Black to scout for Raptors

Norman Black will be doing work for the National Basketball Association (NBA) team Toronto Raptors as a "stringer" filing reports on Asian draft prospects and evaluating their progress.

Black recently attended 11 practice sessions and four Raptors games at the Southern California Pro Summer League in Long Beach. He paid his own way to the US but the Raptors took care of his accommodations and living expenses during his 10-day stay. Raptors director of player personnel Jim Kelly, once a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) TV analyst and Presto coaching consultant, arranged Black’s visit. Kelly, who’s married to a Filipina, used to be the Raptors’ director of scouting.

When Black returned home, he had a shopping list of nine teenaged players–eight Chinese and 7-3 South Korean center Ha Seung Jin–to scout. Two of the Chinese prospects are 7-4 Tang Zhengdong and 7-1 Yi Jianlian. Black said he’s in the process of finding out where to check out the prospects in action.

"I’m not a Raptors employee," clarified Black who played briefly for the Detroit Pistons in 1980-81 and shot 53 points for Philadelphia in a Continental league game against Scranton in 1980. "The Raptors will pay for my expenses in scouting prospects and I’ll submit a report on my findings. It’s like being a newspaper stringer or correspondent."

Black, 45, said he’ll attend the Raptors veterans training camp in October before the NBA season opens.

"It was a learning experience," noted Black, referring to his recent trip. "After coaching 17 years in the PBA, it was like a refresher course. Jim had arranged for me to attend the camp before coach (Lenny) Wilkens left so at first, I didn’t know how (new) coach (Kevin) O’Neill would react when I showed up," he related.

Black was the only "outsider" allowed by O’Neill to stay in the gym during the Raptors camp at a plush Newport Beach facility. Another "outsider" Charles Barton, an American coach based in Sweden, later joined the camp.

"The camp was strictly a closed-door thing," said Black, now a TV analyst for the PBA. "Not even the rich members of the gym where the Raptors practiced could watch. On the first day, I sat in a far corner so I wouldn’t be noticed and took down short notes. I transcribed the notes later in my hotel room. But there were so many things going on at practice that I was afraid I’d forget some important topics if I continued to write short notes. So I finally asked coach O’Neill if I could write as much as I could of what he was doing. He told me no problem."

Black described O’Neill as a strict disciplinarian and defense-oriented. "We started with 17 players, rookies and free agents, at the camp," he said. "Coach O’Neill struck me as a teacher and a motivator. It took him only five practices to install his system. He never cussed. He never threw a tantrum."

At the summer league, the Raptors lost their first two games but after O’Neill cut the roster to 12, the club began to play more cohesively and won its last four assignments.

Black said he met the Raptors coaching staff for breakfast each morning at their hotel and often bumped into O’Neill in the gym. "One thing coach O’Neill and I have in common, we work out six days a week," he added.

Black commented that when he played for coach Scotty Robertson in Detroit, the plays were "by the numbers" and almost robotic. In O’Neill’s system, the plays are designed to get the ball to the shooters or scorers, with lots of motion and variations depending on how the defense reacts, explained Black.

There were several familiar faces in the stands and on the court at Long Beach. Tommy Manotoc passed by once with his sons Michael and Matthew. Import recruiters Mike Gonzalez and Chique de la Rosa scouted possibilities for the PBA Third Conference. Former national team consultant Paul Howard watched a few games with San Miguel Beer star Danny Seigle, rehabilitating his injured foot at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in nearby Inglewood. Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Tex Winter was there, too.

"Tex is far from retired," said Black. "He was scouting players and his mind is still sharp. He saw me and told me he knew me from somewhere. When I said I’m from the Philippines, he immediately remembered I attended his coaching clinic in Manila a few years ago. Tex loves the Philippines."

Playing for various teams were ex-PBA imports Kevin Holland, Brandon Williams, Ira Clark, Ansu Sesay, Richie Frahm, Art Long, Brian Green, Sam Mack, Jerome Jackson, Ronnie Coleman, Juaquin Hawkins, Shea Seals, Sean Higgins and Lelan McDougall. Clark was a standout. Suiting up for Dallas, the former Tanduay import collected 16 points and 14 rebounds in the Mavericks’ 100-82 win over Memphis.

The Lakers also played in the league. Assistant coach Kurt Rambis called the shots for the Lakers whose standouts were rookie Brian Cook and veterans Jannero Pargo and Kareem Rush. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s son Kareem, Jr. was in the Lakers lineup and played sparingly.

The only Asians who saw action were the Los Angeles Clippers’ Wang Zhizhi, South Korean national cager Bang Sun Yoon and Japanese Yuichiro Morishito. Wang averaged 11.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 20 minutes in six games. Bang of Yonsei University played for a squad called The Ticket and shot seven points in a 123-87 loss to the Surf whose mainstays included Holland, Cedric Ceballos and Joe Smith. Morishito played limited minutes for the Surf.

Black said he was thrilled to sit on the same row as Jerry West, Hubie Brown and Raptors general manager Glen Grunwald during the games. He was also thrilled to be wearing a Raptors uniform and helping out the players in drills.

"The practices ran for two hours," said Black. "Sometimes, I’d rebound for the players, pass them the ball, and play defense, one-on-one. Some of the players at the Raptors camp were Mateen Cleaves, Lamond Murray, Chris Jeffries, Chris Bosh and Remon Van de Hare. The players received daily allowances until they were released. I remember when I was trying out, the allowance was $100 a day. I was offered a $3,000 fee to show up at a veterans training camp without a guarantee of making the team. That was when I decided to go to the Philippines."

Black has never regretted his decision to settle here. He played for Tefilin, San Miguel, Great Taste, Magnolia and Pop Cola in a playing career that ended in 1998. As a coach, Black won 10 championships, nine for San Miguel and one for Sta. Lucia Realty. But more than basketball, it’s his family that Black considers to be his biggest blessing–his Filipina wife Benji and their three children.