Dennis Johnson has matured through the seasons. His emotions now do not erupt at coaches, they are channeled into his superlative all-around game.
Tag Archives: Walt Frazier
Baltimore Bullets: All Blood and Guts, 1971
We visited the Bullets in their dressing room that night. The pungent odor of various liniments assailed the nostrils. Without Band-aids and painkillers, the Bullets might not have gotten this far.
Baltimore Bullets: Once Upon a Time in Madison Square Garden, 1971
The Bullets needed a change of luck in the Garden.
The Book on NBA Players, 1970
There it is. A scouting report on the NBA entering the 1969-70 season.
Red Holzman: A Humpty-Dumpty Situation, 1968
Holzman knows the game of basketball. And he probably knows it better now than back in 1957, when St. Louis fired him after a losing record.
‘Earl, Earl, Earl The Pearl,’ 1975
It’s difficult to describe the bedlam he generates in the arena. Little kids scream. Mothers and fathers forget their dignity and roar their delight over a sweating individual in short pants. The Pearl becomes their bauble.
Three Days in the Life of Walt Frazier, 1971
Dribbling and driving, dancing and defending, passing and penetrating, Frazier is the equal of any guard in the NBA. Stealing the ball, he has no equal. He has the fastest hands in the East . . . or in the West.
The Walt Frazier Style, 1971
Madison Square Garden is probably the only basketball arena in the country where, when the home team falls behind in the fourth quarter, a chant begins in the lower tiers and swells until it sweeps the arena: “Dee-fense! (clap, clap), Dee-fense! (clap, clap) Dee-fense! (clap, clap).”
Willis Reed and the Icing on the Cake, 1970
So through it all, one shining fact evolves. Basketball and Willis Reed are so entwined, the two are one.
The Knicks—Pro Basketball’s Next Dynasty
Red Holzman criticized Willis Reed unmercifully in the early days. The team captain was generally the target when Holzman screamed: “Don’t turn your head . . . get back . . . pick up your man.” The Knick coach knew Willis had the temperament to handle the abuse while the other players learned the biggest and the smallest [players] would get the same treatment.