Vince Boryla

Vince Boryla
Player information
Full name	Vincent Joseph Boryla
Nickname	Mosses
birthday	March 11, 1927
place of birth	East Chicago, Indiana , USA
date of death	March 27, 2016
Place of death	Denver , Colorado , USA
size	196 cm
Weight	95 kg
position	Forward
college	University of Notre Dame (1944-1946) University of Denver (1948-1949)
Jersey number	19, 12
Clubs as active
1946–1948 Denver Nuggets ( AAU ) 1949–1954 New York Knicks
National team
000 0 1948	United States
Clubs as coaches
1955-1958 New York Knicks

Vincent "Vince" Joseph Boryla (born March 11, 1927 in East Chicago , Indiana , † March 27, 2016 in Denver , Colorado ) was an American basketball player , coach, official and scout. He was also known by his nickname Moose (dt. Elk ). He played on the position of forwards whose position mainly since the 1970s small forward and power forward is divided.

As a player, he was active in the early years of the New York Knicks in the NBA , before he took over its coaching position for three years at the age of 28, before continuing to work as a basketball official. In the basketball tournament of the 1948 Summer Olympics he took part as a player at the University of Denver and won the gold medal at this major tournament in London with the national team of his home country .

life and career

Start of career and as Olympic champion in the NBA

Vince Boryla was born on March 11, 1927 as the son of Vincent Stanley Boryla and his wife Phyllis Boryla (nee Tiliczuk), two Polish immigrants, in the then still emerging city of East Chicago in the US state of Indiana, where he also grew up and attended the local Washington High School , which closed in 1986 and which produced numerous basketball players and coaches. At that time he was already playing in the school basketball team under his coach Doc Irwin. He then went on to study at the University of Notre Dame , where he was also active in the men's basketball team of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish sports department . For these he completed 41 championship games in his two years, scored 643 points and led the points ranking of Notre Dame in his freshman year with 322 points, which meant a new school record. Another school record was his 31 points in a game against the University of Detroit . During a medical examination at this time, it was also found that Boryla was color blind .

Already after his first year he interrupted his studies because of the Second World War and came to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis , Maryland . He then spent several months at Naval Station Great Lakes , the only boot camp of the United States Navy , in North Chicago , Illinois , where he also played basketball, before he re-enrolled at Notre Dame. After his sophomore year, he left the university again and joined the United States Army in 1946 . From this he was sent to Denver , Colorado , where he was stationed for the two following years and, in parallel, for the amateur team Denver Nuggets , which then became a professional team, which was then re-employed after only two years, in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) was used. During this time he was also voted AAU All-American twice .

During his time in Denver, he took part in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London as a player in the Denver Nuggets . At the local basketball tournament he was Olympic champion with the United States ahead of France (silver) and Brazil . He was then discharged from the Army and from 1948 attended the University of Denver, which he graduated in 1949 after he worked for the Denver Pioneers , the university's own sports department, and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in the course of his career. In his only year at university, he was selected as a basketball player on the All-America First Team . In 1948 he also married the Denver native Catherine "Cappie" Brogan, with whom he had a daughter and four sons.

As an Olympic gold medalist, the University of Notre Dame's first basketball Olympian, he was accepted in 1949 by the New York Knicks , who started the first NBA season in history after the BAA merged with the NBL to form the NBA . This season the forward was used in 59 games of his team. With the team he ranked at the end of the season behind the Syracuse Nationals , today's Philadelphia 76ers , in second place in the Eastern Division . In the subsequent play-offs, the Knicks were also subject to the Nationals from Philadelphia after a semi-final victory over the Washington Capitols . In the following season 1950/51 developed into a stronger offensive player and was one of the five most successful free throw shooters of this season. With a percentage of 0.837 (83.7%) he was behind Joe Fulks , Belus Smawley , Bobby Wanzer and Fred Scolari the fifth best free throw shooter in 1950/51 and was due to this on March 2, 1951 in the first NBA All-Star Game in history used.

There, the Eastern All-Stars trained by Knicks trainer Joe Lapchick prevailed against the Western All-Stars trained by John Kundla ( Minneapolis Lakers ) with 111: 94. With the team he ranked in the final classification 1950/51 on the third of seven places in the Eastern Division , but was able to assert himself in the subsequent play-offs against the Boston Celtics and the Syracuse Nationals as the winner of the Eastern Division . In the final game against the Western Division champion Rochester Royals, the Knicks were only marginally defeated 3: 4 in a best-of-seven series. Even Boryla was used throughout the season in 66 of 68 possible championship games of his team and scored this season with 352 hits (982 points) the most hits in his playing career.

Again NBA runner-up with the Knicks

Also in the following season 1951/52 Boryla was used for the New York Knicks, but only came to 42 missions and finished third with the team at the end of the season. Like a year before, the Knicks prevailed against the competition in the subsequent play-offs and again won the Eastern Division and were eliminated again in the final best-of-seven series with 3: 4; this time against the Minneapolis Lakers. In the 1952/53 season Boryla was used again as a regular and brought it to 66 championship appearances, in which he scored 673 points and ranked with the team in the final ranking in first place. The team prevailed against the competition in the subsequent play-offs and was again Eastern Division Champion . In the best-of-seven series that followed, the New York Knickerbockers were again defeated by the Lakers, but this time 4-1 after five games. Boryla played in all of these five games of his team.

Known for his right hook throw Forward also took part in the game operations of his team in the National Basketball Association in the 1953/54 season , but was used in only 52 league games, in which he scored 175 hits in 525 attempts. Compared to the previous seasons, Boryla was again able to complete the regular championship with the Knicks at the top of the table in the Eastern Division , but was then unable to make it to the play-offs, where the team was still in the Eastern Round Robin against the Syracuse Nationals (4: 0) and the Bosten Celtics (2: 2) were eliminated early with a total score of 0: 4. Vince Boryla himself retired after that year and after 285 NBA games in which he scored 3,187 points, at the age of 27, his career as an active. While still an active player, he organized summer training camps for the youth in Denver, saving around $ 75,000 over the course of three to four years. He then began his work as a real estate agent and trained the AAU amateur team Denver Central Bankers in the National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL) from 1954 to 1955 .

First time as a trainer and general manager

Under President Ned Irish , who worked on the success of the New York Knicks from 1946 to 1974, Vince Boryla was appointed as the team's new coach on February 9, 1956 ( 1955/56 season ), replacing Joe Lapchick, who had been with the team since 1947 trained. As the third coach in the young history of the team, he looked after the team in 21 league games in his first season and ended the season in fourth and last place in the Eastern Division . The team only reached this place after a tie-breaker game against the Syracuse Nationals, as both had the same number of wins and losses after the regular end. Under Vince Boryla the success of the New York Knicks was largely absent. Also in the seasons 1956/57 and 1957/58 you did not get beyond a last place in the Eastern Division at the end of the season, which is why Boryla announced his departure shortly before the end of the season 1957/58 in the penultimate game against the St. Louis Hawks . Subsequently, after 80 wins and 85 defeats, he left the team as a coach and returned to the New York Knicks a few months later on January 4, 1960 as General Manager and Chief Scout. One of his first acts there was the engagement of the then free agent Whitey Bell on January 11th of the same year.

After two continuously deteriorating seasons, the Knicks had reached the lowest point in their history since 1946 in the 1960/61 season. 58 defeats faced only 21 wins, with the departure of player- coach Carl Braun , who had previously replaced Boryla's successor Andrew Levane , initiated by Boryla , and the engagement of Eddie Donovan , who was head coach until 1965, unsuccessful. In addition to various acts in the NBA Draft 1960, as well as the NBA Draft 1961 and the NBA Expansion Draft 1961, the former International was also responsible for the sales of Cal Ramsey to the Syracuse Nationals and Mike Farmer to the Cincinnati Royals . He was also responsible for Phil Rollins of the St. Louis Hawks and Phil Jordon of the Cincinnati Royals in the winter of 1960/61.

Worked as businessman, real estate agent and scout for the New York Knicks

After his departure in early May 1961, Vince Boryla returned to Denver, where he worked as a businessman and real estate agent in its metropolitan area, but also worked for years as a scout and talent scout for the Knicks. As early as 1967 he supported a group of Californian men as general manager in order to bring an ABA franchise to Denver, whereupon with the help of the ABA's league commissioner, George Mikan , the Denver Nuggets (then Denver Rockets ) were created. At that time, the franchise was founded under the name Kansas City in the city ​​of the same name in Missouri and Boryla was signed on March 21, 1967 as General Manager before it came to Denver as a charter franchise Denver Larks . After some time as GM, he was released from his position due to financial disputes.

In 1970 he helped cable television pioneer Bill Daniels buy the basketball franchise previously known as the Los Angeles Stars and play in the American Basketball Association ( ABA ) in Los Angeles and bring it to Salt Lake City , Utah , where it is now under the Utah Stars name appeared. Vince Boryla is also considered the founder of the Denver Rocks Boxing Team , together with Bill Daniels , which both founded in the late 1960s. In Salt Lake City, he was also introduced as general manager of the franchise in early 1971, with one of the most significant acts he took up until his retirement at the end of the year was the engagement of coach LaDell Andersen , the Bill Sharman , who previously worked with the Franchise from Los Angeles was signed, superseded. At the end of the 1970/71 season , the Utah Stars ranked just behind the Indiana Pacers in second place in the regular time of the Western Division and were able to prevail in the best-of-seven play-off rounds and thus won for the first and the only time in the history of the franchise the ABA championship. Despite this remarkable success, Boryla was fired at the end of the season and replaced by Arnie Ferrin , who held the position of general manager until 1975, when Bill Orwig took this position in the last year of the franchise.

Success with the Denver Nuggets

In 1973 he was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame for his success in basketball. Until the mid-1980s he was no longer involved in a professional sports team and concentrated on his work in the real estate sector and on his hobby racquetball . After he had helped bring the ABA to Denver in 1967 , he was appointed President and General Manager of the franchise now represented in the NBA by the billionaire and owner of the team, Red McCombs , where he replaced Carl Scheer in this position. One of his first and seminal acts was selling Kiki Vandeweghe to Portland Trail Blazers , the Nuggets in return the players Wayne Cooper , Fat Lever and Calvin Natt , and a second-round pick in the 1984 NBA draft and a Erstrundenpick 1985 NBA draft in received. This second round pick was to be Willie White , who withdrew from professional gaming after only two seasons with the Denver Nuggets. With the Denver Nuggets he had a successful season in the Midwest Division , in which the team ranked first in the table at the end of the regular season 1984/85 with 52 wins and 30 losses. After the team had defeated the San Antonio Spurs with 3: 2 and Utah Jazz in the conference semifinals with 4: 1 in the best-of-five mode in the first round of the play-offs , it lost in the conference finals Angeles Lakers 2-4 in the best-of-seven series. Another act that Boryla took this year was, among other things, the commitment of the veteran free agent Elston Turner , for which the Dallas Mavericks received in return the Howard Carter, who later worked in Europe, as compensation. On October 31, 1984, the Nuggets hired Joe Kopicki , who was also mainly found in Europe and was also a free agent at that time. As General Manager, he received the NBA Executive of the Year Award 1984 at the end of the season and was inducted into the National Polish-American Hall of Fame shortly after taking office on May 31, 1984.

In the 1985/86 season , the Denver Nuggets reached with 47 wins and 35 losses in second place in the Midwest Division and thus behind the Houston Rockets . In the subsequent play-offs, the Nuggets were eliminated after a 3-1 win in the first round over the Portland Trail Blazers with 2: 4 against the Houston Rockets in the Conference Seminfinals. Even before the start of the season, Vince Boryla made several draft picks for the Denver Nuggets in the 1985 NBA draft , including the first round pick obtained through the sale of Kiki Vandeweghe , which was drawn with Blair Rasmussen . Other drafts were the second round pick Barry Stevens and Pete Williams in the fourth round. Furthermore, it came on August 1, 1985 to a commitment of the free agent Eddie Hughes , which was then never used. In December 1985 the Los Angeles Times reported that Joe Sexson and Vince Boryla were among the ten men who would be inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in March 1986. For the now 59-year-old Boryla, this was the third induction into a Hall of Fame.

In the 1986 NBA draft , the Nuggets received Maurice Martin (16th pick) and Mark Alarie (18th pick) in the first round on June 17, 1986 . Other picks were Otis Smith in the second round and Anthony Frederick in round six. Even before the start of the 1986/87 season , the Denver franchise brokered veteran free agent Elston Turner to the Chicago Bulls in October 1986 , as compensation the Nuggets received a second-round draft pick for the 1988 NBA draft, which took place two years later . Furthermore, Boryla traded a 1987 first round pick of the Nuggets to New York Knicks and received point guard and shooting guard Darrell Walker in return . To compensate for the move from Richard Anderson to the Houston Rockets, the Nuggets received a third round pick for the 1988 NBA draft. A week before the start of the season, Pete Williams, who had been signed a little over a year earlier, was awarded a pick in the seventh round of the NBA draft Drafted to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1987 .

The 1986/87 season was less successful for Nuggets than in previous seasons. A fourth place in the final standings of the regular time of the Midwest Division was a mediocre placement compared to previous years. Even in the final play-offs of the season, the Denver franchise did not get beyond the first round, in which the Los Angeles Lakers clearly lost 3-0. In the months after the end of the season, this also resulted in Borylas leaving shortly before the start of the 1987/88 season . In the 1987 NBA draft, the son of Polish immigrants appeared for the last time in an official capacity for his team and brought Andre Moore in round two and Ron Grandison in round five.

Withdrawal from professional sport

In the following years, the now 60-year-old Boryla largely withdrew from professional sports. Years later, he was inducted into the University of Denver Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996 from his old school . Over the years, the Polish-born Boryla built a reputation as one of the most successful real estate agents in Colorado and was also considered one of Denver's greatest philanthropists over the decades , with the majority of his donations and contributions remaining anonymous. Among other things, he also financed the construction of the Vincent J. Boryla Lounge named after him on the University of Denver campus. In an interview in autumn 2012, Vince Boryla had already been living with his second wife Mary Jo for 23 years, whom he married after his first wife 's Alzheimer's death, and had five children from his first marriage, as well as 15 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. One of his sons, Mike Boryla (* 1951), worked briefly as a football player ( quarterback ) in the NFL in the 1970s . Since 2014 he has appeared as a stage actor . In 2013, the award previously known as the Pioneer Award was renamed the Vince Boryla '49 Pioneer Award by the Denver Pioneers' basketball department in honor of their only men's All-American . Vince Boryla died on March 27, 2016 at the age of 89 after spending the last years of his life in a wheelchair.

successes

With the New York Knicks

• NBA All-Star : 1951
• 3 times runner-up in the NBA: 1950/51, 1951/52 and 1952/53

With the Utah Stars

• 1 × Master of the ABA: 1970/71

With the United States

• 1 × Olympic champion in basketball : 1948

Individual successes

• Induced into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame: 1973
• Induction into the National Polish-American Hall of Fame: 1984
• Inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame: 1986
• Induction into the University of Denver Athletics Hall of Fame : 1996

literature

• David L. Porter: Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: 1992-1995 Supplement for Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Other Sports . 1st edition. Greenwood , 1995, ISBN 978-0-313-28431-1 , pp. 245 and 246 .

Web links

• Vince Boryla - player profile on basketball-reference.com
• Vince Boryla - Trainer profile on basketball-reference.com (English)
• Vince Boryla - official profile on basketball-reference.com (English)
• Vince Boryla in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Vince Boryla on the official website of Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Monogram Club Corner - Vince Boryla - Catching up with former Notre Dame basketball player Vince Boryla , accessed on March 29, 2016
2. ↑ ^{a b} Vince Boryla - Basketball - Year Inducted: 1973 (English), accessed on March 29, 2016
3. ^ ^{A b} Denver Nuggets History , accessed March 29, 2016
4. ↑ Vince Boryla in the National Polish-American Hall of Fame , accessed March 29, 2016
5. ↑ Sexon and Boryla Will Be Inducted Into Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame , accessed March 29, 2016
6. ^ Vince Boryla in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame , accessed March 29, 2016
7. ↑ UNIVERSITY OF DENVER Nahrungsmittel HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 1996 , accessed on March 29, 2016
8. ↑ VINCE BORYLA RECRUITING AND DONOR LOUNGE DEDICATED , accessed March 29, 2016
9. ↑ DENVER Nahrungsmittel HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE VINCE BORYLA PASSES AWAY , accessed on March 29, 2016
10. ↑ Former player, coach, GM Vince Boryla dies at 89 , accessed on March 29, 2016