Basketball from a fan’s perspective
The greatest upset in
NCAA Championship history
With nothing to do I
am watching the replay of the 1985 NCAA Championship. CBS Sports Network ran the game on Saturday,
this might have been one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history. Georgetown was coming off their 1984 NCAA
Championship, this team might have been better than the prior year’s team. Georgetown was looking toward back to back
championship seasons, only Villanova
stood in the doorway.
Georgetown brought a
sparkling 35-2 record into the game Villanova’s was 24-10. Patrick Ewing, Reggie Williams and David
Wingate from Georgetown would go on to NBA careers as did Ed Pinckney and
Harold Pressley for Villanova. This game
was played prior to the implementation of the shot clock, Villanova led at the
half 29-28. If we checked the box score alone,
we could conclude Georgetown was the winner, they shot .547 from the floor as a
team.
The rebound totals
were close, but Georgetown won that battle as they out rebounded Villanova 17-14. We offer proof why numbers can sometimes be
deceiving. Villanova shot a blistering
.786 from the floor along with an .815 from the line. The final score read Villanova 66 Georgetown
64 in one of the most thrilling NCAA Championship games in history. Was Georgetown’s legendary John Thompson
outcoached by Rollie Massimino? We can
only speculate; Georgetown was a heavy favorite leading up to the
game.
Speaking of NCAA
Championships
1974 would prove to
be an eventful year for UCLA basketball, up to that point they had won 7 consecutive
NCAA Championships dating back to the Lew Alcindor teams. 1974 would change all that, January 19, 1974
the Bruins lost to Notre Dame 71-70.
This was more than a single game loss it ended a winning streak. UCLA had won 88-consecutive games until that afternoon.
UCLA would lose in
the semi-finals to NC State 80-77, the Wolfpack of NC State would defeat
Marquette 76-64 to win the championship.
As you can see 1974 proved quite epic for UCLA basketball. The school won another championship under
John Wooden in 1975 but their dominance in college basketball ended in 1974. UCLA won the 1995 championship the last time
to date the Bruins have won.
The Kings
In the same manner
of Kareem Abdul Jabbar there are Kings players who are all-time greats in more
than one city. As example the Big O, Oscar Robertson spent his greatest years
as a member of the Cincinnati Royals, predecessors of today’s Kings franchise. We
could make the same statement regarding the late Maurice Stokes who also
spent his career in Cincinnati. Another Kings great who never played in Sacramento,
Nate “Tiny” Archibald. This trio leads our list of all-time great Royals/Kings
players.
Chris Webber
Oscar Robertson
Nate Archibald
Mitch Richmond
Maurice Stokes
Honorable Mention
might include
Sam Lacey
Scott Wedman
Jack Twyman
Otis Birdsong
Free agency
Trades continue now
and into the NBA’s future, they are impacted by free agency. The ability of
talent to move throughout the league has witnessed fewer “blockbuster” trades. Fansided.com
profiled the Top 12 trades in Laker history arranging them in order of value returned.
Kobe Bryant was number 3 and Magic Johnson number 1 on their list. Kobe Bryant
was just 17-years old at the time Jerry West brought him to Los Angeles to run
him through drills. West must have been thoroughly impressed but probably
believed the Lakers would have no opportunity to draft Kobe based on their
draft position.
Keep in mind Kobe had
just graduated from Lower Merion High School in metro Philadelphia. With the 13th
pick in the 1996 NBA draft the Hornets chose Kobe
Bryant and
immediately traded his draft rights to the Lakers. The trade was made with the
Hornets receiving the starting Laker center Vlade Divac, the rest of the story
lies in Laker history. As for Magic Johnson the trade to the Lakers did not
directly involve him as with Kobe. “The Lakers had acquired a first-round pick
in the 1979 NBA draft from New Orleans when the Jazz signed Gail
Goodrich as a free agent before the 1976-77 season. That pick turned out
to be the No. 1 overall selection when the Jazz finished with the league's
worst record in 1978-79.” *
This was prior to
the days of the lottery so despite their impressive regular season record the
Lakers had the number one pick in the 1979 draft which became Magic Johnson,
Michigan State. Fansided listed the trade allowing the Lakers to draft James
Worthy as number 2 in the team’s history. It is difficult to determine an order
since James Worthy, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem, and Magic are in the Hall of Fame
and Kobe will soon join them. There are other Lakers who missed the cut
although they certainly aided the franchise to continue its winning tradition
then and into the future.
*Wikipedia
