Mark Robinson…A Real Player. Interview Pt 1

Mark Robinson is one such person. I am delighted that I got the opportunity to put a few Questions to the man himself. Part 2 will follow soon

Mark can you tell us a little about yourself, where do you hail from, where you attended school and university etc?

I was Born in Philadelphia but raised in Southern California.  I attended Simi Valley High school and played basketball and competed in the high jump.  After High School I attended San Francisco Community College and continued playing basketball.  I was fortunate to be offered a basketball scholarship from the legendary coach Bob Knight to play basketball at Indiana University.  After playing in college I attended graduate school also at Indiana University and upon graduation officially started my international professional career playing in Tegucigalpa, located in Central American in the capitol city, Houndras.

 What was the first contact you had playing sport?

I first started sport when I was 8.  My first sport was Football (US soccer).  My friends mom signed me up and I loved it.  The sport for me at that time was fast and I was a bit taller than the other kids my age which made it easy for me.  I started to play US Football around the age of 12 and finally settled with basketball by the time I turned 14.

What was it that attracted you to Basketball.

I think during that time the attraction for me was just trying to improve my skill to play with and against the best players in the area.  I would go to parks and gyms all over just to play against better players.  The second attraction for me was the development of the NBA and the rise in TV games as well as the media coverage.  For the first time I saw people that looked like me on the television playing a sport.

I started playing basketball when I was 13.  I played during school because my friends played.  I really didn’t enjoy the sport mainly because the other players were so good at playing and I was simply learning how to play but by the time I turned 14 I had a good understanding of the game and was pretty athletic.

You played in College under one of the greatest ever College basketball coaches Bobby Knight.  What was he like and what was the experience like?

I really learned a lot about basketball and everyday life from Coach Knight. The experience is as they say, one you will always remember!  The level of professionalism and expectation of perfection was something as an Indiana Basketball player you had to either grow into, adopt or simply go home, lol.  Not anyone could have played for Bobby Knight, I am just happy I was one of the folks given the opportunity.  Bob Knights program was deep rooted in fundamental development and basketball technique.

What was your first contact with the British Game.

I visited Manchester in 1993, I was part of a travelling basketball team, the Cook organization put together.

The idea was to send a team over to the UK to determine if basketball was a good investment for the organization.  The company had long term plans to develop the City of Manchester into the basketball centre of Europe.

 What did you make of the UK when you first arrived?

LMBO, Manchester was wet from the moment I arrived.  I enjoy travelling so I was very excited to see another city in a different country.  I quickly fell in love with the city and the surrounding areas.  The first night in Manchester was a Saturday night and we were staying in the city centre at the Crown Plaza.  The City was rocking.

During the day it was Affleck’s Palace and the Arndale shopping.  During the evening it was places like the Dry Bar and St Annes square. During the night it was places like the Hacienda, JW Johnsons and of course Lloyds and finally the night ended with a stop in china town and to close the night a trip to the gay village.

What a fantastic city I thought.  I was able to spend time in Liverpool, Warrington, Bolton, and Chester all top cities in my opinion.  Because of the geographic location of Manchester I was able to experience different cultures and develop a deep appreciation of the UK culture.   I loved everything about Manchester including the rain.

Tell me about some of the other players who impressed you in the British Game around then.

I was lucky to see several really good players during my time in the British game.  John Amaechi, John Trezvant, John White, Tony Dorsey and Colin Irish to name a few, but I think the one player who stands out basketball wise is Tony Dorsey. 

He was not the quickest and really didn’t have a basketball body but he could drop 30 points on you in a variety of ways and he made getting to the basket and then to the foul line part of his game.  You either had to play really good D on Tony or foul him because he was the type of player that would keep taking that ball to the bucket and he caused problems for the defence.  

Colin Irish probably stood out to me as someone who really understood the importance of development and John Amaechi defined the ultimate professional, regarding his approach to the overall game on and off the court.

I had a unique opportunity when I became the CEO of the basketball players association in the UK.  The position allowed me to engage with players though out  the country on issues that pertained to he game of basketball.  This is an area where I was really impressed with the British players.

Many of the players such as Yorrick Williams, Karl Brown and Steve Bucknall wanted the situation off the court to improve for British players in areas of development, revenue, insurance and the like.  At that time they were instrumental in the well-being of all players but understood that it is a British game and should remain a British game for the development of the future of basketball.  I learned a lot from the above three about the British attitude towards the game of basketball in the UK and with their assistance we managed to change things for the better.

With that said, I don’t know how players are currently being treated in the UK but my sources tell me it isn’t as good as things were during our time which disappoints me.  My experience with players is, when you treat players well,they play well and in most cases understand the financial issues a club may encounter.

Who was you coach at that time and what was your relationship like?

I had three coaches during my time in UK, Mike Hanks Joe Welton and Chris Finch.  All three were good guys and I would not say I had a relationship with anyone of the three.  Mike and I had a connection with Indiana basketball so I would spend more time talking to him about non basketball stuff but with Joe it was totally a player coach relationship. Chris was probably the coach I connected with the most.  He understood the game of basketball and also knew how to deal with players with egos such as John Amaechi and myself.  I liked his style and approach to the game, he let players play and coached around us and it worked.

Tell us about your time at Manchester Giants.

Manchester for me is home.  I love the city and the people.  I was treated the best a person would want to be treated not only by the people I became friends with but by folks not involved in basketball.  Manchester is a football city and will always be a football city but I was more interested in making it a sports city.  The only way I was able to do that was to engage in the community and educate them about basketball and the athletes that played the game.  I hosted a radio show on Saturday mornings which I enjoyed, I ran clinics and was involved in school activities for the youth in Manchester.  Aside from being a player on the team, my role as designated by the Cook organization was to, generate as much interest in basketball as possible in Manchester and the North West.

Many of my experiences in Manchester included time spent with Yorick Williams.  Since he was from Manchester and came through the ranks of the Giants program.  He knew a lot of people and made sure I, like the rest of the Americans felt comfortable.  I have the highest level of respect for Mr. Williams as he has developed into a family man and has had a fantastic basketball career.  I would have loved to see him return to the Giants as I know he has a lot to offer the club on and off the court.  His ties to the community reach back for generations and that in itself is an asset for any business in Manchester especially a basketball team.

What do you think went wrong with that organisation back in the day?

The ownership of the Giants wanted to build the Manchester Giants into a European power.  That was the goal and they had the money to do it.  Like I said earlier, the Giants was an investment and the goal was to build the organization to a point where it had value.

Most of the teams in the BBL then, and I suspect today, don’t have any real market value which makes it hard to attract sponsorship.  The Giants back then were interested in playing in Europe and knew that the Americans we had, myself included, did not have the talent to make a deep run in Europe.  The Cook organization knew we needed to be able to pay top dollar for high level talent to attract quality players to the Manchester Giants.

At the time the BBL had a salary cap preventing the owners from spending the type of money Cook Inc wanted to invest.  I have heard people over the years, including the media, say that Manchester Giants folded because of money.  That’s the most ridiculous thought one could have.  The Cook Inc, operation is world wide, the man was a billionaire and the giants organization was a business.  The NBA is in the business of Entertainment and the bottom line for any NBA team is money.  The NBA has star attraction, which is why the entertainment industry has a large presence at games.   Jay Z, Lil Wayne and the like attend NBA games regularly and they all want a piece of the NBA.  The Giants were on that track which is why people like Andy Cole, Dwight Clarke and David Beckham attended games.  They were all looking for a piece of the business.

The Cook Group wanted to put UK basketball on a completely different level.  That’s where it all went wrong, the moment you have people making thousands of pounds a year telling Billionaires what they can and can’t spend their money on, you have a serious problem.  I suspect that was the deal breaker for the Manchester Giants back then, money was the issue  but it was the BBL that restricted that amount of spending that drove Cook Inc away nothing more than that.

If Cook Inc would have been able to invest in the city and team the way they intended from the beginning, things would be a lot different in Manchester.  Imagine telling Sir Richard Branson, he can’t spend his money the way he wants too, because of a salary cap.  That’s right, just reading it makes you laugh.  He would pack up, as the Cook Group did and invest in something that would generate revenue.

Part 2 to follow.

Photo – Richard Branson