Jiminy Glick wrote: What? The 1983 Lakers were better than the 1972 Lakers. If the Sixers could beat the 83 team they could beat the 72 team. They swept the 83 team and that team was stacked.
They weren't better by any objective measure and they were good matchup for the Sixers. Wilt would do far better job on Moses than Kareem and West/Gail were better than Nixon/Magic. 1983 Lakers were great, but they weren't suited to beat Philly.
I have a problem with the idea that West and Goodrich were better than Nixon and Magic, even young Magic. West was the best of the four, but Norm Nixon always impressed me with his fire and passing while Goodrich seemed more a product of shooting a lot than shooting very well.
On the other hand, the 83 Lakers were great individually but didn't ever seem to mesh as a team (and Worthy missed the whole playoffs though he was only the 7th man that year; the 72 Lakers played great team ball -- Bill Sharman gets some credit here.
Maybe overall, but not in 1972. Goodrich was really efficient that year (clearly his best scoring season) and he played well against tough Knicks perimeter defense (both in 1972 and 1973 finals). Nixon was better passer, but he wasn't more efficient at all and neither of them is great defender.
Jiminy Glick wrote: What? The 1983 Lakers were better than the 1972 Lakers. If the Sixers could beat the 83 team they could beat the 72 team. They swept the 83 team and that team was stacked.
They weren't better by any objective measure and they were good matchup for the Sixers. Wilt would do far better job on Moses than Kareem and West/Gail were better than Nixon/Magic. 1983 Lakers were great, but they weren't suited to beat Philly.
I have a problem with the idea that West and Goodrich were better than Nixon and Magic, even young Magic. West was the best of the four, but Norm Nixon always impressed me with his fire and passing while Goodrich seemed more a product of shooting a lot than shooting very well.
On the other hand, the 83 Lakers were great individually but didn't ever seem to mesh as a team (and Worthy missed the whole playoffs though he was only the 7th man that year; the 72 Lakers played great team ball -- Bill Sharman gets some credit here.
Hmm... reading over this topic I can't be sure as to what people know, only what they post, but with talks of "stacked," with it being over 35 years ago now, it seems some details got lost.
As you said, Worthy was lost before the playoffs started.
Spoiler:
The Associated Press wrote:Lakers’ Worthy suffers leg fracture
Associated Press
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Chances of the Los Angeles Lakers successfully defending their National Basketball Association title have dimmed since rookie forward James Worthy suffered a broken bone in his left leg just below the knee.
“We’ve had very serious injuries this year,” said Magic Johnson. “But this one really hurts the most. It’s going to have a big effect on the team.”
Worthy, from North Carolina and the Lakers’ No. 1 draft choice, was being counted on to give the team the offense off the bench that they lost when the veteran Bob McAdoo was injured one game after the All-Star break.
“It’s going to change everything for us,” said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after Worthy was hurt Sunday night. “It’s depressing. We have to overcome everything, I guess.”
The Lakers had already clinched the Pacific Division title and had little to gain in the game against the Phoenix Suns which they eventually lost at the Forum, 101-95.
Worthy was hurt with about 15 seconds remaining in the third quarter. He had leaped high above the rim trying to rebound-dunk a missed shot. Worthy, 220-pounds and 6-foot-9, missed the shot and came down hard with the pressure on his left foot.
He was holding his knee even before Maurice Lucas of the Suns collided with him.
“It seemed as if all his weight was on the one foot,” said Dr. Robert Kerlan, the Lakers’ team physician.
It remained possible that McAdoo, who injured his right foot, might still be available for spot duty in the conference finals, if the Lakers go that far.
Since McAdoo was hurt, the 22-year-old Worthy has made more than 60 percent of his shots from the field. In the seven games before he was injured, he had shot 76.6 percent. He had scored in double figures in 17 of his last 19 games, and had averaged 13.3 for the season.
With both McAdoo and Worthy out, there is a bigger job for the nucleus of the defending champions — Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon, Kurt Rambis and sixth man Michael Cooper.
Note that Bob McAdoo had already been injured before that when Worthy was lost for the season.
With both McAdoo and Worthy out, there is a bigger job for the nucleus of the defending champions — Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon, Kurt Rambis and sixth man Michael Cooper.
The Lakers still had neither Worthy nor McAdoo when the Finals started:
A thigh injury kept backup forward-center McAdoo out of the lineup, and when Wilkes and Cooper picked up three fouls, the Lakers had to finish the half with four players who averaged less than 10 points in the regular season.
By Game 4, the series was already over at that point, but:
Los Angeles, which played without starting guard Norm Nixon and key reserve Bob McAdoo because of injures, were forced to play Earvin “Magic” Johnson for the full 48 minutes. Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were magnificent in defeat as Johnson finished with 27 points and Abdul-Jabbar 28.
Now, they were an all-time great team, so the ultimate result may not have necessarily changed. However, it has to be acknowledged that they were going in with injury issues. (Player(s) X being injured is a statement of fact. Who would have won is unprovable speculation.)
Philadelphia is the NBA’s A Team, but in the wake of its rush to the title a question lingers: Is this the finest basketball team of all-time, or merely the greatest of the moment?
The record is a resounding shout that, indeed, the 76ers are history’s heroes. No team accomplished what they did — the National Basketball Association’s best regular-season record, a 4-0 rout in the championship series and a phenomenal 12-0 record against all playoff opposition.
But look beyond the record.
Injury robbed the resolve from Philadelphia’s last line of resistance, the Los Angeles Lakers. Without Bob McAdoo, Norm Nixon and James Worthy, L.A. Coach Pat Riley was forced to go with Kurt Rambis longer than he or anyone else wanted, and what could have been basketball’s finest series was reduced to a rout.
So it isn't as simple as saying, "Well, they swept the '83 Lakers which were stacked, so they would have beaten the '72 Lakers too."
Now, one could look at the matchup and come to the conclusion that the '83 Sixers would beat the '72 Lakers in a head-to-head matchup, which I see people in this thread have. But it has to be based on more than sweeping the '83 Lakers.
I remember your posts from the RPOY project, you consistently brought it. Please continue to do so, sir. This board needs guys like you to counteract ... worthless posters
Retirement isn’t the end of the road, but just a turn in the road. – Unknown
