Roy Rubin (basketball)

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Roy Rubin
Roy Rubin 1972.jpg
Rubin in 1972
Biographical details
Born(1925-12-09)December 9, 1925
The Bronx, New York
DiedAugust 5, 2013(2013-08-05) (aged 87)
Miami, Florida
Playing career
1950–1951Louisville
Position(s)Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1961–1972Long Island
1972–1973Philadelphia 76ers
Head coaching record
OverallLong Island: 174–94 (.649)
NBA: 4–47 (.078)

Roy Rubin (December 9, 1925 – August 5, 2013) was a former college and professional basketball coach.

Career as coach[]

Rubin played college basketball while attending University of Louisville from 1949 to 1951.[1] He coached the 1972–73 Philadelphia 76ers — at the time, the worst team (a 9–73 win–loss record) in the history of the NBA — for the first 51 games of the season. His record was 4–47.

Rubin coached at Christopher Columbus High School in New York City, where he led the team to six borough championships in the Public Schools Athletic League in nine seasons.[2] He was known as a defensive genius, and had even written a book on how to play defense.[3] He was the athletic director and coach at Long Island University (LIU), compiling a 174–94 record in eleven seasons.[4]

Philadelphia 76ers[]

Rubin left his positions at LIU to sign a three‐year contract to head coach the Philadelphia 76ers on June 15, 1972. He succeeded Jack Ramsay who had resigned three months earlier after the ballclub finished third in the Atlantic Division at 30–52 and failed to qualify for the postseason.[4] Both Al McGuire and Adolph Rupp had declined offers. The Sixers were so desperate to find a coach that they actually took out an ad in a local paper, which was seen by one of Rubin's friends.[5]

Rubin joined a team whose only holdover from its 1966–67 Championship run six seasons earlier was aging veteran Hal Greer. His introductory press conference occurred almost simultaneous to the ones held in Charlotte and Greensboro, North Carolina in which Billy Cunningham announced that he was going to play with the American Basketball Association's Carolina Cougars beginning with the upcoming season.[4] An 0–15 start started a watch of just how bad the team could get.[5] After 51 games and a 4–47 record—and while in the midst of what would become a (then)-record 20-game losing streak—Rubin was fired in favor of player-coach Kevin Loughery on January 23, 1973.[6]

Several players on the team believed that Rubin was over his head as an NBA head coach. They claimed he ran sloppy practices and never said anything meaningful during timeouts, halftime or postgame meetings. Years later, one of the players on that team, Fred Carter, said that letting Rubin coach the Sixers was "like letting a teenager run a big corporation."[5]

Tough to Get Help[]

A month prior to signing with the 76ers, Rubin was one of the producers of the Broadway comedy .[4] It was written by Steve Gordon, directed by Carl Reiner,[7] starred John Amos and Dick O'Neill and also featured Abe Vigoda.[8] The comedy was about a black couple who worked as a gardener (Amos) and a cook (Lillian Hayman) for a white liberal advertising executive (O'Neill) and his wife (Billie Lou Watt) and the homecoming of their militant son ().[9]

Its reviews were unfavorable. The only criticism from Clive Barnes of The New York Times was directed at Gordon. He explained, "...The play, with interminable and unfunny dream sequences, with dialogue that seems to have been picked up wholesale from a TV situation comedy and characters of no real comic depth or perception, does not have a great deal going for it."[9] His critique was published the day after the comedy opened and closed with only one performance at the Royale Theatre on May 4, 1972.[8]

Later life[]

Rubin moved to Florida, eventually owned an International House of Pancakes restaurant, and never coached another game of basketball.[5] He died of cancer in Miami in 2013.[2] He was survived by his wife, Marsha.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ "Welcome to Jews in Sports Online".
  2. ^ a b Goldstein, Richard (August 10, 2013), "Roy Rubin, Who Led a Record-Losing 76ers, Dies at 87", The New York Times
  3. ^ Vescey, George. Roy Rubin Knows How It Feels to Lose and Lose. New York Times, 1989-03-12.
  4. ^ a b c d Goldaper, Sam. "Rubin Quits L. I. U. to Pilot 76ers," The New York Times, Friday, June 16, 1972. Retrieved November 29, 2020
  5. ^ a b c d Perner, Mark (March 7, 2013), "Recalling the 9-73 Sixers of 1972-73", Philadelphia Daily News
  6. ^ "76ers Dismiss Rubin, Name Loughery Coach," The Associated Press (AP), Tuesday, January 23, 1973. Retrieved November 29, 2020
  7. ^ Fraser, C. Gerald. "Steve Gordon, Screen Writer, 44" (obituary), The New York Times, Tuesday, November 30, 1982. Retrieved November 29, 2020
  8. ^ a b Tough to Get Help – Playbill. Retrieved November 29, 2020
  9. ^ a b Barnes, Clive. "Theater: Tough to Get Help at Royale," The New York Times, Friday, May 5, 1972. Retrieved November 29, 2020
  10. ^ "Former Sixers coach Rubin dies at 87".

External links[]

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