Did you every meet Larry Bird

@@lov2spwage274 No I did not.

NBA and College Hall of Fame. He was great.

I saw the prior games at Allen FH. Bird v Va Tech. Arkie over Weber St (with player Ben Howland). Sycamore fans booed the hell outta Billy Packer when he appeared on the court for the pre-game.

At what point did Bird get his broken thumb?

Do you remember my dad, Joe Riefer? He told me some crazy stories about those days, and this game in particular heckling Bird.

@@chiefrief2940 . . . name rings a bell. Was he in the Arkansas band? Yes, we did heckle Larry Bird a lot! One of the Arkansas fans held up a sign that said “Flip the Bird.”

@@Razorusskie trombone player like yourself. He only spent a couple years in school, though.

@@chiefrief2940 Oh MY! JOE REIFER! Yes, I DO remember him! In fact, he sat right next to me during that game! Watch the clips you might find him. He was as wound up as I was in the game! That was during our Freshman year at Arkansas. How is your dad doing these days? He was a red blooded Razorback fan all the way, and a pretty good Trombone player too. If he’s still around please tell him Clay Cartwright said hello!

@@chiefrief2940, Riefer (March)madness?

Good retort!

Well nobody thought so at THAT game!

I used to love watching college basketball only because i got to listen to Al McGuire.

@@natureboy1313 he was a good color man

76s an celtics always wanted 1st seed in east. That is because the bucks were the 3rd best team in east for 6 7 years. Moncreif, Marques Johnson, Jr. Bridgeman, Winters only had no low post scoring. The had Lanier at end of his career but his knees were shot.

I remember the game when Bird had 87 points 65 rebounds and 34 assists 26 steals and 19 blocks. And Moncreif has 64 points 45 rebounds 67 assists 33 steals and 15 blocks. In the first half. lol.

Wrong, once U.S. REED stumbled to the ground he could not change the position he stood up in. He did. Its obvious. He had to stand straight up, and not move his leg one inch because he skidded slightly when he went down. He failed to do that. If you allow players to stand up and move their feet or even one foot after falling down and skidding, you will see them use that to their favor if they get trapped out there. Read the rulebook.

His pointer finger on his right hand was mangled in a softball game between the time of his last college game and when he signed his contract with the Celtics and started his NBA career. He said he never had the same feel for the ball. Multiple surgeries but it's still oddly bent.

Indeed. Had bone spur surgery in both heels and missed the 1989 season. When he came back he was nowhere near the player he had been

Lebron wasn’t even born in ‘79.

@@Razorusskie he is saying with this type of reffing, Bron Bron would be a turnover machine...

I was just thinking the same thing as I finished watching ISU vs Depaul Final Four game in which Bird had 35 points, but was called one time for a travel, which the announcers and myself believed was NOT a travel. But, the point is, they called things back then that were probably not travels whereas in today's NBA it is a joke and the referees LOOK THE OTHER WAY for most of the POS players.

@@earthshinestudios8736 Get out there and show them how it's done then lol

@@dougcmelik2442 As would most of today's players, especially in the NBA. Back then, if you just looked like you might have traveled, you were called for it, and you didn't dare let your hand get anywhere near the side of the ball, while dribbling.

tied game the guy trips the other player and he gets up and they call travelling... terrible call in a tied game. I have pushed for refs to be able to so no foul either way rest no turn over ball out of bounds. He screws up misses the first call then gets the travel call correctly. Had a huge impact on the game and I feel the ref was on the hype train of bird and the cinderella team

It's an ABA line, The Kentucky Cols played 14 games in 75-76 at the Riverfront Coliseum. I think it's 25', 22' in the corners, definitely longer than NBA. No cheap 3s then.

Actually - the two leagues (ABA & NBA) had merged by this point and the NBA didn't adopt it until 1979-80 season. I found this info tho: "While certain college basketball conferences experimented with it in the early '80s, the NCAA didn't universally implement a 3-point line until 1986, with high school basketball following suit a year later." This might be why the line is there.

lol, us hogs have had our ups and downs too.

Had season tickets for Bird's three years at ISU. Seen him lose 1 home game in three years!!! I loved Bob Knight and the Hoosiers, but couldn't agree with you more seattwa. I think Bird made the right decision to play at ISU. Anyhooo, it turned out okay for the both of them.

We'll never know, but we shouldn't underestimate Knight's genius. The only other player Knight coached who was nearly as as good as Bird was Isiah Thomas, and Knight showed some flexibility with Isiah, making him captain of the 1980-81 team midseason as a sophomore. Knight was too smart to not see Bird's talent, plus Bird would have been a natural lineup fit on the '76-'78 teams after (perhaps) sitting most of '75 as a freshman behind May and Green. It's obviously true that by Bird's staying at IU the amazing 1979 ISU story doesn't happen. However, it doesn't mean that Bird would not have excelled in the NBA, although it's also true that had he stayed at IU and been part of 1-3 national championship teams, he couldn't possibly have been hidden such that Auerbach could draft him for the Celtics a year early, meaning that he probably would have played elsewhere in the NBA. It's a fascinating counterfactual.

@@chrismorfas7515 If Larry stays at IU the Celtics don't get him. He doesn't set out a year and play college ball the year his HS class is NBA eligible. 77-78 and 78-79 Celtic teams were bad and Red wouldn't have had the option to wait on Larry. Whoever he would have drafted would not be Larry in 78. So we pretty much agree on the whole deal.

That's actually not true. Knight has spoken many times about Bird. As a player Knight knew exactly what he had in Bird. If Bird stays at Indiana they wouldn't have lost a game for 4 years. Knights failure with Bird was not recognizing that he needed help fitting in.

@@chrismorfas7515 I think part of what made Bird "Larry Bird" WAS his time at ISU. And his team. The entire experience, including staying to get his degree.

Wait...is the actual Ariana Grande account actually asking for 1970s Illinois State basketball videos? Internet, man. Internet.

I'd never watched that until just now, and I can see your point.

Wasn't a trip. Defender was in legal guarding position, Reed stepped on his foot. Even the announcers immediately recognized that it wasn't an a foul.

@@Jason-yp6ph Even if you don't call the foul, it wasn't a walk. That game broke my 13yo heart.

Defender tripped him but how the hell was that a travel? Just terrible.

Where u been for the last 40 yrs... North Korea?

Always did.

I played back then ...that was traveling..when he fell with ball he could not get back up. Once he did it was traveling..he could have passed it off when he was on floor..cause once he fell he lost his dribble...when he gets up its traveling...that was rule...

Did you hate the call when ISU got called for being out of bounds and the ball given to Arkansas when we can clearly see the line that was stepped on was the 3 pt line on the court and not the outside boundary?

@@cindyknudson2715how old are you? There was no 3 pt. line in 1979.

You mean someone else now notices what garbage females have become

DO tell!

Very natural

It wasn't legal yet.

A pro team played there

@@Ryan2022 Would have had to be ABA because NBA didn't have the 3 point shot yet. And weren't the two leagues merged by this point?

Brandon - good question

I found the answer "While certain college basketball conferences experimented with it in the early '80s, the NCAA didn't universally implement a 3-point line until 1986, with high school basketball following suit a year later." This must have been the court of a team in a conference that experimented with it. NBA didn't adopt it until the 1979-80 season.

Larry had an off night against Michigan. He felt it b4 the game. It wouldn’t happen twice I’d bet money on it.

I'm not so sure. During this period of time the Missouri Valley Conference was extremely competitive. Any conference win on the road was a great win. My family moved to Terre Haute in 76. Was hearing a lot about this Bird guy at school. I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about and watched the local live broadcast of the NIT game at Houston. This would've been Bird's sophomore year. Bird was amazing and even though they lost the game, I would watch on tv, or listen on the radio, every second of every game for the next two years. Was fortunate enough to see a handful of games at Hulman Center. This was the most amazing season ever. And I'm really a football fan and have witnessed my team win multiple super bowls. But nothing compares to the ride the Sycamores took us on this season.

Packer was a douche even back then.

I mean 42:21

eurostep=travel

Larry, with his bad back & beginning Achilles problem, was the healthiest player on that 87 team when they swept the Bulls. McHale played on a broken foot & Parish with a sprained ankle.

@@dutchtea8354 you make sense

She stood up dude. That is traveling.

HE WAS FOULED. The defender stuck his foot right underneath him. Easy call that wasn't made

It wasn't rigged get over it.

Nicks even said after the game that he thought he was being called for a foul when he heard the whistle

I think so too Elder. Nicks fouled and Heaton traveled. Even turned their back when the Hogs tried to call a TO at 2 seconds.