Just watched the most fantastic one hour documentary on the decade of dominance under John Wooden on HBO. I don't what is more amazing; that he won all those NCs with all different types of lineups or how much his players absolutely adore him. His record over that period of time was 332-22. This will never be equaled.
It certainly was amazing. Not only is the L.A. area a great basketball recruiting area, but he was able to bring in player from all over the country. He did have several things going for him that todays coaches don't, one the NBA didn't take HS players or undergraduates. So he was always able to maintain his talent level. And the Tournament was only 16 teams.
THE TOURNEY WAS ONLY 16 teams. This is the key that people dont realize. Wooden would beat up on 2 easy west coast games and boom. he is in the final 4.!!
It's still pretty amazing Joel. Even if you were seeded into the final 4 winning that many times is amazing. I think I remember Kareem having some not so nice things to say about Wooden as regards to race. I know that he mellowed on a lot of things as he matured but I do remember him having some very sharp remarks. Gator Bill
In addition, John Wooden was a class act all the way. Like George, I doubt anyone will ever come close to equaling his record. Don
Not true...not true...not true... 1953–1974: 24 teams (sometimes 22–25 teams) 1975–1978: 32 teams Wooden's 1964 team was the smallest to ever win the NC and his 1965 team was the second smallest. They only had one player over 6'4" and most of their players were around 6'0". Their small guards, Walt Hazzard and Gail Goodrich, may have been the best combination of offense/defense at that position of all-time. Goodrich held the record for most points in a NCAA Final at 42, until Bill Walton broke it with 44 in 1973... BTW just where were all of those "great" eastern and southern teams that "could" have beaten the Bruins in those days? In the one year that UCLA didn't win it, (because freshman weren't allowed to play) the NCAA title was won by Texas-El Paso. In the five years before that, the title was won by Loyola of Chicago, Cincinatti twice, Ohio State and California. In the three years after the big run, the titles were won by NC State, UCLA again and Indiana. Many of the greatest teams in those days were in the west, such as USF, Cal, Oregon, USC, Long Beach State and Pacific, but UCLA always eliminated them before anyone outside of the west ever saw them. The scores were almost always closer when the Bruins played western teams in those days, than their usual slaughter of teams back east... UCLA's teams weren't just better than the other teams around the country; they were much better.
I couldn't agree with Jim more. Wooden won with small lineups, then big lineups, then small again then big. His teams were technically as close to perfect as you could get nin all pahses of the game. Great movement, spacing, tremendous shooting form, good trap defenses, excellent passing. In 1967 they faced my beloved Dayton Flyers in the title game. Dayton had a superb team led by AA forward Donnie May. The Bruins demolished them with ease. They were the best teams I have ever seen, then or now.
First of all, fellas, if you are going to denigrate the legend, get your facts straight. Second, he is as big a legend here in Indiana as he is at UCLA, even bigger, so if you are going to speak ill of his accomplishments, you have to go through me even before you go through JO'Co. Read very carefully what JO'Co says above. He is 100% correct in everything he says. 100%. Deal with it. A side note: One of his guards from Indiana, Pete Trgovich, just coached East Chicago Central to the highest-level (4A) Indiana state championship over the Eric Gordon-led team from Indy.
Well it's not like all Wooden's players were from the West Coast. I recall Kareem (Lou) playing for Power Memorial in the Bronx.
I agree with all of you Wooden supporters, he was the best, probably the best ever. Steve Spurrier is a big fan of Wooden and quoted him all the time about excellence. Gator Bill
First man to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as player and coach. Also inducted into the Teachers Hall of Fame. 1932 Collegiate Basketball Player of the Year (it wasn't called the "Wooden Award" back then :wink: ) All those awards, accolades and championships, yet the most important thing in his life is...
re: Wooden's players I never said that all of Wooden's players were locals. Lew Alcindor was from NY City; Walt Hazzard was from Philadelphia. He grabbed his choice of the locals, then cherry-picked the best from around the nation. Some of his teams were all local, but he'd take an out-of-towner if the kid was good enough. After he won back-to-back with his midget team in 1965 he pretty much had his choice of any kid he wanted... re: Wooden as a player Sid is right. Twenty-five years before the real "Hoosiers", John Wooden was something beyond Jimmy Chitwood. He was the greatest, local basketball legend ever to come out of the basketball crazy state of Indiana. In fact, an argument can be made that HE was the one who made them basketball crazy in the first place... He's nearing 100 years of age now, but his eyes twinkled when the interviewer asked him about the changes that have been made in the game. He responded that he loved the shot clock and that he would have added some additional double screens to take advantage of the three-pointers. He has a plan, and even after all these years, I still have no doubt that John Wooden could out-coach anyone that we see out there today.
The records of John Wooden are so amazing at all levels that they defy description. His record at Pauley Pavilion was 149-2... He led tiny Martinsville, Indiana to the state finals three times as a player, winning the state championship in 1927 and finishing as a runnerup in 1926 and 1928... Click here: http://uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/ucla-wooden-page.html
Y'all just can't bring yourselves to mention what college he played for can you? :wink: So I won't either...just look at his jersey in the picture.