How does Dandridge stack up w/ Dumars?
ElGee had some great stuff on him in the RPOY.
ElGee wrote:Bullets-Hawks
G1+G2:: Dandridge 66 total points.
G3: Hayes 19 pts (0 4th) 14 reb. Dandridge 15 pts.
G4: Dandridge 15 of 29 in 4th quarter including tying shot w/15 seconds left. Hayes 31 pts.
G7: Dandridge 19 of 29 in 4th, 14 of game's final 16 for Dandridge. Hayes 39 points 15 rebounds 3 blocks on 17-34 shooting in 48 min. Was 50-37 reb edge and 25-14 OReb edge.
*For series: Dandridge 23.6 ppg Hayes 23.4 ppg
Bullets-Spurs
G1: Dandridge 27 points.
G2: Hayes jammed his finger 2 minutes in. Gervin 34 points. Dandridge 19. Hayes 15.
G3: Hayes 15 pts 7-20 3-6 FT's. Dandrige 28 points and "held" Kenon to 11 points. Gervin 29 points.
G4: Gervin 42 points, 20 in 3rd (18 in a row). Dandridge 6 points.
G5: Hayes 24 pts 22 rebounds. Dandridge 13 points. *Doug Moe doubled Dandridge and Hayes a lot. The Bullets "started doubling Gervin near the lane.” 28 points for Gervin.
G6: Hayes 25 pts. Gervin 20 pts (guarded by Dandridge and Grevey).
G7: Gervin 42 points: 8 in 1st half, 34 in 2nd half. Hayes blocked Silas with 4 seconds left. Dandridge 37 points, 11 in 4th, including GW shot w/8 seconds. Hayes 23 points. *A number of reports note Greg Ballard abusing Ice downlow down the stretch bc SAS couldn't put him on Dandridge. 19-12 for Ballard in the game.
AP report on Dandridge:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LA ... ayes&hl=en
“He may be the best pressure player in the league,” said Bernie Bickerstaff.
Doug Moe also felt he was the key to the Bullets.
This was only for the '79 season too. In '78, he outscored Julius Erving in the ECF (many reports claimed he outplayed him). In '71, when the Bucks won the championship, it was actually Dandridge who was second on the team in scoring (after Kareem, obviously) in the post-season. He even did 20/10 in the finals that year too. Monster clutch playoff performer (he's had 6 post seasons of at least 19 PPG, with 4 of them being over 20).
Dude was clutch, very good on both ends, and often underrated b/c he played with other very good players, that people often forget to consider him a star as well. I mean check out these quotes from Paul Silas, and Rick Barry (Silas first, then Barry):
"He was a great shooter, especially mid-range, and he could get his shot off on almost anybody. He really understood how to play. When they needed a hoop--even when he was playing with Milwaukee and Oscar and those guys--he shined. Of course, with Washington he was one of the focal points of that team. He just had the uncanny ability of making big shots at the right time. He talked the game and understood it and imparted that (to his teammates). He was very, very smart about the game and how he fit within the scheme and how he wanted everybody else to fit."
"He was an outstanding player. He's one of those guys that you respect because you know that he is going to show up to play every night. (He was) a good shooter, he was kind of deceptive with his moves. He wasn't the kind of guy who was going to beat you with blistering speed and quickness but he understood how to get the most out of the talent that he had."
Doesn't that sound eerily familiar to a Paul Pierce sort player (at least post '08)? Obviously, he isn't as good, but he could create his shot, play off other great players, was an awesome defender, very good shooter, clutch, could rebound, and had underrated play-making (w/being more a focal point in Washington, he had a peak year doing nearly 5 assists, and nearly 6 in the post-season). Not to mention good versatility, much like Pierce. I was watching one of the Finals games, and the commentators referred to Dandridge as "Mr. Clutch." Obviously that didn't really stick and was already taken, lol, but still, somewhat indicative of how he was viewed at the time (that, and finishing top 5 in MVP voting once).
And he did this for a solid 8-9 years, though admittedly, not as great as the '79 season, but still very good in it's own regards. That sort of longevity is similar to Dumars, if not greater.
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