Damien Kirksey. U just don't get it. Quite a few teams were playing ABA type offenses from 1970 on. Jacksonville with artis Gilmore, Memphis State with SPECIAL K., NC STATE with David Thompson, unlv & others. Heck. Even MAGIC at MICHIGAM STATE & LARRY at INDIANA STATE. the stuff u've. Put it like this. The nba right now is just the ABA without the red white blue ball, 84 gm schedule & 30sec shot clock.
I grew up in the Bay Area and USF was my team. My dad took me to quite a number of USF games in the 70s when I was a kid. They would sometimes play at Oakland Arena and, once in awhile, at the Cow Palace. No question I would attend USF, and I did, Class of 87. Thanks for the memories...
wow amazing post. This game crushed me back then. The Dons were my favorite team at this time and were the No.1 ranked team in the nation, undefeated at 29-0 with one game left in the regular season at Notre Dame. They lost that game by 10 points and then were blown out in the next game here vs. Vegas. They had a soft schedule during the regular season so were not ready for teams like Notre Dame and UNLV even though the Dons had as much talent.
There is precious little video of the USF Dons in their post-Russell & Jones and pre-scandal/self-imposed death penalty years, and unfortunately, this is the only decent footage I've seen of the Dons with future World Champion Bill Cartwright at center.
John Mongani This was the last year of the NCAA tournament before teams were seeded. Seeds were divided between conference winners and at-large teams in 1978, and the modern seeding system started in 1979. USF and UNLV never would’ve met in the first round under any seeding system.
@@johnmanier7968 wow good info. This was ridiculous to have #3 USF playing #5 Nevada Las Vegas in the first round. So if there had been seeding in 1977, chances are the Dons would of had a much easier bracket in the early rounds and could have got a bit more used to the higher quality play that they didn't see in their conference the WCC. Only Santa Clara with future Laker Kurt Rambis gave them tough games in their conference that year.
@@LNSmithee there's one other video on youtube of the 1977 Dons. The only other loss that year at Notre Dame. Here's the vid. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ynQydsVN8vY.html
@William Bowser I keep thinking the Dons are a few good recruits away from being a top dog in the WCC. They've played Gonzaga tough. Todd Golden hopefully can stay around for a minute and get them to kick ass.
For an Indiana kid learning to love basketball during this era of minimal TV coverage, these were mysterious teams that we knew only from their high rankings, the one-paragraph UPI game summaries or occasional astounding boxscore in the newspaper, or the rare Sports Illustrated article…I imagine that West Coast kids had a similar relationship to the emerging Indiana Univ. teams of the 1970s.
The McKale Center! Living in Big Ten country we were always fascinated seeing the West regional tournament venues: Provo, Pocatello, Eugene, Tempe, Tucson, Albuquerque, Long Beach, etc. They all seemed so exotic and new and warm (no digging through a foot of snow just to get to the gate).
NATHAN, let me be clear. I claim, the 77 UNLV tournament team had the best chance to beat the great UCLA tournament teams of 72 & 73. The Rebels, starters and bench, was the greatest collection of talent the NCAA field has ever seen, ten future pro contract players were on that 77, tourney roster. If that UNLV team, full of firepower had been coached correctly, it had the best chance of any tournament team EVER, in defeating those immortal UCLA squads. However, Tarkanian was not a top notch coach, he got in the way of his talent, but he was the best recruiter of all time. As for the WALTON GANG that won it all in 72 & 73, they would have whipped Lew Alcinder's UCLA teams and taken the great, undefeated, Hoosier 76 tourney team. As for UNLV's superb 77 tournament squad, they had the talent to go undefeated but they did not, due to Tarkanian's strategy, be it with opponents and biased referees. Walton's, sophomore and junior year teams, (72 &73), pretty much destroyed the competition, be it regular and post season games, and they went undefeated for two years! However those John Wooden squads did not have the talent that the UNLV 77 tournament team had. But the facts are this, that great UNLV team did not got undefeated in regular season, and did not win a championship. I give credit where it is deserved, the UCLA -WALTON-GANG tournament teams, CHAMPS of 72 & 73 were the best of all time. HAIL TO THE KINGS, BABY!
This is so interesting, because most fans of this generation wouldn’t know that there was a time when SF Dons were a powerhouse. Crazy to think one of greatest recruits would lead to the downfall of the program. Sad what became of Q Dailey...
You notice when the announcer say way outside it’s like 15 to 18 feet. Now its a different game, to see all those player in the paint. The broadcast is like, can you guess the score, because we will only give the score when we feel like it.
This is like the answer to a prayer. I've been wanting to see this game for 40 years. The only disappointment was that Sam Smith was like a forgotten man in this game.
They lost in the semis to Carolina. I remember Al McGuire saying later that he was hoping and praying that Carolina would win that game because he knew his Marquette team could beat them but there was no way they could beat UNLV. That's what happened Marquette beat Carolina in the Finals.
@@bustercherry9643 coward ass unc, STALLED THE BALL, Givin it some goofy ass name: 4 CORNER OFFENSE.translation. we can't beat u, so we'll back our way out of it DISGRACEFULLY! by not shooting the bAll.
I was born in Seattle in 1973, where I grew up. Sonics and Blazers fan. Japanese-American. I was on a college tour in the summer of 1990, and bought a UNLV Shark Infested Territory shirt! If there is any juncture where Gondo dunks, please tell me where. His brother Grant Gondrezick has two HOT daughters!
This UNLV team of 1976-1977 season was the most talented squad, to never win a championship. I dare say this 77 tournament team was better than any other UNLV FINAL 4 teams. I fault Tark for this squad's loss against North Carolina, Tarkanian got out-foxed by Coach Smith. Unfortunately Jerry Tarkanian would get out smarted again and again --- come tournament time -- be it by Knight or Kryzewski, etc... Imagine what this RUNNIN REBEL team would do in the modern era of 3 point baskets? Here is a bold statement, this UNLV team would have beaten UCLA's Lew Al Cinder teams, if -- if --- Tark did not get in the way of his talent. I run hot and cold on the following question, could this team have beaten Walton's Soph and Junior UCLA teams or Indianan's 76 tourney team? I guess not, if Tark was coaching. Tare the Shark was a great recruiter but when it came to coaching close games he chewed on his towel. Never the less ---- skill level with a long bench ---- this 76-77 UNLV rates as the best tourney team of all time to not win it all.
It's not Tark's fault that UNC shot 28 free throws and UNLV shot 5. Yes, five FT's for the entire game, and lost by one point. Tark won over 80% of his games in his career for a reason, don't try to discredit the man. He changed his style from a slow, zone-oriented one (Long Beach State) to pressure man/fast break at UNLV and won with both.
Tark had a fantastic win loss record, there is no denying that. (G-CENTER) do you not think with UNLV's great talented teams, TARK should have won more than one championship? Yes, JERRY TARKANIAN was targeted by the NCAA. I dare say the high sheriffs of the NCAA is made of well paid hypocrites. Was the fix on against Tark during the 1977 NC-UNLV game, as in the foul discrepancy? I do not put anything past the NCAA, as in how they govern, how they target schools for infractions, how they bracket teams for the tourney, and get referees to give certain teams an edge. The way I remember the NC game of 77, with all the questionable fouls against UNLV, TARK should have gotten a technical and made it known like AL McGUIRE would have, to start calling the game correctly. I never thought Tark went hard on the officials during tourney games, he just chewed on his towel. Making the officials call the game fairly is part of coaching. You will agree, the 77 UNLV TOURNEY team was the best squad to never win the championship? I have to say the fix was on in 1991 and it was more obvious than the 77 NC game. Case in point, the Anderson Hunt no blatant foul call, as he drove for the basket near the end of the game. That was proof that the NCAA refs had it in for TARK. Even the drunk guy in the bar could see Hunt was fouled with a push to the back... But even with the refs going against UNLV, I submit that if TARK had substituted better, through out his career, his talent would have overcome the bad officiating during tourney time. Who controls the NCAA refs, the high sheriffs of the NCAA, who had it in for JERRY TARKANIAN.
