Dave Twardzik: Diving and Driving He Goes, 1978

[In his 1978 book, The Coach’s Art, then Portland Trail Blazer coach Jack Ramsay wrote of Dave Twardzik, his sixth-year pro guard, “Portland fans have learned to tolerate a little obscurity in their favorite team’s draft choices, but few suspected that Twardzik was such a fine overall player. Dave could—and can—penetrate, shoot a high percentage from the field, defend tenaciously, and satisfy the desire of open teammates to get the ball. 

“I knew very little about Dave, however, when I came to the Blazers. He had been signed before I took the job. But Stu Inman knew a lot about him. “He is your type of player,” said Stu. “You’ll love him.” Stu, as it turned out, was right.”

In this brief article, from the May 1978 issue of Basketball Digest, Portland journalist Bob Robinson clearly also loves Twardzik’s scrappy brand of game. He explains why in good humor and raises Twardzik’s now-forgotten quest in 1978 to be the first NBA guard to shoot 70 percent or higher from the field in a season. Twardzik didn’t get there, not even close. He finished at 59 percent. In only, as Robinson notes, Twardzik hadn’t caught so many “grenades” at the end of the shot clock.]

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Portland Trail Blazers guard Dave Twardzik had one of his finest hours earlier this year, scoring 22 points and going 8-for-8 from the field in a 108-106 win over the Indiana Pacers. But he may have tarnished his image: He did the job standing up.

One of Twardzik’s most-ardent admirers among Blazer fans points out that the 6-feet-1 scrambler hit the floor only once in his 31-minute stint. That probably is a record for Twardzik, who is in a constant battle with Phoenix’s Ron Lee for the National Basketball Association lead in floor burns 

Rolling a loose ball in front of Twardzik and Lee is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Roll the ball and watch them dive and skid. Twardzik and Lee share an utter disregard for the well-being of their bodies. 

Twardzik also has this thing about shooting: He doesn’t unless he has a Las Vegas percentage going for him. “He never takes a bad shot,” said Portland’s coach Jack Ramsay. That isn’t exactly true. Twardzik did take a bad shot once—on a dare back in his sophomore year at Old Dominion College of Virginia. He made it. 

Now, playing with center Bill Walton and the other team-oriented Blazers, Twardzik is making field goals at an almost unbelievable pace. NBA statistics consistently show him leading the league with around a .700 percentage. A lot of players can’t shoot free throws that well. 

There are many versions of the Twardzik show, and most start out there somewhere in front of the key. There is a pass to a teammate, a quick shuffle around a pick, perhaps another shuffle, and then, suddenly, Twardzik is free for a pass and one of his corkscrew lay-ins. He puts enough English on the ball to teach a class. 

“Twardzik is one of the smartest players I’ve coached,” Ramsay said. “He senses when to go, when the time is right, and he doesn’t make many mistakes.”

It doesn’t bother Ramsay that his curly haired blond virtually ignores the outside shot. “I don’t worry about that,” he said. “Dave knows what he’s doing. If he doesn’t get the shot he wants, then someone else is open, and we go to the other person.”

Besides, Twardzik doesn’t always pass up shots from a distance. His first basket against the Pacers came on a 10-foot jumper from the side 11 seconds into the game. “I held my breath,” joked John White, the Blazers’ publicity director. “I was afraid he would ruin his average.”

Twardzik, a fun-loving guy who keeps his coaches and teammates loose, also has a knack for picking things up quickly. When he came to the Blazers a year ago, he assimilated Ramsay’s system as a sponge soaks up water. Asked how long it took him to get a feel for playing with Walton last season, Twardzik replied matter-of-factly, “Oh, about two passes.”

“I’ve only coached one player like him,” Ramsay said. “That was Jimmy Lynam when I was at St. Joseph’s in the early 1960s. He’s the basketball coach at American University now. He played just like Dave. He was 5-feet-9, a shade shorter than Dave.”

Twardzik’s sense of humor has its shades—sometimes light, sometimes biting, but always amusing. After one game, he was interviewed at center court by [Portland] broadcaster Bill Schonely, who reminded him that TV Guide—in its preview of a Portland-Philadelphia game—had listed him as 6-feet-7. “That’s not true, I’m only a shade under 6-feet-5,” he said.

A year ago, Twardzik shot .612 from the field during the regular season and would have led the league, except that he didn’t make enough baskets to qualify for the title. He had 263, and 300 was the minimum. 

Now he is on top, though, with a percentage that, if maintained, would break the NBA record held by Wilt Chamberlain, who in 1972-73 left shots longer than two feet to Los Angeles teammates Jerry West in Elgin Baylor, and wound up with a .727 average. 

Only once in league history has a guard led the NBA in shooting percentage. That was Jack Twyman in 1957-58, and his average of .450 looks paltry by today’s standards. Even some of the stiffs shoot .452 nowadays.

It probably isn’t fair to hint at the possibility of Twardzik’s continuing to shoot at such a torrid pace, but it’s fun to contemplate. It says here that it’s impossible for a guard to shoot over .700 for a full season. 

However, Twardzik would seem to have a good shot at the field-goal accuracy title if he doesn’t get hurt while boring his way through the giants. Injuries cut playing time and field goals made. That’s how he lost the title last season. 

There will be times when Twardzik will fire from far out—at the end of a quarter or when the 24-second is running out. Don’t be distressed. He’ll probably make the shot anyway.