2023 CS Historic Draft - How's My Team?

[Who]

I thought the Nuggets had two strong teams / eras.

So the late 70s with David Thompson. Then his drug issues and decline ruined the team. Along with the trade of Bobby Jones to McGinnis who had one good year before that fell apart as well. So they ended up losing 2 of their top 3 players in quick successio. That team was one of the better teams in the league during that 1977-79 period or whatever it was exactly. Around then.

Then they had a lousy period with Kiki Vanderweghe. Those Nuggets teams were never up to much. Middle of the pack squads. Slightly below or slightly above middle but middle always. They never had enough defense to compete with the better teams in the league (god awful defensive teams). This period ran from 1980-84 roughly.

Then came the breakthrough trade of sending Kiki to Portland which not only netted them a quality replacement who better fit alongside A English in Calvin Natt but also brought on board to other important players who would rejuvante the team. Fat Lever who was drafted in this and has been talked about. And Wayne Cooper who was the best interior defender & shot blocker they had had up until this time and would be throughout the remainder of the 80s.

These two (Fat Lever & Wayne Cooper) combined with TR Dunn (defensive SG) and Bill Hanzlik (defense wing) gave them 4 strong defensive players to put alongside their offensive talent - holdovers A English and D Issel along with two-way player & newcomer Calvin Natt. They would be the foundation that would lead to another strong Nuggets team with postseason dreams.

These dreams wouldn't last long. Issel was on his last legs. He would retire soon after. Maybe 1-2 seasons. I can't remember. Then Calvin Natt started to decline. They only got 2 years out of him. So 2 of their top 3 scorers were out of commission (again!). This is when Denver got in trouble again.

I was listening to an interview with A English and he said they never managed to reload again after that. That they made several draft picks which failed to pan out. That management wasn't able to find any way to refresh the team with new talent. Essentially, not enough top tier talent outside of A English and F Lever for the remainder of the 80s. So no more title hopes.

In that interview, English also praised the Kiki traded for turning things around for them because it was a "3 for 1" trade. They had 3 quality pros in exchange for 1. C Natt, F Lever, W Cooper. That is what lifted them back into contention in the West.

So they had this bright team for 3 years or so in the late 70s and only 1-2 strong seasons in the mid 80s. The early 80s were a mess. And the late 80s did not have enough high end talent. So out of that 15 year period they had maybe 4-5 years of postseason hopes. The rest of the time they were never in it.

[BASS_THUMPER]

*sippin*

[Who]

I never saw any of the 1979 Nuggets vs Lakers playoff series. Appearently McGinnis did not play. I presume he was injured. So they were without one of their best players in that short best of 3 mini-series.

22.6ppg 11.4rpg 3.7apg 1.7spg 0.7bpg that year.

The previous two years as said above the Nuggets lost to the 1977 Champion Blazers and in 1978 to the runners-up Sonics who lost in 7 in the Finals and who would go on to win the title in 1979. Not bad folks to lose to.

So only really two legitimate opportunities to make a playoff run in that late 1970s period and they lost to title winning squads both times. Only one in the mid 80s before Issel retired (I looked it up) where they lost to the 1985 Lakers who would win the title. Only 3 title opportunities in that 15 year period. Losing each time to a better overall squad.

[BASS_THUMPER]

All these teams are hurting..

they dont have..







*sippin*

[gouki88]

All these teams are hurting..

they dont have..







*sippin*

If we'd done 15 rounds I bet someone would have found room for the White Mamba

[Who]

I am not that big of a fan of McGinnis.

I remember when he was drafted several people commented that they thought he was the BPA and had been for awhile. I wasn't on the same page. I wasn't sure he would get drafted in this Historical League.

He was a wonderfully talented / gifted player who was capable of thoroughly dominating games but also perhaps the single most error-prone player I have ever seen. The bad shot selection. The turnovers.

One of those players who functions well when he is the man and has everything revolve around him but struggles when asked to play a role on a team because he has a low BBIQ. This is why I did not like him in this format. He is not someone who shares the stage well with others. He doesn't make good enough decisions.


I thought Denver were better with Bobby Jones & Philly were better with Bobby Jones than they were with McGinnis despite his much higher productivity (ppg, rpg, apg) than B Jones. Because of McGinnis' lack of BBIQ & error-prone ways.

[BASS_THUMPER]

All these teams are hurting..

they dont have..








*sippin*

If we'd done 15 rounds I bet someone would have found room for the White Mamba

TP!!!!



*sippin*

[Who]

The fact of the matter is that this Laker team, assembled by their reclusive and baronial owner, Jack Kent Cooke, not West, is terribly ill-suited to Abdul-Jabbar's game. There is no power forward, the guards can't rebound, and most of the players are either less than competent or overmatched on defense.

Though West is prone to let candor get the best of him, Kareem is usually the last player to drive West to throw up his hands in disgust. "Believe me," he says. "If every player understood and cooperated like Kareem we'd have far fewer problems. Him you only have to tell once.

We're not a super team. We have glaring weaknesses. People blame Kareem for everything, if they're not blaming me. This team has averaged 48 wins over the past three seasons, and I'll tell you what. I don't care if he's at the top of his game, past it or underneath it—without Kareem we don't beat anybody. This team just doesn't complement him at all."

Which is why West probably won't be coaching the Lakers next season. "I don't need this," he says. "I can't take it.

https://vault.si.com/vault/1979/04/23/an-office-party-to-remember-kareem-abdul-jabbar-the-object-of-harsh-criticism-all-season-rose-up-and-powered-los-angeles-past-denver-by-taking-charge-in-the-middle-the-place-wilt-chamberlain-refers-to-as-the-quotofficequot

That was interesting on Kareem's pre-Magic Lakers. It was the owner not West who built the team. West did believe it worked for / alongside / complemented Kareem at all. Obvious problems with their lack of size at forward in terms of defense & rebounding. In 1977 obvious problems with their lack of ball-handling & passing.

[Roy H.]

This thread seemed like the best option for this:

Steve Clifford on Tracy McGrady: "Tracy was a basketball genius"


When you went with Jeff Van Gundy to the Rockets and coached Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, what made them special players being around them daily? Steve Clifford: I’ll start with Tracy McGrady. We got him from Orlando, he had led the league in scoring twice and an incredible skill level. He had the ability at his size to play off the dribble and pass, but he played very much for his teammates. He had led the league in scoring, but I think more than anything, he loved to pass the ball, and he was a terrific pick-and-roll and isolation player. I still would say that the thing that was his biggest strength, though, was his basketball IQ in coverages, purposeful offense, having a real understanding of where the better matchups were, and where his teammates needed to get the ball to play most effectively. That’s what set him apart. He was always into what were we going to do against Kobe Bryant? What were we going to do against Dirk Nowitzki? Tracy was a basketball genius in his decision-making, and his understanding and study of the NBA. – via Michael Scotto @ HoopsHype