"Old School" Philly memories

by walkoff41 on Mar 23, 2009 2:16 PM PDT

Remember that Philly powerhouse that slapped teams

around in the 76-77 season. Ponder the club led by Dr. J, Chocolate Thunder,

Bob Mcadoo, Bobby Jones and company. That team clubbed their way

through the East and into the World Championship Finals against the

underdog Portland Trailblazers. The championship was as good as won.

The 76er's had the high flying, supremely skilled players who dazzled

NBA fans and pundits alike. Their unparalled skills and power dunking

prowress could not be contained by Bill Walton and a bunch of no name

players from the distant Northwest. If only Kareem and the former Minneapolis

club were there to give that once in a generation club a battle. Now that would

be a matchup to be remembered. Well, at least the parade of dribble drive

finger rolls and visits to Lovetron would make this a short series before

a FANtastic parade through the streets of the City of Brothery Love !

Oooooops ! The pundits and east coast sportswriters got

a wake up call from a scrappy team led by the ultimate team

player. Big Red, Luke, Dr. Jack and the guys showed those

supremely talented individuals how to play and win as a team.

Bobby Gross moving without the ball, David T hounding the

ball handler and Lionel hitting the pullup 15 footer. Of course,

Luke throwing some well placed elbows and helping Walton

control the boards and paint didn't hurt either. The recollections

of Schonz throwing down the "Rip City & Lickety Brindle's" while

listening on the radio, help to cement memories from 30 + years

gone past. These memories help me recall how team, defense, hustle

and togetherness will overcome superior individual talent !

Does this current TEAM have the beginnings of those special

ingredients to become champions ? Will this squad develop those

"Old School" traits in order to rise to the top ?

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it feels like the right track

Does this current TEAM have the beginnings of those special

ingredients to become champions ? Will this squad develop those

“Old School” traits in order to rise to the top ?

I really think the current squad is really close to developing those traits. There are definitely a couple of pieces up in the air. Eventually, Blake and Przy will have to be replaced, but I figure there is a 5-7 core of guys there who will will be around forever and win us some championships.

"Slum dunk? You just go to the rim, and crush.. crush the ball in the rim."
- Nic Batum

by idoltime on Mar 23, 2009 3:04 PM PDT reply actions

I always figured Joel would be like Lloyd Neal...

grabbing rebounds and playing valuable backup minutes. Remember, Neal was a starter before Maurice Lucas came to town, and then Neal moved to the bench and played his heart out.

The inbound to McGinnis, drives, stops, pumps, shoots, short, no good...AND THE GAME IS OVER! ~ Bill Schonely

by SandbergOnSports on Mar 23, 2009 8:49 PM PDT up reply actions

Agreed

Neal could play PF or C. If Greg can play a little bit of PF, we could have an awesome 3 man rotation at the bigs, with Travis perhaps getting some PF minutes when we want to go smaller and quicker.

I could see Joel playing for 5-6 years for us on contending teams.

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by jscot on Mar 24, 2009 12:02 AM PDT up reply actions

I don't remember Bob McAdoo being on that team.

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by LaughingJon on Mar 23, 2009 4:07 PM PDT reply actions

Seriously

Bob McAdoo wasn’t, and neither was Bobby Jones (Jones didn’t come until 1978).
Now, you could have said Henry Bibby, Doug Collins, Mike Dunleavy, Caldwell Jones, George McGinnis, Lloyd Free, or Joe Bryant, and you would’ve been correct.
If Bob McAdoo was on the 1977 team, the Sixers would have DESTROYED us.

The inbound to McGinnis, drives, stops, pumps, shoots, short, no good...AND THE GAME IS OVER! ~ Bill Schonely

by SandbergOnSports on Mar 23, 2009 8:47 PM PDT up reply actions