Rumors

Ira Winderman: Spoelstra said growing up in Portland he didn’t want to be Jack Ramsay, that he still has visions of being a player. Jokes he was scared of Ramsay, then coach of the Blazers.

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Walsh never counted on getting Johnson in 1987. His research told him Johnson would be gone long before the 11th pick. Walsh started plotting. He went to then-Pacers coach Jack Ramsay. "And I had a tape of Reggie and I said, 'Jack, I want you to look at this because I don't know if we're going to get the kid we were looking for,'" Walsh said. "He watched it that night and he came back in and said, 'Yeah, I'd take him.' And I said, 'So would I,' and so that's what we did."

USA Today Sports

Down by 2, Hawks player/coach Alex Hannum threw the ball off the backboard from the other end of the floor only to see Bob Pettit’s put-back attempt roll off the rim. Wouldn’t you like to have seen it? Sadly, no complete video account exists. Thus began the greatest sustained run of dominance in NBA history. With Russell as the anchor, the Celtics survived the retirements of Sharman (1961), Cousy and Ramsey (1963), Heinsohn (1965), and K.C. Jones (1967), not to mention the exit of Auerbach as coach in 1966, to keep on keeping on, culminating in the most unlikely of all Celtics triumphs, the conquest of the mighty Wilt Chamberlain/Elgin Baylor/Jerry West Lakers in the famous 1969 Game 7 “Balloon Game.”

Boston Globe

NBA PR: The NBA today unveiled the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History as part of the continuing celebration of the league’s 75th Anniversary Season. The list was selected by a panel of 43 current & former NBA head coaches in collaboration with the National Basketball Coaches Association.

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Kevin Pelton: Besides Terry Stotts, the other two winningest coaches in Blazers' history (Dr. Jack Ramsay and Nate McMillan) went to the Indiana Pacers for their next head coaching job.

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Scott Agness: Interesting note from Donnie Walsh’s statement on the passing of Jerry Sloan: "He was the first coach I interviewed for our head coaching position with the Pacers but he told me me he had already accepted the position as the head coach for the Jazz” So Walsh hired Jack Ramsay.

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Terry Stotts is moving up the winning ladder of Trail Blazer coaches. Stotts’ 292nd victory pushed him past Rick Adelman into second place behind Jack Ramsay as the winningest head coach in franchise history. Stotts’ overall record in Portland is 292-235. Adelman’s Portland coaching record (291-154) features the highest winning percentage in team history (.654). Ramsay’s record was 453-367 (.552).

NBC Sports

Colangelo leaned on one of his mentors, Pete Newell, a legendary coach and basketball luminary. Newell visited Phoenix and Colangelo presented his concerns and general goals the afternoon prior to a Suns game, and the conversation continued at the arena and over a glass of wine following the game. The next morning, Newell delivered a six-page outline on the various concepts and ideas laid out over the course of the previous day. Soon after, in the early spring, Colangelo's committee, which included heavy hitters such as Jerry West, Wayne Embry, Jack Ramsay and Rod Thorn, in addition to a handful of active coaches and general managers, convened at The Phoenician resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. The committee plowed through the proposals, which included requiring teams to bring the ball over half court in eight seconds rather than 10. (Colangelo had suggested seven seconds.) The NBA's illegal defense rule, which had existed in one form or another to prohibit zone defenses since the league's earliest days, was scrapped. Instead, the committee proposed the defensive three-second rule, preventing defenders from loitering in the paint but allowing them to defend an area rather than an opponent elsewhere on the court.

ESPN

The Pacers soon were donating basketballs, shirts and other items to the Chikambas' cause. What Ramsay provided was his name and expertise. The Dr. Jack Ramsay Initiative became a way to help grow basketball in even rural parts of Zimbabwe, where basketballs, much less hard courts, were rare. "We needed a training DVD that we could use to train coaches so they could teach kids the fundamentals," Chikamba said.

ESPN

From 1993-94 until now, who are five coaches you have most enjoyed interacting with? Marc Stein: I’m incredibly blessed at ESPN, where I’ve had the chance to work closely with a bunch of great ones. Trying, again, to do this off the top of my head, I’m thinking of Hubie Brown, Rick Carlisle, Avery Johnson, Doug Collins, Mark Jackson, P.J. Carlesimo, Paul Silas, Jeff Van Gundy, George Karl and, of course, Dr. Jack Ramsay, who sadly passed away recently.

Ed Odeven Reporting

Erik Gundersen: The Blazers will have a moment of silence prior to Friday's game for Jack Ramsay. They will also show a video during one of the timeouts.

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The greatest memorial patches, such as the Dallas Cowboys wearing a fedora to honor Tom Landry or the sports goggles draped over George Mikan’s No. 55, have a distinct feature everyone associates with the person being honored. Numbers and monograms are nice, but individual flair is best. The Portland Trail Blazers memorial patch for former coach Dr. Jack Ramsay is a great memorial patch.

For The Win

Portland Trail Blazers: Trail Blazers will honor Dr. Jack w/ signature plaid patch throughout postseason pic.twitter.com/QUzNBS2BcQ

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Now 78, Brown has followed Ramsay’s career for decades and their paths crossed on countless occasions over the years. He’s had decades to formulate an opinion on Ramsay, and so I asked him for a few thoughts on the Hall of Fame coach earlier today. “Jack Ramsay, a tremendous basketball coach, leaves a lasting legacy and a void in the coaching profession,” Brown wrote in an email on Monday. “His success will be well documented as will be the example he has established for coaches and mentors. He taught team basketball and proved a cohesive unit, playing together could overcome all odds. He was also always available and went out of his way to help coaches or players seeking advice and guidance. His constant involvement in fostering the game will leave a tremendous void.” “Dr. Jack Ramsay never forgot you and always asked how you were doing. A remarkable and professional human being and international coaching icon,” added Brown, who received the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ International Committee Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this month in Texas.

Ed Odeven Reporting