Matt Steinmetz

Steve Rossignoli was the closest thing Reading/Berks had to Larry Bird. Oh, you could argue that Chris Finch belongs on that short list, and he probably does. But “Stevie Roz” did it all a little bit before “Finchy.”

Roz was a fierce competitor, a tenacious rebounder, and, quite frankly, was the best player in Reading, PA during the mid-80s, after his graduation from Mount St. Mary’s, where he carved out a historic collegiate career. He owned 11th and Pike, which was the pre-eminent summer league at that time. Sorry, Mr. Kuhn, the West Reading Summer League played second fiddle to the Pike in those early years.

Though Roz would take a hard-right turn, politically, later in life, never forget that he was a lefty first!

Roz was all of 6-foot-5 with a feathery touch from the perimeter, and an ability to post up any non-power forward who dared to guard him down there. He was tough and nasty, and he wasn’t afraid to hold teammates accountable. His pedigree and fundamentally sound game was borne out of playing for two absolutely phenomenal and legendary coaches: Jim Gano and Jim Phelan. An unbelievable one-two, coaching punch.

And, boy, could he pass! Roz was one of those players who the game slowed down for. He played at his own pace, and few defenses could take him out of his game. I watched Roz for years and never saw anyone who could stop him. The closest anyone came to shutting down Roz was Robert Steinmetz sr. and a cadre of Berks County officials who just didn’t get his passion and intensity and language.

Roz still holds the Reading/Berks all-time record for technical fouls in summer league, a Rasheed Wallace-like total that will never be matched. But this mark comes with an asterisk. Roz had the misfortune of playing at a time when my dad went through a little “born again” period, and he was dishing out T’s left and right. Pop’s philosophy at the time was simple: he would T-up anyone who used profanity, even if it was self-directed. “There are kids at this playground,” my dad would say, “and they don’t need to hear those words.”

Almost 40 years later, I’m making it official: Roz got a bad whistle at times from my dad. Just don’t tell my dad I said it.

So here’s to “Stevie Roz,” one of the greatest players and competitors Reading/Berks has ever seen!

See, I knew this was going to happen. I played some golf, saw my mom in San Diego and there this goes. And by this I mean the blog (ssshhh book). Nothing … for too long. Anyway, Kuminga looks pretty good, no doubt. At least through one game. Not a real game, but still a game.

A lotta Ben Simmons talk today and that he’d be open to coming to the Warriors. I don’t know about you, but if I got a shot at Simmons, I’m taking it. You can talk to me till you’re blue in the face about his lack of shooting ability and non-aggressiveness on offense. Warriors have a player like that, too: Draymond Green.

You show me a guy who is terrific passer and wants to pass — and he can defend at a high level … I’ll take that guy anytime on my team.

What do you guys out there think?

Hard to believe I’ve been around the Warriors for more than 25 years now. I purposely don’t say “covered” the Warriors for 25 years because that wouldn’t be technically true. I covered them for 12 or 13 years, then continued to stick around them for the next 10 or so.

I started covering the team the year Chris Webber was traded, and so for the next 10-plus years, it meant I was covering bad teams. The Warriors went 12 straight years without making the playoffs, and I was there for all of them.

To think that I’ve gotten to see a team go from the periphery of the NBA to the centerpiece of the NBA is pretty unreal. After seeing what the Warriors have done for the past decade or so, I would now never trade in those awful years. What a ride: From 17-65 to 73-9.

You can divide this period of time into two parts: Pre-Curry and Post-Curry. Everything started to change in 2009, when the Warriors picked Stephen Curry with the No. 7 pick in that summer’s draft. Nobody knew, of course, how much things were going to change. But it all did when the Warriors took Curry out of Davidson.

The Warriors likely would have never stumbled into Curry if it weren’t for two guys: David Kahn and Jordan Hill. Kahn was the general manager of the Timberwolves at the time, and he had this brilliant idea of selecting two point guards with the Nos. 5 & 6 picks — neither of whom were Curry. Kahn took Ricky Rubio and Johnny Flynn, and there sat Curry for the Warriors.

They already had a smallish guard in their backcourt named Monta Ellis, and there seemed to be a very real scenario that the Warriors might want to “go big.” And there was an intriguing big that was going to be out there: Hill, a power forward from Arizona. But there was no way the Warriors were taking Hill. None.

That decision was made during Hill’s interview with the Warriors.