Project NBA ISHtory (1969-79)

[fpliii]

Project NBA ISHtory (1969-79)

Introduction: Noted sportswriter Terry Pluto has written a number of books on basketball, but two really stand out: Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association and Tall Tales: Glory Years of the NBA. Both are histories of different periods of pro basketball (the former of the NBA through the late 60s more or less, the second of the ABA in its entirety) written in a similar style (which, from my understanding is considered to be a "lively oral history" format). Both include some writing by Pluto, but are primarily comprised of first-hand accounts by former players, coaches, journalists, front office personnel, referees etc. which he's very brilliantly woven together. With the advent of YouTube (and the various torrents out there), any fan can watch a near limitless amount of footage available from the beginning of the 3-point era. But what about the NBA in the 70s? Not so much.

Goal: To fill the gap. That is to say, I intend to organize constructive discussion of the NBA between the 1969-70 and 1978-79 seasons. Every NBA dribble after Russell retired and before Magic/Bird entered the league is in play.

Format: I'm going to create threads once a week, late on Saturday nights, with a couple of new topics (meaning each discussion will span from Sun.-Sat.). The two will be separate subjects, but be tangentially related. Their interdependence should spark some dialogue, but shouldn't completely dominate the conversation. They might be comprised of two players, a player and a team, a player and a playoff series, a player and some other event, etc. I have a few pairs in mind to begin with (4-6, depending on if I can combine them), but if this series is successful we can always add more later.

Participants: Everybody can participate to some extent, but in the spirit of the two great aforementioned books (which I'd recommend to any and all posters here) I'd like to limit the primary conversation to those posters who were around for all or part of the decade. We won't have the star power of a Julius Erving or Jerry West as Pluto did, but I think we'll manage. Individuals who weren't watching the NBA from 1969-79 can ask questions or suggest various directions/subtopics within the threads, but I'm trying to avoid trolling/stannery, and other counterproductive behavior. More importantly, those who were around can provide anecdotes/insights/perspectives that the rest of us cannot.

Anyhow, I'll start the first thread this weekend. I'll post links to the topics as they're created.

[K Xerxes]

Seems very interesting, but exactly how many people on here would be around at that time and really into basketball? You're looking at people that are minimum of around 45 year old.

[fpliii]

Seems very interesting, but exactly how many people on here would be around at that time and really into basketball? You're looking at people that are minimum of around 45 year old.

Probably fewer than 10 post here regularly. Hopefully at least a few of them are interested in participating.

[SpecialQue]

This is a great idea. Tall Tales is probably one of the best books I've ever read on NBA history. Sadly, I've yet to read Loose Balls.

[JimmyMcAdocious]

You're on the wrong board, bud. Hope this works out for you, but I doubt it does.

[fpliii]

You're on the wrong board, bud. Hope this works out for you, but I doubt it does.

I'd post this on APBR, but it doesn't have the same traffic.

[SpecialQue]

I'd post this on APBR, but it doesn't have the same traffic.

Sadly, I kind of agree with Jimmy. This isn't really the place for serious basketball discussion, unfortunately. However, if you want to compare player ***** sizes based on TMZ-style rumors, you're in the right spot.

[WayOfWade]

I typically consider those the dead years, but it'd be interesting to see if I missed anything noteworthy.

[fpliii]

Sadly, I kind of agree with Jimmy. This isn't really the place for serious basketball discussion, unfortunately. However, if you want to compare player ***** sizes based on TMZ-style rumors, you're in the right spot.

Perhaps, but at least for now I'm optimistic. We'll see I guess.

I typically consider those the dead years, but it'd be interesting to see if I missed anything noteworthy.

[LAZERUSS]

I'll throw in my two cents.

I am not a fan of Charley Rosen. In fact, some of his writing was downight awful, but having grown up in the 60's, his take on the 72 Lakers was right on. He claimed that the '72 Lakers saved the NBA.

It all really started in '71. Alcindor (KAJ), and his young Bucks, acquired the veteran Big-O, and went on a rampage unseen since the '67 Sixers. Near the end of the season, they were on pace for 70 wins. However, they pulled in the reigns, and wound up at 66-16. How dominate was that Bucks team? They were first in scoring offense, at 118.4 ppg, an third in scoring defense, allowing 106.2 ppg. But even those numbers were deceptive. They led the NBA in FG%, and by a HUGE margin (.033 better than the next best, and .060 better than the league average. They were the first team in NBA history to shoot over 50% (.509.) As for their defense, they were number one in FG% allowed, at .424. Finally, their FG% differential that season, of .509 to .424, is still the largest in NBA history.

And they were just as dominant in the post-season. They went 12-2 in the playoffs, (sweeping the Bullets for the title.) They also had a +14.5 ppg differential in that post-season (first in scoring, and first in ppg allowed...and by a huge margin.) And they outshot their opponents in that post-season by an unfathomable margin of .497 to 395.

And, IMHO, and if you count the regular season and post-season, it was young Kareem's greatest season of his career. He led the NBA in scoring at 31.7 ppg (and in "only" 40.3 mpg); shot .577 from the field, which BTW, was his largest spread against the league average, of his entire career (.577 to .449...or .128.) And in the post-season, he had his finest playoff series against Thurmond (27.8 ppg on .486 shooting.) However, an old Wilt did battle him point-for-point, shot-for-shot, and rebound-for-rebound in the WCF's. And his Finals performance against HOFer Unseld is often overlooked. 27 ppg, 18.5 rpg, and .605 from the field, in a series in which he did not need to score to win.

Following their sweeping Finals win, virtually everyone, and I mean everyone, picked them to repeat. In fact, given Alcindor's age at the time (23), and aside from Oscar, the rest of the roster was also very young, many "experts" were tabbing the Bucks as the next great dynasty.


To be continued...

[LAZERUSS]

Once again, the defending champion Bucks were universally predicted to not only repeat in '72, but many felt that they would be the next great dynasty in the NBA.

Meanwhile, the Lakers once again hired a new coach...this time Bill Sharman. Sharman was taking on an old, past-their-prime roster. On top of that, their "Big-3" of West, Baylor, and Chamberlain, had all had injury issues within the last two years. Chamberlain had shredded his knee early in the 69-70 season, Baylor played in exactly two games in 70-71, and West, as usual, missed ton of games...including the last quarter of the '71 season and playoffs.

In fact, the 71-72 Lakers started the season with a lineup that consisted of a 28 year old Gail Goodrich, a 29 year old Happy Hairston, a 33 year old West, a 35 year old Wilt, and a 37 year old Baylor.

And yet, Sharman came into training camp with the ridiculous concept of having LA RUN the ball. He believed that with Wilt, and to a lessor extent, Hairston, controlling the defensive glass, that they could actually outrun their opposition. Yep...a short, white "Stumpy" Goodrich, and an aging white West, leading the break. No one in their right mind would have entertained such a folly. And many pre-season prediction had the Lakers, coming off of a 48-34 injury-plagued season in '71, plummetting even further down. Virtuallu no one gave them any kind of chance of challenging the young Bucks.

However, even Sharman knew that that concept would not work with those five players. He went to ownership early in the year, and essentially told them that the legendary Baylor had to go. The fact was, Baylor had been on the decline since his injury in '65. By the time Chamberlain arrived, Baylor was nowhere near the player he had been before his devastating injury.

The Lakers were 6-3 when Baylor "retired." Sharman inserted the young, promising second year Jim McMillian into the starting lineup...and LA never looked back. Not coincidently, the Lakers went on a rampage unseen in the history of the NBA, before, or since. A spectacular 33 game winning streak. And, it was not just the streak but just how dominant they were during the steak. They won 23 games by double digits, and had a +15.6 ppg differential in that run.

In one of the most remarkable seasons in NBA history, the Lakers just ran the league to death. Sharman's plan of having Wilt, and Hairston, dominating the defensive glass, and with the suddenly explosive guard duo of West and Goodrich, along with the speedy McMillian, sprinting down the floor, worked to perfection.

Sharman also asked Wilt to concentrate on defense, and in fact, his defensive strategy was predicated on funneling opposing offenses into the ominously looming Chamberlain. LA's defense only allowed their opponents to shoot .432 (and it would have been considerbaly lower had not the Lakers been involved in so many blowouts.)

An what an offense! They overwhelmed the league with a 121.0 ppg average, in an NBA that averaged 110.2 ppg (the second highest scoring team, Phoenix, was at 116.3 ppg.) And with Wilt and Hairston, they slaughtered their opponents on the glass (outrebounding them by over four per game.) In fact, both Chamberlain and Hairston surpassed the 1000 rebound mark, and, as usual, Wilt ran away with the rebounding title.

As mentioned earlier, the Lakers were involved in many blowouts. They set a single-season mark of a +12.3 ppg differential, and even that was deceptive. Aside from Wilt, no other starter logged more than 38.6 mpg, and the core of the bench, the explosive Flynn Robinson, Pat Riley, John Q. Trapp, and Leroy Ellis, all averaged about 15 mpg.

The Lakers put up an unfathomable 19 games of 130+ during the season, which included six of 140+, three of 150+, and high game of 162. Not only that, but they just destroyed every team in the league. The 49-33 Suns were the only team to beat them twice (LA won the season series, 4-2.) Los Angeles went 3-1 against the 57-25 Bulls, 5-1 against the 51-31 Warriors, 4-1 against the 56-26 Celtics, 4-1 against the 48-34 Knicks, 5-1 against the 47-35 Suns, and a shocking 4-1 against the 63-19 and defending champion Bucks. And they routed every team at least once during the course of the season, highlighted by a 162-99 annihilation of the 51-31 Warriors (whom they also slaughtered ealier in the campaign, 129-99.)

West and Goodrich each averaged 26 ppg, McMillian was at 19 ppg, Hairston at 13, and Wilt at 15. And Flynn Robinson, who was regarded as their best pure shooter, averaged 10 ppg in 16 mpg.

It was just an absolutely stunning season by a team that most experts felt might be finish as low as third in their own division. And once again, virtually no one on the entire planet, with the possible exception of Sharman, gave the Lakers any chance of challenging the Bucks for the title.

Continued..

[fpliii]

So, I kind of dropped the ball with this. I think the problem is that it came off as too structured.

I'm not going to revive it, but I do think maybe a big thread where everyone can ask questions, and some of the older posters on ISH can volunteer their responses would be useful. Maybe we can brainstorm a little about this...

Resources are aplenty from the 80s on, but a year later, it's still tough to flesh out the 70s. I don't want to limit the conversation, and it's always great to learn more about guys from the 50s and 60s.

To start, maybe we can try and put together a list of posters who were watching the NBA extensively in the 70s. Who comes to mind, that's still active on the board and might be interested in participating?

[LAZERUSS]

I find it interesting that we seem to actually have more research available on the greats of the 60's, than those of the 70's.

I have said it before...and whether other's here wants to believe it, or not...but after Wilt retired, the NBA slowly fell into a period of "the Dark Ages." I still remember watching every WCF Finals game in the '72 season, as well as every Finals game...all televised live.

By the late 70's, what few playoff and Finals games that were televised at all, were all tape-delayed.

Hopefully golks like Fpliii can provide more research on the ABA careers of Dr. J, Barry, and other's, as well as the H2H matchups, including FG% and rebounding numbers, of the great centers of the 70's, like Kareem, Lanier, McAdoo, Moses, Walton, Cowens, and Gilmore.

Also, it would be nice to have more in-depth stats on the individual games of the best players in both the ABA and NBA.

[fpliii]

I find it interesting that we seem to actually have more research available on the greats of the 60's, than those of the 70's.

I have said it before...and whether other's here wants to believe it, or not...but after Wilt retired, the NBA slowly fell into a period of "the Dark Ages." I still remember watching every WCF Finals game in the '72 season, as well as every Finals game...all televised live.

By the late 70's, what few playoff and Finals games that were televised at all, were all tape-delayed.

Hopefully golks like Fpliii can provide more research on the ABA careers of Dr. J, Barry, and other's, as well as the H2H matchups, including FG% and rebounding numbers, of the great centers of the 70's, like Kareem, Lanier, McAdoo, Moses, Walton, Cowens, and Gilmore.

Also, it would be nice to have more in-depth stats on the individual games of the best players in both the ABA and NBA.

I've been busy recently (and lazy), but I have some scanning to do to submit to the nbastats.net guys. Hopefully some of it is of some use to them.

BTW not sure if you've checked out the site recently, but Gorba recently uploaded this monster file:

http://nbastats.net/01NBA/09playerlo...4-1970.71.xlsx

when finished, it will contain all stats we have for every player during those seasons. Of course not every game will be complete, but it'll be populated as he progresses.

He's planning on doing files for every season pre-basketball-reference.com (they start in 85-86), so it won't be limited to just players with game logs. Here's the text on the site:

[CODE]1946-47 - 1962-63 Game Logs [file will be ready in 2015]
1963-64 - 1970-71 Game Logs [incomplete ; size: 15 MB ; excel 2007 required]
[1966-67 & 1967-68 seasons updated]

1971-72 - 1976-77 Game Logs [file will be ready in 2014]
1977-78 - 1980-81 Game Logs [file will be ready in 2014]
1981-82 - 1984-85 Game Logs [file will be ready in 2015][/CODE]

[LAZERUSS]

I've been busy recently (and lazy), but I have some scanning to do to submit to the nbastats.net guys. Hopefully some of it is of some use to them.

BTW not sure if you've checked out the site recently, but Gorba recently uploaded this monster file:

http://nbastats.net/01NBA/09playerlo...4-1970.71.xlsx

when finished, it will contain all stats we have for every player during those seasons. Of course not every game will be complete, but it'll be populated as he progresses.

He's planning on doing files for every season pre-basketball-reference.com (they start in 85-86), so it won't be limited to just players with game logs. Here's the text on the site:

[CODE]1946-47 - 1962-63 Game Logs [file will be ready in 2015]
1963-64 - 1970-71 Game Logs [incomplete ; size: 15 MB ; excel 2007 required]
[1966-67 & 1967-68 seasons updated]

1971-72 - 1976-77 Game Logs [file will be ready in 2014]
1977-78 - 1980-81 Game Logs [file will be ready in 2014]
1981-82 - 1984-85 Game Logs [file will be ready in 2015][/CODE]

Damn! You guys are great.

Thanks again!

BTW, the NBA ought to be thanking all of you.