10.26.2012

1977 Finals -- How Teamwork Prevails over a Team of Stars

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I remember when the Sixers paired Doc Erving with George McGinnis. They were hailed as the greatest forward duo in NBA history, even before they played one game together. Throw in Chocolate Thunder (Darryl Dawkins), Steve Mix, World B. Free, and Doug Collins, and whoa, no one was sure how many games they would win. The Lakers then single-season record of 69 wins was certainly in peril.

Well, the Sixers only won 50 regular season games, and you can see from the above box score, the season didn't turn out quite like the pundits expected. One might counter that any team with Bill Walton had one of the biggest stars in the history of the game. True. But Walton didn't play basketball like Doc Erving and LeBron James.

He played basketball like John Wooden had taught him to play -- as a team sport. So that's why some guy named Bobby Gross and another guy name Johnny Davis featured prominently in a decisive game for the world championship and why Erving and McGinnis combined for 68 points and still lost.

May the past be prelude to the future.

Are you listening 2012-13 Boston Celtics?

2 comments:

FLCeltsFan said...

Team always wins. ubuntu

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