AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > March > 21 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USUCLA still the gold standard
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
I was riding on the shuttle from the Chicago Hyatt Regency to the United Center last Sunday, and I got to talking with Larry Farmer, who played at UCLA when UCLA was the only school worth playing for. He later coached the Bruins — after Larry Brown, before Walt Hazzard — and Loyola (Ill.), and over the weekend he was doing NCAA commentary for Westwood One radio.
Some people love collecting stamps. I love hearing about UCLA’s glory run (10 championships in 12 seasons, in case you’ve forgotten) because I saw it only from afar (via sporadic TV broadcasts from my old Kentucky home, sporadic because college basketball was then considered a regional sport). Farmer and I spoke for 20 minutes. I only wish it’d been 20 hours. Here were some of the things he said:
That Jerry Tarkanian, who went on to greater fame at UNLV, still blames Farmer for costing Long Beach State the 1971 NCAA title. Tark’s 49ers, headed by All-American guard Ed Ratleff, led UCLA by 11 points in the West Regional final, but the Bruins rallied and Farmer blocked a backdoor layup that Tark still regards as the game’s pivotal play.
March Madness in Atlanta:
Check out the AJC’s Final Four pageThat, having blocked the backdoor layup and taken the rebound, he (Farmer) couldn’t wait to pass to Sidney Wicks, the Bruins’ All-American forward. Farmer was just a sophomore sub then and, he said, “I didn’t want any part of the ball.” Wicks made the free throws that gave UCLA one of only two narrow escapes — the other was against Drake in the 1969 Final Four — in its march to seven consecutive titles.
That UCLA and Southern Cal used to fly to Pac-8 away games on the same plane, but that the Bruins would sit in first class while the poor Trojans landed in coach.
That he (Farmer) learned his trade by practicing against the greatest set of forwards (Wicks and Curtis Rowe) in college history on a daily basis.
That Bill Walton, whom Farmer played alongside as a junior and senior, was the greatest fundamental player he had (or has) ever seen.
That he (Farmer) still holds the best winning percentage of any collegian ever. “I was 89-1,” he said. “Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] was 88-2.”
That the one loss Farmer suffered still rankles. It came against Notre Dame in South Bend in 1971. Austin Carr scored 46 points against a series of Bruin defenders. I asked Farmer if he’d been one of them. “I was about the only one who didn’t get to try,” he said.
As noted, I grew up in Kentucky, so I know all about UK and Louisville. And I’ve seen North Carolina and Duke and UConn win multiple championships, and I’ve been to Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence and to the Izzone in East Lansing and to Assembly Hall in Bloomington. For all that, the first school that comes to mind when I think of college basketball is the one that won all the time when I was learning to love the game.
When I see those blue-and-gold uniforms, I don’t just see Arron Afflalo and Darren Collison; I see Walton and Kareem and Wicks and Rowe and John Wooden and those 10 astonishing championships in 12 years. To me, UCLA was and always will be the standard of excellence. And when I hear someone like Farmer talk about how it was to have been part of such a thing, I feel like a wide-eyed kid again.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Final Four, Mark Bradley, Quick Hit
Comments
By old fart 63
March 21, 2007 8:38 PM | Link to this
Nice column, Mark. Very nice.
By NCJacket
March 21, 2007 9:51 PM | Link to this
I saw Wooden’s first N/C team (Hazzard/Goodrich/Ericson/Washington/Slaughter) play Stanford at Stanford in the early 60s. Stanford was ahead by 13 halfway through the second half, and UCLA’s zone press - Wooden’s calling card - had been totally ineffective. But the Bruins stole a careless inbounds pass and scored, and within three minutes took the lead. Their tallest starting player on that undefeated team was Fred Slaughter, their somewhat pudgy 6’5” center.
By Shamrock Hoops
March 21, 2007 10:55 PM | Link to this
I loved the Bruins too. One year for Christmas as a kid, I asked for two things: A shirt with UCLA on the chest and one with Indiana (no such thing as screen printing back then) and they where simple letters applied by heat press at the local sporting goods store. I wore those with pride. I was (and still am) a huge Walton fan and also a Knight follower, so the early 70’s UCLA and ‘76 Hoosier squads are my favorites.
Walton’s 44-point Finals performance on 21 of 22 shooting is the pinnacle of March Madness history.
Good article Mark…
By Carlton Powell
March 22, 2007 8:29 AM | Link to this
Great memories. I too grew up learning to love basketball by watching all those great Bruin teams. Seven titles in a row will NEVER be repeated. I know, I know, everyone will claim that the talent is better now, etc. But remember, the road to the championship began with the regionals and only 16 teams instead of 65. Generally, a team had to win their conference title to qualify for a regional spot. And in the case of the ACC, the conference tournament champion represented the conference. That quirk kept Univ.of South Carolina out of a chance at a national title in 1970 when they had gone through the regular ACC season undefeated, or with only one loss,I can’t remember. Frank McGuire had put together a really good team that year, and the Gamecocks might have really given the Bruins a run for their money. But, conference rules dictated that NC State, which had defeated SC in the title game would represent the ACC in the regionals. Again, great column. Thanks for the memories.
By hoopitup
March 22, 2007 11:46 AM | Link to this
Wow - thanks for the reminder of what it was like back then.
I too grew up watching the Bruins in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Basketball the way it was meant to be played. Thank goodness for Eddie Einhorn and TVS back in those days.
As a freshman in college, I had the opportunity to go to the 1975 Final Four in San Diego and watched in awe as Wooden won his last Final Four. The Louisville vs UCLA overtime semifinal is still one of the best college basketball games I have ever seen. The athletes in that game were unbelievable. Wooden announced his retirement after that game…Kentucky never had a chance in the championship game.
The best thing about UCLA - and Wooden - he not only had great talent - he was able to get them to commit to the team concept. I highly recommend his books or check out his “Pyramid of Success” to get a good idea of how he developed his dynasty!
By hOWARD
March 22, 2007 2:06 PM | Link to this
Mark…a very good column…there are a select group of sports records which will probably stand for a long time. There’re not unreachable, but still will stand the test of time long after we’re gone. But there is one record…and only one…that will never, never be broken…and that was the championship streak of the UCLA Bruins under John Wooden and company. Why? Because collegiate teams seldom keep their teams together for four years…superstars stay long enough to get their NBA stock up, then they’re long gone. Had this insane policy of jumping ship for NBA, even after high school, had been around in John Wooden’s days, I seriously doubt you would have seen his teams win two or three national titles in a row…much less that gaudy number they put up.
By BuzzDraft
March 22, 2007 4:07 PM | Link to this
I love UCLA and John Wooden, the greatest teacher of all time. I became hooked on basketball as a little kid in Ohio and was a huge Dayton Flyer fan because my mom worked there. They lost to Kareem in the finals in 1967. My older brothers got me the Sports Illustrated Book On Basketball, authored by John Wooden. I studied all the methods taught in the book, and memorized the motion offense. I still remember Wooden’s philosophy on rebounding. I met Kareem a couple years ago - very aloof guy, but when I told him he broke my heart when he beat the Flyers, he actually talked a little.
We used to role play in the driveway until well past dark, shooting high arching rainbow shots like Sidney Wicks did and shots from the hip like Keith Wilkes. In high school overseas, I copied Kareem’s sky hook which was unstoppable if done right.
I was spotted by a Bruin alumnus playing ball in Europe as a senior just after Coach Wooden retired, and was invited to walk on at UCLA by Gene Bartow’s recruiting coordinator.
I went the engineering education route at Georgia Tech instead… and have zero regrets. I figured with guys like Marques Johnson and Kiki Vandeweghe at UCLA, I would be the dorky kid on the end of the bench whose only mission was to raise the team GPA. Strangely, I was never interested in trying out for Dwayne Morrison. I had my hands full just with Tech’s coursework.
UCLA still is the Rolls Royce of college basketball.
By Anonymous2
March 22, 2007 4:13 PM | Link to this
I always was a fan of Coach Wooden but not of UCLA. I read a quote by him one time that he never contacted a prospect….he only recruited them after he was contacted by them. At the time I thought this was a little far-fetched and still do but I admired him as a man, coach, and leader. After a few championships I believe his teams got more breaks than Duke ever imagined……and Wooden was never a whiner like Coach K. It was like a contender in boxing having to knock out the champ because he would never win on a decision. In 1970 UCLA beat Jacksonville in the championship game despite JU’s front line that averaged 7’ with Artis Gilmore at center and the tallest player on UCLA being about 6’8”. UCLA’s 6’8” player (may have been Sid Wicks) committed at least 6 or 8 goal tending fouls but not one of them was called. With Gilmore at 7’3” jumping up and shooting the ball down at the basket, it was impossible for goal tending not to occur. That was typical of the breaks UCLA got over the years from being the perennial champ.