Basketball message board

[the captain]

Not sure what kind of interest level there is around here, but if anyone wants to check it out, I have just begun a basketball message board, "All Basketball" found at:

http://s3.excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=7886

The idea is a relatively laid-back atmosphere for people of various levels of knowledge and interest (but admittedly featuring a few full-on geeks, such as me) to discuss the game at all levels, past, present and future. It's a brand new thing, but you're very welcome if that sounds appealing.

[Uncomfortable Seat]

I am really into pro basketball - mid-70's to mid-80's pro basketball, that is.  It is a joy to watch a guy shoot a totally contested jumpshot from 20 feet with 20 seconds left on the shot clock.    I am also interested in the years up to the early 90's, although not as intensely.  After that, not so much.

[the captain]

You'd be welcome there. While I can't promise a lot of first-hand knowledge of the 70s, most of us there are into basketball history and have seen enough old games and highlights to discuss it. And 80s into early 90s, we're definitely always up for that. Give it a shot and stop in, if you want.

[Uncomfortable Seat]

I don't really have first-hand knowledge of 70's basketball either.  Anyway, if you can answer the following 5 trivia questions correctly, I will post on the board:

1. It is the eve of the 1976-77 NBA season.  You are the owner, GM, and head coach of a certain Eastern Conference team.  You are blessed with both enough funds to meet any contract demand as well as the mystical ability to see into the future.  You examine your roster, and you smile, because you see the names of three players - one is already one of the league's biggest stars, and the other two are youngsters who have yet to play their first NBA game.  Because you have the ability to see into the future, you can rightfully think that "all I have to do is keep these guys together, and we will have one the greatest frontcourts in the history of basketball."  What three players make up this potentially awesome frontcourt, and what team do they play for?  Hint:  your team is NOT the Philadelphia 76ers

2. One of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players is fond of expressing how his first two seasons were marred by the "selfish attitudes" of his teammates before they were traded away and the Great player won a championship in his 3rd season.  In 1979, this player signed a huge free-agent contract with reunited him with one of those "selfish teammates."  Who is the Great player, and who is the "selfish" teammate?  Hint:  they went to the same college, but they were not teammates there

3. Before the 1983 NBA postseason began, Moses Malone predicted that his 76ers would sweep through the playoffs in "fo, fo, and fo."  He was off by one game.  In that one game, the opposing team's victory was made possible by an unexpected scoring contribution from a player who did not make an NBA roster until he was 28.  Name this player.

4. In the first round of the 1985 Eastern Conference playoffs, the Cleveland Cavaliers were defeated by the Boston Celtics in four games.  It was a very close-fought series, as the two teams scored the exact same number of points.  All three of the games that the Cavs lost featured the exact same ending.  How did those three games end?

5. Let's stay in the 1985 postseason.  Now we are in the Western Conference.  You are coaching a WC team in their 5th and deciding game of a 1st round playoff series.  The opposing team has a rookie and a second-year man who are the absolute talk of the league.  Right before halftime, your starter at the position that the other team's rookie plays goes down with an injury.  You decide to counter those two young studs with two very grizzled veterans on your bench - one is playing in his last season, the other in his next-to-last season.  Your move turns out to be the right one, and you win the game and advance.  Who were your two experienced vets, and who were the two very talented up-and-comers they were able to defeatl?

[the captain]

I'm not interested in bribing would-be posters by answering trivia questions. 

[Uncomfortable Seat]

insufficient sense of fun, historical knowledge

[the captain]

Insufficient? I'd say different sense.

[Uncomfortable Seat]

answers:

1. Bob McAdoo, Moses Malone, and Adrian Dantley of the Buffalo Braves

2. Bill Walton; Sidney Wicks

3. Charlie Criss

4. all three of the Cavs' losses ended with World B. Free missing what would have been the game-tying basket at the last second

5. Billy Paultz and Rich Kelley; Akeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson

for anyone looking for a good basketball message board, try http://www.apbr.org/forum/

[the captain]

What a shitty thing, to advertise a board in my thread when I was inviting people. And just because I didn't think it was worth playing trained monkey to lure you? That's really B.S. I was just trying to be nice and offer invitations. Seriously, that is lame.

[mikeyj]

What a merdaty thing, to advertise a board in my thread when I was inviting people. And just because I didn't think it was worth playing trained monkey to lure you? That's really B.S. I was just trying to be nice and offer invitations. Seriously, that is lame.

Couldn't agree more Luther. THAT is one of the saddest things I have ever read. I seriously thought it was a joke at first. There is different levels of fandom in anything. And even a guy like Andrew Doe or whoever can learn off a "less-informed" Beach Boys fan.

Being an Australian, I myself don't watch much basketball as it's not that big over here but I still don't mind the sport. It's probably the only big American sport that I can watch as I find American Football and Baseball pretty boring. I was mainly a fan around the Jordan-era (so I spose that doesn't really make me a true fan ) because I was just a young kid (and I'm still pretty young) growing up and here was this sporting legend and everybody seemed to like basketball around that time so I decided to jump on the bandwagon since I was only a kid and it seemed the "cool" thing at the time. But then I was in to a lot of sports back then whereas now I only watch my absolute favourite sports. I just remember Basketball cards used to be the huge craze around that time and that's the only way I know a lot of the players from around that time. My favourite player was Hakeem Olajuwon.

[the captain]

I can tell you this, Australia is having quite an effect on American basketball. There are some long-standing legends, such as Andrew Gaze and a handful of other former NBA players, and current guys like Andrew Bogut, but there are quite a few players in American colleges now having quite an impact! Andrew Ogilvy is a freshman at Vanderbilt and Patrick Mills is at St. Mary's (CA), and both are really on their way to stardom. So before long, maybe Australia will be a bigger basketball nation than you think!

(In the late 90s I thought that might happen, as guys like Sam MacKinnon, Simon Dwight, Ben Pepper and a few others came on strong. But alas, it didn't happen.)

[mikeyj]

I can tell you this, Australia is having quite an effect on American basketball. There are some long-standing legends, such as Andrew Gaze and a handful of other former NBA players, and current guys like Andrew Bogut, but there are quite a few players in American colleges now having quite an impact! Andrew Ogilvy is a freshman at Vanderbilt and Patrick Mills is at St. Mary's (CA), and both are really on their way to stardom. So before long, maybe Australia will be a bigger basketball nation than you think!

(In the late 90s I thought that might happen, as guys like Sam MacKinnon, Simon Dwight, Ben Pepper and a few others came on strong. But alas, it didn't happen.)

That's interesting. I realise that we have some pretty good players but I meant that it's not that popular over here, despite us having some good players. But I didn't know that we had that many good up and coming players? As you'd expect, I have heard of Bogut but I have never even heard of the other two? Good to hear though. I think Australia does really well as a sporting nation considering our small population. You should see the Australian Basketball league (the NBL) though, it is a lot slower and full of a lot more white guys (who generally aren't as good as the black players!!) and is generally pretty boring. Who do you support and who's your favourite player of all time Luther?

I know that Kevin Love is doing pretty well but how would you rate him as a future prospect compared to other up and coming players?

[the captain]

I'm a Minnesotan, and we actually have a player doing quite well in the NBL: Dusty Rychart. He played at the University of Minnesota.

Kevin Love will be a good, but probably not great, NBA player. He is very skilled, but not very athletic (relatively speaking, of course). And the NBA is mostly an athlete's game. But he's going to make tens of millions of dollars.

[mikeyj]

I'm a Minnesotan, and we actually have a player doing quite well in the NBL: Dusty Rychart. He played at the University of Minnesota.

Kevin Love will be a good, but probably not great, NBA player. He is very skilled, but not very athletic (relatively speaking, of course). And the NBA is mostly an athlete's game. But he's going to make tens of millions of dollars.

To be honest I've never even heard of him I still know more about the NBA than I do about the NBL. Have you ever actually seen any NBL?

I never understand why sportsmen (unless they are the best at what they do) can still make millions upon millions. Gee, I wish I was a more talented athlete!!

[the captain]

I just checked the NBL website and realized there are three prominent Minnesotans playing there: Rychart (who had been a 20 ppg, 10 rpg player recently, and now plays for Brisbane), Rick Rickert, who is among the league leaders in scoring now, and Nick Horvath, who is from Minnesota and played college at Duke.

No, I have never seen an NBL game live. I have seen several Australian (and New Zealand, actually) Olympic and World Championships games over the years.

As for why they make money, that's easy: because enough people care to buy tickets and merchandise! If the seats are empty, the paychecks will shrink.