those who do play more than one sport do fall/spring, such as football/track.
Alec Blair is a bit of an exception with winter/spring (hoops, baseball). I wonder what'll happen when baseball starts for DLS while the hoops is still going on? Last year, he played JV as a freshman, I think...
Most of those who do play more than one sport do fall/spring, such as football/track.
Alec Blair is a bit of an exception with winter/spring (hoops, baseball). I wonder what'll happen when baseball starts for DLS while the hoops is still going on? Last year, he played JV as a freshman, I think...
Alec actually was on the frosh baseball team last year, as DLS is just loaded on all levels. But as good as that guy is in hoops, he still maintains he’s better at baseball, and almost assuredly will be starting on the varsity this season.
Playing both in high school is one thing even in this day and age, but he’s going to have to make a decision for college. Danny Ainge wouldn’t have had the opportunity to switch over to basketball these days.
