Bounce And Squeak

On a random weekday last month, Stan Pietkiewicz beat me in "Horse."

You'd have to be a serious basketball freak to remember 'Stan The Man.' A six-five shooting guard, Pietkiewicz averaged 19.1 points per game as a senior at Auburn in 1978, good enough to earn second-team All-SEC honors, but his professional career was brief -- less than three full seasons in the NBA, followed by a couple of seasons in Italy. He's 51 years old now, a little thin on top, but in great shape. And, as I can attest, he can still shoot it.

Seeing Stan at the gym coincided with the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Like most of you, I'm captivated by this rite of spring, particularly the early upsets. I'd love to know how many brackets were destroyed this year in "Treacherous Tampa," as CBS labeled it. The place where higher seeds were sent to perish. The "Tampa Turmoil" claimed two 4-seeds and two 5-seeds in one 48-hour period. What's better than that?

While the field of 64 was whittling itself down, the NBA season is hurtling toward its own version of madness. Call it the "stretch run," the "playoff push," what have you - this is simply a great time to be a basketball fan. It even lessens the pain of getting creamed by Stan The Man in "horse," although I should point out that I was shooting in sandals while waiting for a yoga class. Still, I got him to "h-o-r." So there's that.

As a representative of Sun Sports and FSN Florida, the cable home of the Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, ACC and SEC basketball, and the FHSAA high school basketball championships, I am often asked for my opinions on certain players. When it comes to the pro game in particular, I have a stock answer for anyone who accuses any NBA player of being a stiff: "yeah, but he was probably the best player ever to come out of his high school."

Think about that for a moment. The 12th man on most NBA benches, depending upon his hometown, is most likely one of the most celebrated and decorated players that said hometown has ever seen. For that matter, a legendary high school career provides no guarantees at the college level, either. The kid waving a towel on the far end of the North Carolina or Kansas bench may have been an absolute stud. You just never know.

I mention this because Stan Pietkiewicz may well be the best player that Winter Park High School ever produced. Some might point to Georgetown sophomore Jeremiah Rivers, son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, as Winter Park's most notable hoops alum; Stan himself claims that Austin Rivers, Jeremiah's kid brother, will be better than all of them, maybe the best ever. Of course, Austin is only a freshman at Winter Park this year. We'll have to wait and see.

Basketball can be described as timeless. The bounce-and-squeak marks the rhythm of the game from year to year and season to season. For me, the attraction of the game's playoff season is the "what if" -- the possibility that some otherwise unknown player will shine on the big stage. This is the time of year that gave us Lorenzo Charles, Keith Smart, Tate George, Ty Edney, and Bryce Drew. In the pro game, springtime produced Derek Fisher and Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller and Robert Horry. John Paxson and Steve Kerr. They were all already famous in their hometowns, probably the biggest celebrity in their old neighborhood, until a big shot at a big moment catapulted them into something else.

Those moments, by the way, are what drove those players, and thousands more you've never heard of, to spend countless hours in the gym in the first place. For every Christian Laettner or Dwyane Wade, there are hundreds of Stan The Man's - guys who had the tools, had the talent, but never got the opportunity. Don't feel bad for them; Stan Pietkiewicz, as far as I can tell, is a very happy, well-adjusted adult. His son, John, who was Jeremiah's teammate at WPHS, now plays college ball for Flagler College. Stan The Man is doing fine, living quietly in his hometown and giving me a hard time at the YMCA. Life is good.

When you celebrate the game, don't just celebrate the stars. Respect the guy on the end of the bench, too. For all you know, he was the best player you've never heard of.