Townsend offers to assist Gilas
MANILA, Philippines – Raymond Townsend, the first Fil-Am ever to play in the NBA, said the other day it would be an honor to assist Gilas in preparing for the FIBA Olympic qualifiers and he could fly over from his home in San Jose, California, at the drop of a hat to help out in any way.
Townsend, 60, resides alone in San Jose. His two children are now grown-up and live on their own. “I’m now working out details with NBA Asia on going to the Philippines as a basketball ambassador,” said Townsend in an overseas phone call. The plan is to conduct clinics for kids from the fifth to 11th grade in five camps, including two in Manila and one in Batangas where my mother (the late Virginia Marella) was from.”
If given the chance, Townsend said he’d like to assist the Philippine national basketball team in any capacity. He’s aware that the Philippines will vie for one Olympic slot in a six-nation qualifying tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena on July 5-10. Townsend also knows that Andray Blatche will anchor Gilas as a naturalized player.
As for the Los Angeles Lakers’ Jordan Clarkson, Townsend said the second Fil-Am to play in the NBA is blessed with the opportunity to expand his basketball knowledge in only his sophomore season. “I think Jordan is fortunate that he’s with a team where he gets a lot of playing time,” said Townsend. “I didn’t get that opportunity to play as much on my second year in the NBA with Golden State. Jordan can only get better.” Townsend said he’s not familiar with FIBA rules on eligibility so he’s not able to comment on whether Clarkson could play for Gilas.
Townsend said what he brings to the table as a coach is the knowledge and experience of having played at the highest level. “I’m a very specific and detailed perfectionist,” he said. “I can still shoot the ball and I believe demonstration is the key to teaching. In my camps, I explain and demonstrate, I show how to execute a play. I teach what I learned from coaches like John Wooden. How many coaches can say that they’ve played for someone like coach Wooden and in the NBA? Modesty aside, I have a great basketball mind. My biggest regret is I never got into coaching earlier. Taking care of my family was my first job. I was a single parent with two daughters and they were my priority.”
Townsend said qualifying for the Olympics would be a dream come true for any player. “It would be a wonderful experience, personally, if I could contribute to bring the Philippines back to the Olympics,” he said. “It would be a great opportunity to give back to my mother’s homeland. My mother passed away over 12 years ago and it was my greatest loss.”
Townsend, who was on the UCLA championship squad in 1975 with Marques Johnson, Dave Meyers, Richard Washington and Brett Vroman, said he’s a stickler for fundamentals. “I’ve run camps and leagues for over 22,000 kids since 1990,” he said. “I do camps thrice a year in the Bay Area. When I run leagues, I actually teach from the sidelines. Sometimes, it’s 12 hours of games the whole day. The process is educational. It’s what I like to do. Take, for instance, the drill I call peek-shooting. It’s similar to what Steph Curry does. You give yourself six feet of space to operate. No unnecessary dribbling. You can take one or two dribbles inside your space, not more, then create a step before the defense can gather to close out. I teach how to read feet with four steps of footwork, like a jab step or a half-step reverse pivot to get off a shot. When I played at Golden State, I did a lot of pick-and-rolls with Robert Parish. We used to do reversals and sometimes, I couldn’t even see the rim on the switch but we would still score either on peek-shooting or a roll. We also worked a lot of downscreens where we had three basic options on offense. There’s a lot to teach and demonstrate. I think I can make better players out of those I teach.”
Townsend said when the NBA D-League season ends, he’ll bring in Bobby Ray Parks to his camp. “I was at the last NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and met Bobby,” he said. “I also met coach Tim (Cone). Bobby has a nice slashing game but I think he can still improve on his jumper which is what we’ll work on in camp.” Townsend said while in Las Vegas, he attended a workshop conducted by the Retired NBA Players Association on life after basketball. The workshop was organized by former Warriors player Purvis Short and attended by senior veterans like Fat Lever and Moses Malone who passed away shortly after. Even 28-year-old former Baylor University center Ekpe Udoh, now playing in Turkey after a stint with the Warriors, came for the sessions so the audience was varied in age. The workshop delved on job opportunities as a coach, general manager and director of basketball operations.
Townsend said three current NBA players whom he trained are the Miami Heat’s Tyler Johnson, Orlando Magic’s Aaron Gordon and the Charlotte Hornets’ Jeremy Lin. His brother Kurtis was Cone’s Menlo College teammate under the late George (Bud) Presley and is an assistant coach with the University of Kansas. “I’m very proud to be the first Fil-Am ever to play in the NBA,” said Townsend who played for Golden State and Indiana in three NBA seasons up to 1981-82. “I’m excited to be an NBA ambassador and I’m looking forward to going back to the Philippines soon.” Townsend was in Manila in 1980 on a basketball tour and in 1993 on a personal visit to explore basketball opportunities.
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