On TV right now (Tuesday 8:15) - Celts vs Phoenix Game 5 1976

I'm getting my fix with Comcast showing this classic game!

A few observations:

The shorts were SHORT.

The game was FAST.

Cowens and Silas were MONSTERS.

Tommy was a NATTY dresser.

Charlie Scott was a HACKER. I don't remember him fouling so much but he fouled out of the first 5 games of the finals.

Going to the 1st OT.....

For tonight's contest let's guess how many OTs the game goes to.

At the end of second OT:

* Richie Powers gets in a brawl with a fan.
* A ball boy about 10 years old is out on the court arguing with the refs.
* Westphal calls a time out when they don't have one. Cs get a free throw but ball gets inbounded at half court.
* Gar Heard hits a turnaround. If the Celtics didn't win Heard would be known as Garfield "bleeping" Heard ala Bucky Dent.

On to 3rd OT...............

Celtics win! Glen McDonald the hero in the 3rd OT.

Gino time! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLC5tEY42UQ

bobc33 wrote:A few observations:

The shorts were SHORT.

The game was FAST.

Cowens and Silas were MONSTERS.

Tommy was a NATTY dresser.

Charlie Scott was a HACKER. I don't remember him fouling so much but he fouled out of the first 5 games of the finals.

Going to the 1st OT.....

Bob,

Loved this post!

That was the greatest game I ever sat through. I stood in line for tickets all by myself, my husband had dropped me off at the Garden. I was determined to come home with tickets.

Who would have ever thought that that wait would have given me the thrill of a life time. I sat in the second balcony, right in front of the basket where Havlicek scored his illustrious "leaner" shot!! It took me days to get over that game! What a memory!

Rosalie,

I couldn't get over John's shot then, and I can't get over it now. John was half running, half stumbling at roughly a 45-degree angle to the floor and no less than eight feet from the rim. The only possible shot from that "posture" was a flat one. There's no possible way that ball goes in. None whatsoever.

For days after that game, I tried to duplicate that shot. All-told, I must have tried it several hundred times—very possibly into the thousands. It took me the first 100-or-so not to get off-balance, given the momentum, the body angle, the need for the head to be up, the fact that John had dribbled the length of the floor in roughly four seconds, the fact that his feet were about a foot off the floor at the apex of his jump, his distance from the basket, and the fact that his angle of approach to the hoop was severely to the side.

All I got for my trouble the first couple hundred times was a series of loud caroms—each of which I had to travel some distance to retrieve. So I started making some compromises. After my very first foray, I gave up the length of floor dash under the old S.T. (Screw This!) theory. After a while, I figured that jumping on the shot (even though I never reached the height that John did) was one of the main factors forcing the flatness of the shot. So I actually made myself believe that he hadn't really jumped that high (even though still photos clearly show that he did).

Next, I reasoned that four seconds is really an extremely long time in basketball, so it would be okay for me to slow down the dribble-drive. Finally, I rationalized that, even though he started his jump pretty far from the basket (some estimates of the shot are as long as 15 feet), his momentum could have carried him very close to the basket, so I switched my release from eight feet away to three feet away. Still no dice, although I did get maybe half a dozen to spin around and out.

After three or four days of hundreds of shots per day, each shot followed by traveling some distance to retrieve the miss, I was completely exhausted. So I stood under the basket, sank a stationary layup, went home, and never tried it again.

I am so glad that I never considered the fact that his 10-inch advantage over me would have made the shot even flatter and more difficult to sink than I could ever replicate without stilts. That would have been a truly crushing thought.

The thing that now amazes me most about that shot is that, despite the short time span, his body's angle of lean, and all the other obstacles, at the height of his leap John was perfectly squared away, his head up, his eyes riveted on the target, and the ball cupped in perfect shooting form.

Yeah, Heard made a great shot in the clutch from distance, but I'll always feel that John's was greater. And I have at least several hundreds of reasons why.

Sam

Sam,

On the broadcast they had in the studio Mike Gorman, Tommy and John giving commentary at various times.

On that shot John said he saw two defenders and planned on drawing a foul, when unexpectently they didn't he found himself in the air and realized "oh crap I have to throw something up!" Of course it went in.

Sam

Truly a great shot. Still MY alltime favorite Celtic!

I still think the shot in the 74 Playoffs vs the Bucks comes about as close given all that was riding on it too. The one where he gets the offensive rebound over Jabbar and then puts it back up over Jabbar! Simple shot really with no one ther but when a 7'3" or what ever he was is between you and that 3-4 footer??? Think it was late in the game that the C's eventually lost ( Jabbar's hook over Finkle) I could be wrong but whatever. Certaily the off balance runner off the glass is a classic but in all you attempts did you get the right ammount of backspin that would cause the ball to drop quicker?

I also don't recall Hondo going the length of the court prior to that shot I thought it was inbounded from 1/2 Court.

Here is the clip. Quality sort of sucks a bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htWUnrdLX2Q

Seems the shot isn't all that flat but the sort of double pump and shooting it while comming down from his jump towards the hoop... those things (plus the fact we are trailing by 1 with 2-3 seconds left as he releases it) make it special.

Wonder what things would have been like had replays been used and tenths would have been on the clock. Probably nothing different if anything Heard might have even had more time to bury his.

beat

You're right, Beat. The play did start at mid-court, but still had to sprint with the dribble. And it looks from the video as though a distance of 15 feet is pretty close to the fact.

Backspin doesn't really have much of any impact on a line drive shot. I tried it a few times, but it had virtually no effect because of the low trajectory of the shot. Backspin works best if (1) there's enough arc and the ball kisses the backboard at the apex of the arc when the momentum of the shot is about to go into reverse or (2) the ball kisses the board while the shot is still ascending, thus giving the spin time to take effect.

And not once did I say to myself, "Oh crap, I've got to throw something up." Maybe that would have helped. I know that, after one session, I was so sick to my stomach that I felt like I was going to throw something up.

Sam

Greatest Game I ever saw...bar none...albeit on a small tv... as I remember I was at a gathering of non sports fans and hung out in someone's bed room watching the entire game... what an anti-social cad...but I couldn't tear myself away. I remember pacing the floor as I watched, I could not sit still. I must have worn a trench into the hardwood floor of a my friend's room.

LA-I totally agree with you. Let me tell you, I would not leave my seat for the full four quarters, AND, the triple overtime. I thought I was going to die!!!!!
But, it is etched in my memory forever. I never have seen a game that took my breath away the way that one did!!