Ask me my opinion/memory about NBA players from 1976-1986

[RainierBeachPoet]

according to ish standards, i am an old man-- 44 years of age to be exact. i joined last summer but have been posting more in the off the court lounge as of late.

i started watching seattle supersonic games as a fourth grader and have loved the nba ever since. the game has changed tremendously over the years and the different eras have their pluses and minuses.

since not many of us at ish have seen players of earlier eras, i could comment on the players from the years 1976-1986 if i have any recollection/opinion.

please give me time to respond as i do have many things going on in life and i am an "old man" and it may take me some time to remember and then write it out for you all.

i am by no means an expert of the nba but i have followed it closer than most fans over the years.

i promise to be as accurate as possible although i reserve the right to give an unapologetic opinion from time to time.

so, which nba players are you curious about from this time period 1976-1986?

[IversonMelo2K7]

bill walton
dr. j
magic
bird
moses
ralpn sampson
mo cheeks

[Psileas]

Mark Landsberger. I'd always called him "Kurt Rambis' cousin". Do you agree?

[statman32]

Alvin Adams(sp?)

[IBLEEDGREEN43]

what is your opinion or memory about nba players from 1976-1986..

[ripthekik]

Whats your career?
How much are u making?
What do you think of gays? Emo-kids? highschool kids these days?

[RainierBeachPoet]

bill walton
dr. j
magic
bird
moses
ralpn sampson
mo cheeks

walton was probably the most complete center in basketball when it comes to the team concept. during the '77 finals i was in grade school and was cheering for the 76ers. they had more flash with dr j, mcinnis, chocolate thunder and world b free. we didnt think the blazers had a chance.

(interesting to note that henry bibby (mikes father) and joe bryant (kobe's dad) were on that philly team

but with walton, maurice lucas and a bunch of very good role players, they showed a total team offense and defense that was greater than the flash of the 76ers. walton did it all-- mostly from the high post, if memory serves correctly.

i can still remember bobby gross scoring on so many cuts and walton getting him the ball. walton was as close to a magic johnson-type passer, but as a center. lionel hollins looked good in that series too

waltons mixture of points, rebounds, assists and blocks were impressive-- not so much the stats (which are probably pretty good), but the timeliness of when it all happened. he would get them when the team needed them the most.

[RainierBeachPoet]

Mark Landsberger. I'd always called him "Kurt Rambis' cousin". Do you agree?

i forgot about landsberger.

i dont remember much of him one way or the other-- just a decent role player is my limited opinion

rambis was an extraordinary role player and an underrated part of showtime for all those years. he took a lot of pressure off of kareem with his hustle, defense and rebounds

[RainierBeachPoet]

bill walton
dr. j
magic
bird
moses
ralpn sampson
mo cheeks

i actually feared for the sonics when they had to play moses. i remember him best with the 76ers and just thought he achored the middle so well that it always tough for us to deal with.

one of the things that cracked me up about moses was his grind-it-out-grit-your-teeth attitude toward rebounding. he had a will to get the ball that few rebounders have. barkely and rodman had this rebounding will too.

moses would just go after the ball as if his life depended on it. if that kind of guy is on your team-- you absolutely love the effort

i would love to see a stat like, how many of moses rebounds came off of his own missed shots because there were times where he would get a rebound, miss the putback, rebound his own putback, miss, rebound it again....

dwight howard reminds me a lot of moses-- except dwight is more physically developed at such a young age a lot more than moses was


side note: in slick watts' book, slick said that he and moses used to love to play checkers together when they both played in houston. he also mentioned that his teammates used to kid him about so many missed shots in the paint as a way to pad his rebounding stats

[RainierBeachPoet]

Alvin Adams(sp?)

i always liked alvan adams' game. not flashy-- just dependable. decent rebounder and defender

he was a smooth player with a very good jumper. if there was a present day equivalent, it would be dirk.

dirk has a better long jumper (if there were a three point line in alvan's time, he probably would have easily developed it)

i respected the fact that he played his whole career with the suns

[RainierBeachPoet]

bill walton
dr. j
magic
bird
moses
ralpn sampson
mo cheeks

ralph--

boy, i have such mixed feelings about ralph. it was amazing to see a guy 7'4" get up and down the court like he did. in college and in his first years in the nba, he was better than kg

but he never developed any kind of inside game-- prefered to stay out of the key and not mix it up with the big bodies.

it was a shame when he developed problems with his knees. he never got back to being the player he was during his first three years after his health problems

the twin towers (he and akeem-- yes no "h") were a tough matchup for the western conference teams. they played well against showtime. if ralph's knees held up, that rockets team was just a player or two from taking away from a couple of championships from the lakers and celtics in the 80s

[RainierBeachPoet]

bill walton
dr. j
magic
bird
moses
ralpn sampson
mo cheeks

i remember mo best beacause of the championship in 83. he was a solid floor leader and kept all the guys on that team happy.

moses was in peak form. dr j was still amazing. andrew toney was just an assassin. seemed like he always just killed the sonics (and everyone else too). bobby jones was a lockdown defender

i must give props to a seattle native, clint richardson, who was a main role player off the 76er bench

cheeks knew how to run that team on the court. very solid decision-maker and playmaker

that 83 team was one of the best ever

[Thorpesaurous]

I'll give you one in your wheelhouse. Micheal Cage. Sadly, I don't think this type of player really exists in the league anymore in any substantial way. Although this stuff is cyclical. Someone will wake up one morning and realize this guy could get 13 boards a night in this league, and things will swing back the other way.

[johndeeregreen]

Chuck Hayes is in that same mold, just without the size or talent.

[RainierBeachPoet]

I'll give you one in your wheelhouse. Micheal Cage. Sadly, I don't think this type of player really exists in the league anymore in any substantial way. Although this stuff is cyclical. Someone will wake up one morning and realize this guy could get 13 boards a night in this league, and things will swing back the other way.

i knew you could bring up some great memorable players thorpe!

i was a huge michael cage fan.

i actually moved to los angeles in 1985. it was impossible to get lakers tickets at a decent price so i started going to clipper games in the sports arena; i adopted the clippers. then, you could get a cheap seat for $8 and wander down and get very close to the court. the ushers didnt care and there were only maybe 4,000 at the games although they announced a higher number. i still cheer for them today

cage was a second year player with the clips and when i saw him- i couldnt believe his shoulders-- very impressive. he was a rebounding monster and a very good defender. later when he played for the sonics, we always cringed when he shot the ball though...

when reggie evans played for us a couple of years back, there were echos of cage in his game.

but cage was better. i liked the way he fit into the sonics team in the late 80s-- he knew his role and did it well