For those of us old enough to remember Dave Twardzik's time as a Blazers point guard, this photo piece on Oregonlive is a trip down memory lane. Worth it for the perm afro if nothing else. http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2016/03/dave_twardzik_blazers_throwback_thursday.html#0
Those are great pics. Thanks for sharing. I got to meet Twardzik a few years back for a season ticket holder event when they brought a lot of the championship team back to Portland. A lot of the players were standoffish to the fans (as could be expected at fan events), but Twardzick was very engaged and actively talking with everyone. He came across as vey personable and honest. I remember watching him play as a kid. His use of the spin off the backboard had/has no equal.
Loved Photo #4. Classic Twardzik taking the charge. That guy never, ever flopped. He took it the hard way like a man (too bad Harden doesn't read this blog). Of course, his willingness to take the charge definitely shortened his career some. But it helped bring this city a championship. For all the little things Dave did for his team, his jersey most definitely belongs in the rafters.......
As long as we're doing a look back at the championship-era Blazers, here's a clip of a game in 1978 between the Blazers and Pistol Pete Maravich's New Orleans Jazz.
Wow! Geez I don't know! I didn't list Dave T as one of my favorites but he is, right there with Strickland and Porter in the PG list. I loved the way Dr. Jack use the man, brought him in to run a PG controlled offense when he sat Walton down. It resulted in a complete shift in style of play for the Blazers, often they appeared to get better, but the reality is the opponent was usually not ready to deal with the change in style. Brilliant coach maximizing the use of talent available. I doubt Dr. Jack would agree with your take.
Kinda like this guy: Old, slow with no 3-point shot, has always played an under the rim, old man's game that relies more on smarts and toughness than raw athleticism. Yeah, there's no place in today's NBA for a guy like that, let alone playing significant minutes on the second best team in the league. BNM
While I agree with you that there is certainly room for someone like Andre Miller in today's NBA you are embellishing the significant minutes part. He started a game due to Tony Parker getting a rest day and had 24 minutes of playing time. In his other 6 games with the team he has had a max of 7 minutes on the court.
Ok, point taken, but he's also the oldest player in the league and was a starter well into his mid-30s. Point being, there has always been, and will always be room in the NBA for guys who are not super athletic (both white and black), but rely on smarts, hard work and toughness. There have been guys like that for as long as the NBA has existed. Charles Oakley couldn't jump over the Sear's catalog, but carved out a long successful career in the NBA. When you're nickname is The Professor (Andre Miller) or The Janitor (Brian Cardinal), chances are pretty good you don't have a 40" vertical. Yet, Miller is in his 17th season with a career PER of 17.5. He'll turn 40 a week from tomorrow. Cardinal was the definition of a journeyman, but managed to carve out a 12-year NBA career. What about John Stockton, Jeff Hornacek, Scott Skiles, and Steve Kerr? Would there be a place for any of those guys in today's NBA? Not based on size or athleticism, but there's more to the game than being 6'9" with a 40" vertical. Those guys got by, even thrived, based on hard work, knowledge, and determination. There's always room for guys like that in the NBA. BNM
Andre Miller's old rotten carcass doesn't even begin to resemble the player that he once was. He's in the league based on his reputation. If current Miller was just trying to come into the league, do you think anyone would pick him up? How many shitty white point guards are currently in the league? How many were drafted last year? Guys like Hinrich, Ridnour, and Blake are getting by on the mere fact that they were, at one time, a decent player.
If I actually cared at all about what you post, I'd reel off a few of the things you've been wrong about over the years..... but I don't obsess over your opinions on this board (few as they may be.)
You just kind of made my point for me. In those photos, Twardzik was not a 39-year old rotting corpse. He was in his 20s. He was 26 when the Blazers won the title and played until he was 29. The year the Blazers won the title, he had a PER = 16.3 and led the entire NBA in TS% at .689. I'm pretty sure there will always be a place in the NBA for guys who play hard nosed defense and can shoot the basketball. All the guys you mentioned were "decent" NBA players in the 20s - as was Twardzik. If Andre Miller was just coming into the league at nearly 40 years old, would anyone pick him up? Probably not, but if he was just coming into the league at 26 (the same age Twardzik was when he came to the NBA from the ABA), you bet someone would pick him up. His game was never predicated on athleticism. He played an old man's, below the rim game even in his 20s. BNM
