Philly's performance with DrJ pre Moses

migya · Post #1 » by **migya** » Sat Jan 28, 2023 6:14 am

Philly's performance during DrJ's career pre Moses, 1977-82 was very good but how good among post merger teams?

Did they overachieve or underachieve?

Were these teams loaded with talent? How so?

How does DrJ's performance during this time compare to other greats post merger? How much did he contribute to those teams winning? Did he carry them much to any significant level?

How good was Maurice Cheeks? How did his level of play compare to other PGs post merger?

1977 - 50-32, +3.6 (3rd of 22), Lost NBA Finals (2-4)
1978 - 55-27, +4.7 (2nd of 22), Lost 2nd round (2-4)
1979 - 47-35, +1.7 (9th of 22), Lost ecf (3-4)
1980 - 59-23, +4.1 (4th of 22), Lost NBA Finals (2-4)
1981 - 62-20, +7.5 (1st of 23), Lost ecf (3-4)
1982 - 58-24, +5.6 (2nd of 23), Lost NBA Finals (2-4)

70sFan · Post #2 » by **70sFan** » Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:49 am

They underperformed in 1979, but other than that they were very good and just were beaten by better teams.

Philly were certainly very talented, but they also faces stiff competition. Early Julius era teams were also badly structured, with a lot of volume scorers and few complimentary pieces.

migya · Post #3 » by **migya** » Sun Jan 29, 2023 2:07 am

The trio of Erving, Cheeks and Bobby Jones were among the very best and then with Toney and Dawkins arguably the best starting five in the early 80s. Don't think they overachieved and had a golden opportunity in 82 to win it.

kcktiny · Post #4 » by **kcktiny** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 1:25 am

Did they overachieve or underachieve?

Depends on your definition of both.

From 1976-77 to 1981-82, Erving's 6 NBA years prior to Malone on the Sixers, Philadelphia won the most regular season games, averaged 55 wins a season. They also won - by far - the most playoff games, 54. No other team those 6 years won more than 35 playoff games.

They simply did not win a title.

So unless you claim not winning a championship as underachieving, they were the dominant team in the league during that time.

eminence · Post #5 » by **eminence** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 1:45 am

As stated, they were the dominant RS team over that period. I don't really think they were more talented than the '77 Blazers or the Lakers/Celtics in the 80s.

Maybe should've grabbed a title in '78 or '79, though I don't really like the build of the '78 team all that much.

The '79 team in particular did seem to underperform both in the RS and in that loss to a Spurs team they really did have more talent than.

migya · Post #6 » by **migya** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 1:49 am

kcktiny wrote:
Did they overachieve or underachieve?

Depends on your definition of both.

From 1976-77 to 1981-82, Erving's 6 NBA years prior to Malone on the Sixers, Philadelphia won the most regular season games, averaged 55 wins a season. They also won - by far - the most playoff games, 54. No other team those 6 years won more than 35 playoff games.

They simply did not win a title.

So unless you claim not winning a championship as underachieving, they were the dominant team in the league during that time.

They performed well and deserved a championship, which would likely raise Erving's career ranking. They didn't overachieve going by the talent they had. Cheeks was a very good fit at PG and they had good bigs, particularly defensively. With Toney, they got another gun scorer that made them more potent. Averaging 55 wins a season isn't easy and any team that has done it for over 5 years is among the best teams in their era.

OhayoKD · Post #7 » by **OhayoKD** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 5:05 am

kcktiny wrote:
Did they overachieve or underachieve?

Depends on your definition of both.

From 1976-77 to 1981-82, Erving's 6 NBA years prior to Malone on the Sixers, Philadelphia won the most regular season games, averaged 55 wins a season. They also won - by far - the most playoff games, 54. No other team those 6 years won more than 35 playoff games.

They simply did not win a title.

So unless you claim not winning a championship as underachieving, they were the dominant team in the league during that time.

winning the most regular season and playoff games over 6 years and not picking up a single championship seems like a textbook choke.

SkyHookFTW · Post #8 » by **SkyHookFTW** » Mon Jan 30, 2023 3:53 pm

eminence wrote:As stated, they were the dominant RS team over that period. I don't really think they were more talented than the '77 Blazers or the Lakers/Celtics in the 80s.

Maybe should've grabbed a title in '78 or '79, though I don't really like the build of the '78 team all that much.

The '79 team in particular did seem to underperform both in the RS and in that loss to a Spurs team they really did have more talent than.

That 77 team was loaded and had more talent than the Blazers. Dr. J, Doug Collins, Steve Mix, World B. Free, Caldwell Jones, George McGinnis, Henry Bibby, Kobe’s dad…that series win by the Blazers is considered one of the greatest upsets in NBA finals history. The roster construction needed work. This series is the foundation rock of Bill Walton’s legacy .