Al Moe’s Story of Life and Basketball

Las Lomas High School Walnut Creek – Basketball From 1975 to 1977

I’m really spinning the dials of the Way-Back Machine here, but even after all these years, I still love competition, basketball, and my hometown of Walnut Creek. A friend said I should add more to this blog besides gaming history before the old brainbox blows out and my neurons won’t fire, so here’s a bit more about me and why I have issues with losing.

I first played organized basketball in Japan in 7th grade at E. J. King School and then in 8th grade after moving to Virginia at Washington Irving Middle School. I thrived on competition and loved basketball and baseball. I took losing as a personal affront to my athletic prowess, as little as I might have possessed. Monopoly, cards, hide-and-seek. If I lost, I felt like a loser. A terrible feeling.

My father, Commander Albert G. Moe, was a career naval officer, so we moved often. Every move was a new challenge – a competition to try and fit in, make friends, and maybe survive for a year or two before it all started again somewhere else. In 1972, after several tours of Vietnam, Dad was assigned to the Naval Inspector General’s Pentagon offices in Virginia. By then, I’d moved 10 times. I was 13.

Dad was a relentless investigator and received the United States Meritorious Service Medal (awarded to senior Navy Commanders and Captains after completing a successful commanding officer assignment). He was a staunch supporter of the US Military, but most proud of his last medal:

Back to my hometown of Walnut Creek, California

As usual, we were on the move soon, and this time, my mother’s wishes came true when Dad got orders for California, and we returned to her hometown of Walnut Creek in 1975. I was a Junior in high school. I went to Las Lomas High School most days before school started and shot hoops—hundreds of shots—dribbling up and down the court alone, spinning, shooting. Sometimes, I played in a great little gym at Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church. Weekends were best, and we always got a game going.

Basketball coaches at Las Lomas, Gordon Lindsay and David Girsch, we’re big on defense first and getting the ball to our big guys on offense. I found out they were pretty serious guys quickly, and they didn’t like it when I absentmindedly blew a bubble with my gum while making a fast-break layup in a game. Good to know. The picture didn’t make the yearbook, either. Still, I worked myself into a frenzy every game, fighting for rebounds and diving for loose balls. I wouldn’t let go even after the whistle blew. I may have had issues.

We had 6’9 Paul Johnson at center, with Tom Badley and Jon Wilson taking the forward spots, so we mortal guards did more passing than shooting. Vince Cloward was our stalwart guard. I would have loved to see “Moe Scores 20” in the newspaper headlines, but they didn’t print preseason game totals. I figured I was good for a few as a senior, but things don’t always work out as expected. Still, you’ll never know what you can accomplish without dreaming!

In the second game of my senior year, I scored 12 points with half a dozen rebounds and assists, but our team’s zone defense was scorched by hot-shooting Ed Rettagliata of Pleasant Hill, and I promptly got benched for the next two games. Defense, defense! Or it could have been the pass I made late in the game, trying to find an open player and accidentally passing to a referee. That was hard to forget.

Things you don’t expect happen in games and in life. I thought my buddy Jeff Finsand would be our starting small forward. He was a ferocious rebounder and could jump like a kangaroo. But Jeff took an elbow to the face, and his broken nose kept him out of half our games. It wasn’t fair, but sports rarely are. I’m sure he was frustrated, but he took it well.

Eventually, after some improved play, Coach Girsch came into the locker room and said, “Moe, that’s your best defensive game this year. You are our starting point guard from here on out.” I was very happy but too insecure to try lighting up the scoreboard. I stuck with taking a few shots each half and passing the ball inside. We switched to mainly man-to-man coverage and won a few more games. Maybe Girsch was right about defense, but every team we played had someone who regularly scored 20 in the league.

I tried to do better, but in the next game, as half-time neared, I glanced at the clock and saw two seconds remaining. My half-court shot clanked off the rim, and when I looked back at the clock, I realized it had said 12 seconds remaining. Now there were 9 seconds left, and our opponents scored again. Hmmm. Maybe golf?

Stars Like Future NBA Coach Stan Van Gundy and Joe Del Bene

In 1977 I got to cover Joe Del Bene, a junior from Ygnacio Valley High in neighboring Concord. He was about 5’9, but he shot the lights out all year. I also guarded Stan Van Gundy (yes, the future NBA head coach). He became Alhambra High School’s all-time leading scorer in 1977 and was a Northern California All-Star.

In a late-season game against Alhambra, we were up by a point with 6:15 left on the clock. As the Martinez News-Gazette put it, “Al Moe, Vince Cloward, and Tom Badley each hit a bucket afterward for Las Lomas and held Alhambra to 3 of 18 shooting in the fourth period.” Defense, defense!

After I made a steal late in the game, Stan grabbed me by the jersey so there would be a whistle, and Alhambra would get the ball back quickly. We were in bonus time, so I went to the line and sank both free throws. We had played several games against each other, and I asked Stan afterward why he grabbed me. He said, “You looked tired and missed a free throw earlier.” Probably the only time I ever got one over on him. Even then, he was a floor general and coach, always thinking.

Badley led all scorers with 18, his average for the year. Jon Wilson and Paul Johnson had to wait another year to be regular 20-point scorers for Las Lomas. They were both excellent as seniors in 77/78.

Los Medanos Basketball Team 1978/79

The Los Medanos College Basketball team of 1978-79 was the most successful ever for Pittsburg, California, even if I did dribble the ball off my foot twice in one game.

If I recall correctly, Head Coach Rich Botelho was in his first year after leaving St. Mary’s College, and the team had only a couple of carryovers from the previous season. Some heady players from the San Francisco East Bay and a few All-Stars from Contra Costa County were in camp. My accomplishments from Las Lomas High School wouldn’t have scared anyone trying out, but competition was a physiological need for me. I hated to lose!

The first player I recognized was Joe Del Bene, the shooting guard from Ygnacio Valley. He played three years of varsity basketball, was all-league, and was selected to the Contra Costa County All-Star game. I wondered what this excellent ball-handling guard was doing at a JC, but I figured he got overlooked because of his height. Not fair. I was 6’2″ and got overlooked, too, but for other reasons. I was always game to play hard; Joe had game.

I had a great head fake and body move that got players off balance so I could take 20-foot jumpers unguarded. I made the team but, but my head-move didn’t fake Coach Botelho into making me a starter. There was too much talent. I wanted to be the starting point guard, but Del Bene was way too good at moving the ball.

The next best guard was a 6-4 guy from Fremont High School named Lester Connor. He made no-look passes (I took one in the face during practice) and got kicked out of practice during tryouts—not because he was a problem but because he was a step ahead of the rest of us.

I had the moves and a sweet shot good for double-digit scoring in practice and preseason games, but Connor and Del Bene were far and away our best players by the start of the season. The team did great, rising as high as number 7 in the state and winning 24 games. Impressive, since the roster was down to eight players by the end of November and played the number two team in California with just seven players. We lost by a bucket.

Connor averaged 25 points a game, and he and Del Bene moved on to Chabot College after the season when Coach Botelho took the Head Coach position there. Cabot was the state’s runner-up team the following season, going 32-3. Del Bene was All-Golden Gate Conference. Connor averaged 23 points a game, with 56% shooting from the floor.

I moved on to being a father, working at Dexter-Hysol in Pittsburg, and generally feeling at loose ends for a year.

Lester was a First-Round pick in the NBA and played 13 seasons. Eventually, both Connor and Del Bene became coaches. They were great players and great coaches. After Los Medanos, I attended Cal State Stanislaus, where my basketball-playing days ended with a broken ankle before the season began. Too bad, because the team was excellent in 81/82, making the final-four of the NCAA Division III basketball championships. A great team led by Doug Cornfoot, who made the All-Tournament team.

To make myself feel better, I took several trips up Highway 99 to Highway 50 and into Lake Tahoe to play blackjack and poker. By the end of the following year, I was living there with my buddy from Las Lomas High School, Pat Barry. I missed basketball but got competition on the green felt poker tables and the greens at local golf courses. I won more at blackjack and poker than golf, but that’s another story.

Every great poker player, from Wild Bill Hickock to Doyle Brunson, would tell you poker is all about competition. I don’t have allegator blood, so I’d probably let my grandmother win at the table occasionally, but I still hate to lose. Basketball, Pictionary, golf, blackjack, poker – games – but winning is always best.