Stat of the day
This season marked the 35th anniversary of NC State’s 1974 National Basketball Championship (that, evidently, the NCAA forgot about). This link will take you to some recent related content about the topic.
A friend of ours passed along the following observation that we thought we would share:
I wonder what the RPI of the 1973-1974 team would have been considering that NC State:
- played #1 UCLA on a neutral site (lost)
- beat #18 Memphis State on a neutral site beat
- #11 Purdue AT Purdue
- beat UNC on three occasions were ranked 4th in the country each time
- beat Maryland three times when they were ranked #3, #6 and #5
- beat #5 Providence in the NCAAT
- beat #13 Pitt in the NCAAT
- beat #2 UCLA in the NCAAT
- beat #3 Marquette in the NCAAT
43 Responses to “Stat of the day”
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Yep, being good was pretty cool. This was actually my first season of Wolfpack exposure, as I’m sure my Dad had me on his lap for the games (I was born in June 1973).
But we can’t expect to compete with Duke and Carolina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . can we!!
IN A PIG”S EYE!!!
I was fortunate enough to see both match-ups with UCLA in St. Louis & Greensboro. However, I have no recollection of beating Memphis State on a neutral court that year. Where was that game played?
I wasn’t born until the 80′s so this might as well have never happened for me, along with the 83 team. Oh well, at least I have…. uh… uh… next year?
We played in the Sugar Bowl Tourney (in New Orleans, I assume?) on Dec. 28 and 29. We beat Villanova 97-82 in the first game and the defeated Memphis State the next day.
We actually beat UNC three times in the REGULAR season that year. We played them in the Big Four tournament and beat both UNC and Wake. That was Jan. 4 and 5. We also beat UNC on Jan. 22 and Feb. 26.
Since you bring up Memphis State… Does anybody remember that Lee Fowler worked for Dana Kirk in the 1980′s, when Kirk when to prison for corruption? Or that Fowler publicly defended Kirk’s actions?
Couldn’t find the quote very quickly, but here is one reference. Don’t mean to hijack, just a stray comment.
That team was legendary. Maryland and UNX always played us tough and close, but we always found a way to beat them. Thompson was breathtaking, and Burleson and Towe were extremely tough. Stoddard was the Lorenzo Charles of that team–8-10 points, 8-10 rebounds night after night. Great memories. If you watched that team in person as many of us did, it makes today’s mess even harder to swallow.
You know I never hear many people discuss the 72-73 team. Yeah I know we were on probation (David Thompson and a pickup game… right?. IMHO we would have been back-to-back national champs but for what today would have been a slap on the wrist. Comments?
^
Mo Rivers completed the set as the off guard. And Phil Spence was as much or more of a key than Stod.
As for bb1983 Fowler find…man that is a gem.
Only thing diff from ’73 team and ’74 team was sweet ‘n smooth Joe Cafferky at the SG and Rick Holdt at PF with Stod.
’73 team was awesome and would have beaten ’74
team with regularity.
Lee Fowler, an assistant basketball coach at Memphis State, gave an interview to The Nashville Tennessean not long ago in which he defended Coach Dana Kirk but described the troubles in which the program finds itself as ”the pits.” Kirk didn’t think he needed defending, however, and now he has suggested publicly that Fowler might be in the wrong line of work. ”Another conversation like that,” the coach says, ”and Lee will be working for The Tennessean instead of Memphis State.”
11-1 against the top 18 with the only loss coming against #1 Bill Walton led UCLA. Wow. Walton claims that Thompson is the best basketball player he ever played against.
“Yep, being good was pretty cool. This was actually my first season of Wolfpack exposure, as I’m sure my Dad had me on his lap for the games (I was born in June 1973).”
Hey man, Feb of 73 here, Represent!!!!
My Dad always talked about the 74 team.And that game against Maryland in the ACC Championship game and how the pack broke the UCLA streak. He always referenced the 74 team all throughout the Valvano years when I was growing up. He pretty much quit watching after V was gone, though.
And they only took 1 Team out of the conference for the NCAA Tourney back then. So Basically you had to win the Acc Tourney to get invited. Is this right? someone help me here.
I used to spend hours every week talking to Coach Sloan once he settled back in Raleigh.He always said the 74 team was hands down better than the 73 team. His words, “not even close.” When I asked him why,he would say the addition of Mo Rivers and that Tommy,DT and Monte were a year better.Coach Sloan had stories that were mesmerizing.He could talk for hours about the good times (73,74 etc) and the bad(dealing with Vernon Maxwell and his mother,Dean Smith,referees etc). I sure miss those days.
NC State basketball was glorious under Everett Case in the 1950s, was solid under Norm Sloan in the 1970s, and was exciting under Jim Valvano in the 1980s. And since then, there’s not been one GD thing worth remembering. NOT ONE GD THING.
And the hell of it is that it gets worse with every passing season. And if you don’t believe that, just wait until next season!!!
You didn’t need RPI calculations until at-large bids were extended.
NCAAT games don’t get included in RPI calculations.
Wow, it is amazing how time has not changed LF. . . He was a media whore even then. He really should have gone into broadcast journalism, the narcissistic bastard.
I also loved the ’73 team. Joe Cafferky and Rick Holdt were very solid players. Stoddard came off the bench. They could have won back to back championships, but we will never know. I remember Cafferky at Norm Sloan’s BBall camp. He was a smooth shooter and a good ball handler. He was funny and all the campers looked up to him. When State beat MD in ACC Tournament Final (74-72 I think was the score), I remember Cafferky dunking a couple of seconds after the buzzer.
Bubba, please share more Sloan stories.
Born 2/12/73
Somebody start a football thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 fresh commitments for TOB. Hint – 1 of them is a BIG one
I was 14.5 when we won 1974 NCAAT. Good times. I took NO crap from UNX fans. They were actually very quiet during our 57-1 two year stretch, and they readily admitted that DT was the best player they had ever seen.
Cafferky’s dunk at the end of the ACC tourney was more memorable than Thompson’s tomahawk cause it put the “exclamation point on a BS year of probation by the NCAA”!
Not sure I’d agree with Sloan other than the maturity of the 74 team. They were still young, just wish they could have “kept the act together in 75″. Would love to hear Sloan’s take on that!
^ Reference the link to the Tennessean article – he’s still in the wrong line of work.
^^yes, basketball season is now over. getting back to familiar territory where we OWN the Holes is starting to feel good. hopefully baseball will come thru since we are off to a shaky start. i think State might be making a case for being in the pre season top 25 due to some of what i`ve been reading. any thoughts?