How It Was Back When

Here are some interesting facts and quotes from the Boston Globe, April, 1969.

Lakers won Game 1, 120-118.

After the Lakers’ morning practice on the day of the game, Bill Russell took the floor for a workout. Russ and West crossed paths.

Russell: “How you doing?”
West: “I feel like I got nothing in me.”

That night, during a third quarter timeout, Russ crossed West’s path again. West already had blown by Russ for a variety of layups, on his way to 53 points.

Russell: “You look like you got too much in you.”

Emmette Bryant gave it his best, but couldn’t cover West, who sank 21 of 41 shots.

Bryant: “He’s too tall for me. He takes me inside and I can’t stay with him when he does that. If I try to overplay him he just reverses it on me. He has so many good moves that once he gets the ball and decides to shoot, it’s either in the hoop or he’s going to shoot a foul.”


Lakers won Game 2, 118-112.

Red Auerbach: “If we keep playing like we are, we’re gonna win this thing yet.”

John Havlicek: “They’re winning because the’re coming up with the big play.”


Celtics won Game 3, 111-105.

The Cs were ahead by 17 at halftime, lost the lead in the third quarter, then stormed back to take it.

Bill Russell: “How’s that for a roller coaster? . . . You know, that’s exactly what I talked about at halftime. I’ll never do that again.”

Bill Russell: (talking about when the Cs started to lose the big lead) “That’s the time you go back to fundamentals. You want to play good defense, make sure you get a good shot every time.”

John Havlicek outscored Jerry West, 34 to 24. West shot 1 of 9 in crunch time. “I died in the fourth quarter,” West said.

With less than a minute to play, Keith Erickson headbutted Havlicek in the face. Havlicek was slow to get up, bleeding under the left eye. Concussed, vision blurred, he casually sank both free throws to seal the win.

“Havlicek: “Double image. I didn’t have real good perception.”

After three games, the Lakers had taken 38 more free throws than the Celtics.

Red: “We’re getting closer. They only had 11 more shots from the foul line today.”

Russell: “ We try to press ‘em. It’s our game plan.”

Hondo still looks pretty fit................thnk we can dress him instead of Scal?

beat

Spike,
Another great history lesson... and very timely... We find ourselves in a similar place 41 years later down 2-1 , with a chance to tie it up and possibly a chance down the road to win it all in LA.

Spike,

Thanks for the reminder!

Regards

Red didn't give up. Why should we? Down 0-2, he says we can still win this thing. What was he, crazy? If it wasn't for a couple of lucky shots, well, - I'd rather be lucky than good.

I'm still on the bandwagon. I hear the Busses have ordered 5,000 balloons and the UCLA Marching Band for Game 6 in LA. Back in '69, the Lakers had the champagne on ice so many times the labels washed off.

Incidentally, after some diligent research, I was able to discover that the balloons were donated to a children's hospital.

Spike,
good work....That was a much better use of those balloons anyway, no doubt. Gotta love those Busses... not real fond of Dr. Buss (the G. Steinbrenner of the NBA IMHO) but they have proved to be winners, no doubt...Would love to send the UCLA marching band out on a sour note...

LA

I always thought it was the USC marching band?

It all came down to a Game 7 in LA. Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke, a flamboyant fellow, had his building ready for the expected celebration. Havlicek somehow obtained a copy of the in-house itinerary, and he read it off to his teammates: the USC band, the balloons that would be released from the roof, the champagne, etc.

and they were to play Happy Days are Here Again, I think.

beat

beat, that was then...I'm just quoting Spike...Our Slippery Sam saw them balloons with his own peepers up close....
Sam, anyway you can track down that $20 bill so we can send you back....?
How hard could that be...? Where did you spend it...?
Not that I'm superstitious or anything....

I spent it at a little French restaurant that no longer exists on a Spanish girl I was dating between marriages and long before I ever met Mrs. Sam. Now that I think back, that $20 bill proved to be lucky right to the end.

Sam