53 Years Ago Tonight! Original post

Anything and everything that is UMass Minutemen Basketball.
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MassMan06
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Post by MassMan06 » Thu Feb 25, 2010 8:16 am

I'd say Mr. James Jimmy.

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xlgman
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Post by xlgman » Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:10 pm

harbo wrote:
This thread got me to thinking of what other players got the crowd into the games.
Will Herndon rocked the Cage bigtime. I recall him winning the opening tip (at 6'-3"?) and then sprinting to the rim for an alley-oop before 5 seconds had ticked off the clock. He was a human highlight reel. Check out the 100 seasons video for some great examples.

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LS71
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Re: 45 years ago tonight!

Post by LS71 » Mon Feb 22, 2016 11:25 am

Bump...Happy birthday, Julius!
"Win without boasting, lose without crying." -- Julius Erving

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Re: 45 years ago tonight!

Post by harbo » Mon Feb 22, 2016 11:59 am

https://archive.org/stream/massachuse19 ... 4/mode/1up

If you haven't figured it out yet, I've become a big fan of the Collegian archives. Here is the write-up of the Syracuse game. To put things in perspective, note that the fans were chanting "NIT..NIT..NIT".

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MikeUMA
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Re: 45 years ago tonight!

Post by MikeUMA » Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:45 pm

^
That page is pretty easy to read. Unfortunately they're not all that clear. I found an article about an old UM / BC game, but the text was pretty much illegible.

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LS71
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Re: 45 years ago tonight! Original post

Post by LS71 » Mon Feb 22, 2016 1:34 pm

Bumping the original post I made in 2010.

Mike...can you lock the newer one up and point replies to this thread?
"Win without boasting, lose without crying." -- Julius Erving

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Re: 45 years ago tonight! Original post

Post by DrG » Mon Feb 22, 2016 9:32 pm

Good bump on J's birthday. In many ways, the hysteria that night surpassed anything during the Cal era. We just want to pass on these memories to you kids, because you should be proud of our history. Hopefully we can reignite that over the next few years.

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SignMan
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Post by SignMan » Mon Feb 22, 2016 10:21 pm

xlgman wrote:
LS71 wrote:

The fact that the UMass-Syracuse game that night in 71 was televised from the Cage was a real novelty.
Are you telling me that there could be a game tape out there somewhere?
Jack had reels of tape for some games...
When I got back to MA from UF grad school September 1970, my girlfriend and I watched the 1970 NIT game in Jack's office in Boyden...just the three of us...
...I just asked her if she remembers that... : "very vague."

Heard that those old tapes literally disintegrated over the years...
The angle of incidence = the angle of reflection: REBOUND!

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Re: 45 years ago tonight! Original post

Post by harbo » Tue Feb 23, 2016 12:13 am

Last I heard, Rose Mary Woods had the tapes. Oh well.

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Re: 45 years ago tonight! Original post

Post by tom mclaughlin » Tue Feb 23, 2016 10:46 am

I can't believe Julius turned 66. I will always envision him as a young kid who was
a fabulous teammate and friend. It's funny because thru the years Julius has stayed
the same and when you're with him he remains humble and just a down to earth guy.
He still keeps in touch with his UMass teammates and acts no different then he did
45 years ago.
The Syracuse game was unbelievable in the way the UMass fans supported their team.
At the time the scoreboard only had the score and no individual stats so people at the
game weren't aware of the numbers Julius put up that night. In fact, no one on the team
knew what he had done and to tell you the beauty of Julius as a teammate he really didn't
care that he had 36 points and 32 rebounds all he cared about was we won and had beaten
a very strong Syracuse team. Julius Erving never once thought about stats or himself. He was
totally unselfish and could care less. He was a team player and a joy to play with.
UMass has a great basketball history and having Julius as a part of it takes it to another level.
Here is a man who is one of the greatest NBA players ever and revolutionized the game of
basketball with some of the greatest dunks of all time. He is an icon but let's always remember
It all started @ UMass in the cage and he always played with class and dignity and never once made
it about himself. With Julius team came first and all he wanted to do was play basketball and win. As
He became famous he still remained the same and to this very day he is as humble as when he arrived
@ UMass a young kid from Roosevelt Long Island just trying to play a little basketball. UMass was the perfect spot for him to launch his career and he was around good people like Ray Wilson, Jack Leaman
and Dick Bresciani that only had his interest at heart. It was a perfect match and Julius took full advantage of his time in Amherst.
It was a wonderful experience playing with him and the fans at UMass were incredible and to give them
credit they always supported us and when Julius left for the pros the crowds still kept coming and were just as loud. I only wish that every athlete @ UMass had the chance to experience a night like playing Syracuse at the cage on Julius's birthday. It was Umass at it's finest and It's impossible to really
tell people what it was like. It was so intense in the cage that it was as if the fans and the
team were one and Julius being so humble and down to earth it was an experience that comes around once in a lifetime. Happy Birthday to Julius and UMass has a lot to be proud of that such a great player and person picked UMass as the place to launch his NBA career

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Re: 45 years ago tonight! Original post

Post by 69MG » Tue Feb 23, 2016 11:29 am

Tom, thanks for the memories. I've probably told this story before, but what the hell. I was a senior when Julius was a freshman. Most of us know he wasn't highly recruited and I am pretty confident that the student body had no idea who he was when he first arrived on campus. After 4 or 5 games on the freshman team, word started getting out about this new kid who was really good for a freshman.

It didn't take long for us to realize how special he was and we then started waiting in line for 2 hours, rain or shine, to see freshman basketball games. For those in my general age bracket, that was the start of a lifetime of following UMass basketball. It's been a fun roller coaster.

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Re: 45 years ago tonight! Original post

Post by LS71 » Tue Feb 23, 2016 1:42 pm

^ I've mentioned this before, but that pre-game wait motivated my roommate and me to buy season tickets. Best $35 I ever spent. 8)
Tom McLaughlin wrote:It was Umass at it's finest and It's impossible to really tell people what it was like. It was so intense in the cage that it was as if the fans and the team were one and Julius being so humble and down to earth it was an experience that comes around once in a lifetime.
The buzz from that time has carried over for forty-five years now. We revisited that feeling when Cal was here and I hope that the new class coming in can re-kindle that passion once again.

Tom...thanks for adding your thoughts to my annual Julius Erving birthday card post. 8)
"Win without boasting, lose without crying." -- Julius Erving

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Re: 45 years ago tonight! Original post

Post by MikeEsq » Tue Mar 01, 2016 5:04 pm

An SI profile of Dr. J from December 11, 1972, with a lede about UMass. Don't thank me, thank the SI Vault:

http://www.si.com/vault/1972/12/11/6175 ... owing-dr-j

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LS71
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Re: 45 years ago tonight! Original post

Post by LS71 » Tue Mar 01, 2016 6:59 pm

GREAT find! Thanks for posting.
"Win without boasting, lose without crying." -- Julius Erving

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Re: 45 years ago tonight! Original post

Post by Floyd » Tue Mar 01, 2016 8:21 pm

The Doctor. Still have that Converse poster of him that I had in high school on my wall. Was, is, and will always be my favorite.
Time to Win

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