JOHNSTOWN —
Andy Shubik knows his basketball geography.
After all, Shubik successfully coached the North Star High School boys team for decades and followed his three sons as they continued their respective athletic careers in college.
But recently the former area hoops coach learned of a new route on the basketball circuit.
“Someone said to me, ‘From the Somerset County League to the NBA.’ I had never thought about it from that perspective,” Shubik said of a friend’s comment about his son Monte’s promotion to the role as assistant coach/video coordinator for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. “That’s kind of a neat thing.”
Monte Shubik is in his 10th season with the Sixers but this is his first in the role of assistant coach.
The North Star and Penn State University graduate had spent the previous six seasons as Philadelphia’s video coordinator.
In his new position, he’ll oversee the Sixers video department and also assist head coach Doug Collins in offensive game planning.
“Coach Collins is such a great mentor,” Monte Shubik said in a telephone interview after Philadelphia’s 108-105 overtime loss to the Brooklyn Nets in a presason game in Atlantic City on Saturday night.
“He’s really always pushing me to grow as a coach and grow in basketball.”
The NBA limits teams to three coaches on the bench during games, but Shubik sits directly behind the team.
“I’m behind the bench every game. I chart our offense,” Shubik said. “If Coach he wants to know what we ran and what worked and what didn’t work, I keep that every game offensively.”
This has been a milestone year for Monte Shubik. Prior to his promotion, he had participated in the London Olympic Games this summer as an analyst and scout for the Great Britain men’s team.
Actually, he advised the British team the past three years.
“I left the day after the NBA Draft and went to Venezuela to scout for them,” Shubik said.
“Over there you’re a ‘performance analyst’ when you do the video. I scouted every game in Venezuela. I could write a book on that country. I came back a couple days and went to summer league with the Sixers.
“Then I went to Manchester (England) and we played the U.S. Team,” he continued. “I was with the team and went to London. We had a great chance to qualify for the (Olympic) quarterfinals but the last game against Australia we had them down but we just couldn’t get the points.
“Those coaches were unbelievable. It was a great experience walking through that Olympic Village.”
Monte Shubik spent five years at Penn State, serving as the men’s basketball team’s head manager the final three years. During that time he established a rapport with the Sixers, who held training camp at Penn State.
Those connections led to an internship with the NBA team, and Shubik advanced through the ranks until finally earning a position as an assistant coach.
“It’s been great,” Monte Shubik said.
“I started as an intern with the Sixers and was the assistant video coordinator. We’ve had some rough years. I’ve been fortunate that some of these coaches have kept me. It says a lot about the organization to keep me. When a new person comes in, it’s nothing personal but they want familiarity.
“Coach Collins has been unbelievable,” he added. “Even without the title working with him has been such a blessing. You learn something every day from him.”
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