During the 1974-75 season I turned 22. I'd been home from Viet Nam for a few years and was struggling with the war's impact on my life. I was working in construction to pay the rent and playing music in the cafe's up on Haight Street at night. I was a player more than a fan. I'd rather run some hoop with the brothers than sit around listening to a Warriors game. Back in those days I didn't own a television but halfway through that magical season I bought my first transistor radio. It seemed the whole city was listening. I remember walking home with my radio and I could hear the game blasting from stores, restaurants, apartment windows, echoing in the streets. It was electric. The City was awake and listening. Rick Barry had his greatest year as a player and leader. The Warriors played a creative up tempo stlye. They could hit from anywhwere on the court. George Johnson and Clifford Ray made an imposing duo. George could block shots like a ballerina and the break was on. Barry was a revelation as a passer and tough guy. He willed this crew to the top and they did everything a team should do. When the series with the Bullets started I was out of my mind with excitement. Me and the fellas found a place to watch the series. It was over like a whimper. The Bullets forgot to show up. In a strange way the series was a disappointment. It was over too fast I wanted more. I couldn't wait for next season. I couldn't wait for another magic season with the Warriors on top. Wilkes, Ray, Smith, Johnson, Hopper and Barry were my boys, I knew they could do it again............... 1974-75 SEASON OVERVIEW Rick Barry Leads Warriors to Championship The retirements of Jerry West and Oscar Robertson left their teams weakened, and the Lakers and Milwaukee each fell to the bottom of their divisions. This spelled opportunity for hungry young teams in the Western Conference, and nobody was hungrier than the Golden State Warriors. Al Attles, a fixture with the Warriors since 1960 as a player and a coach, had developed an 11-deep roster of role players to go with high-scoring forward Rick Barry, still in his prime at 30. Attles had acquired young center Clifford Ray for the aging Nate Thurmond, obtained scrappy guard Butch Beard and drafted forward Jamaal (then Keith) Wilkes from UCLA and guard Charles Johnson from California. This unlikely group won 48 games to top the Western Conference, defeated Bill Russell's Seattle team in six games and used its endless hustle and desire to beat a more talented Chicago Bulls team in seven games to reach the Finals. The Washington Bullets had won 60 games in the East but had a tough time dispatching the Buffalo Braves, led by NBA scoring champ Bob McAdoo (34.5) in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Celtics had also won 60 games and blew past Houston in five games to meet Washington. The Bullets had the inside-outside combination of Elvin Hayes and Phil Chenier working brilliantly, and turned back the Celtics in six games. The Bullets were heavily favored to beat the Warriors, but Golden State stunned the basketball world by winning four straight close games to post only the third sweep in the 29-year history of the NBA Finals. BARRY REJOICES IN UPSET OVER BULLETS The Bullets had an experienced team in 1975, with powerful Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld up front joined by feisty forward Mike Riordan, with quick Kevin Porter and sharpshooter Phil Chenier in the backcourt. On paper, the Bullets were far superior to the Warriors. But as the old saying goes, games aren't played on paper. And when the Warriors swept, Rick Barry could afford to celebrate. "It has to be the greatest upset in the history of the NBA Finals," Barry said. "It was like a fairy-tale season. Everything just fell into place. It's something I'll treasure for the rest of my life." http://www.nba.com/history/season/19741975.html So here I am waiting for the season to start up and I can't help but reflect back to 74/75. This will be an exciting season. Can you feel the magic? Bring on the season!
Wow, that was great, Montay! This should go on the JBB frontpage While I don't think we'll be a championship team, I can see the comparrisons of us upsetting a few teams that are considered better than us both offensively and defensively.
Okay, I just realized something. Montay was quoting an article. hahah. Oopsies! But the first paragraph was his, I think? I scan over posts sometimes without really looking over it carefully.
I remember that season,I was living in the backwoods and had to find a cheap beers bar to watch the games. Sadly Wilkes bailed and the W's have not seen the finals since
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting REREM:</div><div class="quote_post">I remember that season,I was living in the backwoods and had to find a cheap beers bar to watch the games. Sadly Wilkes bailed and the W's have not seen the finals since</div> Backwoods eh? The kind in California or the kind of backwoods you could play a banjo to like in the movie, "Deliverance"? REREM, that reminds me of an idea we had a while ago about collecting Warriors game footage and archiving it online somewhere so us fans could get access to all the past games. That way if a person was in college somewhere or in Iraq, away on business, in a year long coma, a fan could come back and get the games missed and catch up on it. The NBA wouldn't like it, but c'mon it's fans like us that get other non-fans or casual fans all hyped up about watching. I wouldn't have the resources to start such a thing but it would be great if we could organize a collective of Warrior fans who can put 5 games each or something in real media or wmv format (commercial free) somewhere online. I probably won't follow through on this idea since I don't know too much about video encoding and I get most of the games anyway and tape em too so I can watch the good games until I get bored of it. Unfortunately, the tapes I had were very few or now erased.
