I am so fortunate to have been born and raised in Boston. I've been to so many games at the Garden to watch "Larry Legend" school so many great NBA legends including Barkley, Magic, Jordan, Malone, Pippen, Dr. J., I. Thomas, Sampson, and that animal, Laimbeer! But the best was the game between Bird and Wilkins! Man, that was most definitely a show! Dominique was an amazing player that's for sure. But Larry just "out- lasted" him. And when Bird stole the inbound pass from Thomas in the playoffs, that was just vintage Bird never, ever quitting! Larry Bird is quite simply the greatest "all-around" player the NBA has ever seen. Period!
Love Coach Meyer’s comment at the end: “No matter how we tried to tell our boys not to turn their heads on Bird when he gets the ball, they still do it.” Lol! Easier said than done, Coach. Meyer was a Chicago icon who was in his 37th season at DePaul at the time! Those were indeed different times.
I was attending ISU in 1976 to 1978 and watched as a young upstart Larry Bird brought the Hulman Center consistent full houses at every home game. We knew we were watching a superstar in the making but would never know the magnitude of the heights he was going to reach. Best basketball player of all time.
@@jamescress yeah the 2020's fucking suck lol.....hopefully we can't get back to those golden days. At least I got to be a kid during the 90's, poor kids these days.
Larry Legend Stats: 35 pts on 16/19 shooting, 3/4 FT's, 16 Rebounds, & 9 assists.....should have been at least 12 if his teammates would have hit lay-ups. I remember watching this game as a kid. I was 10 years old. My dad was an ISU grad from Terre Haute. He said, "you have to come watch this guy play." He was right, I became a Bird fan that night and was for his 13 years in Boston. GOAT
That was one of Larry's greatest performances ever college and pro! I believe he would have scored over 40 in this game had the 3 point shot existed at the time!
I was living in Terre Haute in 79 as a young kid. To say that team changed our city is a huge understatement. The energy an excitement was amazing. I wish it had happened in my college days, but I followed LB for the next 13 years and missed only a few games. I think he brought more to a team than any player ever. His stats were amazing but don't include the intangibles. His intangibles separated him from rest of his era. Jordan was as valuable, just different. Magic was great but also had considerably more support. Russel and Wilt were before my time. Safe to say they with Kareem are the best 6 ever. If I was building a team, I would take LB first. Could do it all at an elite level and as impressively, made his team WAY better than they would have been. To say a guy made McHale, Parish, Ainge, Johnson, Walton... way better is saying a lot. He did. They, without Larry, would not have made the finals.
The years of the late 1970’s until the early 1990’s were a magical time of Blue Demon basketball! From the age of 3, I remember watching games at the historic Alumni Hall throughout the late 1970’s. My father was a professor at DePaul and my family would enjoy season tickets at the Rosemont Horizon. I remember seeing Coach Ray Meyer (DePaul) license plate in Three Lakes, Wisconsin where he had his boys basketball camp on Little Fork Lake. My family had a cottage on Island Lake just next door (chain of 28 interconnected lakes) and we could boat to Meyer’s camp within minutes. Those were awesome memories. Thanks for posting this!
I had the pleasure of meeting Ray Meyer while attended DePaul between 1976 and 1981. He was humble, gracious, and higly friendly...God bless him RIP....I was lucky enough to be season ticket holder during those years. Great game...i had a feeling Bird would beat us...but it was a great year for DePaul ...going to the Final Four ....they actually eon the also ran ran between them and PittPenn..so the award given to the school shows themin 3rd place!!!
All the subtle parts of Birds game were on full display in this game the head fakes, touches passes, rebounding. He was crushing a pretty good DePaul squad on offense. It took a complete team effort from Michigan State to stop him.
I was born in 79! Lol. Always wished I was born a little sooner. But it could be worse I could've been born a little later! Atleast I grew up before the technology boom!
I watched this game as a 12 year old and was locked to that screen. Bird and DePaul were both must see TV back then. And the country couldn't wait to see Bird vs Magic.
Had the pleasure of watching the 1979 season on my new cable tv in 79. There was a superstation out of Indianapolis that broadcast their season that year . The wildest game that year was Brad Heaton hitting a 50 footer at the buzzer to beat New Mexico St. Bird had fouled out and everybody thought their undefeated season was ending that day. People forget that Heaton, Nicks and Miley were great roll players and played a big part in them going to the championship game against MSU
Loved the interview with the DePaul coach at the end. His priorities were in order. He was able to be gracious and upbeat. He knew the game could have went either way. Nowadays, there's so much money tied up into sports and the coaches make so much money. It's hard to tell if they enjoy coaching or just the money, prestige and power that comes with it.
Ray Meyer had class. Most coaches today can be described as crass, not class. That period, the 1970s and early '80s, was college basketball at its height.
Bird looking buff. It’s obvious that when he was healthy he was a way better athlete than given credit for; all those injuries marred his game terribly, and he was still an MVP
@@dabneyoffermein595 The first injury was a broken finger that never healed properly which he suffered after college but before the NBA. That affected his shooting touch for the rest of his life. Later he injured his back a season or two before he hit his prime. It happened during the off-season and would eventually lead to his retirement but he played with it for several years. It basically put pressure on his spinal cord and caused immense pain on a good days and prevented him from even feeling his feet while playing on bad days. He also had double Achilles surgery if I remember correctly. He also had a ton of concussions including one where his eye popped out of his skull.
@@bobthabuilda1525 holy crap, i can't imagine what he would have been like at Boston without all of those injuries, especially early on with that bad digit, he should have gone to the Indiana Hand Clinic, which is/was #1 in the country. I don't know why he didn't go there to have it re-broken and fixed, ...yea, it would have cost him 3/4 of a season, but it would have been worth it to see him shoot 60 percent from the field.
@@dabneyoffermein595 I couldnt say for sure, but I'd guess the reason was that he hadn't signed his contract with Boston yet and they were worried that he would be "damaged goods" (a term I heard Red Auerbach himself use in an interview). If he would have lost any significant time he might have missed out on the contract.
@@bobthabuilda1525 Don't forget than fight at a Boston bar during (or before, can't remember) the 84-85 season. He hurted his hand, struggled with his shooting and I've read somewhere that it was a key factor for the Celtic's loss in the finals.
The 2 greatest Final Four games U saw was the 1979 DePaul versus Indiana State game and the 1989 Illinois versus Michigan game. That 1979 game saw freshman Mark Aguirre set a freshman scoring mark of 38 while Larry Bird had 37. There was one play in this game I can never forget. Bird flashed across the paint, received a entry pass, flip it over his opposite shoulder to Alex Gilbert in what should have been a easy score and Gilbert missed the layup . Prettiest pass I had ever seen
and in true Bird fashion he was not even the first player to touch the ball nor the last and he was not even the one to score, yet he was the star of the play
@MANCHESTER UNITED F.C I hope you are right. It's annoying that only basketball is only 5 players on the court and only 30 teams. What use is a sport that only 150 people can play?
I was a student at ISU during that time and they started many games in that exact fashion and we knew it was coming. I was astounded that teams didn't see that on tape and come up with a way to counter it.
I loved Billy Packer because he loved and knew the history of the game. He would allways point out historical games at venue sites. These guys today can't find the highway.
I remember watching this game. I was 15 and although Larry Bird was the main attraction that freshman for De Paul caught my eye and continued to follow him.Mark Aguirre is my favorite player.And when he joined the Pistons....yeah.
Many people forgot during his NBA career that Bird was a natural lefty. He shot right-handed, pitched baseball right-handed but signed his checks left-handed. He was as close to being ambidextrous as could be.
@@Hooozyer I have a feeling he would mostly mention his own shortcomings and great moments by the other guys. But it would be cool to hear his perspective into what really went on in this or that moment.
It was strange to see a traveling call. Today: palming, carrying, eurostep, three step layups, step back , changing pivot foot. And refs that are afraid to call the violation.
@@orange22ify I didnt know what that meant? Then my girl told me its the newest shortcut to thinking for your generation! The most bitch made generation to ever walk the earth! Feminine males and masculine women! I was born in 89 by the way and am probably younger than you! Well age wise anyway!
@@telefunkenyou47 1987 Eastern Semifinal between Celtics and Bucks. Six of top eight players of Celtics were injured. Line-up of Celtics were called: Conner Henry Darren Daye Sam Vincent Greg Kite Bucks assistant coach John Killilea said : They are just average players ( implicating Bucks could beat them) Right then, the announcer called the Celtics 5th player - - - Larry Bird! Don Nelson, the head coach of Bucks, replied to his assistant: "Yes, but look now - there are five great players standing there" Don Nelson knew very well that Larry Bird could turn average players into great players. Source: My Favorites quotes about Larry Bird
Yeah, but he was NOWHERE near 6'8" like Bryant Gumbel said at the beginning. Closer to 6'4" - 6'5" tops. But an underrated player who averaged 20 pts for his career and got back to back rings as a key player on the Bad Boy Pistons. A prototypical scoring forward who could play inside/out.
@@Israel-nb7ip IF THE CELTICS STAY HEALTHY THROUGH THE 80'S INTO THE 90'S NOT ONLY THE LAKERS BUT THE PISTONS MIGHT NOT HAVE WON ANY CHAMPIONSHIPS NOT TO MENTION MJ & THE BULLS LOSING THE FIRST 3 RINGS ESPECIALLY WITH BIAS BEING WITH THE CELTICS THROUGH THE EARLY 90'S!!!!!!!!
@@mikebeasley6447 if "if" was a fifth we'd all be drunk...what you're saying is 100% conjecture. Nobody can say what Bias would've turned into. He could've been a bust like most players from that '86 class. Reggie Lewis was born with a genetic heart defect so no amount of what ifs will change that. The only part I may agree are the Bird and McHale injuries which were 100% self-induced...but, still, even with both of them fully healthy, the Pistons were ready to win and had the roster to match...and the Jordan Bulls were just the next stage of NBA basketball, which was a team where their two best players were two-way perimeter monsters with one of them being the best to ever play the game. I don't see how an older Bird Celtics matches up with that if Bias (an unproven NBA player) and Reggie Lewis (who still had that heart condition) are your two best players. Also, Reggie Lewis didn't come into his own until '92-'93 when Bird would've been 36 years old, Parish 37 and McHale 35. That team wasn't going to beat a prime Jordan, Pippen and their supporting cast.
@@Israel-nb7ip BELIEVE WHAT YOU WANT BUT LARRY LEGEND WITHOUT THE BACK PROBLEM DID NOT NEED NEAR AS MUCH HELP AS THE DISABLED VERSION OF HIMSELF REQUIRED! STILL HE CONTINUOUSLY HAD TRIPLE DOUBLES AGAINST ANY & ALL!!!!!! WITH JUST A LITTLE HELP MANY MORE CHAMPIONSHIPS WERE NOT ONLY POSSIBLE BUT PROBABLE!!!!!!!!! I HAVE LOVED THE NBA SINCE 1963 BUT TRUTH BE TOLD WITHOUT LARRY LEGEND & MAGIC IT IS EXTREMELY POSSIBLE THAT THE NBA WOULD HAVE REMAINED A FOOTNOTE IN MODERN SPORTS HISTORY!!!!!!!!!
College basketball back in the day where was no 3 point line, no shot clock, and no fouls called every 5 seconds. Just great fluid basketball playing by both teams.
Larry and Magic completely changed the game with a pass first mentality. Pistol, Bird, Magic and Jason Williams are the best passers in league history, thats the list.
WOW i remember that game but it was better watching the 2nd time!! My god Bird was amazing!! But hes not a ball hog or a glory hog!! It was a shame someone had to lose that last game!! Ive always been a laker fan but i have new found respect for Bird!
lol I didn't think Bird would be as great as he was in NBA, slow, can't jump, boy was I wrong on that one. I underestimated the power of vision and bball IQ
Great to see this game again. The finals between ISU and MSU is still the most watched game ever. It was a great time to be a basketball fan as Bird and Magic brought the same excitement to the NBA.
I could be wrong but I think Bobby Heaton hit the winning shot in that game. I was a senior at Indiana State in 1979. Best time of my life. My wife and now live about 2 hours away from Terre Haute and we go to at least one game a year.
Do you all see the difference in Larrys shooting style ; After the season was over he broke his right index finger very badly playing baseball ! After that he said he never had the same feeling of the ball. He changed his mechanics a little bit and if that accident never happened he would be even greater shooter ! One big what if arises there ...
Watched ISU play Creighton in 1979. Had never heard of Bird before. The guy was unstoppable. Everything he threw up was going in, no one could guard him. I think he had 39 points that night. I think pre 3 point days. Need to check the records.
soj. H Yes that opening tip pass by Bird foreshadow of his awesome passing skill to be seen his whole NBA career. Bird is my all-time favorite college/pro bb player.
Interesting to note that both Indiana State and Michigan State had designed plays off the opening tip off and both Bird and Magic were positioned on the other side of the circle to receive that tip and get the ball ahead for a fast break.
lol...love the interview with the ISU coach who "Built the team and installed all the great drills and hired and mentored all the great coaches who works so good with the kids"...lol...when Larry Bird walked in it was a final four team, without him it was a .450 team.
I was at this game. Bird had one of the greatest games of all time. MSU nuked Penn off the court in the first game, 101-67. On the bus ride from the U-Utah campus to downtown SLC after the game, I sat in a bus seat between Larry Bird's mother and Earvin Johnson's father.
It's interesting to listen to the props and respect the announcers were giving Bird in college. Even with this being true, little did they know who and what they were witnessing.
Bird was the most clutch player in college and the pros. The Celtics were never out of it even when down 12 points with a minute to go how many times did bird orchestrate the win? It’s uncountable. He also was the player who was the best team player and made his teammates the best better than magic Johnson. Johnson had more talent, bird made the average players around him great.
@@ww387gr (1) I got tired typing (2) I wrote that Mark was traded and continued his career in a secondary role winning two NBA titles. The criticism of Aguirre was that he was a ball hog and had a bad attitude. The critics said he wouldn't accept a reduced role and would be a headache for the Pistons. He proved his critics wrong.
@@cygnusx-3217 Don't care - you shouldn't write "career" stats if you leave out the last 5 years of his playing career. That's historical revisionism , basically a nice way of saying you are lying about the past to make Aguirre look better by leaving out his last 5 years of about 10 points a game - maybe the ball hog got old and couldn't score that much anymore.
This is why I consider Bird the GOAT, took a bunch of nobodies' to the NCAA Title and 33-1 Record and his Rookie season in the NBA, he took a team and I mean exact same team who won 27 games the year before and won 60 games, Jordan never impacted Chicago like that.
from Chile.... estoy totalmente de acuerdo contigo.... you are right Bird have something that in difficult to explain, he understan the game and mentally strong....
This was the tournament that transformed postseason college basketball from a curiosity into a national event. There was no "March Madness" before 1979. Only 40 teams were invited, and there was still a third-place game between the two semifinal losers. It was rare indeed that two superstars the magnitude of Bird and Magic would meet in an NCAA final, and while it certainly wasn't the greatest championship ever played, few games impacted college basketball the way that one did. This was also the last Final Four to be played in an on-campus arena--the University of Utah, although subsequent Final Fours have been held at a school's primary off-campus arena. Given the use of domed stadiums for most Final Fours now, this tournament will likely stand as the last on-campus Final Four.
Now the players not only walk with the ball with no penalty, they also travel while running to do dunk shots. Main reason I stopped watching the game, it is now a dunking contest; just need ten 7 ft players on the court that can almost touch the rim.
I'm been playing and watching for almost 50 years, the biggest change in my lifetime, by far, is the number of steps the players get away with now and how much easier that has made it to score. If old timers like Dr J and Connie Hawkins, whose only weakness was their average jump shots, could play with today's rules they would have been completely unstoppable.
I thought I was the only one who saw that. The game today, the pro game sucks especially. Saw one game, not the entire game, but one with LeBron, lost track of the number of times he traveled. Not one call against him. The officiating is abysmal.
Bird always looks like a muscular giant in the college footage. Too bad he didn't go in NBA at eighteen years old. Developed his game in college, but would have in NBA, and had more stats. Either way, still the GOAT.
It didn't take a genius to see in this game the future GOAT in the NBA! How could a guy who could shoot from the outside, take it to the hoop, block the other team's big guy's inside shots and like the greats who played against Bird in the NBA would say we were all playing checkers while Bird was playing chess!
Yes, Bob McAdoo. Not saying he was as great a player as Bird but he's a hall of famer, MVP and champion who was a shooting big man before it was popular and dominant in his prime.
Bird averaged 10 boards a game in the NBA....playing with the Chief, McHale..Cornbread and Walton at times. Best frontline ever....still got 10 Boards a game.
I LOVE the old days of "no call" on incidental contact. 14 free throws the entire game, no need to blow the whistle every time someone hits the court. Contact happens in basketball, the BS now where they blow the whistle every time (unless it is Duke charging) sucks.
I think this was the first time I saw Bird. I was 10 years old . I followed the scoring leaders race in the paper cause that's what kids did back then. No social media back then or picts of Bird in the paper. All year I thought Bird was Black!
The opening tip-off is all we needed to see as evidence of how intellect superceded athleticism. With all things assumed as equal, of course; an athletic intellect remains supreme. That is Bird, btw. He was very athletic, despite the stereotypes.
Basketball used to be great. I quit watching after Bird, Magic, and Michael GOAT retired. The NBA absolutely sucks nowadays. All these players calling each other to form super teams what a joke.
But the nba today is more talented, there were always superteams, Magic/Bird for the 80s Lakers/Celtics super teams? nice try, but they started it and now they perfected it in a much better way with more talent is what was supposed to happen, it doesn't happen just in nba but in other sports aswell, just get over it and enjoy greatness.
You know for a fact that any of these teams can beat any WNBA team. Thank god for Coronavirus. I can finally sit back and catch up on games that happened before I was born. I would kill to watch Larry Bird in person.
5 nba players in this game. sad that carl nicks parents didn't have the money for the plane ticket, ironically nicks was from chicago. he did get 4 years in the nba, unfortunately they didn't make the money back then that they do today. depaul was a powerhouse for a city school back in the day. weird watching a game back with no shot clock or 3 point line. bird was amazing.
Those rims look unfriendly. Watching this again I didn't give the rest of Indiana State--other than Larry Bird enough credit. They were better than I remember. In addition to traveling calls I think more charging calls. Watching today's final 8 it seems like they're letting them play more in today's college game. Curtis Watkins a year behind me at my high school.
Miss this era of NCAA tournament games. Seen both Bird and Aguire play personally, great talent even at a younger age, especially Aguire. Al McGuire was usually spot on as an analyst .I don't think Packer cared unless the ACC was involved. Spartans just too much for ISU in the final.
Think about it, Bird played against an Arkansas team with Sidney Moncrief, Depaul with Mark Aguirre, and then a guy named Magic at Michigan State. What competition! Damn
Loved coach Ray Meyer, always a great interview on TV.....hated he always took a no. 1 rated team to the NCAA (in the early 80's) and then got upset in the 1st or 2nd round. Mark Aguirre took a lot of the heat, as I recall.
You're absolutely right! The next 3 DePaul teams, after this season, only lost one regular season game each season and drew a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament and lost their very first game in the tournament each time. It's like they were snake bitten the moment they entered the NCAA tournament!
Joe Cap I had been out of high school for 9 yrs and was working for Coca-Cola and I was also broke. However, I could buy a case of cokes for $3 and buy a coke in the vending machine for a dime. 'In the good ole days, when times were bad.' (Dolly Parton)
