When it's ‘Danny time,' it's basketball at its best

Tuxedo modified takes on Chester, By Russ Crespolini Tuxedo - The Tuxedo modified boys basketball team took on Chester in Chester last week and, despite being outgunned, put on an impressive display of skill and heart against a talented Hambletonian squad with far superior numbers. “I’ve coached a lot of AAU basketball and CYO basketball here in Orange County,” said head coach Jerry Mcauliffe. “But when you have such an inexperienced bunch of players, you don’t look at it as wins and losses. We won’t look at that to measure our success.” The Tuxedo coach has a very simple approach to his team. “We look at it as if we improve individually and collectively throughout the year,” Mcauliffe said, “Our goals are to get better every week.” Improving and competing is hard enough under normal circumstances, but is even harder when the team only had a handful of players on the court. “The Tuxedo modified boys team only has five active players in uniform today,” Mcauliffe said. “But when we go out, we play hard and we are getting better everyday.” While the low numbers makes it hard for the Tuxedo boys to get a break, they do get the assistance of a very special sixth man. Daniel Freedman comes off of the bench for Tuxedo and gives his team an emotional boost at just the right time. Freedman is an eighth grade Tuxedo student with down syndrome. “His teammates are very protective of Daniel,” said Daniel’s father, Michael Freedman. “They are his protectors as well as his friends. They grew up together in school and Daniel has mostly mainstream classes with them.” Indeed, when Daniel takes the court, he is the star of the show as his team works on getting him the ball and making sure he gets a few open shots. The highlight of the game was when Daniel sank a shot underneath the basket, causing the Tuxedo and Chester parents, players and coaches to erupt with cheers. “The Chester parents were very supportive,” Michael Freedman said. “And you could see the players were into it too.” After “Danny time” was over, the Tuxedo sixth man returned to the bench for some water and asked his father when he will be able to play soccer again. “Just worry about basketball for now,” Michael Freedman said.