2025 Off-season Experiment - Let's watch some old NBA! Game #1: 1975 WCF, Game 7, Bulls vs Warriors

[ScrantonBulls]

I figure since it is the off-season we can do something like this. I thought it would be cool to watch some old games and see what sticks out to us. You don't have to watch the entire game. It could just be 5 minutes. We can appreciate the greats from previous eras and get a reminder of how the game was played and was different in previous eras.

Hopefully we get enough participation to make this a weekly thing. I chose this game for a few reasons. It was one of the early best Bulls team. They never won it, but they had some legends (in Chicago at least). Bob Love, Jerry Sloan, Norm Van Lier, Chet Walker. That was a great team. You also have the great Rick Barry. Rick was dominant that season and carried the Warriors to a title.

Watch on YouTube

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/197505140GSW.html

Some things that stand out.

1. First and foremost, the Rick Barry underhand free throw. That always is the first thing to stand out when you watch him play.
2. It wasn't Rick's finest game. 8 for 23. He shoots a lot of pull-up jumpers from around the key I noticed. I'm assuming he normally hits these at a better rate.
3. Jamal Wilkes had a nice game and helped carry them. They also got much more support from their bench than the Bulls.
4. Rick Barry led the Warriors in minutes with 39. I figured youd see higher MPG from all the players given the era. The Bulls however had 4 players with 40 minutes or higher, and Bob Love played 48 minutes.
5. Something that obviously sticks out in these games is the fast pace and low FG%. Warriors had a whopping 96 FGA. Both teams had a putrid FG% between 35% and 39%

[SlimShady83]

I'd rather here people's input on the Lakers vs Kings series, do a thread on that and break it down now, Y'all know what I'm talking about.

[-Luke-]

The opening sequence from 0:54 to 1:33 is great. They should bring it back.

[Iwasawitness]

I'd rather here people's input on the Lakers vs Kings series, do a thread on that and break it down now, Y'all know what I'm talking about.

Why do you want a thread on their 2000 matchup? Wasn't that interesting...

[makubesu]

How was a Volkswagen Rabbit getting 38 MPG highway back then?

[hauntedcomputer]

Jerry Sloan looks exactly like Jerry Solan.
Backcourt fouls get two shots.
Al Attles got style.
Ads are surprisingly multi-cultural.

[Tim Reynolds]

The thing that stands out to me immediately is the dribbling. You can tell that everybody is purposely dribbling from the top of the ball so that they are not called for a carry.

People underestimate how much rules back then were really strict about dribbling. They had no freedom to do half the moves that you see in the NBA today.

[Haldi]

The thing that stands out to me immediately is the dribbling. You can tell that everybody is purposely dribbling from the top of the ball so that they are not called for a carry.

People underestimate how much rules back then were really strict about dribbling. They had no freedom to do half the moves that you see in the NBA today.

And thank god players like Magic in the 80s changed that forever. Slap ass dribbling is just so ugly lol. They also had awful left hand/off hand dribbling lol.

And yes, I know they HAD to dribble that way to avoid carry calls and it took a player like Magic that the league would bend rules for to change this forever because id much rather watch an average ball handler dribble today than the absolute best back then.

[kcktiny]

It wasn't Rick's finest game. 8 for 23. He shoots a lot of pull-up jumpers from around the key I noticed. I'm assuming he normally hits these at a better rate.

Welcome to that which was Rick Barry. In the NBA he was never a high percentage shooter from the floor. Even in his 1960s NBA career with San Francisco when he was scoring 30 pts/g he was shooting just 44%-45% on 2s. Made up for it by getting to the FT line a ton and shooting a very high FT%.

He was just a career 45% shooter on 2s in the NBA, never shot better than 46.4%.

Rick Barry led the Warriors in minutes with 39. I figured youd see higher MPG from all the players given the era.

Their title season of 1974-75 the Warriors were known for playing a lot of players, having a larger rotation than most other teams even in the playoffs. That season Barry played 43 min/g in the playoffs but no other Warriors player averaged more than 30 min/g. They had 8 players between 15-30 min/g in those playoffs.

Compare that to the Celtics in those playoffs who had 3 players at 40+ min/g in the playoffs, the Kings played 4 guys 38+ min/g, the Bullets 3 players at 40+ min/g.

Something that obviously sticks out in these games is the fast pace and low FG%.

In fact that 1974-75 season in the playoffs all NBA teams shot a combined 45.6% 2pt FG%, the highest in league history up and to that time in any playoffs. In the regular season that year the average 2pt FG% league-wide was 45.7%, then 2nd highest in league history.

And for those that think NBA players back then weren't big, take a good look at Bulls C Tom Boerwinkle. He was listed at 7-0 and 265 lb, but the commentators back then would always joke he wasn't that "thin" since his rookie season, and would state he was more likely 280-290 lb. He was massive.

Also back then that Bulls backcourt of Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier was often sited as one of the very best defensive backcourts in league history.

[Roscoe Sheed]

I'm in the 2nd quarter now. GSW started off quite slow and that Bulls team was taking it to them- very tough team. I'm also enjoying the cheesy 1970s commercials! Fun to hear the commentary of Musberger and Robertson as well.

[Roscoe Sheed]

Just finished watching the game- I really enjoyed it.

It was definitely a struggle for both teams, but GSW really put the clamps down in the 4th quarter and Rick Barry finally turned it on.

I liked how the refs kept the game going at a brisk pace. So refreshing to see the game flow from end to end without endless delays and reviews.

Aside from enforcing the carrying rule, they also enforced offensive fouls (SGA would foul out in the 1st quarter), 3 seconds, and traveling.

I really appreciated Oscar Robertson's enthusiasm as a commentator.

Also, I noticed Morgan Freeman making an appearance in a deodorant advertisement around the 1 Hr 40 Minute mark!

[YogurtProducer]

I’m glad this isn’t what basketball looks like anymore. This wasn’t fun to watch in any way lol

[floppymoose]

Great offseason thread.

[ScrantonBulls]

It wasn't Rick's finest game. 8 for 23. He shoots a lot of pull-up jumpers from around the key I noticed. I'm assuming he normally hits these at a better rate.

Welcome to that which was Rick Barry. In the NBA he was never a high percentage shooter from the floor. Even in his 1960s NBA career with San Francisco when he was scoring 30 pts/g he was shooting just 44%-45% on 2s. Made up for it by getting to the FT line a ton and shooting a very high FT%.

He was just a career 45% shooter on 2s in the NBA, never shot better than 46.4%.

Rick Barry led the Warriors in minutes with 39. I figured youd see higher MPG from all the players given the era.

Their title season of 1974-75 the Warriors were known for playing a lot of players, having a larger rotation than most other teams even in the playoffs. That season Barry played 43 min/g in the playoffs but no other Warriors player averaged more than 30 min/g. They had 8 players between 15-30 min/g in those playoffs.

Compare that to the Celtics in those playoffs who had 3 players at 40+ min/g in the playoffs, the Kings played 4 guys 38+ min/g, the Bullets 3 players at 40+ min/g.

Something that obviously sticks out in these games is the fast pace and low FG%.

In fact that 1974-75 season in the playoffs all NBA teams shot a combined 45.6% 2pt FG%, the highest in league history up and to that time in any playoffs. In the regular season that year the average 2pt FG% league-wide was 45.7%, then 2nd highest in league history.

And for those that think NBA players back then weren't big, take a good look at Bulls C Tom Boerwinkle. He was listed at 7-0 and 265 lb, but the commentators back then would always joke he wasn't that "thin" since his rookie season, and would state he was more likely 280-290 lb. He was massive.

Also back then that Bulls backcourt of Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier was often sited as one of the very best defensive backcourts in league history.

Awesome post. I wasn't old enough to watch Norm play, but I grew very fond of him from his days doing pretty/half/post-game shows with the Bulls. One thing he would always preach is 48 minutes of intensity. Watching these clips of him, you can tell he gave full intensity while playing, especially on defense

[ScrantonBulls]

Just finished watching the game- I really enjoyed it.

It was definitely a struggle for both teams, but GSW really put the clamps down in the 4th quarter and Rick Barry finally turned it on.

I liked how the refs kept the game going at a brisk pace. So refreshing to see the game flow from end to end without endless delays and reviews.

Aside from enforcing the carrying rule, they also enforced offensive fouls (SGA would foul out in the 1st quarter), 3 seconds, and traveling.

I really appreciated Oscar Robertson's enthusiasm as a commentator.

Also, I noticed Morgan Freeman making an appearance in a deodorant advertisement around the 1 Hr 40 Minute mark!

I love watching the old commercials, even if I wasn't alive when they aired. There's something charming about it.

Good find on the Morgan Freeman commercial haha. I need to find that.