Basketball All-Timers...A Starting Point

Basketball has changed so much so quickly that it's hard to imagine comparing players from the 1950s or 1960s to today's kids. Hell, in the early 1960s they were still separating kids on lightweight and heavyweight teams in high school.

These players leaped to mind when I thought about an all-time North Coast boys basketball team last night...not a definitive list, just guys who came to mind first...

Isaac Gildea, McK/CR/HSU...I wonder how he'll be viewed over time? Will he be forgotten when kids start going to D-I schools. Or, will he be remembered as a bad-ass gamer who just did what winners do? In the 1990s...I decided he was the greatest player, the guy with the most impact, I'd ever seen on the North Coast...not bad for a slightly built guard.

Buck Pierce, DN...The only thing that kept him from a great college career was the small matter of him being a D-I football quarterback prospect. Del Norte had a string a great guards like John Maready, Dave Brous...all the way back to Blaine Lopez. But, Pierce had the confidence and cool and inventiveness -- as well as a sweet jumper -- to stand out among the greatest guards in a Kirk Burrows-coached program that produced great guards every year in the 1990s.

Al Erickson, Eureka/CR/HSU...He still plays pro ball in Australia. I wish people who are raving over the next greatest player ever could have seen the 6-foot-4 Erickson do everything really well...whatever his teams needed doing...you know? He didn't look like much a player...until he started playing. He had a Larry Bird-like quality on a smaller scale. A nose for the ball and for getting the most of his ability...and he busted his ass for the opening tip to the final buzzer.

Ryan Riewerts, Hoopa/CR...Controversy followed this guy around, but he was the inside presence for Gildea's CR Nor Cal tournament team -- and Riewerts was a bulky 6-foot-4 banger who took on bigger, taller, faster guys and made things happen around the hoop. If I needed somebody to get me a rebound, at least through the late 1990s, I'd want Riewerts to go after it...when I watched him play, the appropriate background soundtrack was "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" by Drowning Pool.

Mike Janetsch, Del Norte...This is a trip in the Way Back Machine to give props to the 6-foot-7 Warriors star who was at the center of a great series of Warriors teams and an stunning Eureka-DN rivalry in the early 1970s.

Gary Mendenhall, St. B/Santa Clara...I know most people forgot him because he played at St. B in the mid-1980s...but, I've neven seen a more complete guard in the H-DNL...and Mendenhall lacked only a couple inches to be every bit Gildea's equal. Mendenhall and George Ambrosini led some fantastic St. Bernard team. I think Mendenhall was on the T/S all-time team I picked.

Dean Jones-Brad Bieber, DN...Bieber went on to play in college. They formed a potent, versatil 1-2 punch. Jones had the quickness that came slowly to the H-DNL. He dominated the early Niclai Tournaments as a guard in 1981-82. My preference for Jones stems from my willingness to believe his off-court activity didn't spill onto the court.

Myke Jones, DN...he was Dean Jones' 6-foot-7 brother...and the first H-DNL player we ever actually saw dunk. Unlimited potential I was told early, though, that he'd never achieve it...by people who knew him way better than I did. Sadly, Myke and Leon Volasgis, of Hoopa, had all the physical gifts but...they just never clicked.

Justin Mora. Fortuna...a bigger forward, muscular...who could handle the ball and shoot...and rebound. He played harder than most "star" players in the H-DNL. Went on to the play in college. It's going to be hard to keep him on my all-time team. Loved watchin him play.

Brandon Bieber, Del Norte: Mora and Bieber were pals, apparently, but their rivalry was epic the early 1990s. Bieber played college ball in Alaska...just another fundamentally sound guy who could work inside and outside. I think Mora and Bieber began the move to making the H-DNL a place were 4-year colleges could go looking for talent.

Chris Weaver...McK...I lost track of him. I know he was the biggest of the big centers in the H-DNL and...there was no way he could live up to the hype. But...I suspect if he'd played in an area where he was just another big guy who had to work his tail off to succeed that I'd have wanted him on my team. There aren't many shot-blockers in H-DNL history.

Charles Webster...DN...See what I mean about the game changing? John Murray is a 6-foot-10 EHS grad from the early 1960s who remains of the league's all-time leading scorers, but I can't imagine Webster not shutting him down because Webster, like Weaver, was an athlete...and John was just a big guy with some nice hook shots, etc.

Greg Allen, Eureka...without seeing him play much, I'll make the leap of faith that being 2-time Big Five MVP and a D-I talent earns him a spot as the post-modern H-DNl hoop star.

Zach Barnes, St. Bernard/CR..he was was about 6-7 or so and arrived at St. Bernard in 1973 with a pretty cool set of all-around tools. He's in the the mix to fill the slot for the all-around big guy...shot-blocker, scorer, defender.

Mo Charlo, Eureka/Nevada...Best all-around player to come of the H-DNL -- ever. Mo Purify was a football player/athlete who could hoop, but Mo Charlo was a D-I prospect and player and wound up getting looks from NBA teams. And, Charlo's road to greatness wasn't an easy one to travel. He deserves credit for beating odds and working hard to be great.

Jack Bainbridge, SF/HSU...He was the best point guard of the 1980s. I know Marcus Price of Eureka High got raves in the 1990s, but Bainbridge led South Fork to hoop glory and...I just loved his grit.

Kevin Krause SB/UC Riverside...my list won't be filled with guys who got to college, but Krause was a player...a 6-5 center at St. Bernard who was smooth, hardworking and intelligent. He dominated the H-DNL from 1985-1987.

Augie Valdez, Hoopa/CR...He led Hoopa to the Division V NCS title, with Volasgis starring as a sophomore center. Valdez was a standstill 3-point gunner who was an inspiratational leader...the Warriors win over highly-touted Emery of Emeryville, with 6-foot-10 Arkansas-bound Darnell Robinson, ranks among the best games in H-DNL history. Valdez wasn't built for the college game...but, man, was he a joy to watch play.

Nominees and opinions are welcome.