Rest in Peace, Paul Westphal
Paul Westphal, who was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019, passed away today at the age of 70 after battling brain cancer. Westphal was one of the NBA's top guards in the late 1970s/early 1980s, earning five straight All-Star selections (1977-81). He made the All-NBA Team four times, including three First Team nods (1977, 1979-80). In 1977-78 he finished sixth in the NBA in scoring with a career-high 25.2 ppg average, and he tied for sixth in the regular season MVP voting. Injuries ended Westphal's run as an elite player, limiting him to just 18 games during the 1981-82 season, but he bounced back to win the 1982-83 NBA Comeback Player of the Year award before retiring after the next season.
Westphal won an NBA title in 1974 as a reserve player for the Boston Celtics. The Celtics traded him to the Phoenix Suns for Charlie Scott, and Westphal helped Phoenix reach the 1976 NBA Finals (the Suns lost to the Celtics in a memorable six game series). Westphal became an elite player after joining Phoenix, and he is one of the most significant figures in that franchise's history.
Westphal served as an NBA head coach for a total of 10 years with three different teams, compiling a 318-279 record (.533 winning percentage), and leading the Suns to the 1993 NBA Finals before losing to the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen Chicago Bulls in six games. He also served as an assistant coach with three different NBA teams, most recently with Brooklyn from 2014-16. In between Westphal's stints as an NBA coach, he served as Pepperdine's head coach for five seasons, leading the Waves to one West Coast Conference title.
I interviewed Westphal on October 31, 2007 while covering Dallas' 92-74 win over Cleveland in the season opener. Westphal was an assistant coach for Dallas during that season. I profiled Westphal in a November 2007 article.
During that period, I interviewed many players and coaches, and it is sad that several of them have passed away in the past year, including Westphal, K.C. Jones, Eugene "Goo" Kennedy, Tommy Heinsohn, Mike Gale, and Kobe Bryant. During the past year, the basketball community has also lost some notable figures whom I respected but never had a chance to interview, including William "Bird" Averitt, John Thompson, Wes Unseld, Mike Storen, and David Stern.
Labels: Boston Celtics, Paul Westphal, Phoenix Suns
posted by David Friedman @ 8:56 PM
The Basketball Hall of Fame Welcomes A Diverse Class of 12 Inductees
The 2019 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class includes the first black player drafted by an NBA team (Chuck Cooper of the Boston Celtics), an all-black team that became the first squad to win three straight collegiate national championships (Tennessee A&I, 1957-59), the New York Knicks' first superstar (Carl Braun), the pioneering women's team from Wayland Baptist, two of the greatest defensive players in pro basketball history (Bobby Jones and Sidney Moncrief), the face of the Warriors' franchise for six decades (Al Attles), two prominent NBA All-Stars from the 1970s/1980s (Paul Westphal and Jack Sikma), NBA championship-winning coach Bill Fitch, one of the first European players to make a big impact in the NBA (Vlade Divac) and one of the WNBA's first stars (Teresa Weatherspoon).
Divac gave the first speech during Friday night's induction ceremony. I was struck by the fact that when he first arrived in the United States he did not speak a word of English, but now he gave a wonderful Hall of Fame acceptance speech in that language. Think about that for a moment. Could you move to Serbia in your 20s, qualify for the Hall of Fame in some endeavor and then give your acceptance speech in Serbian? Divac declared, "To me, the game of basketball has always been about love." He also said, "You have to give in order to receive...Basketball is the opposite of selfishness. Basketball is solely about giving and sharing and caring for one another."
Jack Sikma is
one of the few players who has a move named after him. Sikma patented
the inside pivot move that is now referred to by his name. He had
tremendous footwork and smarts. Before the ceremony, Bill Walton said,
"He was a beautiful player" and a "brilliant analyst as to what to do
(and) when (to do it)." In the final three seasons of his career,
Sikma--who up to that point had made seven three point field goals in
the nine years since the league had added the three point arc to the
court--shot 203-618 (.328) on three pointers. His coach, Milwaukee's Del
Harris, was two decades ahead of his time in terms of spacing the court
and having his center shoot from long distance--and Sikma was both talented enough and smart enough to make that late-career addition to his skill set.
Braun, who received the honor posthumously, was known for his two handed set shot that was unorthodox even during his own era. The highlight reel showed that he had many other shots in his repertoire as well, including a running one hander. Braun set the NBA's single game scoring record of 47 points. His daughter Susan accepted the award on his behalf and stated that her father played for the love of the game, and that she can picture him now in heaven with his old teammates taking a brief break to watch the ceremony before going right back to playing the game he loved.
I grew up rooting for Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers. A major contributor to those great teams was
Bobby Jones, who was efficient offensively and tenacious defensively. Jones had asked his Denver Nuggets teammate David Thompson and his former 76ers coach Billy Cunningham to present him but Thompson is ill and Cunningham was unable to attend as a result of Hurricane Dorian. In their places, Jones tapped Erving and Charles Barkley. Jones mentioned that he is happy that the Hall is rewarding defense and he said that he would not have had the career he did without the teachings of his college coach, Dean Smith. Jones thanked all of his teammates and he even thanked the referees, which is likely a first at a Hall of Fame ceremony. I interviewed Jones 14 years ago at the 2005 ABA Reunion in Denver and found him to be every bit as gracious, humble and soft-spoken in person as he has always appeared to be.
Fitch was not able to attend the ceremony but he gave his speech via a pre-recorded video. His name may not be familiar to younger fans, but he lifted the Cleveland Cavaliers from first year expansion team to three straight playoff appearances, then he coached the Boston Celtics to a title in his second year with the team and then he led Houston to the NBA Finals in his third year with that team. Later he led the Nets and then the Clippers to the playoffs in an era when both teams were perennial laughingstocks. He ranks 10th in NBA history with 944 regular season wins.
The accomplishments of Tennessee A&I and their coach John McClendon (who the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame honored as a contributor in 1979 and as a coach in 2016) are remarkable: they won three straight national titles--they are the first basketball team to win back to back national titles in any collegiate division--and they did so while overcoming the blatant racism of the day. They also played a style featuring pressure defense and fast-breaking offense that was far ahead of its time. Dick Barnett, the team's star who later became an NBA All-Star and a two-time NBA champion, narrated the video that placed the team's accomplishments in the historical context of an era that included the brutal murder of Emmett Till, the saga of Rosa Parks and the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education. Barnett began the video by declaring that Coach McClendon "sounded the trumpet that would never call retreat."
Barnett's speech was powerful and gripping on a sweeping historical scale. Teresa Weatherspoon's speech was powerful and captivating in a more personal manner. If you have not seen her speech yet, stop reading for a moment and watch it now:
Teresa Weatherspoon's 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame Speech.
Weatherspoon began by noting that there was "nothing rolling for me" (i.e., she was not using the teleprompter). She spoke of the importance of the history of the game and she became overcome by emotion several times, including when she thanked God for knowing her name and for making it such that her name is remembered. She also was deeply moved when she thanked each of her older brothers and sisters for watching over her while she watched and learned from them. Weatherspoon concluded by telling a story about three frogs trapped in a deep barrel of hot water. The frogs jumped and jumped trying to get out, while the critics outside the barrel told them to stop jumping and accept that there was no way out. First one frog gave up and died, and then a second frog gave up and died. The third frog never gave up and he eventually escaped. What was his secret? He was deaf! Weatherspoon said that she has always been "deaf" to the critics and naysayers who tried to put limits on what she could accomplish. What a wonderful message! I can definitely picture showing this speech to my daughter Rachel when she is a little older.
Younger fans who may be dimly aware of Al Attles as a presence around the Golden State Warriors probably have no idea that he was a player, a championship-winning coach and an executive during his six decades (!) with the franchise. Attles was not big even during his playing days but he was known as the "Destroyer" and everyone around the league knew not to mess with him.
When I was a kid, there was a time that Sidney Moncrief was arguably the second best guard in the league behind only Magic Johnson. Moncrief's Milwaukee Bucks could never get past Boston and Philadelphia to reach the NBA Finals but he was a great player who played on some great teams. Injuries curtailed his prime and shortened his career but when he was healthy and at his peak he wreaked havoc at both ends of the court. Moncrief said, "The game taught me how to prepare for opportunities, how to execute strategies, how to compete unconditionally, and how to adjust when you experience setbacks."
Chuck
Cooper was the first black player drafted by an NBA team, Nat
"Sweetwater" Clifton was the first black player to sign an NBA contract
and Earl Lloyd was the first black player to play in an NBA game. Lloyd
was inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 and Clifton was
inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.
Julius
Erving joined Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor, Tommy Heinsohn, Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Dominique Wilkins, Ray Allen and
Mannie Jackson as presenters for Chuck Cooper. As noted above, Erving (along with
Charles Barkley) also presented Bobby Jones, so this ceremony marked the
14th and 15th times that Erving has been a Basketball Hall of Fame presenter. It was awesome to see such an array of talent from across the generations sharing the stage, but also poignant to look at how the aging process eventually takes its toll even on our sporting heroes.
In addition to Weatherspoon's powerful and inspirational speech, I was most touched by the tributes to Tennessee A&I and Chuck Cooper. I recall the poignant words of Earl Lloyd near the conclusion of the must-see documentary
"Black Magic": "Black folks are the most forgiving and nicest people on this Earth. I
said, 'What could we have possibly done to deserve the kind of treatment
we are getting?' It's a tough question to answer truthfully. One person
said to me, 'Well, the Lord will test you.' I said, 'I understand that
but 200 years is a long time to be tested. I wish somebody would tell me
if I passed or flunked this test.'"
The ceremony closed with a speech by
Paul Westphal, who combined a nice mixture of humor with some very plaintive messages about thanking those who have helped you before it is too late to do so. He wondered aloud if the recently deceased
John Havlicek and
John MacLeod knew how much they had meant to him. Westphal called Havlicek the "best mentor a rookie could ever have." MacLeod was Westphal's coach in Phoenix when Westphal blossomed into a perennial All-Star/All-NBA player.
-----
The diversity of the 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame class is wonderful but for those of us who tend to focus more on the NBA one wonders why certain players, coaches and teams have been honored while others have not been recognized. Some players wait decades before they are inducted, other players who seem to be deserving have yet to be inducted, and then other players are inducted quickly despite not seeming to be inherently more qualified than those who suffered long waits and those who have not been inducted at all.
There are not easy or obvious answers to these questions. A little over a decade ago,
then-NBA Commissioner David Stern described the Hall of Fame selection process as "absolutely unacceptable" and "troublesome." For many years, I loudly and repeatedly chastised the Hall of Fame for ignoring players and coaches who spent the bulk of their careers and/or their best seasons in the ABA.That particular situation did not improve until
after Jerry Colangelo became the Hall of Fame Chairman. Suddenly, doors that had been closed to the ABA for decades opened up and in rapid succession the Hall of Fame welcomed ABA stalwarts
Artis Gilmore (2011),
Mel Daniels (2012),
Roger Brown (2013),
Bobby "Slick" Leonard (2014),
Louie Dampier (2015),
Spencer Haywood (2015),
Zelmo Beaty (2016) and
George McGinnis (2017).
The ABA problem was perhaps simpler to address because it was obvious that a whole group of worthy candidates was being ignored specifically because of their ABA connections. The most glaring omissions have now been rectified and it is further heartening to see a guy like Bobby Jones--a defensive-minded player who began his career in the ABA--get recognized as well.
It is not so simple to figure out why particular individuals have not been inducted decades after their accomplished careers ended. There is not a set of objective criteria signifying what a Hall of Famer is, and the longer that someone is neglected the easier it is to keep neglecting that person in favor of more recently retired players whose accomplishments are better known.
I enjoyed watching the 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony and I learned some things about various inductees that I did not know, but I also feel bad for players like
Bob Dandridge who have seemingly been forgotten. Dandridge was a two-way player who performed a key role for two NBA championship teams (1971 Bucks, 1978 Bullets). Will Dandridge have to wait to be inducted posthumously like Braun was this year and like Roger Brown was in 2013?
Labels: Bobby Jones, Carl Braun, Chuck Cooper, Dick Barnett, Jack Sikma, Julius Erving, Paul Westphal, Sidney Moncrief, Teresa Weatherspoon, Vlade Divac
posted by David Friedman @ 9:01 PM
Reflections on Final Four Weekend
This was an action packed basketball weekend, with the 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame inductees being announced, the NCAA Men's Final Four in full swing, Baylor claiming the 2019 NCAA Women's Championship, and several NBA teams jockeying for playoff position as the season winds down. I will address the NBA playoffs in my annual Playoff Predictions article within the next week, so this article will focus on the Hall of Fame and men's college basketball.
The Hall of Fame's North American Committee chose Bill Fitch (coach),
Bobby Jones (player), Sidney Moncrief (player),
Jack Sikma (player),
Paul Westphal (player) and the Tennesee A&I teams of 1957-59 (
the first collegiate team in any division to win consecutive titles). The Women's Committee selected Teresa Weatherspoon (player). Al Attles was selected as a contributor and Chuck Cooper (player) was chosen by the Early African American Pioneers Committee. The International Committee tapped Vlade Divac (player), the Veterans Committee chose Carl Braun (player) and the Women's Veterans Committee selected the Wayland Baptist University Teams of 1948-82.
NBA commentators and fans often get upset about the Hall of Fame induction process, and wonder why non-NBA players/teams that they have never heard of get selected while some prominent NBA All-Stars are left out. The Hall of Fame voting is far from perfect, and I have lobbied successfully (along with others) for the long-overdue inclusion of neglected ABA players and coaches such as
Artis Gilmore,
Mel Daniels,
Roger Brown and
Slick Leonard.
It also must be remembered that the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is not an NBA Hall of Fame or even a pro basketball Hall of Fame; it is designed and intended to honor people and teams from all levels of the game, as one can see from looking at the various committee names listed above. So, for example,
Bobby Dandridge and Chris Webber were not beaten out by Vlade Divac, and no one is necessarily saying that Divac was a better player than those guys; Divac was the one international player selected this year, and he was being compared with other international players. Dandridge and Webber must pass muster with the North American Committee or, failing that, at some point with the Veterans Committee (I am not sure what time frame the Veterans Committee looks at; Webber surely would not yet be eligible but I don't know where Dandridge fits in that regard).
As indicated by the links above, I interviewed and then wrote articles about Jones, Sikma and Westphal. Jones was the ultimate glue guy, a selfless two-way player who was the premier defensive forward of his era plus an efficient scorer. He did not post dominant scoring numbers but he was a key member of winning teams in Denver and Philadelphia, including the
1983 Philadelphia squad that is on the short list for consideration as the greatest single season team of all-time. The inside pivot move is often called the Sikma move because Sikma was such a master at it. He was a very durable and dependable two-way player who helped Seattle advance to three straight Western Conference Finals while capturing a championship during the middle year of that run (1979). Westphal was a dynamic scorer who was one of the top two or three guards in the NBA in the mid to late 1970s.
I have not yet interviewed Sidney Moncrief, but I included him in my
2007 article about 10 NBA All-Stars who made comebacks after retiring, describing him as follows: "Few people seem to remember how great Moncrief was during his 10-year
career with the Milwaukee Bucks, when he won consecutive Defensive
Player of the Year Awards (1983 and 1984) and made the All-NBA First or
Second Team five times. Chronic injuries dogged him during his final
three seasons and he retired in 1989. After a year off, he felt well
enough to return to the court. Moncrief's 72 games played in 1990-91
were his most since he appeared in 73 contests in 1985-86 but he put up
career-lows across the board and called it quits for good."
Regarding Chuck Cooper, he helped to break the NBA's color line and he should have been inducted a long time ago, although one could argue that he should be inducted as a contributor more so than as a player; Cooper made a great, historic contribution to the league but he was not necessarily a great player, even if one accepts the premise that his career might have been longer and more distinguished in a less prejudiced era.
As for the Final Four, the Virginia-Auburn and Texas Tech-Michigan State games were long on drama but short on good basketball, as has increasingly become the case in college basketball; the sport has been hopelessly watered down by the parade of elite players to the NBA after just one or two collegiate seasons. Few colleges are able to develop and nurture players/teams, and they are instead annually throwing squads together on the fly, which is readily apparent to even a casual viewer.
Imagine the outcry that would take place if NBA teams struggled to shoot .400 from the field and scored less than two points per minute during the playoffs. I have compared the NBA game to the NCAA game in several articles--including
March Madness, Part III--so I will not belabor points that I have made before, but consider some of the numbers from the two Final Four games. In Virginia's 63-62 win over Auburn, the Cavaliers needed a missed double dribble call and three late free throws to sneak by a team that shot just .382 from the field. During one extended stretch, both teams not only failed to score but they failed to fire a shot that even hit the rim! You cannot make a convincing argument that this is the result of great defense; while both teams are good defensive squads, both teams are also apparently incapable of running an offense that generates open shots that their players are capable of consistently making. Saturday night's second game was even worse, as Texas Tech and Michigan State each struggled to score more than 20 points in the first half. Texas Tech pulled away in the second half to capture a 61-51 victory but, again, this looked much more like mediocre offense than great defense. What happened to moving without the ball, crisp passing, and forcing the defense to react/concede? If the best college-age players were not already in the NBA, none of these schools would have made it to the Final Four, or at least they would not have made it there with these rosters.
The biggest college basketball story of the year was the emergence of Zion Williamson but, as we have seen so often in recent seasons, teams that rely heavily on freshmen are far from locks to win the championship. Williamson will likely take his talents to the NBA next season, but it will probably be at least a couple years until we see his game fully blossom on that level; instead of watching his game mature in college, the NCAA loses its most high profile talent, while the NBA gets a player who probably is not quite ready to be a superstar. I am not sure what the answer is, but the current system is less than ideal for both the NCAA and the NBA, at least in terms of putting the best basketball product on the floor (both leagues are making money hand over fist, so they may disagree with my assessment that the current system is less than ideal).
I will be watching the Virginia-Texas Tech NCAA Championship Game on Monday night--I have watched every NCAA Championship Game for the better part of the past three decades--and I hope to see a contest that is not only dramatic but that is also played at a high level at both ends of the court. I am hopeful but not optimistic (and since I have a 50% chance of being right, I will go on the record to pick Texas Tech to win).
Labels: Basketball Hall of Fame, Bobby Jones, Jack Sikma, NCAA Tournament, Paul Westphal, Sidney Moncrief
posted by David Friedman @ 3:15 AM
Wayback Machine, Part VIII: The 1982 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball
The front cover photo of the 1982
Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball depicted the NBA's best early-1980's rivalry--not Larry Bird versus Magic Johnson (which peaked from 1984-87 when Johnson's L.A. Lakers won two out of three NBA Finals showdowns with Bird's Boston Celtics, capped by the Lakers'
1987 victory that prompted Bird to call Johnson "The best I've ever seen") but rather
Julius Erving versus Larry Bird. Erving's Philadelphia 76ers beat Bird's Celtics 4-1 in the 1980 Eastern Conference Finals and took a 3-1 lead in the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals before losing three straight games, capped by a 91-90 game seven defeat in the Boston Garden. The back cover photo showed Houston's Moses Malone authoritatively pulling down a one-handed rebound against the Celtics, who defeated Malone's Rockets 4-2 in the 1981 NBA Finals.
The 1982
CHPB contained 319 pages, a 16 page reduction from the 1981
CHPB. In addition to 23 team profiles, the
CHPB included lists of the 1981 NBA statistical leaders, a complete schedule, a list of all-time NBA records, a list of all 223 players selected in the 1981 NBA Draft and a "TV/Radio roundup." Bob Ryan, the long-time
Boston Globe writer who is probably better known to younger readers as an ESPN personality, contributed a feature story titled "The Championship Flight of Boston's Rare Bird." Ira Berkow, who shared the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, wrote "Isiah Thomas' Giant Step to the Pros" and Barry Bloom described "The Resurrection of Bernard King."
Steve Hershey and George White co-wrote the "Inside the NBA" preview, predicting that the Philadelphia 76ers would defeat the San Antonio Spurs in the 1982 NBA Finals. Most of the article dealt with the biggest NBA news of the offseason: the beginning of the era of "free agency without compensation." Previously, if a free agent signed with a different team then his new team had to compensate his old team and if the two teams could not agree on the proper compensation then the NBA Commissioner would make the decision for them. For instance, Houston signed Golden State's free agent forward Rick Barry prior to the 1978-79 season and Commissioner Larry O'Brien sent Rockets point guard John Lucas to the Warriors as compensation after the two teams could not come to terms. Hershey and White speculated that the new form of free agency could lead to the rich getting richer because wealthy owners who thought that they were one player away from winning a championship might spend wildly to get that player--but Hershey and White concluded that in the short run the balance of power would likely not tilt and thus they selected perennial contender Philadelphia to finally win the championship in Erving's sixth season with the team.
Erving and the 76ers lived up to part of the
CHPB's prediction--making it to the Finals for the second time in three years (and the third time in Erving's NBA career)--but they ran into one of the most underrated teams in pro basketball history: the L.A. Lakers featured Magic Johnson nearly averaging a triple double for the season (18.6 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 9.5 apg), a 34 year old but still highly productive Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (23.9 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.7 bpg), All-Star guard Norm Nixon and future Hall of Famer Jamaal Wilkes. The Lakers were so talented and so deep that former MVP/future Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo and future Defensive Player of the Year Michael Cooper both came off of the bench. By the time the 76ers met the Lakers in the Finals, the Lakers had won 11 games in a row--including 4-0 playoff sweeps of the Suns and the Spurs--and had not lost a game in six weeks. The 76ers took a 61-50 halftime lead in game one and then watched helplessly as the Showtime Lakers blew their doors off in the third quarter with a 19-2 run. The 76ers won game two at home but the Lakers captured three of the next four--with each victory coming by double digit margins--to take their second title in three seasons.
Here are some interesting notes, quotes and quips from the 1982
CHPB:
1) Ryan painted a detailed portrait of the young Larry Bird, though Ryan's prose drifted a bit toward hagiography--most notably when he lauded Bird as "far better than average" on defense even though the Celtics routinely assigned Bird to check the least dangerous opposing frontcourt player regardless of position; Bird was a savvy team defender and an outstanding defensive rebounder but he was a below average one on one defender who rarely guarded top notch scorers. Ryan asserted that in just his second season Bird had already proved "If he's not the finest all-around player in the game, then surely he must be the standard of comparison."
Though Ryan made it sound like Bird was flawless, Bird shot just .419 from the field in the 1981 NBA Finals even though he rarely launched from long distance (Bird connected on one of his two three point field goal attempts during the six game series win over the Houston Rockets). Cedric Maxwell's clutch play--he led the Celtics in scoring with a 17.7 ppg average against Houston--earned him Finals MVP honors, while Bird's major contribution came on the boards (15.3 rpg), where he nearly battled perennial rebounding champion Moses Malone to a draw (Malone hauled in a series-high 16.3 rpg).
Many fans, especially those who are too young to remember Bird's entire career, think of him as a three point shooter and deft passer but Bird
started out as a rugged rebounder who did a lot of work in the trenches. While he shot .406 from three point range as a rookie in 1979-80--the
first year that the NBA used the three point shot--Bird shot .286 or worse from behind the arc in each of the next four seasons and he did
not average more than six apg until 1983-84, the first of his three straight MVP seasons.
2) Berkow began his Isiah Thomas article--reprinted from the
New York Times--with the now-familiar story of how Thomas' mother used sharp words and a shotgun to fend off local Chicago gangs who tried to recruit Isiah and his brothers. Berkow described how Thomas improved his grades during his high school
years so that he could earn a basketball scholarship as a ticket out of the Chicago ghettos. Thomas went to Indiana University with the goal of becoming a lawyer and helping members of his community who could not afford proper legal representation but he left school early because playing pro basketball enabled him to provide financial security for his family. Berkow's story ended with Thomas leading the Indiana Hoosiers to the second of Coach
Bob Knight's three NCAA titles.
After that victory, Thomas turned pro and was drafted by the moribund Detroit Pistons, a team that posted just 16 wins in 1979-80 and 21 wins in 1980-81. Who could have imagined that just seven years later this undersized point guard (listed at 6-1 but probably closer to 5-11 or 6-0 at the most) would help the Pistons replace Bird's Celtics as the best team in the East en route to winning back to back championships versus Johnson's Lakers? Casual fans do not understand or appreciate just how rare and difficult it is for a short player to dominate pro basketball at a championship level. Thomas' Detroit Coach Chuck Daly once said that if Thomas had been 6-6 he would have been the greatest player ever; there is a bit of hyperbole in that statement and a bit of bias in favor of the best player Daly ever coached but there is also a kernel of truth in the sentiment. Thomas achieved so much but his size placed certain irrevocable limitations on him; Thomas refused to admit that while he played but after he retired he stood next to Bird and Johnson at some function and mentioned that for the first time it had dawned on him just how much they both towered over him (Bird and Johnson are each 6-9) and how remarkable it was that he went toe to toe with them for so many years.
3) Many NBA fans know that Bernard King became the first player to make the All-Star team after blowing out his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) but that was actually King's second comeback. Prior to that, King overcame drug and alcohol addiction, as Bloom explained: "Adversity and courage. They have become a way of life for Bernard King...since January, 1980, King has been engaged in the fight of his life--a fight not only against alcoholism, but a fight to clear his name of a once-reckless reputation." After averaging 24.2 ppg as a rookie for the Nets in 1977-78 and then scoring 21.6 ppg for the Nets in 1978-79, King slumped to just 9.3 ppg in only 19 games for the Utah Jazz in 1979-80. King averaged 21.9 ppg for the Golden State Warriors in 1980-81, winning the NBA's first Comeback Player of the Year award. King did not make the All-Star team in 1981 but he won Player of the Week honors in the first week of January after shooting 59-72 (.819) from the field and then he earned January's Player of the Month Award after averaging 27.4 ppg in 13 games while shooting 141-194 (.727) from the field.
King averaged 23.2 ppg for the Warriors in 1981-82, finally earning his first All-Star selection and also making the All-NBA Second Team for the first time. He signed a free agent deal with the New York Knicks after that season and the Warriors exercised their right of first refusal before agreeing to trade King for Micheal Ray Richardson. King made the All-NBA First Team in 1984 and 1985--and was selected as the 1984 MVP by the league's players in a
Sporting News poll, though King finished second to Bird in the official MVP balloting conducted by media members--but his devastating ACL injury in early 1985 robbed him of his explosiveness and cost him nearly two full seasons. King returned to action late in the 1986-87 season and he ranked third in the league in scoring in 1990-91, earning his fourth and final All-Star selection.
4) John Drew was a big-time scorer in the 1970s and early 1980s, averaging at least 20 ppg for four straight seasons and for five seasons in a six season stretch. However, Drew's
CHPB profile noted that his game was a bit one dimensional: "Retained his spot on the All-Non-Passing team with a mere 79 assists...Went to the Larry Kenon school of defense and was saved his usual embarrassment in the playoffs when the Hawks failed to qualify."
5) Bird's
CHPB profile began with these words: "Belongs in a higher league...Absolutely the best all-around player in the universe. Could carry the Celtics on a dynasty trip." Despite that lofty praise, a good case could be made that--contrary to the way things were reported by many media outlets at the time--Bird never equaled or surpassed Magic Johnson: Johnson beat Bird head to head in the 1979 NCAA Championship Game, Johnson won Finals MVP honors as a rookie--guiding the Lakers to victory over a Philadelphia team that routed Bird's Celtics 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals--and Johnson ultimately topped Bird five to three in NBA championships, including the league's first back to back titles since Bill Russell retired. Ironically, by the time that Johnson finally received his due vis a vis Bird a new star eclipsed both of them: Michael Jordan won the much heralded MJ versus MJ showdown in the 1991 Finals, bested Johnson's repeat accomplishment by leading the Bulls to a three-peat and then came out of retirement to win a second three-peat.
If the 76ers had not blown a 3-1 lead in the 1981 Eastern Conference Finals and/or if Maxwell had not come through in the 1981 NBA Finals then the media likely could not have continued to portray Bird as the game's best all-around player--that just would not have sounded right if Bird was the only player in the Abdul-Jabbar-Johnson-Erving early 1980's pantheon who had not won a championship ring (if Erving's 76ers had not collapsed in the Eastern Conference Finals they would have presumably beaten the Rockets in the 1981 Finals). The elephant in the room is that, for many fans and media members, Larry Bird was the Great White Hope in a league that was widely perceived to be "too Black." Bird was indisputably a great player but at times--particularly early in his career--the media got more than a little carried away in terms of lauding him at the expense of Johnson; for instance, Johnson was killed in the press for supposedly getting Coach Paul Westhead fired in 1981 and for playing poorly in the Lakers' 1984 Finals loss but Bird largely escaped scrutiny for his subpar play when the Milwaukee Bucks swept the Celtics in the 1983 Eastern Conference semifinals and for having any role in Coach Bill Fitch's resignation after that season. The two coaching situations were different and I am not saying that Johnson was blameless and/or that Bird deserved blame; the point is that during that era the media seemed to quickly jump to negative conclusions about Johnson while giving Bird the benefit of the doubt.
6) Earlier editions of the
CHPB did not speak highly of Robert Parish but his 1982 profile noted that Parish "Made the difference" for the Celtics because he "Supplied the shot-blocking and intimidating defense the team lacked."
7) Rookie Kevin McHale averaged 10.0 ppg and blocked 151 shots. His profile contained this colorful description of his physique: "Chicken-breasted and his waist seems to start above his often beer-filled stomach but can run the court with anyone." Boston's Bird-Parish-Maxwell starting frontcourt had proved formidable, prompting this rhetorical question about McHale: "When will he ever start?" McHale won the Sixth Man Award in 1984 and 1985 before becoming a full-time starter in 1986 and an All-NBA First Team member in 1987.
8) George McGinnis shared ABA MVP honors with Julius Erving in 1975 but by 1982 McGinnis' career was just about over, as his
CHPB profile noted: "What a waste...Has all the tools, but keeps leaving them on the work bench...Now in the twilight of an outstanding career, which just never seemed to completely satisfy anyone...Genuine nice guy."
9) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was often unappreciated during his career and he is arguably the most underrated great player of all-time; his name rarely if ever comes up in the ubiquitous greatest player of all-time conversations but he should be on the short list in any such discussion. His profile contained this lament from the man who would become the sport's all-time scoring leader: "There's a certain 'otherness' about me that makes it hard for me. I'm not a mainstream type of person." Julius Erving has often called Abdul-Jabbar the greatest player he played against and that is understandable considering that Abdul-Jabbar is the major reason that Erving's 76ers did not win the 1980 and 1982 NBA titles (Magic Johnson performed at an outstanding level in both series but Abdul-Jabbar presented an unsolvable matchup problem for the 76ers until they acquired Moses Malone).
10) As memories of Erving's ABA heroics faded and as young stars emerged, the dominant media theme about Erving's career focused not on how much he had accomplished but rather on the one goal he had not achieved: winning an NBA title to go along with his two ABA titles. Erving's profile declared, "Another magnificent effort wasted...The Good Doctor plays nothing but top stakes now...Anything short of a world championship is a disappointment...Averaged 24.7 in seven game playoff against Milwaukee and 19.9 against Boston, when he finally wore down chasing Larry Bird...Will be 32 before playoffs start again and must be wondering if he'll ever collect an NBA championship to go along with his MVP trophy...Decision to have him face guard Bird for last five games of Celtics' series cost him some offensive effectiveness, but he accepted the task without a question...Still king of the one-on-one."
It is interesting to note that Erving "wore down" during the 1981 playoffs guarding the younger and bigger Bird while the Celtics usually assigned Maxwell or McHale to check Erving so that Bird could defend Caldwell Jones or whichever Philadelphia player was the least likely to get the ball. Magic Johnson was never as praised for his defense as Bird--who somehow made the All-Defensive Second Team twice--but one of the key adjustments of the 1982 Finals saw the Lakers switch Johnson on to Erving to keep Erving off of the offensive boards after Erving hurt the Lakers in that area earlier in the series. Johnson, who was roughly the same size as Bird--two to three inches taller than Erving and at least 15 pounds heavier--could not stop Erving from scoring but he did limit Erving's offensive rebounding.
11) Four-time All-Star Doug Collins played in just 12 games for Philadelphia during the 1981 season and he missed the entire playoffs: "Still wants to try...Trouble is, there's no room at the inn...Would make somebody a fine coach...Has missed 240 games in his eight year career and has endured enough punishment...When he was healthy, he was one of the best." Collins retired prior to the 1981-82 season and got his first NBA head coaching job five years later, mentoring a young Michael Jordan. Collins is still coaching in the league now, so that
CHPB blurb proved to be prophetic.
12) Dudley Bradley's profile started with something that sounded like a Zen koan: "If he could shoot, he'd make the All-Defensive Team...Stop and think about it. He's one of the best defensive guards but his lack of offense keeps him in a reserve role...Fifth in the league in steals." What is even more confusing about that quote is that Bradley actually made the All-Defensive Team in 1981 despite only averaging 22.8 mpg for the Indiana Pacers! Bradley never became a good shooter but he hit one of the most unlikely three pointers in NBA history--a game-winner for Washington versus Philadelphia in the first game of the first round of the 1986 playoffs, capping a miraculous 18-0 run in the final four minutes. Bradley shot just 17-68 (.250) from three point range that season and he shot just 5-22 (.227) from three point range during his entire postseason career but he banked in a turnaround jumper from several feet behind the three point arc as time expired to stun the 76ers in Philadelphia. The 76ers eventually won the series three games to two.
13) Before Freeman Williams played Duck Johnson in "White Men Can't Jump" he was a two-time NCAA scoring champion--averaging 38.8 ppg as a junior in 1976-77 and 35.9 ppg as a senior in 1977-78 at Portland State--and he still ranks second on the NCAA's career scoring list behind Pete Maravich. Williams could score at the NBA level, too: "Could find the basket if you buried it five miles under the most remote peak in the Alps...Clipper Coach Paul Silas calls him 'one of the easiest scorers I've ever seen.'...Despite his gunner reputation, he does make an effort on defense." Williams led the Clippers in scoring in 1980-81 (19.3 ppg) despite playing just 24.1 mpg as a reserve.
14) Paul Westphal spent three seasons as a reserve player in Boston before being traded to the Phoenix Suns and blossoming into one of the league's premier guards--a five-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA selection--but by 1982 his health and skills had declined dramatically, leading to this poignant question at the start of his
CHPB profile: "What happened en route to the Hall of Fame?...Wanted to leave Phoenix, where he was as much a part of the landscape as a gila monster, got his wish and was traded to Seattle. After playing just 36 games, he suffered his second foot stress fracture of the season and became a permanent spectator. Was forced to spend the next 30 weeks on electromagnetic therapy." Westphal's career lasted just three more seasons, two in New York followed by a swan song in Phoenix. He is not a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
James Harden is trying to navigate a Westphal-like path from the bench to perennial All-Star status; Harden made the All-Star team this season but it will be interesting to see if he can maintain his productivity and his health for the duration of his max level contract.
Wayback Machine, Part I looked at the 1975 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball
Wayback Machine, Part II looked at the 1976 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball
Wayback Machine, Part III looked at the 1977 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball
Wayback Machine, Part IV looked at the 1978 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball
Wayback Machine, Part V looked at the 1979 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball
Wayback Machine, Part VI looked at the 1980 Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball
Wayback Machine, Part VII looked at the 1981 Complete Handbook of Pro BasketballLabels: Bernard King, Bob Ryan, Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball, Freeman Williams, Ira Berkow, Isiah Thomas, James Harden, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Paul Westphal, Zander Hollander
posted by David Friedman @ 4:58 AM
The NBA in the 1970s: The Greatest Game Ever Played
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 eighth 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 Greatest Game Ever Played
The NBA-ABA rivalry heated up during the 1975 offseason. The Kentucky Colonels, a powerful squad coached by
Hubie Brown and built around the talents of
Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel and Louie Dampier, won the 1975 ABA championship. Knicks' legend DeBusschere, newly selected as the ABA commissioner, promptly challenged the NBA to permit the Warriors to play the Colonels in a best of three series but the established league refused. Meanwhile, the Knicks signed ABA co-MVP George McGinnis to a contract, blatantly disregarding the fact that the Sixers' owned his NBA draft rights. NBA Commissioner Larry O'Brien voided the Knicks' deal with the superstar forward, fined the team and took away a draft choice. McGinnis signed with the Sixers shortly thereafter.
The ABA scored a major victory when the Denver Nuggets agreed to terms with David Thompson and Marvin Webster, the first and third picks in the 1975 NBA draft. Thompson went on to capture ABA Rookie of the Year honors; Alvan Adams, the NBA Rookie of the Year, began his acceptance speech humorously by thanking Thompson for not signing with an NBA team. Of course, this was no laughing matter for NBA owners; top level talent was signing with the ABA regularly and the competition between the leagues for these players continued to push salaries higher.
The Lakers pulled off the blockbuster deal of the summer, acquiring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from the Bucks in exchange for Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers, Elmore Smith and Brian Winters. In his first year with the Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar won his only rebounding crown (16.9 rebounds per game) and the fourth of his record six regular season MVPs. The Lakers improved by 10 wins, but their 40-42 record did not qualify them for postseason play. Meanwhile, the Bucks matched their 1974-1975 win total (38) but incredibly moved from last place to first as the other three teams in the Midwest Division plummeted in the standings. Rick Barry's Warriors, no longer upstarts, won the Pacific Division with the best record in the league, 59-23. Seattle, Phoenix and Detroit claimed the other Western Conference playoff spots.
Boston finished with the best record in the East for the fifth straight season, 54-28. The surprising 49-33 Cleveland Cavaliers earned the franchise's first playoff appearance, winning the Central Division by one game over the Bullets. Seven Cavs averaged at least 10 points per game, led by center Jim Chones (15.8 points per game) and small forward Campy Russell (15.0 points per game). Bob McAdoo won his third straight scoring title (31.1 points per game) for the 46-36 Braves, while McGinnis (23.0 points per game) and guard Doug Collins (20.8 points per game) led the Sixers to an identical record. The two evenly matched Atlantic Division rivals faced off in the first round, with the Braves winning game three 124-123 in overtime at Philadelphia. In the Eastern Conference Semifinals Boston knocked off Buffalo in six games, while the Cavaliers won an action packed seven game series versus the Bullets. Unfortunately for the Cavs, Chones broke his foot and was not available for the Eastern Finals versus the Celtics, who defeated the Cavs in six games to earn their second NBA Finals berth in three years.
The Bucks had the worst record of the five Western playoff teams and did not receive a bye even though they won the Midwest Division. The Pistons beat them in three games, taking the final contest 107-104 in Milwaukee. Detroit took home court advantage from the Warriors with a 123-111 game two win but Golden State closed out the series in six games, winning the last one 118-116 in overtime. Phoenix beat Seattle in six games but entered the Western Finals as decided underdogs. Their prospects looked even grimmer after the Warriors blew them out 128-103 in game one, but the resilient Suns seized home court advantage with a 108-101 win in game two. The teams traded wins after that, culminating in a 94-86 Suns' victory in game seven at Golden State.
Boston-Phoenix looked like a decisive mismatch on paper.
Paul Westphal, the Suns' leading scorer (20.5 points per game), had been a bench player with the Celtics until they traded him and two draft picks to Phoenix for Charlie Scott. Center Alvan Adams, Rookie of the Year and the Suns' second leading scorer (19.0 points per game), did not figure to have an easy series against a team that placed its entire starting frontcourt--Dave Cowens, John Havlicek, and Paul Silas--on the 1976 All-Defensive First Team. However, Phoenix proved to be surprisingly tough, bouncing back after two losses in Boston to tie the series after four games.
The pivotal game five encounter became a triple overtime thriller that is still considered by many to be the greatest basketball game ever played, filled with exciting plays, comebacks and numerous twists and turns. At the end of the second overtime the Suns trailed by one and were set to inbound the ball from their own backcourt with one second left. Westphal, showing the strategic wiles that later made him a successful Suns coach, urged Coach John MacLeod to call a time-out, even though Phoenix had used up all of their time-outs. The Suns were assessed a technical foul and Jo Jo White made the free throw. Westphal knew that after the stoppage of play for the free throw the Suns would be allowed to advance the ball to half court for the inbounds play as if a legitimate time-out had been called (a rule later changed as a result of this game). Gar Heard made a sensational shot to send the game into a third overtime. In the third extra period, the clock struck midnight for the Cinderella Suns, as Celtics' reserve Glenn McDonald made several clutch plays to seal a 128-126 win for Boston; he was only in the game because Silas had fouled out.
The Celtics wrapped up the title in game six. White scored 15 points and led Boston with 21.7 points per game in the series, earning the Finals MVP. Cowens and Silas combined for 31 points and 30 rebounds in game six, while Scott totaled 25 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Scott, a much maligned player during his stints with Phoenix and Virginia, also scored 31 points with eight assists and two steals in the final playoff game versus the Braves and put up 20 points in the last game against the Cavs.
Labels: Boston Celtics, Jo Jo White, John Havlicek, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Paul Westphal, Phoenix Suns
posted by David Friedman @ 2:43 AM
NBA Legends Pay Dues Again
The April 9 edition of
USA Today contained an interesting article by Chris Colston titled
"NBA Legends Pay Dues Again." According to Colston's research, out of 148 assistant coaches in the NBA there are 55 who played in the NBA and/or ABA, 13 of whom made the All-Star team at least once. Six of those players are Hall of Famers (counting Adrian Dantley, who will be enshrined with this year's class) and three of them were selected to the
NBA's 50 Greatest Players List.
Looking at Colston's list, I realized that I have interviewed two of the three Top 50 players, four of the six Hall of Famers and nine of the 13 All-Stars. Here are links to some of the stories that I have done that feature quotes from All-Stars who have become coaches:
Dropping Knowledge--Mark Aguirre, New York assistant coach
Cowens Helped Restore Celtics Pride--Dave Cowens, Detroit assistant coach
A True Basketball Artist--Alex English, Toronto assistant coach
From "Hoya Destroya" to Yao's Mentor--Patrick Ewing, Orlando assistant coach (Ewing worked for Houston at the time this article was published)
The Legacy of the ABA--Maurice Lucas, Portland assistant coach (this article is not specifically about Lucas but it contains a quote from him about his ABA teammate Artis Gilmore)
The Numbers Don't Lie--Bob McAdoo, Miami assistant coach
James Silas: "Captain Late" Commanded Respect in the Clutch (Part II)--Doug Moe, Denver assistant coach (this article is not about Moe but it includes his memories about coaching Silas and coaching against Silas)
Dependable and Durable--Jack Sikma, Houston assistant coach
Celtic Sub Shined Brightly as a Sun--Paul Westphal, Dallas assistant coach
Labels: Alex English, Bob McAdoo, Dave Cowens, Doug Moe, Jack Sikma, Mark Aguirre, Maurice Lucas, Patrick Ewing, Paul Westphal
posted by David Friedman @ 8:20 AM
Paul Westphal: Celtic Sub Shined Brightly as a Sun
Paul Westphal spent three seasons as a reserve for the Boston Celtics before they traded him to Phoenix for All-Star Charlie Scott in 1975. Westphal quickly emerged as one of the NBA's top guards, making the All-Star team for five straight seasons and earning a spot on the All-NBA team four times. That deal helped both teams make it to the 1976 NBA Finals, where the Celtics triumphed in six games to capture their second title of the post-Bill Russell era. Westphal's quick thinking almost helped the Suns to win the pivotal game five; the Suns seemed to be in a hopeless situation near the end of the second overtime, down one point with one second left and no timeouts but Westphal suggested to Coach John MacLeod that they call a timeout anyway. Under the rules at that time, the Celtics would be awarded one technical free throw but the Suns could then advance the ball to midcourt, giving them a better chance to hit a shot--which is exactly what happened. That story has been recounted many times, including in my
profile of MacLeod, but I always wondered how Westphal had the poise and awareness to think of that tactic during such a pressure-packed situation. I asked him that exact question and you can learn the answer--and the complete story of his great career--by reading my article about him (10/4/15 edit: the link to HoopsHype.com no longer works, so I have posted the original article below, along with some bonus material that did not appear in the original article):
Paul Westphal averaged 16.3 ppg in 1970-71 for a USC team that finished 24-2. "I remember the first game that we played against UCLA that year," Westphal says. "We were 16-0 and they had just lost at Notre Dame and
Austin Carr (who scored 48 points for the Fighting Irish in an 89-82 victory). That was their only loss of the season. It was No. 1 versus No. 2 not only in L.A. but in the country, on national TV. Unfortunately for us, they won that game and then beat us again later in the year. We felt that we had--we couldn't say that we had the best team in the country because we lost to them twice-- clearly the second best team but we were all dressed up with nowhere to go. We knew the rules going in and if we wanted to play in the NCAA Tournament we should have won one more game."
USC was not eligible for the NCAA Tournament because each conference could only send one team (after a great Maryland team was similarly excluded in 1974 this rule was finally changed).
The Boston Celtics selected Westphal with the 10th overall pick in the 1972 draft. He joined a powerful team that would go on to win 68 games that season and may very well have won the championship if not for a shoulder injury suffered by John Havlicek during the playoffs. Jo Jo White and Don Chaney received most of the backcourt minutes, which did not leave much time for Westphal, who averaged 4.1 ppg in 8.0 mpg.
In 1973-74, the Celtics enjoyed less regular season success--winning 56 games--but won their first championship of the post-Bill Russell era. Westphal scored 7.2 ppg in 14.2 mpg. He was one of just seven Celtics who played in all 18 of the team's playoff games but he logged the fewest minutes by far of those players.
Westphal increased his regular season averages to 9.8 ppg in 19.3 mpg in 1974-75 as the Celtics won 60 games before losing to the Washington Bullets in the Eastern Conference finals. Perhaps he would have eventually become an All-Star in Boston but fate intervened when the Celtics sent Westphal (and a couple draft picks) to the Suns in exchange for All-Star Charlie Scott, a proven veteran who won the 1972 ABA scoring title before jumping to the NBA.
Scott averaged 17.6 ppg for the Celtics, who won 54 games in 1975-76 and made it to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years--but Phoenix also profited from the deal because Westphal averaged a team-high 20.5 ppg as The Little Team That Could (to borrow the title of Joe Gilmartin's book about the 1976 Suns) went 42-40 but made an improbable run to the Finals, defeating the 1975 champion Golden State Warriors along the way--a story that I previously told in
The Man Behind the Suns' Rise. "It was really special to go back into the Boston Garden and play against my old teammates," Westphal says. "It was something that I will never forget...I probably was not as intimidated as I would have been going into the Boston Garden in the playoffs for the first time (as an opponent); having been there on the other side I knew a little bit more what to expect."
The veteran Celtics eventually prevailed in six games. The lasting memory from that series is the epic Game Five, a 128-126 triple overtime victory for Boston. Westphal famously helped Phoenix extend the game by taking advantage of a loophole in the rules. In the second overtime, Phoenix trailed 111-110 with just one second left and no timeouts. Westphal suggested to coach John MacLeod that the Suns call a timeout anyway; the Celtics would be awarded one technical foul free throw but Phoenix could advance the ball to midcourt instead of inbounding from the far baseline. White sank the free throw but Gar Heard made a jumper at the buzzer to send the game into a third extra session. "Really, I just stole that from John McKay and USC football," Westphal explains. "They used to call timeouts when they didn't have any because it was only a five yard penalty and they could stop the clock when they were trying to come back at the end of games. To me, it was just something that translated to another sport. It was what people did when the situation was desperate."
Anyone who watched Game Five will never forget Westphal's unique 360 degree layup, a move that he executed successfully more than once in crucial situations. The 6-4 Westphal had an uncanny ability to improvise ways to get off a shot in a crowd. "I just played around with all kinds of trick shots in my backyard." Westphal says. "It wasn't something that I ever planned on using but if that was the only way to get the shot off and the clock was running down then I would pull something out from deep in my past. It wasn't really something that was planned. I think that experimentation is probably good. You never plan on going in and doing something like a 360 but the more body control you can have, if it comes out at the right time it might bail you out sometime. Dirk Nowitzki does that all the time; he practices wrong-footed shots and off balance shots. Pete Maravich used the same principle with all his ballhandling drills--all kinds of things that you would never do in a game but they do give you more confidence and can pull you out of a jam once in a while."
Westphal emerged not only as an All-Star but also as a First Team All-NBA player in 1976-77, averaging 21.3 ppg (17th in the NBA) and 5.7 apg (ninth in the NBA). He made the All-Star team each of the next four seasons and earned three more All-NBA selections (Second Team in 1977-78, First Team in 1978-79 and 1979-80). The one-time seventh man of the Celtics was now one of the very best players in the entire league. He and 1978 Rookie of the Year Walter Davis formed one of the top duos in the NBA in the late 1970s. "Walter Davis was one of the greatest shooters of all-time," Westphal says. "His shot was perfect. Whenever Walter hit the rim or missed, usually Coach MacLeod would take him out because he figured he must be tired."
In 1978, Westphal ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring (25.2 ppg) and tenth in assists (5.5 apg), while Davis finished ninth in scoring (24.2 ppg). They were the second highest scoring tandem in the league, finishing just behind Pete Maravich (27.0 ppg) and his New Orleans Jazz teammate Truck Robinson (22.7 ppg)--but what Westphal and Davis accomplished is more impressive when you consider three things: they played in 80 and 81 games respectively (Maravich missed 32 games due to injury, which provided more scoring opportunities for Robinson), they shot .516 and .526 from the field respectively (Maravich and Robinson each shot .444 from the field) and they only averaged about 31 mpg each while Maravich and Robinson each averaged more than 40 mpg. On a per minute basis, Westphal outscored George Gervin, who won the first of his four scoring titles.
Westphal does not lament the lost opportunity to possibly duel Gervin for the scoring crown. "I could do the math and realize that it was pretty unusual to score that many points in so few minutes," Westphal says. "My whole career I was never motivated by trying to see how many points I could score. The whole thing was to try to do whatever you could to help your team win. A record that is achieved for the sake of setting a record doesn't mean that much anyway. So to just rack up points or play in the last minutes when the game is decided doesn’t have that much meaning, really. I certainly wouldn't have minded playing more and I think that Walter felt the same way but the coach decided that he was going to parcel out the minutes that way, to have the bench play a third of the game and the starters play two thirds of the game."
The Suns were a perennial contender during those years but they never made it back to the NBA Finals. "One reason would be Bill Walton and another reason would be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Magic Johnson," Westphal says. "The other teams got better. I think that the present is always where it's at in the NBA. We had a good young team and we were knocking on the door those other years but sometimes it's an injury, sometimes another team gets loaded up, sometimes you just don't perform as well. Whatever it is, you can never take success for granted."
In 1979 and 1980 the Suns lost in the playoffs to the eventual NBA champions.
After the 1979-80 season, the Suns traded Westphal to Seattle for Dennis Johnson, the 1979 Finals MVP and one of the top defensive guards in the NBA. Westphal got off to a good start in Seattle, earning his fifth (and final) All-Star selection before a broken foot ended his season. In 1982, he signed with the New York Knicks as a veteran free agent. Westphal won the Comeback Player of the Year award after the 1982-83 season, but he never completely regained his old form. Westphal spent the final season of his career, 1983-84, as a reserve for the Suns. While his glory days as a Phoenix player were long gone, he would again become the toast of the town just a few years later. "I always wanted to coach," Westphal says. "I went to college and figured that after I graduated I'd be a high school coach someplace. Since I was able to keep playing, I just postponed that but I always wanted to coach."
John MacLeod set a good example for Westphal to follow. "I think that John Macleod was an excellent NBA coach," Westphal says. "He had longevity in Phoenix especially and he coached a few other stops as well, mainly because of his professionalism. He loved the game and he loved to see the game played right. I think that more than anything John's consistency and his professionalism are things that anybody should try to emulate."
Westphal spent three seasons as an assistant coach at the collegiate level and four seasons as a Suns' assistant before being hired as the team’s head coach prior to the 1992-93 season. That was the year that the Suns acquired Charles Barkley in a blockbuster trade with Philadelphia. Barkley stormed to the 1993 MVP while leading the Suns to the best record in the league, 62-20. The Suns made it to the Finals for the first time since Westphal and company lost to the Celtics in 1976 but they fell in six games to the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen Chicago Bulls. Westphal guided the Suns to the conference semifinals in 1994 and 1995 but was replaced in 1996 after the Suns dropped to fifth place in the Pacific Division.
Westphal later became the coach of another of his former teams, Seattle. He led the Sonics to a 25-25 record in the lockout-shortened 1999 season and to a playoff appearance in 2000 before being replaced early in the 2000-01 season. After that, he spent four seasons as the head coach at Pepperdine, compiling a 69-52 record. Prior to this season, Westphal joined Avery Johnson's Dallas Mavericks coaching staff.
********************************
Here are a couple bonus quotes from the Suns' All-NBA guard:
***"My favorite player was Elgin Baylor. A lot of people thought that it was Jerry West because I grew up in L.A. watching those guys. I loved Jerry West, too, and I look more like Jerry West but I tried to play like Elgin Baylor. I wish they had better film that they could show from back then. He had amazing body control. He really learned the art of what Chick Hearn called 'hanging in the air.' He could go up and contort his body and change the arc of his shot, change the release point, and really make some spectacular plays."
***"I think that John Havlicek probably was the best two way player that I recall from my era. I played against Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain at the end of their careers and I played against Michael Jordan (in a scrimmage between NBA stars and the 1984 Olympic team) at the beginning of his career--and I played against Oscar Robertson--but the guy who was in his prime who I thought was the best all around player was John Havlicek. I thought that Norm Van Lier was the toughest guy who ever guarded me. There were a lot of players who were tough for me to guard but I think that because of his quickness I had the least chance to have any success at all against Nate Archibald."
Labels: Boston Celtics, Charlie Scott, Dallas Mavericks, Dennis Johnson, John MacLeod, New York Knicks, Paul Westphal, Phoenix Suns, Walter Davis
posted by David Friedman @ 2:37 PM
The Man Behind the Suns' Rise
John MacLeod lifted the Suns from expansion team status all the way to the 1976 NBA Finals. Although he never made it back to the Finals, his tenure in Phoenix consisted of much more than that one playoff run; he helped build the Suns into perennial Western Conference contenders. Later, he coached the Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference Finals, that team's best playoff performance until Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas to the 2006 NBA Finals. MacLeod coached several All-NBA and All-Star performers but you may be surprised to learn who he says "had the softest shot of anybody I've ever seen." You can read all about his career in my newest article for HoopsHype.com (10/4/15 edit: the link to HoopsHype.com no longer works, so I have posted the original article below):
When John MacLeod became the Phoenix Suns' coach in 1973, the team had just finished its fifth season and he had no NBA experience. MacLeod had spent the previous six years leading Oklahoma to a 90-69 record and two NIT appearances--a very good run at a school that has always been known primarily for its football program. MacLeod's success caught the eye of Phoenix general manager Jerry Colangelo, who had gone through five different coaches--including two interim stints himself--in the team's brief NBA existence.
The Suns showed little improvement in MacLeod's first two years, but everything came together in 1975-76. The 1976 Suns were led by guard Paul Westphal (20.5 ppg) and center Alvan Adams (19.0 ppg), who won Rookie of the Year honors and was the first rookie to play in the All-Star Game since Sidney Wicks in 1972.
The Suns started the season 14-9 but went through a 4-18 stretch that put their playoff chances in serious jeopardy. Phoenix then traded forward John Shumate to Buffalo for forward Garfield Heard. Shumate had been a productive player but things just clicked for the Suns after Heard joined the team; they went 24-13 the rest of the way, finishing with a 42-40 record and beating out the Lakers for the last playoff spot by just two games.
Phoenix advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they faced the defending champion Golden State Warriors, owners of the league's best record, 59-23. Rick Barry, the 1975 Finals MVP, scored 38 points in game one as the Warriors destroyed the Suns 128-103 but Phoenix grabbed home-court advantage with a 108-101 game two victory despite Barry's 44 points. After that, the teams traded wins, with Golden State enjoying home-court advantage for game seven--but Barry inexplicably scored just six points in the last 34 minutes of the game and Phoenix won 94-86 to advance to the Finals for the first time in franchise history.
In the Finals, the upstart Suns faced the heavily favored Boston Celtics, the 1974 champions. Powered by Dave Cowens' triple double (25 points, 21 rebounds, 10 assists), Boston captured Game One 98-87. The Celtics led by as many as 28 in game two before settling for a 105-90 win. When the series shifted to Phoenix, the Suns won two close games, setting the stage for what would later be called "The Greatest Game Ever Played."
Thanks to ESPN Classic and NBA TV, just about every basketball fan has seen Game Five of the 1976 NBA Finals and heard Brent Musburger's enthusiastic descriptions of the triple overtime contest that contained so many dramatic moments. "I remember walking out on to the floor of the Boston Garden at 9 pm on a Friday night," says MacLeod. "There was no air conditioning, it was hot and there was already a lot of Boston spirit in there because instead of going home (from work) people went right to the taverns and had a couple beers and then came to watch the game."
Phoenix trailed 32-12 in the first quarter and 42-20 in the second quarter but the Suns battled back to get within 94-89 with 56 seconds left in regulation. Ex-Celtic Westphal scored five straight points in the next 17 seconds and each team added one more free throw to send the game into overtime knotted at 95-95. The first overtime ended in a 101-101 tie and then the teams battled through a tightly contested second overtime until Phoenix forward Curtis Perry hit a jumper with five seconds left to put the Suns up 110-109. John Havlicek, despite being hobbled by a plantar fascia injury, countered with a runner to give Boston a 111-110 lead. Initially the clock ran out after Havlicek's shot but the referees determined that there should still be one second left.
The Suns were out of timeouts but Westphal cagily reminded MacLeod that if the Suns called a timeout anyway that Boston would shoot one technical free throw and Phoenix would then be permitted to advance the ball to the frontcourt for the inbounds pass (that rule was later changed as a result of this game). After Jo Jo White made the free throw the Suns inbounded the ball to Heard, whose jumper beat the clock and sent the game into a third overtime.
Fatigue and foul trouble had taken their toll on both teams' starters by this point and little used reserve Glenn McDonald proved to be the Celtics' hero, scoring six points in a little over a minute late in the third overtime to give the Celtics just enough of a cushion to escape with a 128-126 victory. "It was a fantastic game with great shots, great defense. Just a game that people who attended will never forget and a game that people who watched on TV will always remember where they were when everything took place," MacLeod says.
Game Six, played less than 36 hours after game five ended, proved to be an anti-climactic matchup of two mentally and physically drained teams. Boston prevailed 87-80, which at that time tied for the second fewest points scored in a Finals game since the introduction of the 24-second shot clock. "We weren't expected to be there; we came out of a situation where we had a lot of players injured early in the year but all of a sudden we perked up," MacLeod says of that magical season. "It was a great run--something I’ll never forget."
Injuries caused the Suns to drop to 34-48 and miss the 1977 playoffs but the team bounced back to post a 49-33 record in 1977-78. Westphal averaged 25.2 ppg and he received a lot of help from 1978 Rookie of the Year Walter Davis (24.2 ppg); both players made the All-NBA Second Team as the Suns emerged as one of the highest scoring teams in the NBA (112.3 ppg, fifth out of 22 teams). The Milwaukee Bucks defeated them 2-0 in the first round of the playoffs.
"Walter Davis was a special, special player," MacLeod says. "He was one of the most unbelievable pressure players that I've ever been around. He loved to practice and he loved to play. When we had a late game situation it was going to be either Walter or Paul, but for the most part it was going to be Walter because he was uncanny. Pressure did not bother him. He never got rattled. He made a ton of game-winning shots for us. He had great speed. He could go from the top of the key at one end of the floor to the top of the key at the other end of the floor full bore and then pull up and the end result would be a soft, feathery jump shot. He was a great shooter."
The Suns ranked second in the league in scoring (115.4 ppg) and went 50-32 in 1978-79 as Westphal (24.0 ppg) made the All-NBA First Team and Davis (23.6 ppg) made the All-NBA Second Team. Phoenix beat Portland 2-1 in the first round and then smashed the Kansas City Kings 4-1 to reach the Western Conference Finals, where they faced Seattle, the defending conference champions. The Suns lost the first two games in Seattle but rallied to take the next three contests. Seattle escaped with a 106-105 game six victory in Phoenix and then rode outstanding performances by Jack Sikma (33 points, 11 rebounds), Gus Williams (29 points) and Dennis Johnson (28 points) to a 114-110 game seven win.
Phoenix improved to 55-27 in 1979-80 but dropped to third in the Pacific Division standings behind Seattle and the resurgent Lakers, who paired rookie Magic Johnson with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Phoenix beat Kansas City 2-1 in the first round but lost 4-1 to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. That series was actually a little closer than the final margin suggests, as the first two games in L.A. each went to overtime before the Lakers prevailed. After that, a close road win gave L.A. a 3-0 lead.
Prior to the 1980-81 season, the Suns traded Westphal to Seattle for defensive stopper (and 1979 Finals MVP) Dennis Johnson. The Suns still scored a lot (110.0 ppg) but the addition of Johnson helped them improve to third in points allowed (104.5 ppg). Phoenix set a franchise record for wins for the fourth straight season, going 57-25 to win the Pacific Division with the best record in the Western Conference. Magic Johnson missed more than half the season with a knee injury and his Lakers were bounced out in the first round but the Suns failed to take advantage of this, falling behind 3-1 in the conference semifinals against the 40-42 Kansas City Kings. The Suns forced a game seven in Phoenix but the Kings prevailed 95-88 behind 23 points each from Ernie Grunfeld and Reggie King.
Magic Johnson returned to health in 1981-82 and Walter Davis missed 27 games due to injuries, so the Suns fell back to third in the Pacific (46-36). They beat Denver 2-1 in the first round before being swept 4-0 by the Lakers.
In 1982-83 the Suns went 53-29 but Denver knocked them off 2-1 in the first round. The Suns dropped to 41-41 in 1983-84 but defeated Portland and Utah to advance to the Western Conference Finals. There they faced the powerful Lakers, who promptly took a 2-0 lead before eliminating the Suns in six games.
Injuries decimated the Suns in the next couple seasons and Davis spent a couple stints in drug rehabilitation programs. MacLeod was fired during the 1986-87 season when the Suns were 22-34.
Next season he became Dallas' head coach, leading the Mavericks to 53 wins in 1987-88. Dallas beat Houston 3-1 in the first round, a series capped off in game four when Mavericks forward Mark Aguirre scored 27 points in one quarter. "Mark Aguirre was undersized for a 'four' but we played him at the 'three' a lot," MacLeod explains. "He had the softest shot of anybody I've ever seen and that was how he got it off over taller defenders. He'd get the ball on the rim and instead of bouncing out it would kind of roll around like it was massaging the rim and then it would go in. Mark was a tremendous offensive player. He had a complete offensive game. He was a passer. He was a power player inside who could play against bigger people and he also had the ability to drive the ball to the basket."
The Mavericks defeated Denver 4-2 to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history, where they faced MacLeod's old nemesis from his Phoenix days: the L.A. Lakers. Dallas battled very gamely against the defending champion Lakers but the home team won every game in the series, with the Lakers wrapping up matters with a 117-102 game seven victory. Dallas started 9-3 in 1988-89 but injuries and Roy Tarpley's indefinite suspension from the NBA for drug use sent the team reeling. Dallas traded Aguirre to Detroit for Adrian Dantley midway through the season; Aguirre helped the Pistons to win their first championship, while Dantley initially refused to report to Dallas. Not surprisingly, Dallas’ record plummeted and MacLeod was fired early in the 1989-90 season.
MacLeod had a brief run as the New York Knicks' coach, leading the team to the 1991 playoffs, before being replaced by Pat Riley. He coached at Notre Dame from 1991-99, winning Big East Coach of the Year honors for the 1996-97 season. Since then, he has been an assistant coach in Phoenix, Denver and most recently in Golden State, where he served under Mike Montgomery before Don Nelson took over as head coach.
Labels: Dallas Mavericks, John MacLeod, Mark Aguirre, Paul Westphal, Phoenix Suns, Walter Davis
posted by David Friedman @ 6:56 PM
