THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 9, 1995 TAG: 9506090687
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
Dave Twardzik seems to have all the luck. First, the new Golden State Warriors general manager wins the NBA draft lottery, giving him the first pick in the June 28 draft.
And now, what's that thing that has caught his eye, as he walks across court at the Moody Bible Institute, after a game at the NBA's pre-draft camp?
It's a wallet, filled with credit cards, sitting on a court-side chair.
``Oooh,'' Twardzik says, after pulling out one of the cards. ``Wally Walker.''
A grinning Twardzik slides up to Walker, a Seattle scout, and hands him one of his own charge cards.
Walker, shocked, pats his back pocket, before Twardzik hands him his wallet.
Lucky? You could say Walker was the lucky one here. But the tag keeps being applied to Twardzik.
``I'm still (ticked) off at him for winning the lottery,'' joked new Detroit Pistons coach Doug Collins, whose team also had some Ping-Pong balls in the hopper. ``He brought in some phony priest. Phony. That was a phony deal.''
Actually, there was nothing phony about the man of the cloth Twardzik brought with him to the lottery drawing. He's Golden State's East Coast chaplain, Twardzik says.
But one suspects that it isn't luck or even divine intervention that accounts for the unbroken run of success Dave Twardzik has had since leaving Old Dominion University in 1972. Rather, he seems to be a walking example of that old saying: ``The harder you work, the luckier you get.''
``I love Dave. He does his homework,'' Collins said. ``He knows the game and he knows talent. He's a winner.''
Twardzik has held just about every job a basketball man can: scout, coach, player personnel director, even radio commentator and account executive. ``I've loved every phase of the game I've been involved in,'' he said.``I've never really planned too far ahead. I figure if you take care of the short term, the long term will take care of itself.''
A point guard, Twardzik played nine years of pro ball after leaving ODU, first with the ABA's Virginia Squires, then with the Portland Trail Blazers.
``He always had a great feel for the game,'' said Walker, a former teammate in Portland. ``He certainly didn't do it with blinding quickness.''
Twardzik remembers former Portland general manager Harry Glickman calling him into his office after Twardzik's first year with the Blazers. Glickman told Twardzik he wanted him to stay with the organization after he finished playing, and asked what kind of job would interest him.
``Harry, no offense,'' Twardzik replied. ``I'd like to have your job and be a GM someday.''
It came to pass last month, when Golden State tapped Twardzik to rebuild its franchise.
Twardzik laid the groundwork for the job with his performance as director of player personnel in Charlotte, where he was instrumental in taking the Hornets from expansion patsies to playoff team in three years.
``When I first got there, we were pretty soft,'' he said. ``We wanted to build toughness, and we got it.
``Of course, anytime you have success, there's a little luck involved. We got the No. 1 pick one year, and we got Larry Johnson. We got the number two the next year, and we got Alonzo Mourning.''
Twardzik is hoping to toughen up Golden State in much the same way.
``We've got a pretty talented team,'' he said. ``The unfortunate part of it is that last year there were 368 player-games missed due to injury. That can be a deceiving stat, if it's your 11th or 12th guy. But Chris Mullin played under 30 games. And Rony Seikaly, who we got in a big trade, played under 40. Those are key guys.''
Bad injury luck, to be sure. But Bay area basketball fans seem to sense that their luck is changing. Which is why, in San Francisco, Twardzik is asked - oh, about 300 times a day - just who he'll be selecting with the top pick.
Twardzik is very familiar with the candidates - Maryland's Joe Smith, North Carolina's Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace, and Alabama's Antonio McDyess - having scouted the ACC and SEC most often from his base in Charlotte.
Twardzik is extra familiar with Smith, of course. He played with Smith's high school coach, Maury's Jack Baker, at ODU. He's also friends with Smith's former middle school principal, Michael Caprio, who is now Granby's principal. Twardzik rented a room from Caprio's mother-in-law while he was a senior at ODU.
``Background-wise, I've got a great feel for Joe, just from Jack and Mike,'' Twardzik said.
Which doesn't mean that he'll take Smith. Or that he won't. Twardzik says he plans to bring in all four players for workouts next week.
After that, the Warrior brain trust will sit down and make a decision. Twardzik acknowledges that there's some pressure, because whatever he does will be criticized.
``Whoever you take, some people are going to say, `How could pass on this (other) guy?' '' he said. ``That's part of this job.''
Twardzik never expected to be in this position, anyway. He said he went to New York for the lottery drawing just hoping to avoid getting the eighth and final lottery pick.
Instead, he hit the jackpot. Twardzik's wife Kathe, who watched the lottery drawing at a sports pub in San Francisco, called him shortly after to tell him what people were saying.
``She said they were saying, `Twardzik, he must be the luckiest guy in the world.' ''
Seems so. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Mike Dunleavy, left, Dave Twardzik, center, and Allan Bristow share
a laugh during a practice session in Chicago.
Photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Petey Sessoms, left, of Old Dominion scored 18 points in 24 minutes
Thursday. Golden State GM Dave Twardzik said, ``His downside his
probably his ball-handling, but if he gets on that roll shooting,
he'll make shot after shot.''
by CNB