I've only seen one brief mention (in a book many years ago) of Dr. J playing a few exhibition games with Maravich and the Hawks when he first came over from the ABA. Apparently, the Hawks thought they had the rights to Dr. J but the NBA stepped in and overruled the free agent process. It sounded as though Pistol Pete and Dr. J (both in their primes at that point) were a match made in basketball heaven. Pete leading the fast break with Dr. J filling the lane while winning those few games easily. Does anyone remember those games? Any way to find some old box scores or would that be too difficult since they were only exhibition games?
Found this: Erving enjoyed his brief time with Atlanta: "It really was one of the joys of my life to play with Pete, to be in training camp with him. We used to stay after practice and play one-on-one. We would play for dinner after practice. I did the same thing with George Gervin once he became my teammate [in Virginia]--I pretty much learned that from Pete. If this guy is going to be your teammate, you really need to stay after practice and get to understand his game and know his likes and his dislikes--where he likes the ball and that kind of stuff. The best way to do that is to just play--go play each other one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three. Play away from the coaches, away from the whole team practicing in unison." On September 23, 1972, Erving had 28 points and 18 rebounds in 42 minutes for Atlanta in a 112-99 win over the Kentucky Colonels in Frankfort, Ky. A week later in Raleigh, N.C., he scored 32 points--shooting 14 of 15 from the field--in a 120-106 win over the Carolina Cougars, who were paced by Joe Caldwell's 24 points. Erving says, "I remember those exhibition games. I would just grab a rebound, throw it out to Pete and get on the wing. Pete would always find you. He got his points, but he loved to pass the ball. He could hit you in full stride in a place where you could do something with the ball. That was a measure of his greatness."
99, you confused me for a minute, because I knew when Erving came to the NBA, Maravich was already with the Jazz. But it was actually in '72, and was part of the situation they led to Erving eventually leaving Virginia of the ABA and going to the New York Nets. But its an interesting read, and brings out an interesting hypothetical. If Erving had been allowed to go to the Hawks, you have to figure they would at the very least have contended for the title in the two years before they dealt Pete to the Jazz. In that situation, do they deal him at all? And how would the Jazz have developed if they didn't get Pete? Most historians think he was bad for the team; he put up great numbers and sold tickets, but he cost the Jazz so much, it was 5 years before they could afford to put any talent around him. I've seen stories where the history of the New Orleans Jazz was described as "four guys standing around, watching Maravich play."
Pete was a little before my time, unless you count going to a Jazz game around the age of 1 or trying out for his movie at 10 yrs old. I recall reading that the Jazz were finally becoming a good, all-around playoff team when Pete had his bad knee injury. It seemed as though there were many "almosts and what ifs" during his NBA career that overshadowed the many great things he did.
My dad played freshman ball for LSU and tells stories of scrimmaging sometimes with Pete. That's pretty much how he described it.
The Jazz were bad because of Barry Mendelson, not because of what they gave up for Pete.It was a shame that Lou Hudson and Cadwell were so jealous of Pete, the Hawks could have been something special.
the Jazz came out a lot better in the Maravich deal than the Hawks did. Maravich was traded by the Hawks to the Jazz for --Bob Kauffman: played 1 year for ATL and then was done. in his 1 year at ATL, he averaged 10.9 minutes per game, 3.9 pts, 2.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.3 steals, 0.1 blocks --Dean Meminger: played 2 years for ATL, then one year for the Knicks, then was done --a 1974 1st round draft pick, #10 overall -- the Hawks used it to draft Mike Sojourner, a total bust, played 3 years for ATL then retired from basketball --a 1975 1st round draft pick, #1 overall -- the Hawks used it to draft David Thompson, but he signed with the ABA's Denver Nuggets instead of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, and played for the Nuggets until 1982 before going to the SuperSonics for the last few years of his career --a 1975 2nd round draft pick, #19 overall -- the Hawks used it to draft Bill Willoughby, a career back-up who never did anything noteworthy during his career --a 1976 2nd round draft pick, #23 overall -- the Hawks traded this pick to the Milwaukee Bucks, who used it to draft Alex English, and he left the Bucks two years later as a free agent and signed with the Indiana Pacers, who traded him two seasons later to the Denver Nuggets --a 1980 3rd round draft pick -- this pick ended up going to Detroit, who used it to draft Jonathan Moore, who never made the team Maravich would end up entering the prime of his career for the Jazz: 1974-75 -- #8 in NBA in total points (1,700), #7 in NBA in assists (488), #5 in NBA in assists per game (6.2), #5 in NBA in assist pct (28.2) 1975-76 -- All-NBA 1st Team (the first for Pete), #3 in NBA in points per game (25.9) 1976-77 -- All-NBA 1st Team, #3 in MVP voting (behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton, ahead of Julius Erving and Moses Malone), #1 in NBA in total points (2,273), #1 in NBA in points per game (31.1), #12 in NBA in assists per game (5.4), had four games where he scored 50 or more, including 68 at home vs the NYK 1977-78 -- injured both his knees and was never the same, only played in 50 of 82 games (61%) 1978-79 -- only played in 49 of 82 games (60%) Also, the Jazz were never "four guys standing around, watching Maravich play." even during the first three years, you had: Year 1 (1974-75), the six main guys were: 21.5 pts 5.3 rbnds - G Maravich 6-5/197 (27) 11.7 pts 4.8 rbnds - F Aaron James 6-8/210 (22, taken #28 overall 1974 NBA Draft) 11.2 pts 2.7 rbnds - G Louie Nelson 6-3/190 (23, taken #19 overall 1973 NBA Draft) 9.9 pts, 3.4 rbnds - G Bud Stallworth 6-5/190 (25, taken #7 overall 1972 NBA Draft, All-American, All-Big Eight Player of the Year) 8.1 pts, 7.1 rbnds - F E.C. Coleman 6-8/225 (24, taken #51 overall, 1973 NBA Draft) 6.9 pts, 5.9 rbnds - C Mel Counts 7-0/230 (33, taken #7 overall 1964 NBA Draft, All-American) Year 2 (1975-76), C Otto Moore (age 29) was a pretty good center: --#6 in NBA in defensive rebound pct (26.3%) --#7 in NBA in block pct (3.0%) --#7 in NBA in defensive rating (92.3) --#8 in NBA in blocks per game (1.7) --#8 in NBA in total blocks (136) --#11 in NBA in defensive win shares (4.4) --#11 in NBA in defensive rebounds (631) --#13 in NBA in total rebound pct (16.4%) --#13 in NBA in total rebounds (793) --#14 in NBA in Rebounds per game (9.8) Year 3 (1976-77), Coleman was named NBA All-Defensive (1st Team). the Jazz received a 1978 1st round draft pick for him when he left to sign with the Golden State Warriors as a free agent the next year (he was NBA All-Defensive 2nd Team for the Warriors) Year 4 (1977-78), PF Truck Robinson joined the team and was All-NBA 1st Team. he finished: --#1 in NBA in total rebounds (1,288) --#1 in NBA in rebounds per game (15.7) --#1 in NBA in defensive rebounds (990) --#1 in NBA in defensive win shares (5.0) --#5 in NBA in offensive rebounds (298) --#6 in NBA in defensive rebound pct (25.8) --#11 in NBA in total points (1862) --#15 in NBA in points per game (22.7) the Jazz would end up trading him during year 5 to the Sun for two players plus a 1979 1st round draft pick and a 1980 1st round draft pick Year 5 (1978-79), C Rich Kelley (who the Jazz drafted #7 overall in the 1975 Draft) was an elite center: --#2 in NBA in rebounds per game (12.8) -- #1 was Mose Malone, #3 was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar --#3 in NBA in total rebounds (1,026) --#4 in NBA in offensive rebounds (303) --#5 in NBA in defensive rebounds (723) --#5 in NBA in total rebound pct (18.5) --#5 in NBA in defensive win shares (4.5) --#7 in NBA in defensive rebound pct (25.3) --#8 in NBA in blocks (166) --#8 in NBA in blocks per game (2.1) --#10 in NBA in free throws made (373) --#10 in NBA in defensive rating (98.9) --#14 in NBA in offensive rebound pct (11.3) --#14 in NBA in block pct (3.0)
Please. I saw these guys in person many times. First thing you need to understand is that Maravich, because he was the best scoring guard and the best ballhandling guard of his time, made the other guard on the team useless. Maravich couldn't run the break or create in the offense if the other guy was running the point, but if you were going to run plays for the shooting guard, you wanted Maravich taking the shot. As for your other guys, Coleman was an outstanding defensive player, but a liability on offense. Stallworth only started because they didn't have anyone better; he averaged less than 8 points a game in his career. James was an outstanding outside shooter; its a shame he missed the 3-point error. But to call him a bad defender is an insult to the word "bad." Truck had the one outstanding season when the brought him in, and they should not have let him go. Counts was over the hill when they got him. Moore was a contributor, but not a difference maker, and I don't care what the stats say, Kelly was a stiff who couldn't hit the ocean if he were standing on the pier.
Pete was before my time, but growing up playing basketball our coach made us know who he was. We did all his drills etc. One of the best passers and pure scorers the game has ever seen. If they had the 3 point line back then .... damn it would have been even more amazing.
