20 Second Timeout

Chet Walker Made a Significant Impact on and off the Court

Chet Walker--a key member of Philadelphia's 1967 NBA championship team that set a since-broken record for regular season wins (68)--passed away on Saturday at the age of 84 after a long illness. Sam Smith, who now works for Bulls.com after making his name covering the team for the Chicago Tribune and writing the best selling book The Jordan Rules, penned a must-read tribute to Walker, tracing the arc of Walker's life from childhood in Mississippi and Michigan to leading Bradley University to the 1960 NIT title to a great NBA career highlighted by seven All-Star selections, an 18.2 ppg career scoring average, and tremendous durability (he played at least 76 games in each of his 13 NBA seasons). Walker played seven seasons for the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers before playing six seasons for the Chicago Bulls. Walker averaged at least 21.5 ppg in each of his first three seasons with the Bulls, and he set a franchise single game regular season scoring record (56 points) that stood from 1972 until Michael Jordan scored 58 points in a 1987 game.

Walker was one of the "NBA 14" who paved the way for the huge contracts that today's players enjoy, but Walker's activism came at a price: his career ended abruptly when no team would sign Walker after a 1975 season during which he averaged 19.2 ppg in 76 games, and he had to wait a long time before being inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, an honor that he belatedly received in 2012. Walker chose Billy Cunningham, Adrian Dantley, Earl Monroe, and Isiah Thomas as his presenters, and those four legends represent a cross section of Walker's impressive life on and off the basketball court: Cunnningham was his teammate, Dantley incorporated Walker's moves into his Hall of Fame caliber arsenal, Monroe played against Walker in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, and Thomas shares Chicago roots with Walker. Walker produced "A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story," a movie about Isiah Thomas' mother that won an Emmy.

Years ago, I asked Cunningham--a teammate of Walker's on Philadelphia's 1967 championship team who later coached the incomparable Julius Erving on Philadelphia's 1983 championship team--to compare those two legendary squads, and he told me, "Dr. J would match up against Chet Walker. Julius was obviously better in the open court offensively than Chet and a better shot blocker. Chet was a better one-on-one player offensively and would probably try to post up Julius and do things like that." I asked Cunningham to elaborate about the Erving-Walker comparison, and he replied, "Julius was the greatest open court player who ever played. Chet Walker was a better jump shooter and he had, I think, a little bit more of an arsenal in the set offense. But by no means am I taking anything away from Julius Erving."

There is statistical evidence supporting Cunningham's description of Walker's offensive arsenal. Walker finished in the top 20 in field goal percentage six times--including sixth during Philadelphia's 1967 championship season--and he ranked in the top 10 in free throw percentage six times, including leading the NBA in that category in 1970-71. Walker ranked in the top 10 in free throws made seven times. Walker was a dependable third scoring option (19.3 ppg) behind Wilt Chamberlain (24.1 ppg) and Hal Greer (22.1 ppg) on the 1967 championship team, and when the Bulls needed a clutch basket during the early 1970s they usually relied on Walker.

Jaylen Brown would not be a $300 million player without Walker's sacrifices. A role player like J.J. Redick who shamelessly mocks the basketball stars from the past would not be a famous multi-millionaire without Walker's sacrifices that helped transform the NBA into a multi-billion dollar business. It would be great if Brown, Redick, and everyone else who benefits from the NBA's huge pot of gold acknowledged their debt to Walker and the other members of the "NBA 14."

Labels: Adrian Dantley, Billy Cunningham, Chet Walker, Chicago Bulls, Earl Monroe, Isiah Thomas, Philadelphia 76ers, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 10:27 AM

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Brunson Burner Singes Sixers as Knicks Win 97-92 to Take 3-1 Lead

In the 1980s, the New York Knicks featured the "BK Broiler": Bernard King won the 1985 regular season scoring title--averaging 32.9 ppg to beat Larry Bird and Michael Jordan--after a sensational 1984 playoff run during which he led the league in postseason scoring (34.8 ppg) while scoring at least 40 points in four straight games. During the middle of that 1984 playoff scoring spree, King scored 46 points in back to back games, setting a franchise playoff single game scoring record that stood for 40 years--until Jalen Brunson, who could be dubbed the "Brunson Burner," torched the Philadelphia 76ers for 47 points on Sunday as the Knicks won 97-92 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Brunson shot 18-34 from the field, and he also tallied 10 assists while committing only one turnover in 44 minutes. He nearly matched the combined scoring output of Philadelphia's All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, who scored 27 points and 23 points respectively.

With the game up for grabs, Brunson scored nine points in a bruising fourth quarter during which the Knicks scored 20 points on 6-21 (.286) field goal shooting while the 76ers scored 16 points on 6-24 (.250) field goal shooting. Brunson's shifty moves, deft ballhandling, and excellent footwork in the post make him very difficult to guard.

Maxey and Cameron Payne led the 76ers with five fourth quarter points each, while Embiid scored just one point and shot 0-5 from the field. Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse is rightly praised for his strategic acumen, but that fourth quarter will not appear on his career highlight reel: the 76ers looked disorganized, and Embiid spent most of the final stanza camped out behind the three point line. Although Embiid can make three pointers, he is most effective when he is operating in the paint, where he commands double teams, draws fouls, and converts high percentage shots.

Overall, Embiid shot just 7-19 from the field, and the dominant themes of his playoff career have not changed: in the postseason, he is often injured/out of shape, which contributes to his playoff numbers not matching his regular season numbers. Embiid's physical talent and basketball skills are undeniable, but there is no reason to believe that he will ever be healthy enough and well-conditioned enough to lead a team on a deep playoff run. As for Maxey, the sample size is small, but he seems to be better suited to the second option role than James Harden, who capped off his horrific elimination game resume with nine points and five turnovers while shooting 3-11 from the field as the Celtics routed the 76ers, 112-88, in the last playoff game of Harden's Philadelphia career. Harden then whined his way out of town and was traded to the L.A. Clippers, which elevated Maxey to the second option role behind Embiid.  

While Embiid and his 76ers have been treading water at best for the past several years, Brunson and the Knicks are rising. Brunson had a fantastic 2023-2024 regular season, ranking third in Knicks history in both total points (2212) and points per game (28.7). If he continues to play at his current level, Brunson will rank among the greatest guards in franchise history. The short list now, in chronological order, begins with Richie Guerin, who earned six All-Star selections and three All-NBA Team selections as a Knick. Walt Frazier was a seven-time All-Star, and a seven-time member of the All-Defensive Team who also earned six selections to the All-NBA Team. Frazier played an essential role for both of New York's championship teams (1970, 1973). Earl Monroe earned two of his four All-Star selections as a Knick, and he cemented his place in Knicks' lore when he was the second-leading playoff scorer for New York's 1973 NBA championship-winning squad. After participating in one of the NBA's greatest rivalries as members of the Knicks and Bullets respectively, Frazier and Monroe were dubbed the "Rolls Royce" backcourt after Monroe joined the Knicks in 1971. 

My default position is to be skeptical that an undersized player can be a dominant playoff performer, but Brunson may prove to be the exception to that generally applicable rule. After averaging just 8.0 ppg in his 2021 playoff debut as a third year player with the Dallas Mavericks, Brunson scored 21.6 ppg in a 2022 playoff run to the Western Conference Finals and 27.8 ppg as he led the Knicks to the second round last year. He is averaging 33.0 ppg in the first four games of the 2024 playoffs, and his 3-3 career playoff series record could improve to 4-3 as early as Tuesday if the Knicks beat the 76ers again. The similarly sized Damian Lillard--who was selected to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team--has posted a 4-8 career playoff series record that will be 4-9 as soon as the Indiana Pacers finish off his Milwaukee Bucks. Here are the playoff series records of several other prominent 6-4 and under guards from the past 40 years: 

• Isiah Thomas (16-7, with two championships and one Finals MVP)
• Joe Dumars (15-8, with two championships and one Finals MVP)
• Chauncey Billups (17-11, with one championship and one Finals MVP)
• Allen Iverson (6-8, with one NBA Finals appearance)
• Tony Parker (30-12, with four championships and one Finals MVP)
• Steve Nash (11-12)
• Derrick Rose (4-7)
• Stephen Curry (23-5, four championships and one Finals MVP)
  
• Russell Westbrook (11-11, with one Finals appearance)

Thomas and Dumars had great success playing alongside each other with a good supporting cast, though Thomas was clearly the superior player even though they each won one Finals MVP. Billups won his lone NBA title playing alongside four players who made the All-Star team at least once, plus four-time All-Defensive Team member Tayshaun Prince. Iverson carried the 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals but never made it past the second round in any other season. Parker won four titles playing alongside Pantheon member Tim Duncan, one of the greatest big men in pro basketball history. Nash won back to back regular season MVPs in a league featuring Pantheon members Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan, but he went 0-4 in the Western Conference Finals and just 7-5 in first round series. Rose led the Chicago Bulls to the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals, but two years later he suffered a devastating knee injury that altered his career arc and ended his time as an elite level player, though he is still active. Curry has won four championships and made six NBA Finals appearances with the Golden State Warriors. Andre Iguodala won the Finals MVP for the first of those four championship teams, and then Kevin Durant won the Finals MVP the next two times Golden State captured the title, with Curry earning his lone Finals MVP in 2022. Westbrook teamed with Kevin Durant to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to four Western Conference Finals appearances and the 2012 NBA Finals.  

It will be interesting to revisit the above list in 10 years and see how Brunson stacks up, particularly if he can avoid serious injuries.

Labels: Bernard King, Earl Monroe, Jalen Brunson, Joel Embiid, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Richie Guerin, Tyrese Maxey, Walt Frazier

posted by David Friedman @ 1:50 AM

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Any "All-Time" Nets Team Must Include Julius Erving

Skimming through old basketball articles can be informative and entertaining, but sometimes it can be frustrating. The 2010-11 issue of Athlon Sports Pro Basketball included a five member All-Time Team for each NBA franchise. Each All-Time Team designated two guards, two forwards and one center. No criteria or commentary accompanied the selections, other than a brief Editor's Note highlighting that Shaquille O'Neal was not selected as the center for Orlando (Dwight Howard), the L.A. Lakers (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) or the Miami Heat (Alonzo Mourning).

Athlon Sports previously published a solid if unspectacular reexamination of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List, but many of their All-Time Teams are ridiculous. In 2015, Mitch Lawrence selected a "Franchise Four" for 12 NBA franchises that made much more sense than Athlon Sports' All-Time Teams.

Athlon Sports' most egregious error was not choosing Julius Erving for the Nets' All-Time Team. Athlon Sports selected guards Jason Kidd and Vince Carter, forwards Buck Williams and Derrick Coleman, and center Billy Paultz. The inclusion of Paultz, whose Nets' career took place entirely during the franchise's ABA era, makes it clear that Athlon Sports' All-Time Teams are not limited to a franchise's NBA history. Coleman played five seasons for the Nets while Erving played three seasons for the Nets, but Erving had much more impact than Coleman not only on the franchise but also on the entire sport--the NBA's interest in acquiring Erving's talents was a major impetus for the ABA-NBA merger. Erving led the Nets to the franchise's only two league titles (1974, 1976) while winning three regular season MVPs (1974-76, sharing 1975 honors with George McGinnis), two Finals MVPs (1974, 1976), and two scoring titles (1974, 1976). Bill Russell (1961-63), Wilt Chamberlain (1966-68), and Larry Bird (1984-86) are the only pro basketball players other than Erving who won three consecutive regular season MVPs. In the 1976 ABA Finals--when Erving's Nets upset the league-leading Denver Nuggets--Erving had perhaps the best championship series ever, leading both teams in scoring (37.7 ppg), rebounding (14.2 rpg), assists (6.0 apg), steals (3.0 spg) and blocked shots (2.2 bpg).

Erving's omission alone is egregious enough to invalidate the entire project, but Athlon Sports made other mistakes as well. Athlon Sports' Indiana Pacers All-Time Team included Jermaine O'Neal instead of Hall of Famer Roger Brown. Brown won the 1970 ABA Finals MVP and he played for three Indiana championship teams. Brown's impact and legacy far exceed O'Neal's.

Athlon Sports' Portland Trail Blazers All-Time Team listed Sidney Wicks and Rasheed Wallace at forward, leaving out Maurice Lucas. Wicks put up gaudier statistics, but Lucas was a better all-around player, and he was a key contributor for Portland's 1977 championship team. Wallace played well for Detroit's 2004 championship team, but there is no question that Lucas had more impact than Wallace during their respective Portland careers.

Athlon Sports paired Allan Houston with Walt Frazier in the backcourt for the Knicks' All-Time Team. Houston had an excellent career with the Knicks, but I would choose Earl Monroe over him; Monroe played alongside Frazier on the Knicks' 1973 championship team and was selected as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players.

Although Spencer Haywood only played one season for Denver, he won the MVP, the Rookie of the Year, the scoring title, and the rebounding title! During Carmelo Anthony's seven-plus seasons with the franchise he did not accomplish any of those feats (he later won a scoring title with the Knicks), so I would choose Haywood's brilliant year over Anthony's solid seven years. 

Although Athlon Sports listed positional designations, some of their All-Time Teams stretched credulity: Athlon Sports' All-Time Team for Detroit put Ben Wallace at forward to make room for Bob Lanier at center. Similarly, Athlon Sports' Houston team shifted Moses Malone to forward to keep Hakeem Olajuwon at center, and Athlon Sports' San Antonio team placed George Gervin at forward even though he was consistently listed as a guard on All-Star and All-NBA teams throughout his career. If the positional designations were not meant to be strictly followed, then Shaquille O'Neal should have been the Heat's center with Alonzo Mourning listed as one of the Heat's forwards. Instead, Athlon Sports inexplicably moved Rony Seikaly from center to forward and left O'Neal off of the team.

Labels: Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, Earl Monroe, Indiana Pacers, Julius Erving, Maurice Lucas, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, New York Nets, Portland Trail Blazers, Roger Brown, Spencer Haywood

posted by David Friedman @ 5:59 PM

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Revising the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List, Part IV

Part II and Part III of this series looked at the NBA's 50 Greatest Players lists published by Athlon Sports (in 2008) and the Boston Globe (in 2015) respectively. Both of those lists were compiled many years after the NBA released its official list in 1996, so those newer lists incorporated the next generation or two of NBA players. Before continuing our chronological examination of various NBA's 50 Greatest Players lists, it is worth considering the selections made in 1996 by two well-known NBA writers who were not members of the 50 person panel that selected the NBA's official list.

In an October 21, 1996 Chicago Tribune column published a few days before the NBA released its official list, Sam Smith--author of the book The Jordan Rules--chose his 50 Greatest NBA players, in order (the official list did not rank the players). Also, in an October 29, 1996 USA Today column published just before the NBA's official list was revealed, Bryan Burwell declared, "But 50 is too easy. Fifty allows a lot of room to work, and fewer egos to bruise. I prefer smaller numbers...The real challenge is gleaning all that greatness down into a more condensed digest of 20." Burwell ranked his all-time top 20 NBA players. We will first look at Smith's list (an asterisk indicates that the player was not on the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List):

1) Michael Jordan
2) Wilt Chamberlain
3) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
4) Magic Johnson
5) George Mikan
6) Bill Russell
7) Oscar Robertson
8) Larry Bird
9) Jerry West
10) Elgin Baylor
11) Rick Barry
12) Julius Erving
13) Hakeem Olajuwon
14) Isiah Thomas
15) Bob Pettit
16) Bill Walton
17) Earl Monroe
18) Bob Cousy
19) Charles Barkley
20) Scottie Pippen
21) Moses Malone
22) Pete Maravich
23) Willis Reed
24) Kevin McHale
25) John Havlicek
26) Elvin Hayes
27) Wes Unseld
28) Karl Malone
29) Walt Bellamy*
30) Gus Johnson*
31) Walt Frazier
32) Lenny Wilkens
33) Joe Fulks*
34) George Gervin
35) Dave Cowens
36) Bernard King*
37) Jerry Lucas
38) Nate Archibald
39) John Stockton
40) Hal Greer
41) Dominique Wilkins*
42) Nate Thurmond
43) Bob McAdoo*
44) Robert Parish
45) Clyde Drexler
46) Dennis Johnson*
47) Slater Martin*
48) David Robinson
49) Paul Arizin
50) Sam Jones

Thus, Smith's list included eight players who were not on the official list: Walt Bellamy, Gus Johnson, Joe Fulks, Bernard King, Dominique Wilkins, Bob McAdoo, Dennis Johnson and Slater Martin. Smith's list did not include these eight players from the official list: Dave Bing, Billy Cunningham, Dave DeBusschere, Patrick Ewing, Shaquille O'Neal, Dolph Schayes, Bill Sharman and James Worthy.

Smith's 2019 selections would undoubtedly be different, but here we will only consider his 1996 list based on what had happened up to that time.

In Part I of this series, I mentioned a set of criteria (in no particular order) for comparing great players from different eras:

1) How great was a particular player in his own era?

2) How highly does a player rank overall in key statistical categories?

3) Based on a skill set evaluation, how well would a player have performed in a different era when facing different rules and circumstances?

4) Did the player have a historical impact on the game, in terms of forcing rules changes and/or influencing shifts in style of play?
 
Capsule resumes are provided in Part II for Bellamy and McAdoo.

Gus Johnson made the All-NBA Second Team four times, he made the All-Defensive First Team twice and he earned five All-Star selections. After playing nearly 10 seasons in the NBA, he finished his career by playing a little more than half a season as a valuable reserve for the Indiana Pacers' 1973 ABA championship team. Johnson was one of pro basketball's first high flying dunkers, but he was more than just a rugged and flashy athlete. Earl Monroe, Johnson's teammate with the Baltimore Bullets, praised Johnson's all-around game: "Gus was ahead of his time, flying through the air for slam dunks, breaking backboards and throwing full-court passes behind his back. He was spectacular, but he also did the nitty gritty jobs, defense and rebounding." Johnson averaged 16.2 ppg and 12.1 rpg during his pro career, ranking 18th in ABA-NBA career rebounding average.

Joe Fulks played the first three seasons of his professional career in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which then merged with the National Basketball League to form the NBA in 1949-50--but the NBA includes BAA statistics from 1946-49 in its official records, so Fulks is considered the NBA's first scoring champion (1389 points in 60 game in 1946-47, when the title was decided by total points instead of ppg average). The regular season MVP award did not exist during his career and the first NBA All-Star Game was played during his second to last season, but Fulks made the All-Star team each of the two times he was eligible and he made the All-League Team (BAA or NBA) four times, including three First Team selections. Fulks was one of the pioneers of the jump shot and he was the leading scorer in both the regular season and the playoffs in 1947 when his Philadelphia Warriors won the championship. The argument against Fulks' Top 50 candidacy is that he was a 6-5, 190 pound forward who starred in the pre-shot clock era when the NBA was largely segregated, and it is not clear how well his skill set would have translated even 10 years after his prime, let alone several decades later.

Bernard King finished second in the 1984 regular season MVP balloting and he likely would have finished higher than seventh in 1985 if he had not suffered a devastating knee injury that ended his season after just 55 games; King averaged 26.3 ppg in 1983-84, and then he led the league in 1984-85 with a 32.9 ppg scoring average, picking up where he had left off after topping the NBA in 1984 playoff scoring (34.8 ppg). King became the first player to make the All-Star team after tearing his ACL; it took him nearly two full years to return to action--surgical techniques and rehabilitation regimens for ACL injuries were not nearly as advanced in the 1980s as they are today--and he triumphantly regained All-Star status in 1991, before missing all of the 1992 season due to injury and then retiring after playing just 32 games in 1992-93. King made the All-NBA Team four times, including First Team selections in 1984 and 1985. He also earned four All-Star selections. In his prime, he was one of the league's deadliest finishers on the break and he owned a lethal turnaround shot on the baseline.

Dominique Wilkins ranked in the top five in MVP balloting three times (including a second place finish in 1986). Wilkins won the 1986 scoring title (30.3 ppg), one of four seasons during which he averaged at least 29.0 ppg. Wilkins averaged at least 25.9 ppg for 10 straight seasons (1985-94, including 1992 when a ruptured Achilles limited him to 42 games). He made the All-NBA Team seven times, including one First Team selection. Wilkins made the All-Star team for nine straight seasons (1986-94). He is known for his ferocious dunks, but Wilkins scored 26,668 career regular season points and he is fond of pointing out that he did not score all or even most of them on dunks. Wilkins was a solid rebounder from the small forward position, with a career average of 6.7 rpg.

Dennis Johnson earned the nickname "Airplane" because of his high-flying exploits as a 6-4 guard who could rebound and block shots just as well as players who were much taller. He won the 1979 Finals MVP while leading Seattle to the NBA title, he finished fifth in regular season MVP voting the next season and in 1981 he earned his only All-NBA First Team selection. Johnson also made the All-NBA Second Team in 1980 and he made the All-Star team five times. Johnson made the All-Defensive Team nine times, including six First Team selections. He spent his first three seasons in Seattle, played his next three seasons in Phoenix and then finished his career with seven seasons in Boston, where he played a key role as the starting point guard on two championship teams (1984, 1986). Larry Bird once called Johnson his smartest teammate ever. Johnson was not a great shooter but he had a well-deserved reputation for making clutch shots, and he averaged 17.3 ppg in his playoff career compared to 14.1 ppg in his regular season career.

Slater Martin made the All-NBA Team five times and he made the All-Star team seven times. He ranked in the top 10 in assists six times and he was the starting point guard for five championship teams (four times with the Minneapolis Lakers, one time with the St. Louis Hawks).

The players from the official 50 Greatest Players List who Smith did not include accomplished a lot during their careers. Capsule resumes are provided in Part II for DeBusschere and Worthy, and in Part III for Bing, Cunningham, and Sharman.

Patrick Ewing won the 1986 Rookie of the Year award and he finished in the top five in MVP voting six times. He made the All-NBA Team seven times, including one First Team selection (1990). He made the All-Defensive Team three times and he made the All-Star team 11 times. Ewing entered the league as a rebounder and defensive specialist but he quickly proved to be a dominant scorer and one of the best shooting big men of all-time. He averaged at least 20 ppg and at least 10 rpg in nine straight seasons.

Shaquille O'Neal won the 1993 Rookie of the Year award. He won one regular season MVP (2000) and he finished in the top five in regular season MVP voting eight times. He won three Finals MVPs (2000-02) while playing on four championship teams. O'Neal led the league in regular season scoring twice (1995, 2000) and he led the league in playoff scoring once (2000). O'Neal led the league in field goal percentage 10 times, breaking Wilt Chamberlain's record of nine. Among ABA/NBA career leaders, O'Neal ranks fourth in field goal percentage (.582), ninth in blocked shots (2732) and 10th in points (28,596).

Dolph Schayes finished in the top five in MVP voting three times. He made the All-NBA Team each of the first 12 seasons of his career, including six First Team selections. Schayes also played in 12 straight All-Star Games. He ranked in the top 10 in scoring 11 times, led the league in rebounding once and he finished in the top 10 in assists three times. For nearly six years, Schayes was the NBA's career scoring leader, before being passed by Bob Pettit and then Wilt Chamberlain.

Based solely on the players' career statistics and accomplishments as of October 1996, I agree with three of the players Smith added: Walt Bellamy, Bob McAdoo and Dominique Wilkins. I agree with three of the players Smith did not include: Dave Bing, Bill Sharman and James Worthy. Thus, I would not have added Joe Fulks, Dennis Johnson, Gus Johnson, Bernard King and Slater Martin, and I would not have left off Billy Cunningham, Dave DeBusschere, Patrick Ewing, Dolph Schayes and Shaquille O'Neal.

Bellamy was a dominant scorer and rebounder; critics suggest that he did not always play hard, which brings to mind Ralph Wiley's comment about baseball great Rickey Henderson: if he put up those numbers while coasting then he must be the greatest player of all-time. I am not suggesting that Bellamy is even a Top 10 player all-time, but he was a Top 50 player as of 1996.

McAdoo was the only NBA regular season MVP who did not make the original Top 50 list. He was a "stretch four" (or even a "stretch five") before the term was invented, and McAdoo also rebounded and blocked shots. Pat Riley has said that the Lakers would not have won their 1982 and 1985 titles without McAdoo.

Wilkins was the eighth leading scorer in NBA history/11th leading scorer in ABA/NBA history when the original Top 50 list was selected. He was a pure scorer who was somewhat underrated in other areas of the game, and he belonged on the original list.

While a case can be made for Bing, Sharman and Worthy, equally good--if not even better--cases could be made for other players even in 1996, as I discussed in Parts II and III of this series.

I am puzzled by Smith's inclusion of Fulks, Martin, Dennis Johnson and Gus Johnson. While all four players are clearly deserving Hall of Famers, none of them should receive serious Top 50 consideration. Fulks was the only member of this quartet who was statistically dominant in his own era, but Fulks had a short career in the NBA's formative years and there just is not enough evidence to rank him in the Top 50. Martin and Dennis Johnson each served as the point guard on multiple championship teams and Johnson was even the best player on one championship team, but most of the time they were not even the second best player on their championship teams. Gus Johnson was a fantastic player but neither his peak value nor his short career justify ranking him in the Top 50.

A good case could be made for Bernard King: he had at least one 20 ppg season in three different decades, he had a stretch as an MVP-caliber performer and, were it not for the knee injury, he displayed a talent level that may very well rank him among the top 30 players of all-time. It is tough to leave him off, and I would not argue strenuously against including him in 1996, but he and Wilkins were similarly skilled players, with Wilkins sustaining a peak level for a longer period of time than King did. It could very well be argued that perhaps King deserved inclusion over players not discussed in this article, but focusing just on who Smith included and who Smith left off compared to the official list, I would reluctantly leave King off.

I would have kept Billy Cunningham and Dave DeBusschere on the list in 1996. Cunningham was a top notch scorer, rebounder and playmaker; he won an ABA MVP and he twice finished in the top five in NBA MVP voting. DeBusschere was a rugged power forward who could score inside and outside, rebound and defend. He was the final piece to the Knicks' championship puzzle. DeBusschere would not make my Top 50 in 2019, but he deserved inclusion in 1996.

The main argument that could be made to keep O'Neal off of the list in 1996 was that he had only played three seasons. However, by that time he already owned a scoring title, a Rookie of the Year award, two top five MVP finishes and two All-NBA selections, in addition to leading the Orlando Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals. Perhaps it was premature to include a third year player, but it was also obvious that if he was not included the list would look silly pretty soon. In Smith's defense, he made his list before the NBA announced their list, and perhaps Smith just neglected to seriously consider anyone who had not played at least five or six seasons.

Less understandable are Smith's omissions of Schayes and Ewing. Schayes was a dominant scorer/rebounder/passer for a dozen years, and he continued to perform at a high level after the introduction of the shot clock and after the talent surge of the 1950s and early 1960s added Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and others to the mix. It is particularly odd that Smith included Fulks--who had a shorter career, mostly in the pre-shot clock era--but left out Schayes, a bigger and more dominant player who proved that his skill set fit in even as the NBA evolved to become faster paced and more athletic.

Ewing never won an NBA title, and his demeanor probably did not win him many fans in the media, but you have to give the man his due: he scored, rebounded and defended at a very high level for more than a decade. No offense to several of the players listed above who Smith included, but no general manager or coach in his right mind would take those players over Ewing.

Regarding Burwell's list, as noted above he decided to select just 20 players, not 50. Every player he chose made the cut both for the NBA's official list and for Smith's list, which is not surprising considering that those lists were more than twice as long. Here is Burwell's list:

1) Michael Jordan
2) Wilt Chamberlain
3) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
4) Magic Johnson
5) Larry Bird
6) Bill Russell
7) Oscar Robertson
8) Julius Erving
9) Jerry West
10) Elgin Baylor
11) George Mikan
12) Isiah Thomas
13) Rick Barry
14) Earl Monroe
15) Bob Pettit
16) Hakeem Olajuwon
17) Bob Cousy
18) Charles Barkley
19) Pete Maravich
20) Moses Malone

Burwell's top four is identical to Smith's top four. Smith had Mikan at five, while Burwell placed him at 11. Mikan is the toughest case; he was voted the most dominant basketball player of the first half of the 20th century, but he played his best basketball in the pre-shot clock, largely segregated NBA, so it is very difficult to figure out how his skill set and dominance would have translated even into the 1960s, let alone later decades. In terms of how he dominated his era, Mikan is a top five player of all-time, but in terms of how his skill set would have translated there is no way to say with any confidence; that is why I restrict my player rankings to the post-shot clock era.

I thought that Smith ranked Erving a little low (12th), so it is nice to see Erving at eighth on Burwell's list, and that is a more accurate reflection of educated conventional wisdom at that time (I could make a good case to rank Erving higher, but most analysts at that time would have probably put Erving in the bottom portion of the top 10).

The second part of Burwell's list raises some eyebrows. Isiah Thomas is arguably the greatest little man in pro basketball history but it is questionable to rank him as the 12th best player overall. Earl Monroe at 14th jumped out at me, and Smith had Monroe at 17th; I cannot recall any other list--certainly not one made after the early 1970s--that would rank Monroe that highly. Monroe was a tremendous player, a Hall of Famer and easily a Top 50 choice in 1996, but I am baffled that anyone would rank him above--to choose just two MVPs--Hakeem Olajuwon and Moses Malone. Monroe deserves credit for being an innovative ballhandler and scorer, as well as for accepting a lesser role statistically to help the New York Knicks win the 1973 title, but that still should not have placed him in the Top 20 even back in 1996.

Burwell ranked Pete Maravich 19th and Smith ranked Maravich 22nd. Maravich is one of my favorite players of all-time, so it is great to see him receive appreciation, and I think that as time passes/memories fade he is becoming underrated.

Maravich was the best guard in the NBA in the mid-1970s before he suffered a serious knee injury, but his peak was brief and his career only lasted 10 seasons. Maravich was way ahead of his time, and if you transplanted him to today's game with his skill set he would average something like 35 ppg and 10 apg, but based on what he actually accomplished during his pro career both Burwell and Smith ranked him a few spots higher than I would have at that time.

---

Further Reading:

Part I of this series can be found here.

Part II of this series can be found here.

Part III of this series can be found here.

Labels: Bernard King, Bryan Burwell, Dennis Johnson, Dominique Wilkins, Earl Monroe, Gus Johnson, Joe Fulks, Sam Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, Slater Martin

posted by David Friedman @ 2:10 AM

2 comments

Geometry, Art--and Doc

I wrote this free verse poem on November 8, 1988.

Labels: Bo Lamar, Earl Monroe, Johnny Neumann, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Pete Maravich, Walt Frazier, World B. Free

posted by David Friedman @ 3:59 PM

2 comments

When the Garden was Eden: A Nostalgic Trip Through the Golden Age of New York Hoops

New York professional sports experienced a golden age from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, with the Jets, Mets, Nets and Knicks each winning at least one league title. Joe Namath's Jets and Tom Seaver's Mets are fondly remembered to this day even though they were each basically one year wonders. Julius Erving's Nets won ABA championships in 1974 and 1976 but they never quite captured the imagination of New York, let alone the rest of the country; Erving eventually became recognized as an all-time great but his years in New York are still shrouded in obscurity because the Nets specifically and their league in general did not receive much national media coverage.

The Knicks were the crown jewel of that brief golden age of New York sports. The Knicks not only won the 1970 and 1973 NBA championships but they reached the Division (later Conference) Finals six straight years while having a memorable rivalry with the Baltimore Bullets that produced many classic individual battles, including Dave DeBusschere versus Gus Johnson and Walt Frazier versus Earl Monroe (the Knicks later acquired Monroe, pairing him with Frazier to form the "Rolls Royce" backcourt). The early 1970s Knicks featured five of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players (Dave DeBusschere, Walt Frazier, Jerry Lucas, Earl Monroe and Willis Reed).

The Knicks have not won an NBA championship since 1973 and--even if the lockout "nuclear winter" ends soon--it is exceedingly unlikely that the Knicks will win the NBA championship in the near future. Memories, nostalgia and hope are all that sustain Knicks' fans today; whether or not the hope is well founded is a subject for another day but plenty of wonderful memories and nostalgic glimpses back to the golden age can be found in Harvey Araton's When the Garden was Eden: Clyde, the Captain, Dollar Bill, and the Glory Days of the New York Knicks. Araton rooted for the Knicks as a teenager and he has covered the New York sports scene for more than three decades, starting just after the golden age ended.

Araton begins his story with a brief prologue that poignantly contrasts the beautiful, teamwork-oriented game played by the 1970s Knicks with the disjointed and lifeless efforts of the 2010 Knicks, a patchwork group of players assembled not to win but to serve as placeholders until the franchise made its ultimately fruitless run at wooing LeBron James, who later infamously decided to take his talents to South Beach--a narcissistic and solipsistic phrase that represents the antithesis of how the golden age Knicks thought about and played basketball: when Monroe joined the Knicks he did not take his talents to Madison Square Garden in a self-aggrandizing manner but rather sacrificed individual glory to achieve team success. Monroe made a choice that would be almost unthinkable for a modern superstar: he willingly sacrificed his numbers (and even, for a time, his starting role) for a chance to win a title. Monroe took it as a challenge to prove that he could fit in with the Knicks' team concept, while far too many modern superstars would only view such a situation as a disrespectful challenge to their egos (and their paychecks). Frazier--now a Knicks' broadcaster--confided to Araton that, although he tries to keep his feelings in check as he provides commentary about the bumbling Knicks, "Man, sometimes it's like watching a different sport."

Araton does not limit himself to describing the details of the Knicks' glory days but instead takes a leisurely stroll through the nooks and crannies of Knicks' history, exploring diverse topics ranging from Willis Reed's Louisiana roots to the reason that Madison Square Garden is known as the "Mecca" of basketball (Araton reports that the "Mecca" designation for a New York sports venue originated with the Shriners' Mecca Temple, an old boxing arena). Much of this territory has been explored before both in first person accounts by the participants as well as recollections by various sports writers but Araton's account is neither a straight history of the team nor strictly a personal memoir; Araton writes in the first person and interjects himself--appropriately, not excessively--into the narrative, creating a text that is both intimate and informative.

Red Holzman played for the Rochester Royals' 1951 NBA championship team before serving the Knicks as a scout and a front office executive--but he made his biggest mark as a Hall of Fame coach, compiling a 696-604 record in 18 seasons on the bench while leading the Knicks to the franchise's only two championships. Holzman's daughter Gail granted Araton exclusive access to Holzman's old scouting reports, the only proviso being that Araton not directly mention any critical comments that Holzman made about various players; Araton explains that Gail, like her father, was "unwilling under any conditions to publicly share anything that might be construed as negative...Her father would not have approved." One gem from those files is Holzman's comment after seeing Cazzie Russell's Michigan Wolverines defeat Bill Bradley's Princeton Tigers on a last second jumper by Russell: "Guts to take the last shot." The willingness to take a clutch shot is not something that can be quantified but, as Araton puts it, Holzman knew that a championship team cannot be built around guys who are "conscientious objectors" when the game is on the line.

Holzman's teams achieved a rare harmonious balance: the roster was stacked with Hall of Fame talent but each great player kept his ego in check and the group worked together to achieve a collective goal without fussing over who would receive the credit and the glory. Sure, Frazier may have griped at times that he, not Reed, should have been awarded the 1970 Finals MVP, and Monroe no doubt wonders what his individual career numbers would have looked like had he finished his career as a Bullet; such thoughts are only natural but they never interfered with the team's performance on the court and they pale in comparison to the ego explosions that have undermined so many other squads that contained multiple superstars.

Not surprisingly, the book's longest chapter focuses on game seven of the 1970 NBA Finals--known to most casual basketball fans as the Willis Reed game but remembered by students of basketball history as the game in which Walt Frazier produced one of the greatest clutch performances ever (36 points, 19 assists, seven rebounds) as the Knicks defeated the L.A. Lakers 113-99. Araton deftly weaves together his personal impressions of that 1970 Knicks team with the thoughts and recollections of various players, broadcasters (most notably Marv Albert) and fans (including Spike Lee, who attended game seven at Madison Square Garden as a 13 year old).

Although the Knicks' victory is commonly viewed as the triumph of an underdog over the star-studded trio of Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West--an impression that Araton neither aggressively propagates nor definitively rejects--in the interest of historical accuracy I will briefly share the nuanced description of that series that I wrote a few years ago:

It is true that by the conclusion of the 1970 playoffs West (3708 points, 30.9 points per game) Baylor (3623 points, 27.0 points per game), and Chamberlain (2990 points, 25.8 points per game) were the three leading scorers in NBA playoff history. That is impressive and unprecedented, but it also reflects the fact that all three players were past their primes. Baylor's chronically bad knees would soon force him to retire and, as noted above, Chamberlain had not completely recovered from his early season knee injury. West still had plenty of great games left, but his body was also battered and bruised from so many years of battling deep into the playoffs. The Knicks were hardly an underdog team without a chance; there is a reason that they had homecourt advantage for game seven. None of these facts diminish Reed's courage, Frazier's clutch game seven performance and the overall greatness of the 1970 New York Knicks. Quite the opposite: the 1970 Knicks should be remembered as a great team, not as an underdog.

Placing that matchup in proper historical context does not diminish the unquestioned impact that the Knicks' victory had on the franchise, the city and pro sports history; the images of Willis Reed walking out of the tunnel prior to the game and then hitting his first two jumpers are an indelible part of American popular culture. Hall of Fame forward Bill Bradley, a Rhodes Scholar before becoming a Knick and a U.S. Senator after his Knicks' career ended, told Araton why the Knicks' 1970 championship resonated so deeply at that time and still has a special place in fans' hearts decades later:

In life, it's very difficult to get to the mountaintop, because one day leads to another day and leads to another day. There are small wins and losses in the process. You win an election or lose an election. You can close a deal or not close a deal. But in sports, what you can do as a team, and with your fans feeling part of it, is show what's possible for human beings to achieve if they work together, if they care about each other. Winning the title gave resolution to people who didn't have much resolution in their lives, at a time when resolution was something they really needed.

The Knicks lost to the Bullets in seven games in the 1971 Eastern Conference Finals and then fell in five games to the Lakers in the 1972 NBA Finals. By 1973, Reed was not just temporarily hobbled but rather permanently limited by an accumulation of ailments; he was two years removed from his final All-Star selection and a shadow of his former self, averaging just 11.0 ppg and 8.6 rpg. Frazier was at the top of his game and he was clearly the Knicks' best player. The Boston Celtics cruised to the NBA's best record (68-14) but after a shoulder injury restricted John Havlicek the Knicks took out the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals to earn their third NBA Finals appearance in four seasons, the final chapter in their trilogy of battles against the Lakers. The Knicks defeated the Lakers in five games but, as Reed mentioned to Araton, it sometimes seems like people do not even remember that the Knicks won a second title; the 1970 team has been elevated to legendary status, while the 1973 squad has receded somewhat into the mist.

The flipside of Bradley's poetic rendering of what the 1970s Knicks mean to their fans is that the camaraderie the players felt for one another did not necessarily extend to how the franchise treated them as their respective careers wound down: the Knicks banished Frazier to Cleveland, fired Reed after barely more than one season as Holzman's successor and informed Monroe of the end of his tenure with the team via a newspaper article written by none other than Araton himself. The Celtics and Lakers historically have taken care of their great players--bringing them back as coaches, scouts or front office members--but that is not always the case with other NBA teams (Julius Erving, who usually measures his public words quite carefully, noted during his Farewell Tour that this tribute was an exception for the Philadelphia 76ers and that many of his former teammates had just been unceremoniously cut or had drifted away without much fanfare or recognition from the team). Monroe told Araton, "The history of what's been here: that should be what every organization is about. If you don't honor your history, then how can you plot your future? If you history has been clouded, it sends a bad message. You haven't won the championship in almost 40 years; karma-wise, that may be the reason why. I mean, how long did it take to retire Dick Barnett's number?" Barnett, the third leading scorer on the 1970 championship team behind only Reed and Frazier, played the last nine seasons of his 14 year career with the Knicks and made the All-Star team as a Knick just prior to the beginning of the Knicks' golden age.

Ironically, a role player for those Knicks teams eventually won five of his record 11 championships coaching the Lakers; Phil Jackson sat out the 1970 season because of a back injury and he averaged just 8.1 ppg for the 1973 NBA champions but his later success in Chicago and L.A. can very much be traced back to his time in New York, specifically the mentoring he received from Holzman; Jackson's description of Holzman's demeanor indicates the genesis of Jackson's laid-back coaching style: "Kind words when they were needed, but mostly a matter-of-fact guy. It was the middle of the road--not too high, not too low." Jackson told Araton that Holzman offered Jackson some simple advice about coaching winning basketball: "It's not rocket science. It's see the ball on defense, hit the open man on offense." Araton commented, "Zen philosophy stripped away, Jackson was much like Holzman: he allowed his players to succeed through self-discovery."

When the Garden was Eden mostly hits the right notes, though the concluding passages comparing the character traits of various golden age Knicks to President Obama are a bit discordant; America is a country consisting of roughly 40% Democrats, 40% Republicans and 20% swing voters, so an extended love letter dedicated to one side of the political spectrum is sure to seem odd--if not completely misplaced--to at least nearly half of the readership of the book (it could also be safely argued that the Knicks' place in history is a lot more secure than President Obama's, as the reputations of politicians are apt to rise or fall very swiftly). Despite the odd ending, When the Garden was Eden makes a positive impression overall: it is an easy and enjoyable book to read, a heartfelt and personal portrait of the golden age Knicks.

Labels: Dave DeBusschere, Earl Monroe, Harvey Araton, Jerry Lucas, New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed

posted by David Friedman @ 7:55 PM

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The NBA in the 1970s: The Rolls Royce Backcourt Drives Off With The Title

I wrote the chapter about the NBA in the 1970s for the 2005 anthology Basketball in America: From the Playgrounds to Jordan's Game and Beyond. This is the fourth of 12 installments reprinting that chapter in its entirety.

I have removed the footnotes that accompanied the original text; direct quotations are now acknowledged in the body of the work and I will post a bibliography at the end of the final installment. I hope that you enjoy my take on one of the most fascinating and eventful decades in NBA history.

The Rolls Royce Backcourt Drives Off With The Title

The Celtics were the class of the league in the 1972-1973 season, racing to a 68-14 record, only one game off the Lakers' mark set the year before. Dave Cowens was selected MVP, Paul Silas added rebounding and toughness, and John Havlicek had yet another outstanding season. The Bullets (52-30) won their third straight Central Division title behind the 21.2 points per game and 14.5 rebounds per game of Elvin Hayes, acquired in the offseason from the Rockets. The Philadelphia 76ers represented the opposite end of the spectrum. They hit rock bottom in 1972-1973 after a steady free fall since Wilt Chamberlain led the team to the 1967 championship. Sixers' star Billy Cunningham signed a deal to play with the ABA Carolina Cougars and although he later decided that he wanted to remain with the Sixers, a court ruling forced him to honor the contract with the Cougars. Without the "Kangaroo Kid" the 76ers collapsed to a 9-73 record, worst in NBA history; Cunningham won the ABA MVP that season. While the Sixers got the short end of the stick, the NBA did get a superstar forward to replace Cunningham: Rick Barry was compelled by court order to return to the Warriors after playing out his contract with the ABA's New York Nets.

Rick Barry's arrival in Golden State brought his career full circle. In 1965-1966 he was the Rookie of the Year for the then San Francisco Warriors and the next year he won the scoring title (2775 points, 35.6 points per game) while leading the Warriors to the NBA Finals. After that season he became the first big NBA star to jump to the ABA, signing with the Oakland Oaks, but a court ruling stated that he either had to play out his option year with the Warriors or sit out a season before joining the Oaks. Barry chose to sit out. The next year Barry won the ABA scoring title (34.0 points per game), becoming the first and only player to capture scoring crowns in both leagues. The Oaks won the championship, but Barry missed a sizeable portion of the regular season and all of the playoffs due to injury. The Oaks moved to Washington, D.C. for the 1969-1970 season and Barry signed with the NBA Warriors, contending that his deal with the Oaks included an escape clause if the team left the Bay area. Again the courts ruled against Barry and he averaged 27.7 points per game for the Washington Capitols. In the offseason the Capitols became the Virginia Squires, but Barry complained so vociferously about this move that the team dealt him to the Nets. Barry enjoyed two successful seasons with the Nets and decided that he wanted to remain with the team, but there was the issue of the contract that he had signed with the Warriors in the wake of the Oaks move to Washington. The courts ruled that he could not remain with the Nets after his contract with the club expired in 1972, so after five eventful years Barry ended up right back where his career began. He held the dubious distinction of being the one player in this time period who repeatedly lost his court cases, in contrast to Connie Hawkins, Spencer Haywood, and others who eventually ended up with the teams for which they wanted to play. Nevertheless, Barry's legal travails opened the way for numerous other players to jump leagues, including Zelmo Beaty, Joe Caldwell and Cunningham.

In his return to the Bay Area, Barry averaged 22.3 points per game, made the All-NBA Second Team and led the Warriors to a 47-35 record, good enough for second place in the Pacific Division. The Lakers and Bucks again stood at the top of the Western Conference, winning the Pacific and Midwest Divisions respectively with identical 60-22 records. The Chicago Bulls, a tough, defensive minded team paced by high scoring forwards Bob Love (23.1 points per game) and Chet Walker (19.9 points per game), grabbed the other playoff spot, winning 51 games and finishing second in the Midwest Division.

One of the biggest stories of the season turned out to be one of the smallest players in the league. Coach Bob Cousy of the Kansas City-Omaha Kings (formerly the Cincinnati Royals) knew that his squad did not have the horses to make the playoffs, so he granted tremendous freedom to third year guard Nate "Tiny" Archibald, who measured 6-1, 160. Archibald became the only player to ever lead the league in scoring (34.0 points per game) and assists (11.4 assists per game) in the same season. He joined Jerry West on the All-NBA First Team. The Kings finished last in the Midwest Division with a 36-46 record but attracted many fans to watch Archibald perform.

"Pistol" Pete Maravich of the Atlanta Hawks was another flashy guard who fans flocked to see. He joined the Hawks in 1970-1971 after setting the all-time NCAA Division I career scoring record by averaging an astounding 44.2 points per game. He averaged 23.2 points per game in his rookie year and 19.3 points per game in an injury marred second season but the Hawks, which had seemed to be a team on the rise, slumped in the standings. Maravich's fancy ball handling and passing skills caused many critics to label him a "showboat" and "hot dog."

Some of the criticisms of Maravich were muted, at least temporarily, by his performance in the 1972-1973 season, when he ranked fifth in scoring (26.1 points per game) and sixth in assists (6.9 assists per game) and made the All-NBA Second Team. Maravich knew that he was ahead of his time: "You're going to see forwards and centers throwing the ball behind their backs, just like I do. The time will come before we know it." In fact, he was literally a decade ahead of his time, because Magic Johnson later became a beloved superstar doing similar things. Johnson came along at the right time and had teammates who caught his passes instead of fumbling them out of bounds.

Maravich's competitive fires burned as fiercely as those of the other greats of the game and he was not satisfied with individual statistics or achievements: "I'm not pleased with anything I've done so far...All I want to do is win the title and I'll quit. A title would be the highest level you can attain. They'll say 'He was a hot dog--but he was a champion.'" He also understood that fans paid good money to watch professional athletes and deserved to be entertained: "(Fans)…should get total satisfaction from watching a game." While some of Maravich's success in 1972-1973 came from increasing maturity, George Vecsey noted, "…there is more evidence that he was finally playing with teammates who could cope with his ability." Johnson later assessed Maravich's impact on basketball history: "Maravich was unbelievable. He was ahead of his time with the things he did." Isiah Thomas concurs: "The best showman of all time? I'd have to say Pistol Pete."

Maravich's Hawks played the powerful Celtics to a standstill after four games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, but the Celtics won the next two to close out the series. Maravich averaged 26.2 points per game and 6.7 assists per game in the playoffs. The Knicks obliterated the Bullets in the other Eastern Conference series, taking the first three games en route to a four to one decision. In the Western Conference, Barry and the Warriors pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history, defeating the Bucks in six games. The Bulls extended the defending champion Lakers to the limit, losing 95-92 in game seven. The Lakers overpowered the Warriors four to one in the Western Conference Finals, while the Knicks savored a gritty seven game triumph over the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals; Havlicek was severely hampered in the latter part of the series with a painful shoulder injury.

By this time the Knicks were peaking and their "Rolls Royce" backcourt of Frazier and Monroe was in full flower. "There's never been two players together that were so good in the same backcourt. They were the best ever," raved teammate DeBusschere. The Lakers narrowly took game one of the NBA Finals but the Knicks reeled off four consecutive wins to claim their second title in four years. Willis Reed's numbers were up and down throughout the season and the playoffs due to his injuries, but he was again selected as the Finals MVP. A dissenting vote on the Finals MVP later came from Frazier: "They (the media) always jerked me around. When I didn't get the MVP that year (1970) they told me it was because they judged by the season; and when I didn't get it in 1973 they said it was because they judged by the series..."

Labels: Earl Monroe, Nate Archibald, New York Knicks, Pete Maravich, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed

posted by David Friedman @ 1:30 AM

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Classic Confrontations: Walt Frazier vs. Earl Monroe

This article was originally published in the August 2004 issue of Basketball Digest.

What would happen if a great player who had never won a ring teamed up with a championship winning New York superstar who plays the same position? No, not Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter--Earl Monroe and Walt Frazier. Just as the New York Yankees shifted Rodriguez to third base to accommodate the incumbent Jeter at shortstop, Monroe had to change his game to fit in with a New York Knicks team that had previously won an NBA title.

Before Walt "Clyde" Frazier and Earl "the Pearl" Monroe joined forces they had some tremendous duels as Frazier's Knicks and Monroe's Baltimore Bullets battled to reach the NBA Finals in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Frazier and Monroe each possessed well-rounded games but their showdowns spotlighted Monroe's one-on-one skills versus Frazier's tenacious defense.

The Bullets selected Monroe with the second pick in the 1967 draft; the New York Knicks took Walt Frazier with the fifth pick that year. Monroe had a more immediate impact, capturing the Rookie of the Year award (24.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 4.3 apg) and helping the Bullets improve from 20 wins to 36. Frazier took a little longer to adjust to the NBA game (9.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4.0 apg), although he did join Monroe on the 1968 All-Rookie Team.

In 1968-69 Monroe averaged 25.8 ppg while leading the Bullets to a league-best 57-25 record. Frazier nearly doubled his scoring (17.5 ppg) and assists (7.9 apg) and the Knicks finished right behind the Bullets with 54 wins. Boosted by the mid-season acquisition of forward Dave DeBusschere, New York proved to be the superior team in the playoffs, sweeping the Bullets 4-0 in the Eastern Division Semifinals. Monroe got his points (28.3 ppg), but the effect of Frazier's defense can be seen in his field goal percentage, which dropped from .440 in the regular season to .386.

The next year the Knicks had the league's best record, 60-22, while Baltimore finished 50-32. Monroe erupted for 39 points in game one of the Eastern Division Semifinals, but Frazier made several key steals from him down the stretch to preserve a 120-117 double overtime Knicks' victory. New York won the series in seven games despite Monroe’s 28.0 ppg. Frazier and the Knicks claimed their first championship by beating the Los Angeles Lakers in the seventh game, when Willis Reed famously limped onto the court to provide a huge emotional lift for the Knicks in Madison Square Garden. Frazier came up with a performance for the ages--36 points and 19 assists.

In 1970-71 the Bullets slumped to 42-40, but peaked when it counted most, ousting the Knicks by winning the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Finals in New York, 93-91. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks swept the Bullets in the NBA Finals and on November 10, 1971 Baltimore made the momentous decision to trade Monroe to the Knicks for Mike Riordan and Dave Stallworth.

Monroe was hampered by a heel injury during his first season playing alongside Frazier. Reed's balky knee limited him to only 11 regular season games and forced him to miss the playoffs but the Knicks persevered, beating the Bullets 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Knicks lost 4-1 in the NBA Finals, as the Lakers won their first championship since the days of George Mikan.

Reed returned to the lineup in 1972-73, although his numbers were significantly lower than they were in his prime. The Frazier-Monroe backcourt found its stride as the Knicks went 57-25, trounced Baltimore in the Eastern Conference Semifinals 4-1 and won the Finals rematch versus the Lakers 4-1.

DeBusschere was impressed with how smoothly Monroe adapted to his new role: "He came into a difficult, difficult position. He was a man with immense pride and intelligence who had to swallow his pride to adjust…One of them had to make the entire adjustment and Earl did it completely."

The aging Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics in the 1974 Eastern Conference Finals and fell from the top fairly quickly after that as injuries and retirements depleted the roster. Monroe actually outlasted Frazier in New York, retiring as a Knick after an injury riddled 1979-80 campaign. Frazier retired that same season, after spending the last three years of his career as a Cleveland Cavalier. The rivals turned teammates are now members of two very elite squads: the Hall of Fame and the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players list.

Labels: Baltimore Bullets, Earl Monroe, New York Knicks, Walt Frazier

posted by David Friedman @ 1:41 AM

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Walt Frazier: The Embodiment of Seventies Style

This article originally appeared in the December 2005 issue of Hoop

Clyde and the Pearl

Walt Frazier was the soul and the spirit of the New York Knicks in the early 1970s—unflappable, unselfish, versatile and smooth, he embodied the essence of what made those teams special. In game seven of the 1970 NBA Finals, Willis Reed famously overcame a painful leg injury and nailed his first two shots, inspiring his teammates—but Frazier provided impact, producing 36 points, 19 assists and seven rebounds in the Knicks’ 113-99 victory over the Chamberlain-West-Baylor L.A. Lakers.

When Frazier entered the NBA in 1967 few would have predicted that he would have such an epic Finals performance en route to a Hall of Fame career. Frazier’s solid numbers (9.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 4.1 apg) earned him a spot on the All-Rookie Team but he did not take the league by storm. Meanwhile, Baltimore Bullets guard Earl Monroe became an instant star, averaging 24.3 ppg and winning the Rookie of the Year award.

The next season kicked off one of the great rivalries in sports history, marking the first of six straight times that the Knicks met the Bullets in the playoffs. These showdowns featured dueling Hall of Famers at several positions—Reed confronted Wes Unseld in the pivot, Dave DeBusschere wrestled with Gus Johnson at power forward and Frazier tried to contain the wondrous Monroe in the backcourt.

Frazier describes the intensity of the DeBusschere-Johnson matchup: “Dave was a tenacious player, a good rebounder and defender who could also shoot the ball well from the perimeter. I remember vividly those matchups with Gus Johnson, another powerful man--he had an Adonis body, powerfully built. They used to go to war. They asked no quarter and they gave no quarter. After the game I always remember that DeBusschere was sitting over in the corner resting because he had given it all that he had. Most of the time he came out on top. Gus was a very flamboyant player, one of the first ones to break a backboard with his powerful dunks. Their whole team was flamboyant—we had a more stable team and we knew that defense was our catalyst. We knew that if we could stay close to a team we could pull it out down the stretch and most of the time we did.”

Asked who in today’s game plays power forward like DeBusschere or Johnson, Frazier replies, “They were Karl Malone types—dominant low post guys. There are very few of those guys around anymore. They had the omnipotence of a Karl Malone—very powerful inside, rebounding, versatile. I don’t think that they make too many like that anymore.”

While the DeBusschere-Johnson and Reed-Unseld battles often came down to strength and will, the Frazier-Monroe matchup featured contrasting styles--Frazier’s defensive skills and on-court cool versus Monroe’s offensive brilliance and flashy moves. Each player had a great nickname: Frazier was known as Clyde because his wardrobe brought to mind the styles featured in the movie Bonnie and Clyde, while Monroe was called Pearl ever since a newspaper article listed some of his high scoring games in college under the heading "Earl's Pearls."

The Frazier-Monroe rivalry blossomed during the first three playoff encounters between their teams. In 1969, Monroe scored 28.3 ppg versus New York in the playoffs but Frazier hounded him into .386 field goal shooting, a dramatic decline from the Pearl’s .440 accuracy in the regular season. New York swept the Bullets but lost to Boston in the Eastern Finals; the Celtics went on to capture their 11th title in 13 seasons to cap off Bill Russell’s final year.

Baltimore pushed New York to seven games in 1970. Monroe averaged 28.0 ppg, including a 39 point outburst in game one; New York pulled out a 120-117 double overtime win in that contest, keyed by several steals that Frazier made from Monroe down the stretch. Of course, that season culminated in the Knicks’ first championship, forever remembered for Reed’s aforementioned uplifting return to action for game seven after being unable to play in a lopsided game six loss.

The Bullets only won 42 games in 1971, but outlasted the Knicks 93-91 in game seven of the Eastern Finals. The Milwaukee Bucks swept the Bullets in the NBA Finals and only a few months after that the Frazier-Monroe rivalry came to a sudden and shocking end--New York acquired Monroe for Dave Stallworth and Mike Riordan. The pairing of two of the NBA’s top guards in the same backcourt did not immediately garner rave reviews on Broadway. Monroe was hobbled by a heel injury and Reed missed the entire postseason due to a knee problem. The Knicks returned to the NBA Finals, but fell 4-1 to the powerful 69-13 Lakers.

In 1972-73 the “Rolls-Royce” backcourt drove the Knicks to their second championship. Fully healthy and without Frazier hounding him on defense, Monroe shot .526 from the field in the playoffs and ranked second on the Knicks in playoff scoring (16.1 ppg), while Frazier led the team in playoff scoring (21.9 ppg) and assists (6.2 apg). More than 30 years later Frazier vividly recalls going to battle against—and then with—Monroe: “Earl was my biggest nemesis. I used to say, ‘Earl doesn’t know what he’s going to do, so how could I know?’ He was just very creative and would make up shots as he goes. But I loved defense and I relished the opportunity to try to stop him. Playing with him was also very exciting. I think that we were the best backcourt ever. People thought that we wouldn’t be able to play together, that we would need two basketballs, but we proved them wrong because we won a championship together.” Frazier and Monroe were teammates with the Knicks for nearly six full seasons. Monroe actually finished his career in New York, while Frazier spent his last three seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Dee-Fense!”

“Clyde could strip a car while it’s going 40 miles an hour.”—Bill Hosket, reserve forward-center on the Knicks’ 1970 championship team

Frazier authored an all-around game matched by very few guards in pro basketball history, but his impact was particularly felt on the defensive end of the court. During the Knicks’ glory years in the 1970s fans rocked Madison Square Garden with the rhythmic chant “Dee-Fense!” and Frazier often responded with a key steal followed by a timely hoop. He made the All-Defensive First Team in 1969, the first year the NBA selected such a squad, and earned that distinction in each of the next six seasons; among guards only Michael Jordan and Gary Payton have more All-Defensive First Team selections than Frazier. It is unfortunate that the NBA did not officially keep track of steals until 1973-74, Frazier’s seventh season. Frazier ranked eighth that year with 2.01 spg and placed second in 1974-75 with 2.44 spg, but players often have their best seasons in this category early in their careers. We will never have official documentation of how many steals Frazier had during the Knicks’ championship seasons (this also applies to Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, who retired before blocked shots became an officially recorded statistic).

Frazier’s defensive philosophy emphasized quality over quantity in terms of steals. He says, “Everyone has a cadence, a rhythm. Like in life there is a rhythm. The motion of the ocean has a rhythm. So normally if you were right handed, I’d force you to the left. That way I could reach around you. Most of the time a guy is vulnerable going to his weak side and he does not protect the ball like he should. So there is an opening there. During the course of a game I would set a guy up for that. He’s been comfortable with that particular move the entire game and now I go for the steal when it will have an impact on the outcome of the game.” Like a cheetah hiding until just the right moment, Frazier did not pounce until he knew that he could snare his prey.

Frazier notes that defense has changed in the NBA since the 1970s: “The biggest difference is that you can no longer put your hands on guys. When we played you could put your hands on guys and literally push and shove them around. They took that out and it’s much easier today because of that. My biggest adjustment to the NBA as a rookie was adjusting to having someone always pushing me and having their hands on me. That was like carrying an extra five to ten pounds around. The defense then was more physical. With pick and roll plays (then) you had to be very physical to get over the pick. They have actually taken that type of tenacity away from the defense today. You can no longer hand check and do the things that we used to do, especially in the playoffs. That was like Kung Fu fighting; it was just war—very aggressive defense and they let us play that way.”

Frazier says that the hand check was not an important tool in his defensive arsenal: “Most of the guys used it. Almost everybody did it. I didn’t do it because I used deception on defense. I didn’t like guys to know where I was so I never put my hands on them.”

There is a lot of emphasis today on advanced scouting and video preparation for specific opponents, but Frazier did not rely very much on those things during his career and is skeptical of their importance: “I had the focus in my head. If you mention a guy, I could tell you what he was going to do: Oscar Robertson is going to try to take you down low; Jerry West is going to stop and pop; Earl the Pearl is going to shake and bake. Everyone who I guarded I knew what they were going to do. The coach did not have to tell me; I knew. The coach might emphasize certain things that a player likes to do, but from your experience in the league you know what everybody likes to do. (The importance of) scouting is exaggerated. Everyone knows what you are running and they know the names of your plays and everything. It’s all about execution.”

Thriving in Life’s Transition Game

An athlete’s adjustment to life after playing professional sports is often difficult psychologically and financially. Any problems in these areas may be compounded by physical ailments resulting from years of wear and tear. However, several of the players from the Knicks’ championship teams have done well in their post-playing careers—most famously, Bill Bradley became a U.S. Senator and Phil Jackson won nine championships as an NBA coach. Frazier has thrived in life’s transition game. He has several successful businesses, including a bed-and-breakfast in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. In 1996, he founded the Walt Frazier Youth Foundation to help high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds obtain internships and job opportunities. Frazier even co-wrote a book with Alex Sachare, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Basketball.

Frazier provided color commentary on WFAN 660’s radio broadcasts of Knicks games from 1989-1998 before joining MSG Network as a color commentator for the 1998-99 season. He has worked there ever since, dispensing insights with uniquely melodious diction and colorful adjectives. Frazier would never be satisfied using pedestrian words such as good or bad to describe the action on the court—it is either scintillating and sensational or deplorable and disastrous. Frazier studies the dictionary and thesaurus like he used to study opposing players and spices his comments with rhymes and alliteration the way he used to stuff boxscores with points, rebounds, assists and steals.

Business, broadcasting and philanthropy—Frazier is as well rounded in his current endeavors as he was during his Hall of Fame playing career.

Labels: Earl Monroe, New York Knicks, Walt Frazier

posted by David Friedman @ 1:39 AM

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"Black Magic": Must-See TV

ESPN's four hour program "Black Magic" is truly must-see TV. It interweaves the story of the development of the basketball programs at historically black colleges with the Civil Rights' movement's struggles against racism and segregation. NBA stars Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Bob Love, Bob Dandridge and Dick Barnett all played at historically black colleges and they each tell their stories in this show. If you missed the broadcast on Sunday and Monday night then you definitely should try to see it when it is shown on ESPN2 next week. Meanwhile, here is an article that I wrote about the program:

"Black Magic": Must-See TV

Labels: Black Magic, Bob Love, Dick Barnett, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed

posted by David Friedman @ 1:03 AM

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Butler Does it, Washington Improves to 5-4 Without Arenas

Gilbert Arenas is out of action for at least three months due to his two knee surgeries--including a microfracture procedure--but the Washington Wizards are actually playing better without "Agent Zero." Caron Butler scored 29 points on 10-18 field goal shooting as Washington defeated Toronto 101-97; Butler also had seven assists, three rebounds, three steals and no turnovers. The Wizards are now 5-4 this season without Arenas after only going 3-5 while he was in the lineup. Butler is putting up the best numbers of his career by far in all three shooting categories and is scoring a career-best 23.0 ppg. Antawn Jamison also had a big game against Toronto, producing 28 points and 14 rebounds. Jamison shot 11-18 from the field, including nine straight makes after a slow start. Both Butler and Jamison shoot a better percentage from the field than Arenas does, so maybe one thing that we are finding out is that when Arenas returns the Wizards would be better off if "Agent Zero" shot less--particularly the long jumpers that he loves to launch early in the shot clock--and passed more to Butler and Jamison. Butler has blossomed into a multidimensional player who can score inside and out and who also rebounds, defends and passes well.

Last year, Arenas was touted in some quarters as an MVP candidate. If he is truly that valuable then it would be logical to expect that in his absence Butler and Jamison would not only be attracting more defensive attention but that they would also suffer without Arenas' playmaking; that combination of factors should lead to lower shooting percentages for both players. However, Butler has shot 78-143 (.545) from the field in the nine games without Arenas and Jamison has shot 84-66 (.506) from the field in those contests, well above both of their career averages, better than they have ever shot while playing with Arenas and better than every season in their respective careers except one (Jamison shot .535 from the field in 2003-04 while playing for Dallas). One could argue that this is a small sample of games but, at least in terms of this season, it is a balanced sample (eight games with Arenas, nine games without him). It will be interesting to continue to monitor the Wizards' progress as a team as well as the numbers posted by Butler and Jamison.

The Raptors were also missing their most celebrated player and they were obviously affected by the absence of Chris Bosh (who has a strained groin muscle) much more acutely than the Wizards were bothered by the loss of Arenas. Jason Kapono led the Raptors with 23 points and surprising rookie Jamario Moon had a double double (16 points, 13 rebounds) but Andrea Bargnani (four points, 2-13 field goal shooting) had an awful game and Toronto shot just .432 from the field.

At halftime, the Wizards retired Earl Monroe's number 10 jersey. He is just the fourth Wizard/Bullet to have his number retired, joining Gus Johnson, Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld. Monroe, a Hall of Famer and one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players, spent the first four seasons of his career with the franchise, then known as the Baltimore Bullets. He was the 1968 Rookie of the Year and he made the 1969 All-NBA First Team after averaging 25.8 ppg. The Bullets traded Monroe to the New York Knicks in 1971 and he formed the "Rolls Royce" backcourt with fellow Hall of Famer Walt Frazier as the Knicks captured the 1973 NBA title. During this year's All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas, Monroe shared with me his memories of playing against various ABA teams--including Dr. J's New York Nets--in some hotly contested interleague preseason games. The Knicks retired his number 15 jersey in 1986, so Monroe is now just the eleventh NBA player to have his jersey retired by at least two teams. Several of Monroe's contemporaries were on hand for the ceremony, including Mike Davis, Mike Riordan, Archie Clark, Kevin Loughery, Phil Chenier and Wes Unseld. Davis also played briefly in the ABA and I had a chance to speak with him at the ABA Reunion during the 2005 All-Star Weekend in Denver.

During the third quarter, Monroe joined announcers Chenier and Steve Buckhantz at the broadcast table to talk about the ceremony and his great career. Monroe explained how he developed his unique playing style: "It was all trial and error for me because I started at the age of 14. Other guys had been playing (from a younger age). What I did was just go to the playgrounds, try this and try that. If it worked, I kept it; if it didn't work I just discarded it." Monroe was not a high flyer but he mastered the spin move and was able to get a shot off against anybody at any time. Chenier described Monroe's style as "herky jerky" because he always had his defender off balance; it has been said that Monroe himself did not know what he was going to do before he did it so his defender had no way of knowing, either. Chenier said that Jamison uses some Monroe-like moves and he also showed some film clips of Tony Parker and LeBron James utilizing spin moves to good effect but I think that the current player whose game is most reminiscent of Monroe's may be Sam Cassell. Like Monroe, Cassell is not a high flyer but he is a master at getting his defender off balance and figuring out how to get off a good shot in any situation.

Labels: Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Earl Monroe, Gilbert Arenas, Jamario Moon, Jason Kapono, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards

posted by David Friedman @ 12:05 AM

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Potential Pip Comeback Creates Extra Buzz

Scottie Pippen's plans to come back headlined a busy Friday at NBA All-Star Weekend (10/5/15 edit: the link to HoopsHype.com no longer works, so I have posted the original article below):

Will six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen shift the balance of power in the NBA this season? He appears determined to do just that, saying with conviction that he would like to come back for the latter part of this season to play for a team that has a chance to win the title. "I've been thinking about this for the past couple months," Pippen told me at Friday's media availability session for All-Star participants (he is the Bulls legend on that team's entry in Saturday's Shooting Stars competition). "I felt like I could do it all along, even though when I retired I knew that I needed some time away from the game. I knew that my body had been through a lot over 15-16 years and it was time to give my body a break."

He knows that it is not a sure thing that anyone will sign him and he also knows that his body cannot withstand playing more than 15-20 minutes a night. "It's a challenge for me," Pippen added. "I feel that I bring more to the game than just six championship rings. I have the experience and I have the knowledge (to help a team become a champion)." Pippen indicated that there are several teams for which he would consider playing if they are interested in signing him but clearly expressed a preference for joining the Miami Heat. "They have a great center and probably the best player in the game when you look at Dwyane Wade," he explained.

Pippen even said that he would consider playing for Minnesota. That surprised me because Minnesota is not a championship contending team and because Pippen has previously made some harsh--but justified--comments about Kevin Garnett. I asked Pippen if he felt less critical about Garnett’s game now. "I'm not critical of his game. I was just saying that he is a guy who doesn't want to get to the end of his career as just a stat stuffer. His career has had a great start, but it hasn't led him to the pinnacle." Is that Garnett's fault or because his supporting cast has not been good enough? "I think that it is more the fault of who he has been playing with," Pippen added. "He is doing all that he can out there on the basketball court."

Without question, Pippen's most noteworthy statement came just as his media availability period was ending. Someone asked him if he still felt underappreciated as a player. "If you ask people who understand the game, the GMs and the coaches, they'd rather have a Scottie than a Michael," Pippen stated matter of factly. Pressed to explain this remark, he added, "I'm an all-around player. I make the people around me better."

With so much attention focused on various aspects of All-Star Weekend, Pippen's slight dig at Jordan may pass unnoticed but there is in fact some truth to what he said--not so much that GMs would prefer Scottie to Michael but that they would prefer the way that Scottie played. Jordan was a more naturally gifted scorer but as a rebounder, playmaker and defender Pippen did not have to take a back seat to any midsized player--even MJ--and he consistently played, as Larry Brown would say, "the right way," supporting his teammates and trying to get them involved. He never felt the temptation that MJ often did to try to simply shoot his team out of trouble single-handedly.

As for Saturday night's competition, Pippen said that he is relying on Ben Gordon to make the halfcourt shot. I asked Pippen which station he will be at and he said that he will probably shoot the bank shot. That, of course, is largely a lost art in today's game, used only by Tim Duncan and one or two other players.

I also had the opportunity to speak with Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. I asked McGrady why the Rockets seem to struggle so much more without him than they do without Yao. "It's really tough for a big man to carry a team that doesn't have a creator, a go to guy down the stretch of games to take over," McGrady answered. "Big men have to get the ball. It's not fair to Yao to say that he can't really carry a team because he has to get the ball...It all revolves around me. Regardless of how great a big man is, it is still tough for him to carry a team without a creator on the court."

McGrady also revisited a little bit of history concerning his departure from his hometown Orlando Magic. "You guys know the situation (a reference to then-Orlando president John Weisbrod) and why I couldn’t return to that place," McGrady said. "I'd be stupid to sit here and say that I wanted to leave home. I can't believe that people actually believed that I really wanted to leave Orlando. I wasn't in the city and didn't really have a chance to defend myself, but the truth came out and everybody saw what the problem was and that problem is not there anymore."

McGrady expressed skepticism about Pippen's comeback plans. "Scottie really said that? He's joking. I can't even take him seriously," McGrady suggested. "I don't believe it. We'd love to have him back, but I don’t believe it."

When I asked Bryant for his take on Pippen coming back and whether Pippen could help the Lakers, he replied, "He's serious about that? I'm going to have to call him and see what is going on. When he worked out with us in training camp last year he looked like he was in tip top shape--like he never left the game. If he is really serious about coming back, I would love for him to be in the triangle with us. He could help us out tremendously (with) his leadership, his experience, his professionalism and obviously his know-how about executing within the (triangle) system."

I asked O'Neal how he is dealing with making the transition from being someone who dominated night after night to being a player who has to kind of pick and choose his spots in that regard. "The older you get, you start to lose a little bit, especially in terms of your athletic ability. I've had a lot of knick-knack injuries that have slowed me down a little bit. One thing that Mr. (Bill) Russell taught me is that you never lose your mind. When you are playing on a great team, it is all about the one-two punch. When I came to Miami, I said to myself that it would be foolish for me to take 20-30 shots while this youngster that we have here who is full of energy takes 9-10 shots. It would be foolish for me to do that. Let's just change things around and see how it works--and it worked. So Dwyane is going to get the bulk of the shots and I will probably take the second most shots and that's just how it is. That is how it was for every dominant center. Patrick's shots decreased. David's shots decreased. We can win like that; we proved that we can win like that. As long as we keep playing together we can win like that."

I followed up that question by asking O'Neal if it is difficult for him to deal with that aspect of the aging process. "No," he replied. "It's all about winning. You have to put winning first. You just have to know the game and understand that it would be foolish for a 35-year-old to take 20 shots while he's got a young energetic guy just throwing the ball to the 35 year old." O'Neal smiled his trademark wide grin. "It just don't work like that."

Earlier in the day, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame held a press conference at the Lounge in the Palms Hotel. Dick Stockton emceed the event and announced the names of the 15 finalists for enshrinement this year, as chosen by the Hall's four nominating committees (North America, Women's, International and Veterans). NBA fans will recognize the names of Richie Guerin, Adrian Dantley, Pistons owner Bill Davidson, Phil Jackson, Chris Mullin and referee Mendy Rudolph. The 1966 Texas Western team that became the first NCAA basketball champion with an all-black starting lineup could join the small group of teams that have been enshrined.

After the press conference, eight Hall of Famers who attended were available to speak to the media. "When I heard Phil Jackson's name announced (as a Hall of Fame finalist), I reflected right back to when I took a team of (retired) players to China (in 1984)," Earl Monroe told me. "Rick Barry was one of them, plus Cazzie Russell and Connie Hawkins and Pistol Pete Maravich. We had a great bunch of guys together to play against the Chinese national teams. I had to make a decision whether to have Cazzie Russell coach us or Phil Jackson. I decided that Phil would coach us, so I take credit for Phil making it happen (as a championship coach in the NBA)."

Mullin told me that being selected as a finalist made him reflect back on all of the people who helped shape him at key points in his career. I asked him who some of those people are. "Back when I first started playing a guy named Jack Alesi basically taught me from scratch everything that I know," Mullin recalled. "Coach Carnesecca, of course. Bobby Knight in '84 (the Olympics). Then on to the Warriors with Nellie. I played for Chuck Daly in '92. I played for Larry (Brown) at Indiana. The people I have been able to play for and with are just incredible."

The recent history of the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge is that the games tend to be lopsided wins for the Sophomores. Friday's game was emphatically not an exception to that rule, as the second year players routed the rookies 155-114.

After the game, I asked Mike O'Koren, the Wizards assistant coach who coached the Rookie squad, why the sophomores generally have such an easy time in this event. "The Sophomores understand that there is hype involved with this game," O'Koren replied. "Our players got caught up in the hype a little too much. You can only say so much as a Top 50 player (referring to assistant coach Dave Bing) or as an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards. I would think that they will learn from this and they will come back next year and play a lot better and probably win the game."

The New York Knicks' David Lee won MVP honors, scoring 30 points on 14-14 field goal shooting. He also had 11 rebounds and four assists. After the game, I asked him about why the sophomores consistently seem to have such an advantage in this event. "The difference between a rookie and a second-year player is bigger than the difference between a sophomore and a freshman in college," he explained. "You have an extra year of experience and you know the nuances of the game, especially on the defensive end of the court."

Oscar Robertson was the assistant coach for the Sophomore team. "What you saw today are the stars of tomorrow," he said after the game.

"Oscar said it best right before we came out," concluded Sophomore coach Marc Iavaroni. "'Let's make sure we jump on them.' I think that pretty much told the story tonight."

Labels: 2007 NBA All-Star Weekend, Chris Mullin, David Lee, Earl Monroe, Kobe Bryant, Marc Iavaroni, Mike O'Koren, Oscar Robertson, Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O'Neal, Tracy McGrady

posted by David Friedman @ 1:03 PM

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