<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Almost 90 and recovering from cancer surgery, Hall of Fame college coach Newell is helping hone the skills of basketball players at his Big Man Camp By Robyn Norwood, Times Staff Writer Pete Newell beckoned and a skinny college center followed. Then Newell stepped into a drill and pulled 17-year-old Laker draft pick Andrew Bynum aside. Soon, Bynum ? born when Newell was 72 ? was smiling and nodding. Mostly, Newell ? less than five months removed from lung cancer surgery and only weeks from his 90th birthday ? tried to stay seated in a chair at center court on the Nevada Las Vegas campus last week, a perch from which he could survey every one of the 60 or so players in his 28th Big Man Camp. "I talked to the doctor and he said, 'Just don't overdo it,' " said Newell, a Hall of Fame college coach and one-time general manager of the Lakers who had much of his right lung removed in March because of a cancerous tumor. "What happened was, I had a cough that was hard to get rid of," Newell said. The first day of his camp, he picked up a newspaper with the story of TV anchorman Peter Jennings' lung cancer death on the front page. "I'm doing better than some," Newell said. "The doctor told me, 'His was totally different from yours.' There's no sign of any kind of growth. But you never know." A smoker during his years as a coach at San Francisco, Michigan State and California, where his Golden Bears won the 1959 NCAA title, Newell quit years ago, but cancer found him anyway. His Big Man Camp ? an annual affair that has drawn an astonishing list of NBA stars that includes Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, James Worthy, Scottie Pippen, Sam Perkins, Antawn Jamison and Jermaine O'Neal ? helped give him a goal in his recovery. "This camp has always rejuvenated his energy level and his passion for teaching basketball, probably even more so this year because of his health issues," said his son, Pete Newell Jr., a camp staffer who retired from coaching at 61 this year after guiding Santa Cruz High to the Division III state championship. After the season ended, Pete Jr. went to his father's home in Rancho Santa Fe and urged him on in his rehabilitation, trying to get him ready for his already-scheduled camp. "Pete came and really got me in the groove. He'd tell me to walk another 15, 20 yards," the elder Newell said. "I'd say, 'That's another 30 or 40 ? up and back.' " "I lost 40 pounds. People ask about the diet. I say, 'Don't do the one I did.' I've put maybe five pounds back on." Pete Jr. wasn't sure his father would be able to handle the Big Man Camp until he saw him recover after conducting a coaching clinic at Newell's Tall Women's Camp in Monterey a couple of weeks earlier.</div> Source Bynum is getting the red carpet treatment in development. He's learning from two of the greats, Newell and Jabbar, plus Jackson will teach him the right way to play defense for a big man. Hopefully Bynum can sponge all this knowledge and become a dominant force in a few years.
This is good that he is learning from two of the greats one of them being THE greatest of all time (Jabbar). They shouldn't be giving Bynum this "red carpet" treatment. The word was that one of his weaknesses is being, well weak. They should toughin this dude up, so that he can go up against Shaq and a few others. Most centers are Flimsy and weak like Yao. But overall I am excited to hear he is learning from Jabbar.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bahir:</div><div class="quote_post">Has Jabbar realy been signed as a coach or is it something in the making?</div> Coach Kareem I don't think it's official yet, but both sides want this to happen.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Bahir:</div><div class="quote_post">Has Jabbar realy been signed as a coach or is it something in the making?</div> I think he's free to help out even if it isn't officially on paper. I know this is negativity, but I think Bynum is going to be a flop. When I first heard about him I was quite pleased but now I have feelings of poor performance, much like when Kwame Brown when he entered the NBA. I have very good feelings for Kwame though.
