STJClass_2013
Member
Was anybody at or remember this game. I am curious what you remember if you were at that game. Btw 68-69 season
pistol pete vs st johns
- Thread starter STJClass_2013
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Missed the game -- was home on leave following basic training, and opted for a concert by The Band at the Academy of Music on 14th Street (which was great!) -- but here's some info on it:
"December 29, 1969 LSU vs. St. John’s (Hawaii’s Rainbow Classic) (Sr.)
"Facing top-20 St. John’s University in a Christmas tourney, Pete helped cement his legend with a spectacular finish. After intermission Pete outscored the entire Redmen team with 40 second half points (total 0f 53) as he steered the Tigers to a 80-70 victory. Pete’s final exclamation point was a half-court pass off the backboard for an assist.
" 'It was the most electrifying 15 minutes of basketball I’ve ever seen. He almost hypnotizes you on the court. Here I am trying to coach my club, watching the action all over the court. And what am I doing? Watching him,' gushed St. John’s Coach Lou Carnesecca afterwards. 'You talk of Jerry West or Oscar Robertson or any of the great ones who scored and passed so well. Maravich is better.' "
Did get to see Pete play in person during his first year in the NBA. He was, in a word, amazing.
Class of 72
Active member
I was at this game and remember Pistol, as usual, took almost every shot for LSU and scored something like 56 points. It was played at the Garden and most of the fans came to see Pete Maravich....not us. I remember we lost the game and yet all we had to do was double him the entire game but guess who stuck to a straight man?
I think it was the 1969-70 season BTW.
EDIT: I did see Pistol at the Garden...now I realize it was the NIT where we lost to Al McGuire and Marquette in the title game. In one of the games, Pistol scored something like 56 points but can't remember against whom. The SJ-LSU game as a TV game.
Class of 72
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We almost got to play LSU twice that year. Pretty sure Dean Memimger beat us the NIT that year.
Class of 72
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A VERY LONG time ago! LOL! I remember the crowd anticipating his every shot and I am pretty sure he took almost EVERY shot! I also got drafted after graduation! Did basic in South Carolina.
Good old Ft. Jackson! I remember being on my first (and only) three-day pass in Columbia in early December. Everyone in town boasting how USC (the Carolina variety) was the pre-season #1 team. I got blue in the face telling them that they shouldn't be so proud, that it was really a New York team, beginning with Coach Frank McGuire. All to no avail ... and one reason why I relished our recent trouncing of them.
Class of 72
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It WAS a NY team!! John Roche, Tom Riker, Tom Owens, etc I think there were 6 NY players on that team. Amazing how even back then ex-redmen like the McGuires (Al and Frank) out-recruited a young Looie with ease. We still did pretty good with leftovers like Joe DePre, Ralph Abraham, John Warren, Danny Cornelius, Cluess, etc.
To this day I never forgave Lew Alcindor for going to UCLA and then coming home to beat us at the Garden! LOL!
STJClass_2013
Member
Thanks for the help
beast of the east
Active member
Does anyone have a link to the boxscore for that game?
I remember reading about an interview that took place among 10 of the greatest NBA players of all times, when asked who they thought was the best player of all time, the overwhelming majority said Pistol Pete. I was attending SJU when we played LSU, but I don't remember the game being that close! He put on a show!
westchesterjoe
Active member
As noted, Frank McGuire, a HOF Coach, mostly from his NC and SCarolina days, was also a SJU Coach, whom the Administration at the time, let go due to compensation, benefits issues..Those were the days the Vincentians ran the BB program like a CYO program.CHEAP.
Joe Lapchick followed Frank as Coach.
i also think Bobby Cremins was one of the guys who played with Roche,Owens, Riker,etc at USC..
Noteworthy to know too, that nearly all McGUIRE'S players came from the CHSAA
Joe Lapchick followed Frank as Coach.
i also think Bobby Cremins was one of the guys who played with Roche,Owens, Riker,etc at USC..
Noteworthy to know too, that nearly all McGUIRE'S players came from the CHSAA
Great memories being shared above
thanks for the…
I'd have to look up the details to remind myself of the late 1960s NITs. I'm clearing out our homestead in Brooklyn where my mother (87 this Christmas Day) could no longer live alone. 60 years worth of "stuff" in our attic to include much West Point material.The Army team w/Knight, Coach K etal. played well from what I recall. They were in the mix with the teams mentioned above. We were usually #1 in defense and had enough offense to compete - this was pre-blue chip/$$$/cable TV/DIckie V /take bogus classes etc. era.
For cadets any chance to get away from tjhe rigors was welcomed - like a trip to Alumni Hall where "we" beat the Redmen - little did I know that I would molt into a SJU fan.
Bobby Knight turned down an NCAA bid in one of those years - to compete in NITs.
all the best
beast of the east
Active member
Pistol PEte had some sick drills he made up to improve his ball handling and hand speed. In one drill we would rifle a two handed bounce pass full force between his legs and quickly move his hands to catch it, repeatedly this as quickly as possible front to back to front. One coach warned us not to try that drill for fear of a mishap. 
Maravich also got so bored of practicing alone making shot after shot that he would practice trick shots or ridiculous angles for bank shots off any part of the backboard. The latter helped him once in the NBA arching bank shots on the drive off the upper reaches of the backboard and impossible to block.
Finally, some of you may remember the NBA halftime contests, one on one and so on. One year, they had a HORSE contest, where the opponent had to make the same shot you did or get a letter. In one game Maravich called the following shot as he demonstrated it - spin the ball on your finger, put it behind your back still spinning it, toss it up in the air, and bank it in with your head. His opponent cracked up and said "You gotta be joking me man".
Pistol Pete, floppy hair and socks bunched up at his ankles, couldn't possibly eclipse his college exploits as a pro. Of course there was the night where he dropped something like 63 on the Knicks as a member of the New Orleans Jazz ( a good name for a New Orleans team, not a Utah team).
He left us all too soon in his 50s from a heart attack while playing pickup ball.
Maravich also got so bored of practicing alone making shot after shot that he would practice trick shots or ridiculous angles for bank shots off any part of the backboard. The latter helped him once in the NBA arching bank shots on the drive off the upper reaches of the backboard and impossible to block.
Finally, some of you may remember the NBA halftime contests, one on one and so on. One year, they had a HORSE contest, where the opponent had to make the same shot you did or get a letter. In one game Maravich called the following shot as he demonstrated it - spin the ball on your finger, put it behind your back still spinning it, toss it up in the air, and bank it in with your head. His opponent cracked up and said "You gotta be joking me man".
Pistol Pete, floppy hair and socks bunched up at his ankles, couldn't possibly eclipse his college exploits as a pro. Of course there was the night where he dropped something like 63 on the Knicks as a member of the New Orleans Jazz ( a good name for a New Orleans team, not a Utah team).
He left us all too soon in his 50s from a heart attack while playing pickup ball.
Pistol PEte had some sick drills he made up to improve his ball handling and hand speed. In one drill we would rifle a two handed bounce pass full force between his legs and quickly move his hands to catch it, repeatedly this as quickly as possible front to back to front. One coach warned us not to try that drill for fear of a mishap.
Maravich also got so bored of practicing alone making shot after shot that he would practice trick shots or ridiculous angles for bank shots off any part of the backboard. The latter helped him once in the NBA arching bank shots on the drive off the upper reaches of the backboard and impossible to block.
Finally, some of you may remember the NBA halftime contests, one on one and so on. One year, they had a HORSE contest, where the opponent had to make the same shot you did or get a letter. In one game Maravich called the following shot as he demonstrated it - spin the ball on your finger, put it behind your back still spinning it, toss it up in the air, and bank it in with your head. His opponent cracked up and said "You gotta be joking me man".
Pistol Pete, floppy hair and socks bunched up at his ankles, couldn't possibly eclipse his college exploits as a pro. Of course there was the night where he dropped something like 63 on the Knicks as a member of the New Orleans Jazz ( a good name for a New Orleans team, not a Utah team).
He left us all too soon in his 50s from a heart attack while playing pickup ball.
Pistol Pete: (With all due respect) It's like the Judaic concept of God -- by defining him, you only limit him. Simply an indescribably amazing talent.
Pistol PEte had some sick drills he made up to improve his ball handling and hand speed. In one drill we would rifle a two handed bounce pass full force between his legs and quickly move his hands to catch it, repeatedly this as quickly as possible front to back to front. One coach warned us not to try that drill for fear of a mishap.
Maravich also got so bored of practicing alone making shot after shot that he would practice trick shots or ridiculous angles for bank shots off any part of the backboard. The latter helped him once in the NBA arching bank shots on the drive off the upper reaches of the backboard and impossible to block.
Finally, some of you may remember the NBA halftime contests, one on one and so on. One year, they had a HORSE contest, where the opponent had to make the same shot you did or get a letter. In one game Maravich called the following shot as he demonstrated it - spin the ball on your finger, put it behind your back still spinning it, toss it up in the air, and bank it in with your head. His opponent cracked up and said "You gotta be joking me man".
Pistol Pete, floppy hair and socks bunched up at his ankles, couldn't possibly eclipse his college exploits as a pro. Of course there was the night where he dropped something like 63 on the Knicks as a member of the New Orleans Jazz ( a good name for a New Orleans team, not a Utah team).
He left us all too soon in his 50s from a heart attack while playing pickup ball.
Actually beast, even more sadly he was only 40 when he left us
Watched Pistol from the time he was at LSU. Actually still have his rookie card. No doubt one of the most unique(possibly the most unique) talents to ever play the game, but IMO no way was he even close to one of the 10 best players of all time. I'd question whether he deserves to even be on the top 50 list. During the time he played, I would have taken West, Clyde(granted he was a point guard) and a number of other guards over Pistol. In 10 seasons as a pro, I think Pete only played on one team with a winning record. No doubt a tremendously talented entertainer, but Pete came 1st and the team a distant 2nd.