Bill O'Rear

A basketball lifer who has spent decades either playing, coaching or writing about the game. Blessed to be a San Diego State basketball fan.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

Livsey & his co-owners sold the Snow Valley camp to Nike Sports Camps in 2016. I was blessed to work in that final Livsey-run camp & it remains my all-time favorite since it was packed with some great coaches & marked an end of an era. The Snow Valley Nike camps continue on.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

Great coaches have their own special way to teach the game. The late Don Meyer was one of those legendary basketball coaches. He used elite discipline, a strong mind & humor to develop championship level players & teams. He pushed his players to be better — on & off the court.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

The highly respected Livsey, a longtime NBA scout, picked the coaches based on their resumes, teaching abilities & work ethic. At Snow Valley, coaches often worked from 6 am to 10:30 pm, Sunday thru Friday — & Herb didn’t want any coach sitting around, instead teach the game.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

Over the decades, Herb Livsey & his camp co-owners put together a world class coaching staff & in the first 10 to 25 years names like Wooden, Newell, Riley, Olson, Raveling, Popovitch, Adelman, Van Gundy, Showalter & more top coaches shared their passion for the game.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

When Meyer taught hoops, he often put on a master clinic. He worked the famous Snow Valley camp under the bball school’s legendary founder Herb Livsey. Herb started Snow Valley in 1961, a year after attending the Bob Cousy camp & Bob telling Herb he should start his own camp.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

Meyer then had the youngster shoot several jumpers using better form & balance & the camper started knocking down more shots. Meyer also reminded his fellow camp coaches to reinforce proper shooting technique & limiting the amount of boogers the rest of camp.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

“You don’t want to go home & tell your girlfriend that you have a booger on your jumper,” a smiling Meyer told the player while the other campers giggled. Meyer then showed the camper the proper form & how to eliminate wasted motion on his shot — removing the booger.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

I was fortunate to watch Coach Meyer teach shooting at the Snow Valley Basketball School in Santa Barbara in the 1980’s. He had a prep player come out before the other 200-plus campers & shoot. Then after watching, Meyer told the camper that “You have a booger on your jumper.”

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

A rare video: Former NBA ref Ed Rush talks about the great Wilt Chamberlain & how he had a tremendous bball IQ to go with a mild disposition that helped the Big Dipper handle every situation. Props @ross_burman on the terrific interview.

[David Ross Burman @ross_burman]

My interview this weekend with legendary NBA ref Ed Rush who was on hand at our Delaware County Sports Legends Museum in Radnor.

Ed talks about the great Wilt Chamberlain.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

@TimGall13 @PeterVecsey1 Wemby seemed to be thrown off by Mitchell Robinson’s close out at his feet so Wemby faded a little on the shot. That reaction to Robinson might have been the small difference in Wemby missing the shot. But with only a second remaining that would be the only shot the Spurs got.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

The New York Knicks’ 1970 & 1973 title teams had a combined 6 players that were Hall of Famers, including Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Jerry Lucas & Earl Monroe. If this year’s Knicks win the NBA title, it’ll be interesting to see how many go on to earn Hall of Fame recognition.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

Michael Jordan often said you have to fail to succeed — that you learn/grow from each experience. Wemby is already a generational talent that will only get better & if he can stay healthy in his career may win a handful of NBA titles & MVP awards. He’s young & finding his niche.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

@arhooptalk Of course, it was. But with Tim Duncan around the Spurs, Timmy should be working with Wimby as much as possible in the offseason to improve his offensive skill set. That’s a basketball truth. 😃

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

It seems obvious that if Wimby wants to reach his potential as an offensive player, he needs to add Tim Duncan’s quick turnaround jumper off the glass or a short jump hook to get high percentage shots at mid-range or deeper in the paint. If he doesn’t, it’ll restrict his growth.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

Jeremy Lin would be a nice add the rest of the NBA Finals as an ESPN NBA analyst. He’s extremely knowledgeable, dissects the game or play in a quick, straight forward way & shares his passion for hoops. His interview tonight with Scott Van Pelt on ESPN was impressive. #LinSanity

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

For decades, @PeterVecsey1 covered some of the greatest games in NBA history at Madison Square Garden. And he knows all about MSG. So, Peter, what will MSG be like Monday night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals when the Knicks host the Spurs & chase their first NBA title since 1973?

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

@TimGall13 @PeterVecsey1 Wemby playing in his first NBA Final & expected to make every clutch play. I don’t mind that shot & in the future, the Spurs should be able to get a quality shot earlier & have a chance to get a follow up or tip-in to win it. Wemby falling down was weak.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

Knicks hold on to beat the Spurs 105-104 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals in a thriller that went down to the final seconds. The Spurs rallied from a 14-point deficit & Wemby missed a mid-range jumper with :01 left that could have won it. Pumped up New York leads the series 2-0.

[Bill O'Rear @billohoops]

Give the Knicks credit. They have hit 15 3’s & outworked the Spurs most of the second half. New York leads San Antonio 95-83 with 6:45 remaining in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. The Spurs youth & inexperience is showing up on the biggest stage. Need a leader besides Wemby to step up.