Re: If Pistol Pete Maravich played today...
Pistol Pete dribbling drills, hypnotic to watch.
Pistol Pete dribbling drills, hypnotic to watch.
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Re: If Pistol Pete Maravich played today...
JJ Redick? Pete averaged over 40 ppg in college...anyone comparing him to Redick doesn't know anything about basketball.Comment
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Re: If Pistol Pete Maravich played today...
I always have enjoyed how the culture of individual players lives influences their games and Pistol Pete was just a unique dude with a unique background and the most original game.
I know that if Pistol Pete was playing today he would have his own you tube collective that would rival anything else.
Probably the most skilled player ever. Would anyone else disagree?Comment
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Re: If Pistol Pete Maravich played today...
I really wish the NBA would play full games from years back, or at least be as interested in their history as NFL films is.
Watching Pistol was like watching an NBA game with the Harlem Globetrotters and a circus thrown into the mix. He was every bit as exciting as watching Jordan or Dr. J, just in a different way.
He was a savant, the best comparison is to Wayne Gretzky, just 2-3 patterns ahead of everyone, except he never had a team that understood how to play with him. He came to the NBA 20-30 years too early.
In addition to being an unstoppable scorer, he had the greatest court vision of anyone who ever lived. Even though his teammates had played with him he would still throw passes of their heads. Likely because they thought there was no way to get the ball to them, only Pete could see these angles.
The highlight clips just don't do him justice, it was every single game he played, you would just laugh and shake your head, like Magic said in the quotes. You just couldn't believe what you were seeing. What a dilemma, you've got the greatest passer who ever lived who is counted on to do all the scoring.
Fun fact: Dr. J was briefly a Hawk for 3 games in the pre-season with Pistol, I remember reading about it in a book and Dr. J talking about how incredible it was, I googled it.
Erving enjoyed his brief time with Atlanta: "It really was one of the joys of my life to play with Pete, to be in training camp with him. We used to stay after practice and play one-on-one. We would play for dinner after practice. I did the same thing with George Gervin once he became my teammate [in Virginia]--I pretty much learned that from Pete. If this guys is going to be your teammate, you really need to stay after practice and get to understand his game and know his likes and his dislikes--where he likes the ball and that kind of stuff. The best way to do that is to just play--go play each other one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three. Play away from the coaches, away from the whole team practicing in unison."
On September 23, 1972, Erving had 28 points and 18 rebounds in 42 minutes for Atlanta in a 112-99 win over the Kentucky Colonels in Frankfort, Ky. A week later in Raleigh, N.C., he scored 32 points--shooting 14 of 15 from the field--in a 120-106 win over the Carolina Cougars, who were paced by Joe Caldwell's 24 points. Erving says, "I remember those exhibition games. I would just grab a rebound, throw it out to Pete and get on the wing. Pete would always find you. He got his points, but he loved to pass the ball. He could hit you in full stride in a place where you could do something with the ball. That was a measure of his greatness."
Mike McKenzie, the new beat reporter for the Atlanta Journal, recalled the immediate rapport.
“The most memorable part of it was just the raw talent on the court. Everyone just stopped what they were doing to watch. Great veteran players watching Maravich and Erving do their shtick. Together, they were unstoppable.”
The Hawks defied the league a third time, on September 30, when Erving suited up to play the ABA’s Carolina Cougars in Raleigh, North Carolina. Future basketball legend David Thompson, entering his sophomore year at N.C. State, was in the bleachers at Reynolds Coliseum and looked on in amazement.
“Man, it was insane. Those two just played like they had been teammates forever,” Thompson recalled. “Pete was awesome. He was everything I had read about and more. He was 6-5 but could handle the ball and was quick, and could jump. People don’t realize how high he could jump. He could shoot anywhere from across the half court line.”
Maravich’s deft passing was particularly impressive to Thompson. He remembered Maravich dribbling hard on a fast break, flanked by Erving and Hudson. At the top of the key, Maravich head faked the Carolina defender, locked both elbows as he looked right but threw left – a perfect bounce pass to Erving. Pete’s old “wrist-pass” was still effective.
Marty Bell, in his 1975 book, The Legend of Dr. J, also marveled at the artistry of the duo.
“It was like Fred Astaire and Gene Kelley dancing together. Maravich had the most moves of any guard in the league. And Julius had the most moves of any forward.”
Erving scored 32 points (14-15) in a 120-106 rout of the Cougars and Maravich had 19 assists, including an array of brilliant passes. Erving and Maravich looked like a sensational fit. Dr. J provided bushels of points and Pete seemed content to feed him passes. Hawk fans couldn’t wait for the season to start.
Then their hopes were dashed.
Commissioner Kennedy told the Hawks' new president Bill Putnam that if Erving continued to play the fines would be deducted from Atlanta’s cut of its national television revenue. Putnam caved. After just three games, the Dr. J and Pistol Pete show closed.
“Julius was the most creative player that I’ve ever played with,” Pete said in 1987. “It was so easy to play with him. I think during that time my average was about 14 or 15 assists per game. I’d just come down the court and his eyes would see mine – and I knew that he was going to the hoop. I’d just throw a little rainbow up there and it’d be history because nobody could get up like Dr. J.”
In 2000, Erving called Maravich “a basketball genius.”
Dr. J reluctantly returned to Virginia. He wished it had turned out differently.
“I would have been a Hawk for the rest of my career,” Erving said in a 2005 radio interview.
If Dr. J stayed on the Hawks with Pistol, he would have had a much different legacy, like setting assist records that would never be broken and a ring or two on his fingers.Last edited by Jet Sufferer; 02-16-2009, 07:06 PM. Reason: Dr. J played with Pistol for 3 games, not 2.Comment
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Re: If Pistol Pete Maravich played today...
Damn why would the NBA sabotage that?Originally posted by BlzerComment
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Re: If Pistol Pete Maravich played today...
There was a dispute over who had the rights to Dr. J. The Hawks should have stood their ground.
I'd pay good money to see those play for dinner 1 on 1 games between Dr. J and Pistol, who were both in their primes. What a shame that there's no video of the 3 games they played together.Comment
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Re: If Pistol Pete Maravich played today...
Here's an interesting tidbit, Maravich was dismissed by some as a gunner, a showman, not a winner. When he went to the expansion Jazz they were just really bad, but check out this statistic and tidbit from a book about him.
"It’s essential for Maravich completists, especially for the reassessment of his pro career and for anecdotal feats of basketball wizardry, like his delivering on a boast to hit 100 jumpers from beyond 25 feet without missing two in a row. It also contains the single most convincing statistical refutation of the charge that Maravich was a selfish gunner: in the N.B.A., when he scored more than 40 points, his team won 82 percent of its games, compared with Jordan’s 69 percent and Allen Iverson’s 68."Comment
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Re: If Pistol Pete Maravich played today...
Thanks Jet. Good reads. Dr. J. was my favorite player on a team that I rooted for and Pete was my favorite on an opposing team. I never knew they had the opportunity to play together. That's a bittersweet story.Comment
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