To repeat the Marques argument...
Again,
compare Marques to Moncrief. They are very close, but I don't see any clear argument for Squid over Marques by peak or career, especially when you consider Marques' pension for the big moment/big playoff performances. I also don't think people realize how widely talented/regarded he was...I've probably read more Milwaukee Sentinel/Journal articles than any normal non-Milwaukeean should, and he constantly is in the headline as "Marques does it again," or "Marques spectacular as huge to save Bucks." Moncrief never had quite that praise.
Here's what SI said in 1980:
Sports Illustrated Mar 30 1981 wrote:In NBA circles, when the Milwaukee Bucks are discussed—if they are discussed at all—the most frequently used word is could. As in: Marques Johnson could score 30 points a night; or, Bob Lanier's knees could collapse at any moment: or, Sidney Moncrief and Junior Bridgeman could start for any other team in the league. But the facts are that Johnson, phenomenal as he may be, is scoring fewer than 21 points a game...
Not having a star of the magnitude of Julius Erving, Larry Bird or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee is, perforce, the paradigm of team play. This is best exemplified by Johnson. He can score almost at will—his high this season is 40 points—but he clearly chooses to blend his skills with those of his teammates. In addition to leading Milwaukee's balanced scoring, Johnson ranks second on the club in both assists and steals and is the top offensive rebounder.
In the 81 PS, the Bucks battled Dr. J and 76ers.
Sports Illustrated wrote:Game 7, Easter Sunday, was the magnificent effort that it was meant to be. The Doctor and Marques strutted their stuff, then stuffed some more—the other Sixers acknowledging Julius Erving's greatness by clearing out and letting him operate in splendid isolation; Milwaukee's Johnson relentlessly going through all five defenders, if necessary, to score.
Perhaps it was the frustration of not seeing the ball often enough down the stretch in Game 3 that inspired Marques Johnson to have probably the best individual game of the playoff two days later, when the Bucks evened the series with a 109-98 victory. Beginning with perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the field in the first period and ending with his seventh offensive rebound and subsequent layup for points 34 and 35, Johnson was nothing short of spectacular.
Even though Marques and The Doctor were rarely assigned at the same time to guard each other and both tried to deemphasize their ballyhooed matchup, one had to wonder what sort of payback Erving would have for Marques. Unfortunately, the Game 5 showdown didn't come off. At a Tuesday practice in Milwaukee, Johnson suffered a recurrence of the back spasms that have plagued him since college. "It's nothing new; it just happened at such a hell of a time," he said. "I kept telling everyone how cold the arena was, but I didn't think about putting my warmups back on."
And in G7:
Indeed, Marques Johnson was himself again, playing the entire 48 minutes of the game and scoring 36 points, his personal high for the series. He got 12 of those in the first period as the teams played to a 28-28 tie...
The teams exchanged the lead for more than three minutes before Erving hit two free throws, stole a pass and sank a jumper to put his team ahead 91-86.
Now it was Marques' turn. He scored five points as the Bucks drew to within a basket at 93-91. With 2:30 to play, Moncrief tried a layup, and Dawkins was called for goaltending when he pinned the ball between the rim and the glass. The score: 93-93. That set the stage for Jones' late-game heroics and the semi-protest by the Bucks.
After a Hollins jumper, Jones' first two free throws put Philly up 97-93. Marques quickly cut the margin to two at 1:06. Then, with 45 seconds to play, Jones rebounded a shot missed by Erving. Eighteen seconds later, after a Cheeks field-goal attempt was blocked by Lanier, Caldwell picked up the loose ball and put up a shot from the top of the key. It missed, barely ticking the rim, but it beat the 24-second shot clock. Dawkins tapped the offensive rebound back to Hollins, who passed the ball on to Jones, who was fouled with 14 seconds to play and made both free throws. That made the score 99-95. The Sixers had held on to the ball for an incredible—and later disputed—52 seconds. A three-point goal by Bridgeman was too little, too late.
This is a guy whose per 75 numbers from 79-81 were:
79 24.0 pts 7.1 reb 2.8 ast +5.6% TS
80 21.9 pts 7.5 reb 3.5 ast +5.4% TS
81 21.1 pts 7.1 reb 4.8 ast +4.9% TS
(83 Moncrief 22.7-5.9-3.9 +7.1%)
The Bucks were a -3 SRS team when Marques was drafted. His rookie year they were ~.500. 77 primaries to 78 primaries:
Winters (2700 mp) --> Winters (2800)
Dandridge (2500) --> Marques (2800)
Bridgeman (2400) --> Bridgeman (1900)
Buckner (2100) --> Buckner (2100)
Nater (2000) --> Gianelli (2300)
Meyers (1300) --> Meyers (2400)
Restani (1100) --> English (1600)
Lloyd (1000) --> Benson (1300)
A young Alex English is in the rotation and they go from Lloyd to Benson and Nater to Gianelli. Yet by replacing a prime Bob Dandridge they improve ALMOST as much as Unseld's Bullets in his rookie year.
Only Wes didn't replace an all-star level player...
In 79 the Bucks improve again to +2.2. It's basically the same team as listed above, only (1) Marques is better (2) Grunfeld has an expanded role (3) A player already nominated, English, left and (4) George Johnson plays 1200 minutes.
1980 is when they draft Moncrief and acquire Bob Lanier mid season. Again, speaking to both the importance of Lanier and Johnson,
the Bucks were +11.0 MOV after that trade. The Bucks played an elite defense in defending champs Seattle and had no HCA. They also lost G1 in OT to a "desperation bomb" at the buzzer and no one could stop Gus Williams (13-20, 33 pts) in G7.
All this time the guy basically does whatever you ask of him. He's a natural 3 who can play power forward and rebound with the best of them -
16.2% TRB as a rookie and 18.6% in the PS - and create and distribute on offense. He and Moncrief thoroughly flustered the Celtics in 1983 with their versatility and athleticism. And in the closeout game of that series in 83 Johnson had 33-9-6, and it was Squid who said after the game "tonight it wasn't Marques and Sid, it was Marques and Marques."
And 83 was the year in which Moncrief won DPOY and was voted 1st-team all-nba. Yet in the postseason, it was Marques (again) who stepped up
to lead the team in scoring, rebounding and assists while Moncrief''s numbers declined:
Moncrief 22.5 ppg 60% TS RS --> 18.9 ppg 50% TS PS
Marques 21.4 ppg 54% TS RS --> 22.0 ppg 51% TS
Btw, to slip in a pro-Lanier defense point, he held Moses to 14 points on 5-14 in 48 minutes in G1 of that series and was noted for it by the press as "slowing" him and forcing him into 9 turnovers.
–
More on 1983 and Bucks-76ers series.
In G1, Philly wins in OT but
Marques has 30 (11-20, 8-11) 3 reb and 5 ast, including 12 straight to close the first half and cut a 16-point deficit to 2. Cheeks had a great game for Philly and Erving had 19. Moses was shut down basically (he only grabbed 12 boards in 48 minutes to boot). Moncrief was 1-9 for 7 points.
In G2, Moses bounced back with 26 and 17 (11-17, 4-7). Cheeks played well again. According to the Journal's Tom Enlund,
"Marques Johnson was the only consistent bright spot, finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds." (12-19, 1-3) Moncrief played better with 21 (8-17, 5-5) and "Lanier, for the most part, did a good defensive job against Malone." It was another close loss for Mil.
G3 closed the door on the Bucks.
G4 Johnson had 19-10-8 (9-17, 1-3) to again spurn Milwaukee, this time to a victory. Bob Lanier had 5 blocks (17 points) and Moncrief had 17 and 9 (8-19, 1-1). Cheeks had a subpar game with 13 and 8 on poor shooting and Moses again was held down, 17-12 (7-19, 3-3). Erving had 19-6-5 (7-17) for Philly.
In G5 Philly clicked, with Toney scoring 30, Moses 28-17 (12-18, 4-4) and Doc 24 and 10 (10-19, 4-6). Marques led Milwaukee with 21-8-2 (7-21, 7-10). Lanier only played 26 min and Moncrief finished 4-12 (5-6) for 13 points 3 reb and 2 ast.
The journal described Marques' 83 season as "magnificent," with no such praise for the shrinking Moncrief.
