Add Lenny Wilkens of 70-71 to the bullets of that year...

prolific passer · Post #1 » by **prolific passer** » Wed Jun 8, 2022 2:52 am

How good do they do with Unseld, Gus Johnson, and Earl Monroe added alongside with a prime Lenny Wilkens?

How many games do they win?

Post #2 » by **penbeast0** » Wed Jun 8, 2022 3:15 am

Well, they went to the finals already so the real question is whether Lenny gives them enough extra bounce to beat Milwaukee. Milwaukee swept them by an average of 12 points per game. Gus Johnson was injured and Freddie Carter was playing more than Kevin Loughery. I'm not sure I see it. Oscar was great but so were Kareem and Dandridge where for the Bullets, the whole team shot .384 to Millwaukee's .504. Lenny is a major step up in terms of playmaking but it's just too much ground to make up.

prolific passer · Post #3 » by **prolific passer** » Wed Jun 8, 2022 3:24 am

penbeast0 wrote:Well, they went to the finals already so the real question is whether Lenny gives them enough extra bounce to beat Milwaukee. Milwaukee swept them by an average of 12 points per game. Gus Johnson was injured and Freddie Carter was playing more than Kevin Loughery. I'm not sure I see it. Oscar was great but so were Kareem and Dandridge where for the Bullets, the whole team shot .384 to Millwaukee's .504. Lenny is a major step up in terms of playmaking but it's just too much ground to make up.

On paper it looks like the bullets were a pretty deep team that was missing that true point guard to put the whole thing together. Having a center averaging 16.9rpg and a power forward averaging 17.1rpg along with Monroe and Marin's scoring would make for some exciting fast break basketball if they had a true point guard.

70sFan · Post #4 » by **70sFan** » Wed Jun 8, 2022 6:52 am

Bullets were destroyed by injuries in 1971 finals. Of course Lenny would help, but it wouldn't change the outcome in my opinion.

prolific passer · Post #5 » by **prolific passer** » Wed Jun 8, 2022 4:43 pm

70sFan wrote:Bullets were destroyed by injuries in 1971 finals. Of course Lenny would help, but it wouldn't change the outcome in my opinion.

How do the bullets do in the regular season record wise?

70sFan · Post #6 » by **70sFan** » Wed Jun 8, 2022 4:52 pm

prolific passer wrote:
70sFan wrote:Bullets were destroyed by injuries in 1971 finals. Of course Lenny would help, but it wouldn't change the outcome in my opinion.

How do the bullets do in the regular season record wise?

Definitely better, I think Monroe and would fare better as secondary ball-handler next to Wilkens. Bullets shooters should also do better and Gus Johnson as a finisher next to elite passer like Lenny would be also nice to watch. I think they'd improve on both ends of the floor (though I'm not sure how good Wilkens was as a defender at that age) and I can see them winning more games (around 48 would be my bet), but I don't think it would change much, because Bullets were the first in their division anyway.

prolific passer · Post #7 » by **prolific passer** » Wed Jun 8, 2022 5:03 pm

70sFan wrote:
prolific passer wrote:
70sFan wrote:Bullets were destroyed by injuries in 1971 finals. Of course Lenny would help, but it wouldn't change the outcome in my opinion.

How do the bullets do in the regular season record wise?

Definitely better, I think Monroe and would fare better as secondary ball-handler next to Wilkens. Bullets shooters should also do better and Gus Johnson as a finisher next to elite passer like Lenny would be also nice to watch. I think they'd improve on both ends of the floor (though I'm not sure how good Wilkens was as a defender at that age) and I can see them winning more games (around 48 would be my bet), but I don't think it would change much, because Bullets were the first in their division anyway.

Yeah the division was pretty weak but still with 2 guys averaging 17rpg each and Monroe and Marin on the wings as finishers. Would be some pretty exciting fast break bball imo.

DQuinn1575 · Post #8 » by **DQuinn1575** » Wed Jun 8, 2022 7:15 pm

Freddie Carter played pretty well against the Knicks. No guarantee Wilkens does better than that, and decent chance Bullets lose to Knicks.

prolific passer · Post #9 » by **prolific passer** » Wed Jun 8, 2022 8:24 pm

DQuinn1575 wrote:Freddie Carter played pretty well against the Knicks. No guarantee Wilkens does better than that, and decent chance Bullets lose to Knicks.

Maybe. They might implement more of a run and gun style with their 2 great rebounders and 2 great wing scorers if they had a true point guard. They had a good bench too with Fred Carter, Eddie Miles, Kevin Loughery, and John Tresvant. Could have became an early small ball team.