Richmond Rockets Put a Chill on Sacramento Heatwave

By Jean Eger Womack

The game

The score was Rockets 120 to Heatwave 102 Saturday night as Richmond provided the turmoil needed to defeat the visitors who were held over an extra night to get beaten two straight games in a row.

The team scheduled to play in that time slot, the Modesto Seahwawks, were having some problems and couldn't make their play date. An effective, aggressive defense by the Sacramento Heatwave was not enough to overcome the undeniable shooting ability of Justin Baker and the rest of the Rocket basketball stars. Baker stood out as he sank one shot after another every which way but Sunday, but especially the close-up slam dunk. Baker can pick the ball out of the air with his fingertips, so if you throw a ball anywhere in his neighborhood, he'll get it out of the air for you. 

Tita Davis was sent in to push the score up to a comfortable 20 point lead because he can hit the basket from outside the arc nearly every time. Davis also gave his share of assists to Baker and the others. Other team members were letting their light shine this go-round, like the tall guys, Chris Allen, and Alex Raj. Royce Mitchell was brought in to score, as was Joel Smith. Royce can dribble his way through a crowd of defenders because he does it so quickly. I'll learn the rest of the names by the time the season is over. 

A dance team from Hollister was very entertaining during half-time. The dancers were dressed in black, like little black beetles perched all over the floor of the basketball court, ready to spring forward on signal. The dance team included a young woman in a wheelchair, who performed the hand movements along with the others. A few older hip-hop performers did most of the fancy dancing.

Exclusive interviews with Rockets

I went to the Richmond Rockets after-game party Saturday at the Boilerhouse Restaurant, which was announced at the game.  The Rockets are in their first season as a professional basketball team representing Richmond.  It’s great to get in on the ground floor with a team that has no where to go but up.  Sure enough some of the players and managers were there for me to talk to.  I left early or I might have had more interviews, but we’ll save those for a future time.

The announcer

I was talking to the team’s game announcer.  He is part of the Rocket’s team.  He also plans out the half-time show and other entertainment interludes during the timeouts.   Sorry my little tape recorder had so much extra noise that I was not able to hear his name to transcribe it.  Ironically, it is the job of the announcer to know people’s names, so clearly I would be a complete washup doing that job.

Jean Womack: Why were they (the Rockets) playing the Heatwave twice instead of the Modesto team? (The Heatwave played instead of the Modesto Seahawks, who had been scheduled to play.)

Announcer: The Modesto team has some problems.  

J.W.: You have to know the names of the players.  Did you know them before you started?

Announcer: I did not know them two or three games ago, but I know them now.

J.W.: What do you think about the future of this team?

Announcer: We want Richmond to come and get behind us.  Come to the games.  I can’t imagine there is too much to do in Richmond, but this is something exciting to do.  Once they find out, with the help of journalists like you to get their name out there.  

Player Joel Smith

Joel Smith: We appreciate you being here and watching.

J.W.: What do you think about your season here in Richmond so far?

Joel Smith: I think it has been a productive season so far.  We’re nine and three.  We’re looking good. We’re chilling.  We’re starting to get used to each other as a whole unit, as a team.  We got Coach Phrank as a new coach.  Every day is looking on the up.  We got a lot of room for improvement and that’s a good thing.  We just want to keep pushing forward.  

J.W.: Do you have any insight into basketball for kids?

Joel Smith: Most definitely for kids, it’s just to keep working every day after a game.  If you want to be a basketball player it’s hard work.  You have to put that time in to be able to get out on the court and show your skills.

J.W.: Do you work out every day even when you are not playing?

Joel Smith: Every day.  I might have practice during the day, and go to the gym at night and work out again to make sure I stay on top of my skill set.

Team doctor, Dr. Keres

Dr. Keres: You’ve heard that Giants have torture.  Right now we have turmoil.  

J.W.: You haven’t had any serious injuries or have you?

Dr. Keres: We have had our share, but we’re manageable at this point.

J.W.: Have you lost any players except the coach (coach Lamar Baker, who was replaced by Phranklin McKinney a few weeks ago)?

Dr. Keres: No we haven’t.  We are very fortunate that the players’ health is top notch.

J.W.: It looked like the players had a pretty clean game so far.

Dr. Keres: It was a tough game but we managed to stay afloat in there and we are looking forward to another win.

J.W.: They (the Heatwave) were an aggressive team, there’s no doubt about that.

Dr. Keres: Yes very.  We played them last night too.

Player Alex Raj

Next I talked to Rockets player Alex Raj.  He complimented me on my Rockets cap and asked me if I lived in Richmond.

J.W.: Yes I have lived in Point Richmond for about 40 years.  I have done journalism work, but I am new to sports journalism.    Do you have any comments to make about the season so far?  It’s the Rockets’ first season.

Alex Raj:  It has been definitely enjoyable.  We are having a good time.  The team is all together.  We are progressively getting better every game.  We’re not at our peak right now, so we are still building up.  

J.W.: Do you live in the Bay Area?

Alex Raj: I have lived in the Bay Area for about four years now...I’m from central California, near San Luis Obispo.  

J.W.: Do you have anything to say to the youth of Richmond about how they can improve their basketball skills?

Alex Raj: Just keep working hard.  Hard work pays off.  I know everybody here says it, but it’s really true. Keep on working hard and it will eventually pay off.  Keep at it.

Head Coach Phranklin McKinney

Coach Phranklin McKinney: I’m actually being the head coach.  And this is being a great experience.  I think the guys are coming along.  I feel that we still have some hope, which is a good thing.  We are doing good and we are consistently winning.  The guys know that they haven’t reached their full potential, which is very good too, because you don’t want to peak too early, but I think they are coming along in a timely fashion.  

J.W.: Great.  You’re over here from San Francisco, right?

Coach Phrank: Yes, I am a product of San Francisco, born and raised in San Francisco. (His family migrated to San Francisco from Arkansas.) It’s kind of a long story.  My grandmother, who was from Arkansas, she had 18 siblings and she was the oldest.  So when she turned 18, her and her sister migrated to California. One of them went to Richmond, California.  My grandmother was in San Francisco.  As a kid we used to take visits to go see our auntie who lived in Richmond, California, so Richmond was all this time like our second home to us back in the day.  Richmond was something special so I have always held that special because I have always held that yeah, my auntie lives here and we came here to play so we had good times here.

J.W.: It’s good that you have good memories about this city.

Coach Phrank:  I would just encourage more Richmond people to come out and see our product and see our team play.  They have a lot of energy and a lot of skill.  We put on a really good show.  We have the dance team that are excellent.  In the eight months that we have been in existence I felt that we have made some remarkable and amazing strides. It’s a shame that there have not been some more natives that have come out.

J.W.: You are trying to make it a safe place for kids to go, right? 

Coach Phrank:  We reach out to the community and the kids.  Just yesterday we did a demonstration at Helms (middle school) and they have 900 students, seventh and eighth graders.  It was a great time and we had a lot of fun.  Some of those kids actually came to the game tonight and got a chance to see the players again.  We just kind of made that connection with the community and the kids.  I think sometimes we get a bad deal because of the negative things we see on the media.  There are a lot of positive things that are going on as well.  I just wish that maybe we can express and explore more positive than negative.  

J.W.: You were teaching over at Galileo High School (in San Francisco) maybe even at the same time I was there (around 1999).  I was a student teacher in the art department.  My master teacher was P. W. (name withheld for privacy)

Coach Phrank: I went there to school at that time.  I do remember P.W.

J.W.: Thanks a lot.

Coach Phrank: Thank you.  Nice meeting you.

J.W.: Nice to meet you.

The Richmond Rockets began in November 2011 as part of the American Basketball Association. They play home games at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium, 403 Civic Center Plaza, in Richmond.