A look back at Rutgers' 1976 Final Four team

[Tango Two]

40 years ago this month, the Rutgers men's basketball team capped off their best season ever with the Scarlet Knights' first, and thus far only, appearance in the men's Final Four.


http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball...k_at_rutgers_1976_final_four_team_photos.html

 

[wheezer]

I mentioned in the 3 point thread that RU broke 90 around 20 times that season, with no shot clock ,and no 3 pt shot....was a great
feat considering how hard it is to get to 90 for most college games now.

 

[knights1212]

Yes, we actually scored at least 90 points in 25 out of our 33 games in the 1975-76 season. That is amazing when I think about it.

 

[shields]

And that Final Four had great teams.

 

[wheezer]

Yes, we actually scored at least 90 points in 25 out of our 33 games in the 1975-76 season. That is amazing when I think about it.

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Thanks...... Do you have a link that shows the bb scores of previous season?.... I have one for football but cannot find the basketball one anymore....... Would appreciate your providing it

 

[Crimedog2]

A nice look back . Being someone that was born after 76' I like hearing about this team because to me it's almost like it never happened . I still can't fathom Rutgers being good in baskebtall . My top Rutgers memories are the wenzel teams and billet beating Georgetown .
Sadly , we have a whole new generation of Rutgers fans (under 30) that have had some awful basketball memories . Here's hoping that changes.

 

[knights1212]

Just go to google and put in 1975-76 Rutgers Basketball Scores and you will get 1975-76 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Roster and stats that appears. Hitting on that gets you anything about the team including the score of every game plus individual stats etc. You can probably do this for any season and team. I also have a media guide which has every bit of information on any RU B-Ball team. I have every media guide back to I think 1972 or 1973.

 

[shields]

I remember NBC doing the all 70s team at the end of the decade. Two of the five players were RU players. Bailey and Sellers.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

That team was legit ...and they scores 93.3 ppg in an era where there was no shot clock, no three point shot and teams went out of their way to slow it down to keep it close

Think about that then look at the 93.3 ppg and it's a major wow...

 

[MADHAT1]

----
Thanks...... Do you have a link that shows the bb scores of previous season?.... I have one for football but cannot find the basketball one anymore....... Would appreciate your providing it

1974-75 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/rutgers/1975-schedule.html

1975-76 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/rutgers/1976-schedule.html

1976-77 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/rutgers/1977-schedule.html

 

[wheezer]

1974-75 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/rutgers/1975-schedule.html

1975-76 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/rutgers/1976-schedule.html

1976-77 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/rutgers/1977-schedule.html

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thanks.... I actually had accessed those pages before, looking for the indvidual games, but missed the link to the list of games and scores.....

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

They could score 10 in one bite of a dawg. Game against Dennis Duvall and Cuse in the Barn still resonates. We crushed them in the first half and let them crawl back but our D was the difference. Like the Knicks of that era the O started with some frightening D.

 

[RU848789]

The '76 team is how I became aware that there was a Rutgers University and that it was the State University of NJ (I was 14), because some of the games were on public TV down in South Jersey, where I grew up and I liked watching college hoops back then (was a huge Big Five fan at the time, with Temple being my favorite).

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

For one blessed year they were as good as any team I ever saw. How many undefeated teams have their been with a bunch of guys that were way better a team than anyone could have anticipated.. ? I do not revise history when it comes to Rutgers because there really isn't much to revise. :smiley:

 

[cRURah]

In my opinion those were the best moments in Rutgers sports history. I loved watching that team, it was fabulous. The amazing thing was it barely made it out the East, needing a missed free throw by Princeton to advance.

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

Princeton could have been a death knell for every great team in history..

 

[RUsince52]

40 years ago this month, the Rutgers men's basketball team capped off their best season ever with the Scarlet Knights' first, and thus far only, appearance in the men's Final Four.


http://www.nj.com/rutgersbasketball...k_at_rutgers_1976_final_four_team_photos.html

I remember all the excitement going undefeated with the comeback against St. Bonnie because I grew up 3 blocks from THE GYM as we called it. Then beating Princeton to get to Greensboro. We catch a break when both Va and Tenn lose and VMI wins twice. Plus NC ends up in the Mideast Region and no home game. Seems like Destiny is in the making with the Finals in Philly. Would have been interesting to play in the final, especially if it was UCLA. It was truly magical to have the same fan feeling as the big tradition powers have every year. Don't forget we were undefeated in football too which might not happen again for any team ! Those were the Glory days for RU and now we old timers know it.

 

[MadRU]

My brothers freshman year at RU. I was still playing HS basketball, would listen to the games on the radio, poor reception use to have to put my ear almost against the radio to hear the game.

 

[rubaseball78]

The Barn was so loud at times, who remembers the paint chips falling from the ceiling?

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

78, Those weren't paint chips
They were rats.

 

[knight82]

The Barn was so loud at times, who remembers the paint chips falling from the ceiling?

They actually had to delay the games to sweep the paint chips off the floor.

 

[RUsince52]

They actually had to delay the games to sweep the paint chips off the floor.

In the mid 50' s you could walk in at 7:45 pm, 8:00 tip and buy a ticket. By 1965, had to get there at 6 pm and sit until the game started at 8, At least in the 50' s there was a freshman game before the main event. Saw Princeton with Bradley and Army with Coach K playing. Who really knew what was to come. In those years the NIT was our " dance " and the NCAA was a pipedream. We seem to be at that point again, but with HOPE !!!

 

[Vlife]

Here's a pic from a few years after that Final 4 team

 

[RUsince52]

I mentioned in the 3 point thread that RU broke 90 around 20 times that season, with no shot clock ,and no 3 pt shot....was a great
feat considering how hard it is to get to 90 for most college games now.

It was amazing for sure. We probably went over 75 shots per game quite a few times that year with plenty of fast breaks. We weren't the best shooting team around which makes going undefeated even more remarkable, but we could steal and run forever. Also, Bailey was an under the radar guy from Mass and really blossomed into a star for us. Very solid, especially on " D ".

 

[shields]

That is O'koren in picture?

 

[Friend of 112]

That is O'koren in picture?

Yessir
L to R
Mike O'Koren - UNC
Ronny Perry - Holy Cross
Jammin' James Bailey - RU
Darryl "Dr. Dunkenstein" Griffith - Louisville
Larry Bird - Indiana St.
Sidney Moncrief - Arkansas
Coach Bill Foster - Duke
Bill Cartwright - U. San Fransisco
Jim Spanarkel - Duke
? UCLA
Earvin "Magic" Johnson - Michigan St

I remember this picture vividly. Probably my first look at a Playboy. However I can't remember the rest of the magazine... (I'm in my late 40's and hoops > boobs at age 10)

 

[ColonelRutgers]

David Greenwood UCLA

 

[Friend of 112]

David Greenwood UCLA

Thanks. I guess the pre-Larry Brown UCLA team didn't really register with me as I was more East Coast oriented.

 

[Scarlet Shack]

Yessir
L to R
Mike O'Koren - UNC
Ronny Perry - Holy Cross
Jammin' James Bailey - RU
Darryl "Dr. Dunkenstein" Griffith - Louisville
Larry Bird - Indiana St.
Sidney Moncrief - Arkansas
Coach Bill Foster - Duke
Bill Cartwright - U. San Fransisco
Jim Spanarkel - Duke
? UCLA
Earvin "Magic" Johnson - Michigan St

I remember this picture vividly. Probably my first look at a Playboy. However I can't remember the rest of the magazine... (I'm in my late 40's and hoops > boobs at age 10)

Yes I remember that article at age 10...I read playboy for the articles even back then

 

[Scarlet Shack]

That was the playboy preseason 78-79 all American team

 

[Scarlet Shack]

David greenwood has a big game in a win against us on national tv in the first week of January 1979, the week after we won the holiday festival in the garden in December of 1978.

 

[BuckRU]

I remember Bailey hitting a last minute shot over Bird at the RAC to beat ISU at the RAC in the NIT quarterfinals. It was the last game Indiana State would lose until the NCAA finals against Magic Johnson the following year. God I loved college hoops back then.

 

[wheezer]

David greenwood has a big game in a win against us on national tv in the first week of January 1979, the week after we won the holiday festival in the garden in December of 1978.

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I have always thought that the Ohio state garden game was the most exciting win RU has ever had..... The PU title game a close second..... Those were the days.

 

[wheezer]

I remember Bailey hitting a last minute shot over Bird at the RAC to beat ISU at the RAC in the NIT quarterfinals. It was the last game Indiana State would lose until the NCAA finals against Magic Johnson the following year. God I loved college hoops back then.

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Great game...... Do you remember that bird got off a near half court shot after that in the last second or so, that hit the rim, scared the hell out of me.

 

[RUJMM78]

That team was legit ...and they scores 93.3 ppg in an era where there was no shot clock, no three point shot and teams went out of their way to slow it down to keep it close

Think about that then look at the 93.3 ppg and it's a major wow...

They made a lot of layups after turnovers using a pressing defense which negated the absence of a shot clock.

 

[wheezer]

They made a lot of layups after turnovers using a pressing defense which negated the absence of a shot clock.

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most games had what I would call moments of explosion, when all of a sudden they would rattle off 10, 12 points in the blink of an eye, due to forcing turnovers, good shooting, etc.... against mediocre teams you could just sit back and wait for it to happen, and it did.

 

[RM60]

Nice memory for lots of the older folk around here. Amazing that was FORTY YEARS AGO!!!

 

[Scarlet Shack]

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Great game...... Do you remember that bird got off a near half court shot after that in the last second or so, that hit the rim, scared the hell out of me.

wheezer

YES....that shot from 1/2 court was damn close.

 

[shields]

Nice All- America team that year.

 

[80RU]

wheezer

YES....that shot from 1/2 court was damn close.

Do you remember him decking a fan after the game