Basketball history assignment thread
- Thread starter drob50
- Start date
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kiwi_in_melb
OZCT Supporter
kiwi_in_melb
OZCT Supporter
Ok here we go.
Dennis Johnson
(He is described as a borderline Ranga African-American with freckles!)
I had a quick look in a box of base cards I have and found one of his cards.
· Was born in 1954. Played at Pepperdine University which has produced 18 NBA/ABA players in it’s history. Beside Dennis the other most notable were Doug Christie and Bird Averitt(ABA mostly).
· Johnson was drafted in the 1976 NBA Draft at 29th overall by the Seattle SuperSonics with whom he played 4 seasons. He went on to win the 1979 NBA Championship with them as well as taking home the Finals MVP! Only 3 years into his career!
· Was traded to Phoenix where he played for a couple of years then onto the (then) mighty Boston Celtics for the remainder of his playing career (83-90). He was the starting point guard for them and won a further 2 Championships as a Celtic.
· While he was a very good scorer (14pts & 5 ast per game) he was perhaps better known for his Defensive skills. Voted into 5 All-star games but made it into nine consecutive All-Defensive First and Second teams. All NBA First team in 79 as well. He also was involved in some pretty amazing buzzer beaters FTW in a few of the Finals games. Played in 180 playoff games!! 11th highest all time!
· During the Celtics / Lakers rivalry he had the hard task of defending none other than Magic Johnson! Dennis really limited Magic (as much as you can I’m guessing) and possibly contributed to some of the poor play from Magic, esp in the 84 Finals series, which got Magic the nickname “Tragic Johnson” from the Celtics fans.
· His personal favourite highlight is this very well know play in the closing seconds of game 5 of the 87 Eastern Conference Finals. Celtic’s are down 107-106 with 5 sec to go. Isiah Thomas (Pistons) with the inbound……. (ohhh the nostalgia!)
It was Dennis who scored under the basket!
· Bird called Dennis the best team mate he ever had!
· Dennis had his jersey retired by the Celtics in 91.
· Was an interim Coach for the Clippers for a very short stint (24 games) at the end of the 02-03 which didn’t go well.
· He worked as a scout and a D-League coach until he died of a heart attack in 2007 at a practice session. Dennis was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 posthumously.
· The D-League 'Coach of the Year' Award is named after him.
I learned a heap about him! Such a gritty hard working reliable player. Only missed 48 games in his whole career from 1976-1990 playing 1100+games.
Oh, it also turns out it wasn't the same Dennis Johnson I went to school with
Dennis Johnson
(He is described as a borderline Ranga African-American with freckles!)
I had a quick look in a box of base cards I have and found one of his cards.
· Was born in 1954. Played at Pepperdine University which has produced 18 NBA/ABA players in it’s history. Beside Dennis the other most notable were Doug Christie and Bird Averitt(ABA mostly).
· Johnson was drafted in the 1976 NBA Draft at 29th overall by the Seattle SuperSonics with whom he played 4 seasons. He went on to win the 1979 NBA Championship with them as well as taking home the Finals MVP! Only 3 years into his career!
· Was traded to Phoenix where he played for a couple of years then onto the (then) mighty Boston Celtics for the remainder of his playing career (83-90). He was the starting point guard for them and won a further 2 Championships as a Celtic.
· While he was a very good scorer (14pts & 5 ast per game) he was perhaps better known for his Defensive skills. Voted into 5 All-star games but made it into nine consecutive All-Defensive First and Second teams. All NBA First team in 79 as well. He also was involved in some pretty amazing buzzer beaters FTW in a few of the Finals games. Played in 180 playoff games!! 11th highest all time!
· During the Celtics / Lakers rivalry he had the hard task of defending none other than Magic Johnson! Dennis really limited Magic (as much as you can I’m guessing) and possibly contributed to some of the poor play from Magic, esp in the 84 Finals series, which got Magic the nickname “Tragic Johnson” from the Celtics fans.
· His personal favourite highlight is this very well know play in the closing seconds of game 5 of the 87 Eastern Conference Finals. Celtic’s are down 107-106 with 5 sec to go. Isiah Thomas (Pistons) with the inbound……. (ohhh the nostalgia!)
It was Dennis who scored under the basket!
· Bird called Dennis the best team mate he ever had!
· Dennis had his jersey retired by the Celtics in 91.
· Was an interim Coach for the Clippers for a very short stint (24 games) at the end of the 02-03 which didn’t go well.
· He worked as a scout and a D-League coach until he died of a heart attack in 2007 at a practice session. Dennis was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 posthumously.
· The D-League 'Coach of the Year' Award is named after him.
I learned a heap about him! Such a gritty hard working reliable player. Only missed 48 games in his whole career from 1976-1990 playing 1100+games.
Oh, it also turns out it wasn't the same Dennis Johnson I went to school with
Last edited:
Ok here we go.
Dennis Johnson
(He is described as a borderline Ranga African-American with freckles!)
I had a quick look in a box of base cards I have and found one of his cards.
· Was born in 1954. Played at Pepperdine University which has produced 18 NBA/ABA players in it’s history. Beside Dennis the other most notable were Doug Christie and Bird Averitt(ABA mostly).
· Johnson was drafted in the 1976 NBA Draft at 29th overall by the Seattle SuperSonics with whom he played 4 seasons. He went on to win the 1979 NBA Championship with them as well as taking home the Finals MVP! Only 3 years into his career!
· Was traded to Phoenix where he played for a couple of years then onto the (then) mighty Boston Celtics for the remainder of his playing career (83-90). He was the starting point guard for them and won a further 2 Championships as a Celtic.
· While he was a very good scorer (14pts & 5 ast per game) he was perhaps better known for his Defensive skills. Voted into 5 All-star games but made it into nine consecutive All-Defensive First and Second teams. All NBA First team in 79 as well. He also was involved in some pretty amazing buzzer beaters FTW in a few of the Finals games. Played in 180 playoff games!! 11th highest all time!
· During the Celtics / Lakers rivalry he had the hard task of defending none other than Magic Johnson! Dennis really limited Magic (as much as you can I’m guessing) and possibly contributed to some of the poor play from Magic, esp in the 84 Finals series, which got Magic the nickname “Tragic Johnson” from the Celtics fans.
· His personal favourite highlight is this very well know play in the closing seconds of game 5 of the 87 Eastern Conference Finals. Celtic’s are down 107-106 with 5 sec to go. Isiah Thomas (Pistons) with the inbound……. (ohhh the nostalgia!)
It was Dennis who scored under the basket!
· Bird called Dennis the best team mate he ever had!
· Dennis had his jersey retired by the Celtics in 91.
· Was an interim Coach for the Clippers for a very short stint (24 games) at the end of the 02-03 which didn’t go well.
· He worked as a scout and a D-League coach until he died of a heart attack in 2007 at a practice session. Dennis was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 posthumously.
· The D-League 'Coach of the Year' Award is named after him.
I learned a heap about him! Such a gritty hard working reliable player. Only missed 48 games in his whole career from 1976-1990 playing 1100+games.
Oh, it also turns out it wasn't the same Dennis Johnson I went to school with
Awesome!! He is ridiculously underrated IMO. And not even heard of by a lot of people. I read about him in some Magic/Bird books and wanted to find out more!
I have started on Mikan, but instead of just using the net, I decided to pause reading my Jerry West biography and quickly smash through "Mr Basketball" about George! So I will have something to write soon! Maybe just after Chrissy.!
One crazy thing though. When he played college ball, during WW2, there was no goaltending rule and he once recorded 17 blocks in a game by batting away EVERYTHING! And I mean everything! Including long range bombs as they were about to fall!
One crazy thing though. When he played college ball, during WW2, there was no goaltending rule and he once recorded 17 blocks in a game by batting away EVERYTHING! And I mean everything! Including long range bombs as they were about to fall!
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