Pete Maravich — Ridiculous Stats

[BillyC80]

FS1 just showed the current list of all time scorers in college basketball, and Maravich is still on top with 3667 points scored.

It’s ridiculous when you consider he only played 3 years (freshmen were prohibited from playing varsity), there was no 3-point shot and there was no shot clock!

 

[MadRU]

The reason I became a basketball player. First college TV game I saw was LSU vs Kentucky. My aunt worked for LSU at that time. She called us and said you have to watch our Petie. I was young but sat with my father and was in awe. I still remember my father saying he is not a hotdog, he is the real thing.

The newspapers had pre game articles about the game and Pete posing the question hotdog or real deal?

 

[Kbee3]

Pete was one-of-a-kind.

 

[RUonBrain]

Pete was one-of-a-kind.

He went to L$U?

Wonder how much he got paid

 

[Candiru]

His dad Press Maravich was the head coach of LSU

 

[RUonBrain]

His dad Press Maravich was the head coach of LSU

Ah
So his allowance was bumped

 

[Scangg]

My dad's favorite player. Never saw him play but some of his pass highlights were unrealll. Truly a man before his time. Playing more like the modern game of fast pace and flair.

Interested in some of the older board members takes on him who might have seen him play in his time

 

[FELONIOUSMONK]

At the same time as Pete Ernie Digregorio was at Providence playing a similar type of Harlem Globetrotters game.. We had a guy at Highland Park ,Joe Polito, who was also a white magician with the ball. All shot from distance and did crazy stuff with the ball. Fun to watch. But Pete was a freak above all others.

 

[MadRU]

I read the biography of Pete. One story in the book was Pete and a friend went to a carnival with their dates. There was the game with the smaller hoop where if you hit the shot you win a prize. Pete missed the first shot and the worker started making fun of him, not knowing who he was. Pete then hit something like 19 shots in a row. Basically wiping out the prizes from the stand. As they walked away with all the prizes Pete’s friend said to the worker, you just got taken by the Pistol.

Future LSU couch Dale Brown was asked if he would have let Pete shoot as much as he did if he was his coach. Coach Brown said he would have told Pete to shoot more, he was too unselfish.

I know Oscar Robertson said that they all loved playing Pete because they knew they would score a lot because Pete didn’t play defense. But I doubt many of them could have stopped him either. There appeared to be a segment of players from that era that didn’t accept or acknowledge Pete’s greatness. Oscar being the most outspoken from my recollection.

If I recall correctly Oscar said that there were many players like Earl Monroe who could do everything Pete could do and were better players. I loved the Pearl too and not saying Pete was better or worse, but Pete did things then that I have never seen again. And the Pearl was a magician with the ball also.

Magic Johnson is a big fan of Pete’s.

If you get a chance watch the Pistol homework videos. All kids should, you really can learn a lot from them.

 

[Frabjous]

Any of you other old timers remember a similar player from Trenton Catholic and Seton Hall, Nick Werkman? Nick could fill it up.

 

[colbert17]

Older players like Oscar didn't like Pete more for his image.
Remember that Pete entered the NBA in 1970. The long hair and floppy socks were not appreciated by some vets. On top of the fact that he made some of those guys look silly.
Something that many people don't know is that Pete and Dr. J were team mates for a very brief time with the Atlanta Hawks. After his rookie year Julius jumped ship from the Virginia Squires and signed with Atlanta. Eventually the courts decided that he had to go back to Virginia but the two of them played together for two pre season games in 1972.

 

[zebnatto]

At the same time as Pete Ernie Digregorio was at Providence playing a similar type of Harlem Globetrotters game.. We had a guy at Highland Park ,Joe Polito, who was also a white magician with the ball. All shot from distance and did crazy stuff with the ball. Fun to watch. But Pete was a freak above all others.

The guy who’s being left out of the conversation is Niagara’s Calvin Murphy—saw him drop 50 v St. peter’s At JC Armory. And if Polito is who I’m thinking of, I played Buddy Basketball against him in JC.

 

[Frabjous]

Thing is, one-man teams like LSU with Maravich and Niagara with Murphy weren’t very good. IIRC, LSU was barely .500 with Pete. With the exception of Indiana State with Larry Bird.

 

[RUClassof67]

At the same time as Pete Ernie Digregorio was at Providence playing a similar type of Harlem Globetrotters game.. We had a guy at Highland Park ,Joe Polito, who was also a white magician with the ball. All shot from distance and did crazy stuff with the ball. Fun to watch. But Pete was a freak above all others.

Felonious- you know I saw Polito play. To mention his name in the same sentence as Pete Maravich is a sacrilege. I thought you were COACHed better than that!!! But you’re still my ace.

 

[TDIrish27]

Pistol Pete one of a kind-------a very sad story in terms of his personal life.

Had a HS teammate who was at Clemson when his Dad was the HC there.

He used to talk about Dad drilling him on dribbling by driving the car down the main street of Clemson SC and Pete dribbling the ball out the front window from the passenger side--------at eight years old.

Parents both had their issues .

 

[PiscatawayMike]

The Nets' first regular season NBA game in NJ was 10/21/77 at the RAC. I attended that game. Maravich torched the Nets for 41 points that night. The Nets played four seasons at the RAC (1977-1981). I've always liked this photo of Pistol Pete at the RAC. It's amazing how many great players have graced the court at the RAC over the years.

Click to view larger.

 

[YoucancallmeRay]

I'm old enough to have seen him and been aware of what people thought back then. I thought he was a hot dog and far from the best player of his time, which is what most people thought back then. He threw a lot of wild passes and hogged the ball.

 

[RutHut]

We have a Pete. Now let's steal some time from Peter to give to Paul.

 

[overnout57]

Only watched Pistol on Tv, not only could he shoot from anywhere but also the ball was like on a string when he dribbled, no one could steal it. He would shoot from NBA three range at LSU without thinking about it. He really was one of a kind. I think he averaged 44 ppg for his collegiate career.

Calvin Murphy was my favorite player around that time. Watching him dunk at his height just amazed me at that age. Great player who also really could dribble and shoot.

 

[ColonelRutgers]

Red Auerbach loved him and that counts for something in my book. Red finally got him to the Celtics in Pete’s final year but Coach Bill Fitch wasn’t a big Pete fan and didn’t give him as many minutes as maybe he should’ve. Red respected the coach’s autonomy and didn’t intervene and Pete retired after the season.

Saw Pete in one his final regular season games of his career at the RAC vs Eddie Jordan, Maurice Lucas and the Nets. Tiny, Cowens, Bird, Pistol. The Nets were outclassed.

 

[TDIrish27]

Only watched Pistol on Tv, not only could he shoot from anywhere but also the ball was like on a string when he dribbled, no one could steal it. He would shoot from NBA three range at LSU without thinking about it. He really was one of a kind. I think he averaged 44 ppg for his collegiate career.

Calvin Murphy was my favorite player around that time. Watching him dunk at his height just amazed me at that age. Great player who also really could dribble and shoot.

And put on a sterling baton twirling exhibition at Halftime of Buffalo Bills games------which he did on numerous occasions.

I'll tell you another thing Murphy could do------he could fight.

I was living in Chicago and would go to several Bulls games a year during the Bob Love and Chet Walker era.

Bulls had a tough Guard Norm Van Lier-----not guys many messed with him

He was banging Murphy around one night and Calvin had enough and they started jawing. Van Lier started toward him and Calvin hit him 6 times before his hands got up. It was impressive.

 

[G- RUnit]

Saw Maravich go off for 63 against the Knicks on channel 5 , 9, or 11. If he didn't foul out on some dubious calls would have easily gotten 70. Incredible player. Used to read of his dribbling drills including the above mentioned dribbling out the car and dribbling up and down stairs. Can't imagine. Believe he was also screwed by Hank Iba and Olympic Team. LSU was a pretty good team with him as well. Guessing could not overcome Kentucky.

 

[GymRat]

The Nets' first regular season NBA game in NJ was 10/21/77 at the RAC. I attended that game. Maravich torched the Nets for 41 points that night. The Nets played four seasons at the RAC (1977-1981). I've always liked this photo of Pistol Pete at the RAC. It's amazing how many great players have graced the court at the RAC over the years.

Click to view larger.

I was likewise at that game. Saw him play maybe 8 -10 times. He was the real deal.

 

[Kbee3]

And put on a sterling baton twirling exhibition at Halftime of Buffalo Bills games------which he did on numerous occasions.

I'll tell you another thing Murphy could do------he could fight.

I was living in Chicago and would go to several Bulls games a year during the Bob Love and Chet Walker era.

Bulls had a tough Guard Norm Van Lier-----not guys many messed with him

He was banging Murphy around one night and Calvin had enough and they started jawing. Van Lier started toward him and Calvin hit him 6 times before his hands got up. It was impressive.

Murphy also decked 6'9" Sidney Wicks with one punch.
BTW, Calvin was also a great twirler. I kid you not.

 

[RUTGERZ_R00LZ]

IIRC, LSU and Pistol Pete were invited to the NIT one year even though they didn't qualify. Pete with LSU would draw some attendance!

 

[RUTGERZ_R00LZ]

Another memory: Pete had the ball and a one point lead with 5 seconds to go when he heaved the ball in the air - wayy up in the air -- and ran off the court. The other team waited but when the ball landed, the buzzer sounded; game over. Hot dog? Yes, but quite a guy.

 

[hoquat63]

Remember reading when he went to movies as a kid he would get an aisle seat and dribble in the aisle while sitting in the movie.

 

[RUsince52]

Ah
So his allowance was bumped

His father was use to seeing him score his whole HS career. Dad probably gave him $ 1.00 a basket. Just like a paper route with tips.

 

[RUsince52]

My dad's favorite player. Never saw him play but some of his pass highlights were unrealll. Truly a man before his time. Playing more like the modern game of fast pace and flair.

Interested in some of the older board members takes on him who might have seen him play in his time

He definitely was the real deal. He put up a lot of shots to score those points, but you could never count him out. Defenses tried all kind of things to contain him, but his passes were unbelievable at times. Some of his shots were NBA 3 1/2 pointers. But he had an uncanny ability to get shots off from crazy angles, off the dribble or a regular jumper. At the time, a once or twice in a lifetime player.

 

[RUsince52]

Any of you other old timers remember a similar player from Trenton Catholic and Seton Hall, Nick Werkman? Nick could fill it up.

Bob Verga from St. Rose was good too. Not as big as Nick, but could really shoot. The parochial schools in the 60's had some really talented players and many of them made it to AC in the State semis and finals.

 

[RC1978]

By far the most amazing stat is his average of 44 PPG. Think about that. If one our guys or truthfully any college kid in the nation had a 44 point game it would be all over ESPN etc. He did it almost every game.

Dale Brown tracked everyone of his shots and figured which ones would have been 3 pointers. He came up with his average PPG would have been 57.

One of my best friends played and coached at Georgia. He showed me a videotape of Pistol and LSU at Georgia. Stegeman Coliseum record for points scored was 49. Pistol had 48 with 20 seconds to go. They cleared the zone for him and dribbled all over then drove to the basket everyone collapsed he faked a layup , everyone jumped he then turned around headed away from the basket threw the ball over his shoulder without looking at the foul line , swish and ran off the court. The next time he played there he scored 58.

 

[Kbee3]

Bob Verga from St. Rose was good too. Not as big as Nick, but could really shoot. The parochial schools in the 60's had some really talented players and many of them made it to AC in the State semis and finals.

The glory days of Middlesex county...with Gary Brokaw from New Brunswick, Brian Taylor from Perth Amboy, John Somogyi from St. Peter's(NB), Dave Wohl from East Brunswick, and a couple of pikers from South River named Joe Theismann and Drew Pearson.

 

[RUsince52]

The glory days of Middlesex county...with Gary Brokaw from New Brunswick, Brian Taylor from Perth Amboy, John Somogyi from St. Peter's(NB), Dave Wohl from East Brunswick, and a couple of pikers from South River named Joe Theismann and Drew Pearson.

I played baseball with Gary's brother in LL. Joe was on the EB AAABA team and I was on the NB team, but he played with us in a game across the street from the old YS.
JS lived right up the street from me and we played games in the SPHS schoolyard. One of my friends coached the SPHS girls team when Kristen played too. The good old days.

 

[SouthFLRUfan]

Only watched Pistol on Tv, not only could he shoot from anywhere but also the ball was like on a string when he dribbled, no one could steal it. He would shoot from NBA three range at LSU without thinking about it. He really was one of a kind. I think he averaged 44 ppg for his collegiate career.

Calvin Murphy was my favorite player around that time. Watching him dunk at his height just amazed me at that age. Great player who also really could dribble and shoot.

And twirl a baton with the best of them...

 

[Knightmoves]

My dad's favorite player. Never saw him play but some of his pass highlights were unrealll. Truly a man before his time. Playing more like the modern game of fast pace and flair.

Interested in some of the older board members takes on him who might have seen him play in his time

I saw him play live at the end of his career with the Celtics. He could still shoot but had lost a step or two by then.

When he was in college he was unstoppable. Brought the ball up the court and surged toward the basket for a layup or could settle for long or medium range jump shots. He could do anything he wanted to do with the basketball in his hands and no one could cover him.

 

[B1GRUfan]

The Nets' first regular season NBA game in NJ was 10/21/77 at the RAC. I attended that game. Maravich torched the Nets for 41 points that night. The Nets played four seasons at the RAC (1977-1981). I've always liked this photo of Pistol Pete at the RAC. It's amazing how many great players have graced the court at the RAC over the years.

Click to view larger.

I was a 12 year old boy also at that game. In fact my first NBA game ever. Pistol Pete left quite an impression. I still have the articles somewhere from the next day’s Ledger.

 

[PiscatawayMike]

I was a 12 year old boy also at that game. In fact my first NBA game ever. Pistol Pete left quite an impression. I still have the articles somewhere from the next day’s Ledger.

I had just turned 13! (I was born Sept. '64.) My first NBA game, too. I still have the game program.

 

[motorb54]

Any of you other old timers remember a similar player from Trenton Catholic and Seton Hall, Nick Werkman? Nick could fill it up.

Nick the Quick. Had a cup of coffee with the Celtics in the Bill Russell era. Has/had a sports cableTV show down the shore, mainly high school coaches and players. Seton Hall finally had a night for him within the last couple of years. When his scoring record at Seton Hall was finally surpassed he thought there should be an asterisk as he only played three years due to the freshman ban while the player who passed him played four.

 

[zebnatto]

In that same general era, Rick Mount and Austin Carr also put up huge ppg.

 

[TDIrish27]

Austin was a terrific player-----part of a great DC connection ND had back then with Collis Jones , Sid Catlett and Bob Whitmore who had his number retired a few weeks ago.