Andrew Glover-CBS Sports: NFL 1976-NFC Final-Los Angeles Rams @ Minnesota Vikings: 3rd Quarter

This post was originally posted at The New Democrat Plus

1976 was probably the Rams best opportunity to beat the Vikings in the NFC Final. This was an aging Vikings team that no longer had that dominant defense that they had before, with all of their great defenders in their early or mid thirties and even older than that. The Rams were still a fairly young, but veteran team, that Chuck Knox put together in Los Angeles. That had probably one of the top four defenses in the NFL, that also had one of the better running games in the NFL as well.

But Chuck Knox was called Ground Chuck for a great reason. He ran the ball probably 35-40 times a game and at least sixty-percent of the time, or more. And didn’t utilize his other weapons on offense in the passing game. And unless you’re blowing away the defense consistently in the running game and getting big plays from that and big runs and scoring touchdowns, which the Rams didn’t do much in this game, you’re going to struggle against tough defenses. That the Vikings still had in 76, that also were good and balanced on offense.

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Fatal Ish: Video: CBS Sports: NBA 1978-Los Angeles Lakers @ Washington Wizards: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Highlights

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This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on WordPress

Interesting video about Kareem, considering that the Bullets won this game and the Lakers lost. But the person who did the video decides to show Kareem’s highlights in this game. But again in this video, you see how great a player that Kareem was. Not just as a scorer in the post, but the great defensive player and rebounder that he was. And how big, tall and strong that he was. Where you got a tank in Bullets center Wes Unseld, who was built like a defensive lineman. And yet Kareem was consistently getting great position against Big Wes in the post.

This game is one of those deals that the other team’s great player can have a big game. As long as we win the game and Kareem’s teammates aren’t killing us as well. What you see here is the Bullets without a traditional center anyway. The Bullets tallest player at least in their starting lineup was Elvin Hays. A 6’9 strong power forward, but a power forward and someone who didn’t play center as their first position. But would play center to give Wes Unseld a break. Unseld was the Bullets center and a great defender, rebounder and passer, but he was 6’6 maybe 6’7. Sort of like the Charles Barkley of the center position size wise. And Kareem could easily shoot over both Bullets big men.

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The Celebrated Misterk: Video: CBS Sports: NFL 1978-NFL Today-Halftime Highlights-10/22/1978

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This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on Blogger

1978 was one of the best NFL seasons of all time, and I believe the National Football League was at its best with rule changes as they relate to blocking and pass defending to equalize the defense and offense so neither side of the ball has an unfair advantage, with blockers now being able to extend their arms to block, which is critical when you are trying to block a 265-270 pound muscle man who probably runs a 4.7 forty. Now the OL has a fair shot at blocking a big man like that based on the rules: the coverage rules on defense, with defensive backs no longer being able to manhandle receivers at the line of scrimmage but at least run their routes even if they are not opened and completely covered.

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CBS Sports: NBA 1975- Washington Wizards @ Buffalo Braves: Bob McAdoo’s 50 Points

Source:CBS Sports– the Wizards and Braves in the 1975 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Source:The New Democrat

“Bob McAdoo puts up one of the best playoffs scoring performances ever. He scores 50 points, despite the fact that the Bullets have a four defender rotation on Big Mac. McAdoo also crashed the boards as he had 10 in the 3rd quarter, I don’t know how much he could have had for the whole game. A well-deserved standing ovation from the noisy Buffalo crowd, an out-of-his-mind Oscar Robertson screaming while announcing the game and the series tied at 2-2 after McAdoo’s career game. April 18, 1975.”

From Lamar Matic

Anytime there’s a choice between having the player who scored the most points in a game and the team that scored the most points in a game, especially a playoff game, I would always take the team.

When one player scores fifty points and his team loses, it generally means he was doing most of the scoring for his team in that game. And that his teammates weren’t doing much damage to the other team. Classic example of Michael Jordan vs. the Boston Celtics in the 1986 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, where he scored sixty points in back-to-back games, but the Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls in both games and beat them badly.

That is how you defended Bob McAdoo when he was with the Buffalo Braves. You guarded him tough and you tried to stop him. But not to the point where it would free up other Braves to beat you with open shots and layups.

Now it so happens that the Braves won this game and Big Bob was able to put the Braves on his back. But the Bullets won this series, because they had a better team, even if the Braves had the better player in the series.

Good teams, or in the Bullets case very good teams, if not great teams, generally beat teams that have a great player, if that player doesn’t have a very good supporting cast around him.

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The NBA History: NBA 1979-Christmas Day-Philadelphia 76ers @ New York Knicks: Highlights

Source:The NBA History– The 76ers and Knicks from 1978.

“Dr. J, Henry Bibby, ”Jellybean” Bryant and Doug Collins took the floor against Earl ”The Pearl” and the Knicks.”

From The NBA History

You can also see this post on Blogger.

Philadelphia-New York, is a great rivalry in any sport. Eagles-Giants in the NFL, which is probably the best one. Flyers-Rangers, in the NHL, Phillies-Mets in MLB and yes the 76ers-Knicks in the NBA. Which today is not nearly the rivalry it was twenty-five or thirty years ago. But it was a big deal in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

But now both franchises, especially in the 76ers case, haven’t been very good for a long time. The 76ers, have only been to the Conference Finals twice since winning their last NBA Finals in 1983. And the Knicks have struggled just to make the Eastern Conference Playoffs for the last ten years or so.

As far as this game, the 76ers were still one of the best teams in the NBA at this point. They lost in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1978 and got to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 1979.

Dr. J Julius Erving, certainly the best forward in basketball at this point and arguably the best all around player in the NBA as well at this point. Trying to lead the 76ers under head coach Billy Cunningham back to the NBA Finals. This was a bit of a homecoming for The Doctor who played for the Nets on Long Island. And the fact that he now played for the 76ers in this game was on Christmas Day, 1978 and they Sixers won big, made this game much more special.

What is also interesting about this game, is that Bob McAdoo, one of the top power forwards in the NBA in the 1970s was playing for the Knicks in this game. That were a pretty bad team in the late 70s. After leaving Buffalo in like 1976, he ends up playing for like three teams in four years. Here’s one of the best players in the NBA at this point getting shipped around from bad team to bad team in the late 70s. Before finally finding a home where he could finish his career with in Los Angeles with the Lakers in 1982.

There was a lot of talent on both teams in this game, especially for the 76ers, but they were clearly the better team.

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CBS Sports: NCAA Basketball 1982- Final Four Semifinal- Georgetown Hoyas vs Louisville Cardinals: Full Game

Source:Justin Bowen– Louisville & Georgetown in 1982 

“Louisville vs Georgetown 1982 NCAA Final Four (FULL GAME)”

Source:Justin Bowen

Hoyas head coach John Thompson’s first trip to the final four and they beat the 1980 national champion Louisville Cardinals. When you look at this game you see a lot of NBA talent in it. Including Hall of Famer Pat Ewing and Eric Floyd for the Hoyas. The Louisville Cardinals had Rodney McCray, who had a very solid career and was a key role player for the Houston Rockets on their 1986 NBA Finals team. Derek Smith, a very talented guard/forward, but dealt with leg injuries his whole NBA career. Which limited his time and production.

The two head coaches with Denny Crum for the Cardinals and John Thompson for the Hoyas, are both in the Hall of Fame. The Cardinals won the National Championship just two years earlier. The 1980s was a great decade for them and they would win the championship again in 1986. The Hoyas played in three Finals Fours in the 1980s and won the championship in 1984. This was a matchup between two of the top basketball programs and head coaches in the 1980s. And was a great game as a result.

You can also see this post on Blogger.

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CBS Sports: NBA 1978- Eastern Conference Finals Game 1: Washington Bullets @ Philadelphia 76ers: Elvin Hayes Highlights

Source:CBS Sports– Bullets backup center Mitch Kupchak.

“Elvin Hayes – 1978 ECF Gm 1 – (28pts 18reb 6blk 4stl) vs. 76ers”

From Basketball Composition

This was back when the Bullets and 76ers were pretty good rivals. Because both teams were always in contention for the Eastern Conference championship and NBA Finals. But this rivalry was all but gone by the late 1980s when the Bullets became perennial losers.

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CBS Sports: Moses Malone Feature With Washington Wizards (1987)

Source:CBS Sports– interviewing Wizards center Moses Malone in 1987.
“Interview with Moses Malone mid-season after trade to Washington Bullets.”

“Interview with Moses Malone mid-season after trade to Washington Bullets.”

From NBA Trades

The worst move that Harald Katz ever made running the Philadelphia 76ers (and there might be a David Letterman top 10 list of bad moves that he made running the 76ers) was trading Moses Malone to the Wizards. They were called the Washington Bullets back then, but trading Moses and not getting anything in return with Jeff Ruland who had a bad leg before that trade told 76ers fans and perhaps the rest of the NBA that the 76ers were not only no longer NBA Finals contenders, but they weren’t interested in being contenders. Especially with 1987 being Julius Erving’s last season.

A healthy Moses Malone with the 76ers in 87 and finishing his career there with Charles Barkley and you add a small forward to come after Dr. J and the 76ers would have remained not just a playoff team in the late 1980s and 1990s, but they would have remained a contender for the NBA Finals.

The 76ers after trading Moses have never been the same since. They were a solid playoff team in 1989, 1990 and 1991, but the fell back and missed the playoffs in 92 and then make another trade with Charles Barkley and were essentially a last place team for the rest of the 1990s.

And after two great seasons personally that Moses had for the Wizards in 87 and 88, the Wizards make a bad move themselves by not resigning Moses who was 33 at that point and probably had another 3-5 good years left in him. But that’s on Abe Pollin who at least in the 1980s was only interested in making the NBA Playoffs and putting enough people in the seats at the Capital Centre to make a profit for his team.

The Wizards keep Moses to go along with Jeff Malone and a young and very talented, but undisciplined player in John Williams, Bernard King would have still been there and Wizards would have at least remained a consistent playoff team in the 1990s.

I’ve never figured out how come Moses played for six NBA teams. I mean he is one of the top 4-5 NBA centers of all-time. Maybe only Wilt Chamberlain was a better rebounding center than Moses. Arguably the best center of the 1980s. Certainly in the Eastern Conference and you could argue about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or Moses for the NBA as a whole. And yet the team he played the most games with was the Houston Rockets which was for six seasons. Even though he’s known as the great low-post player both offensively and defensively and the great rebounder and for bringing another NBA championship to the 76ers.

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CBS Sports: CB Big East 1985- St. John’s Red Storm @ Georgetown Hoyas: Full Game

Source:CBS Sports– at this point, probably the two best teams in all of college basketball.

“NCAA College Basketball Capital Centre

Chris Mullin Walter Berry Mark Jackson Patrick Ewing Reggie Williams David Wingate.”

From Natshuck 44

The Big East was like the NFC East in the NFL in the mid 1980s with all the great rivalries. A Redmen-Hoyas game back then was like a Giants-Redskins game from the NFC East in the NFL, with the Redmen representing New York and the Hoyas representing Washington.

You know the St. John’s Redmen and Georgetown Hoyas not only don’t like each other, but probably hate each other to the point that they want to beat the hell out of each other every time they played and when they lost to the other club, it was a shattering experience for them that could effect the rest of their season.

What made the Big East not just a great basketball conference in the 1980s, but perhaps the best conference in all of NCAA basketball, was of course the great head coaches and the great players who went on to have great NBA careers, like Chris Mullin, Pat Ewing, and many others. But they had the best rivalries and perhaps the best fans as well. And a lot of these programs represented great, big cities and markets, like Washington, Philadelphia, New York, Boston.  So the fans would always be there because of how big their market was, but also because of how great the teams were as well.

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