Why “The Pistol” today? Why not?
It seems to me so many young people have never seen much of Pete Maravich, the most innovative player in basketball history, in my opinion. Trust me, this is just a tiny piece of what he could do:
NBA, basketball | Dwight Jaynes | December 15, 2009
This post made me think of this from the onion: http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/area_dad_talking_about_pete
Thanks! God he was so good. Didn’t he have some knee injury that limited his NBA career?
Loved the video. His passing was fantastic but I was always enthralled with his shooting. Such flexible wrists and soft touch.
Wow, what amazing creativity. He had such devotion to basketball, this shows what we can achieve when we put our minds to accomplishing goals. Thanks for sharing, Dwight.
Pistol Pete had almost as many moves as Greg Oden.
I grew up in Atlanta during the time when Pete was with the Hawks. I don’t think people realize that he practically created behind the back dribbling or passing that is common place today. He used to dribble up and down stairs to develop his skills. What a talent.
You’ve got to remember that some of these things look familiar now but they were a big shock back then.
Take Willie Mays’ over-the-shoulder catch. it was a mindblower then but other players do it now fairly regularly.
One thing I don’t remember ever seeing was the underhand full-court outlet pass. That – like Rick Barry’s underhand free throw shooting – never really took off.
The thing I do remember and you could see here is that he performed a lot of the show-off stuff in a confident way that made it look like a fundamental move in his hands. I also seem to remember watching him dribble two basketballs at once to get better.
Truly a remarkable talent and one of the great sports nicknames ever: Pistol Pete.
Actually the underhand free throw was pretty much the norm in the NBA games of the 40′s that I grew up watching..it was also used extensively at most all levels in that era. Rick Barry was probably the last pro to use it along with Wilt who tried most everything (no pun intended.)
i remember reading a bio on pete… maybe it was an interview… but i remember it saying that pete’s dad would have pete dribble the ball outside the car through the window while he drove him to school. pete could dribble the ball up to about 25 mph!! think about that…friggin phenominal! its my opinion that pistol pete is the greatest player of all time. after all mj watched the pistol when he was a kid and pete influenced every single move that jordan had. even clyde drexler said that pete maravich was one of his heros.
Donovan bailey’s top speed was 27 mph and only for a short time. How could pistol pete dribble the ball at 25 mph?
his dad said that when pete lost controll of the ball he would stop the car and pete would get out and go get the ball and they would start again. apparently they lived about 2-3 miles from petes school and they had to stop about 10-15 times during the trip. pretty neat dad really. really took an interest in his sons development. bye the way i guess that dribbling the ball outside of the car was pete’s idea. the guy was friggin incredible. pretty hard for the youngsters to realize what maravich was to the game. there’s not a player since the late 80′s that hasnt used all of his stuff including magic and mj and clyde.
The man could play…he also knew how to wear his socks. I also realized my father must have been a Pistol Pete fan because many of the moves he taught me on the court as a kid were straight from that video.
the full court underhand pass… Thanks for the memories Dwight.
Do you think Pete ever took the summer off to work on his contract instead of his game?
Man Dwight, I had almost forgotten what an awesome talent and innovater Pistol was. There was no one like him in his time. Amen and Amen and thanks for the reminder.
What struck me watching that video, was that despite all of the leaps and bounds the NBA players have made in pure athleticism, I’m convinced that a vintage Maravich could walk onto an NBA court today, and be just as good as he was then.
If, of course, a coach would let him. Now, he’d throw one wrist pass, and would get sent straight to the bench. Man the NBA is so over coached now…..
Good point. He’d probably never get off Nate McMillan’s bench!!
If Pistol Pete was around today ESPN would have to have 2 “Top 10 Plays” lists. One for Pete and one for everyone else. Talk about breaking ankles with those moves. Look at all those fantastic shots and passes and “No Dunks”! Sad to say Nate would never let a player be that free. I saw the Oregon State vs. LSU game and don’t remember wanting to blink for fear of missing a great move or shot.
Great memories Dwight Thanks!
Pete Maravich was the most Ahead-Of-His-Time basketball player ever. In that regard, the football equivalent might be Jim Brown, and another sports equivalent might be Tiger Woods (pre-15-whores and possible HGH scandals).
Remember the night that Maravich put 44 on Oregon State at Gill Coliseum while at LSU? I think he went 18 for 18 from the free throw line in that game. The other memorable thing about him was his unbelievable range. He’d routinely make 30-foot shots when other players would never consider attempting them…and it was before the three-point line. His scoring average would have been 10 points higher per game if he’d gotten 3 points for all the long range shots he made.
if we had a 3 point line back then pete would have averaged 50. i remember watching him and 30-35 foot shots were nothing for him. kinda funny too cause pete could go to the rim and dunk spectacularly…kinda like rudy in a way… but you rarely see highlights of his dunks because he was such an incredible passer and jump shooter and ball handler.
The ultimate gym rat died on a basketball court.
He could do everything well, had a Larry Bird like shot, a post game, Magic’s talent for passing, and all of Rubio’s flash times about 100. Was once my favorite NBA player. Mainly of course, as a kid, I loved the floppy socks.
Of course he would be just as dominant today. Can there be any doubt watching the clip?
Thanks, Dwight. That was priceless.
Yeah, I would have been pretty good, too, had my dad forced me to make 10,000 passes and 10,000 shots a day before I was out of diapers. There will never be another, sure, but only because child abuse laws are a little more strict these days. Still, the results of all that practice are obvious. Dribbling, to Pistol Pete, was as natural as breathing. Today’s average NBA guard looks like a rec league reject by comparison. One quick memo, though: he was an entertainer first and a winner second. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to have a player like that on the Blazers.
Arguably, the Blazers have such a player right now. A player that can take a jumper while moving laterally through the air and still remain squared to the basket. A player who has the court vision and talent to make “no look” passes and “through the legs” feeds. A player who can cut and weave his way to the basket to score. But the league is different now. Players are required to play some defense – never Pete’s forte – and are also required to stay “within the offense”. Turnovers are also a quick way to get a seat on the bench, and Maravich had a lot of ‘em with those passes few could handle.
Rudy Fernandez has always reminded me of Pistol Pete in the way he plays – not at the level he plays – and if Rudy were given the same latitude players had 30 years ago, I’m convinced he could be a similar player.