UCLA’s best teams made their mark on hoops history

Arizona has touted lineup, but Westwood has had its share of standouts

Chris Umpierre

Monday, December 11, 2000

  Photos from UCLA Sports Information Gail Goodrich led the 1963-64 team to an undefeated season.

By Chris Umpierre

Daily Bruin Staff An unprecedented five preseason All-Americans. Five potential NBA draft picks. A possible No. 1 overall pick. Could this year’s Arizona Wildcats be the greatest team in college basketball history? Some say the No. 5 Wildcats (5-1), who start point guard Jason Gardner, shooting guard Gilbert Arenas, power forward Michael Wright, small forward Richard Jefferson and center Loren Woods, could be the best of all time when the 2000-01 season is all said and done. Jefferson said you couldn’t put together a better college basketball squad. “If you had to draw up a college basketball team, how could you draw up a better team?” he told ESPN.com. “We’ve got a strong point guard who distributes the ball, a lanky two-guard who can score in so many different ways, an athletic three-man in myself, a strong power forward and a strong 7-footer who loves to block shots. “On paper, we’re as good as it gets.”

  Lew Alcindor was the leader of the 1966-67 and 1967-68 teams. Only time will tell if Arizona’s potential will translate into a national championship, the one and only indicator of a team’s greatness. Of course, UCLA – holder of eleven national titles – knows a thing or two about great college basketball teams.

As a result of the recent talk surrounding this year’s Arizona team, here is a study of UCLA’s greatest basketball teams and the top five to ever don the blue and gold.

5) 1963-1964 This is the only UCLA team on the list without an Alcindor or a Walton on the roster. It is the Bruins’ fifth greatest team not only because it won the school’s first of eleven national titles, but because it won with ingenuity. Despite an undersized center, 6-foot-5 Fred Slaughter, Bruin head coach John Wooden decided to use his team’s quickness to employ a devastating press. UCLA’s coach stationed Gail Goodrich and Fred Slaughter under the basket while Walt Hazzard and Jack Hirsch were behind them with Keith Erickson as the safety. The plan worked beautifully as the Bruins’ quickness routinely beat out their opponent’s height and strength. The team was led by All-American senior Hazzard, who could fill the lane and was a tremendous passer. Junior guard Goodrich, who would later have a successful career with the Los Angeles Lakers, was the team’s main scorer. He finished with an average of 21.5 points per game. For the first time ever, a UCLA team won all 30 of its games en route to the school’s first NCAA title.

4) 1966-1967 If not for their youth, these Bruins would be ranked higher. The 1967 Bruins started four sophomores (read: bad news for opponents in the future) including perhaps UCLA’s best-ever backcourt tandem in Lucius Allen and Mike Warren. Sweet-shooting forward Lynn Shakelford and a 7-foot center by the name of Lew Alcindor rounded out the starters. To be known as a great team, a squad needs a go-to player, and Alcindor was that and then some. Playing in his first college contest, Alcindor shrugged off the rookie jitters and dropped a school record 56 points on rival USC. The legendary career of Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) was off and running. On an assortment of short hooks and jams, Alcindor spearheaded the UCLA attack with 29 points per game and an NCAA record 67 percent shooting from the field. This dominant first campaign for the big man led the NCAA in later years to outlaw the slam dunk (a law directed at Alcindor). The only way teams would get close to these Bruins is by playing a delay game, where the opponent held the ball for long periods of time. UCLA crushed Houston 73-58 in the NCAA semifinal and Dayton 79-64 in the NCAA final to capture the title. The dynasty had just begun. 3) 1971-1972 The 1972 UCLA team was young but it was dominant. It was led by a 6-foot-11 center that some have called the best college basketball center of all time, Bill Walton. Walton led a group of unmatched sophomores (freshmen were not allowed to play) this year. Versatile sophomore forward Keith Wilkes and sophomore point guard Greg Lee stepped into the starting lineup. UCLA’s only veteran player this year was 6-foot-1 shooting guard Henry Bibby. Experience or no experience, this team won. And they won big. As UCLA entered NCAA tournament play, their average margin of victory was 32.2 points per game, surpassing the record of 27.2 by the 1954 Kentucky team. Led by the redheaded sophomore center, the Bruins continued their dominance into the tournament. Against Louisville in the NCAA semifinal, UCLA won 96-77. Walton’s line, you ask? The center finished with 33 points (11 of 13), 21 rebounds and six blocked shots. The Bruins had some difficulty in the championship game, as Florida State gave them a run before succumbing 81-76. Showing that it wasn’t just the Bill Walton show, sophomore Wilkes stepped up with 23 points including a hoop in the final minute to ice the game.

2) 1967-1968 While this team did lose a game and had some scares during the season, it’s UCLA’s second greatest team because of its experience and depth. And the fact that it had Alcindor didn’t hurt matters. The 1968 team had all you could want in a squad. It had a scoring guard (Allen averaged 15 points per game), it had the marksman (Shackelford), it had the playmaker (Warren), it had the defensive stopper (Kenny Heitz) and it had probably the game’s most dominant big man (Alcindor). Wooden also had the benefit of going to players such as Mike Lynn and Edgar Lacey. Add to that the fact that they were one year wiser after winning the title in 1967. The only loss this team suffered came at the hands of the Elvin Hayes-led Houston Cougars in a game that changed the face of college basketball. In front of a record 52,693 fans, the Cougars stunned the basketball world by beating the Bruins 71-69 at the Houston Astrodome. But UCLA was not at 100 percent for the game as their leader Alcindor suffered from an eye injury. The center was just 4 of 18 from the field. With a healthy Alcindor, the Bruins creamed the Cougars 101-69 in the NCAA semifinal. Alcindor, Allen and Lynn had 19 points each. The next day, UCLA garnered its fourth NCAA title in five years by humiliating North Carolina 78-55. The 23-point spread was the largest in championship game history.

1) 1972-1973 The reason this team, out of all the great Bruin teams, gets the nod for the greatest in UCLA history is because, well, the legendary Wooden said it. After his Bruins trounced Memphis State in the title game 87-66, Wooden told reporters “I’d have to say this is my best team ever.” Another reason this is UCLA’s greatest team is they didn’t just win, they destroyed teams. This squad didn’t have a close call the entire season. The 1973 Bruins won every game by at least six points and 23 of the 26 by ten or more. For instance, many predicted that UCLA would be challenged when they traveled to South Bend, Ind., to take on Notre Dame, the last team to beat them in a regular season game in the last two years. However, the Bruins dismantled the Irish 82-63. The win, UCLA’s 61st straight, gave the team the record for the most consecutive victories. Oh, and this team had that Walton guy. Perhaps installing himself as college basketball’s greatest center, the All-American was unstoppable during the NCAA title game. He set an NCAA record by making an unbelievable 21 of 22 shots and scoring 44 points to lead UCLA to its seventh straight NCAA title. But a team is not just a one-man show, and the 1973 Bruin squad showed that. In addition to Walton, this team featured All-American forward Keith Wilkes, who averaged 14.8 points per game. A quote by a UCLA opponent says it all about this team. “That’s an awesome team,” Indiana’s John Ritter said after playing the Bruins in the NCAA semifinal. “You know the Yankees were awesome like that a few years back. Even if we’d beaten them, they’d still be the best.”

STARTING LINEUPS FOR UCLA'S TOP FIVE BASKETBALL TEAMS During these five seasons, the Bruins men's basketball program went 149-1 overall. 1972-1973 (30-0, Pacific-8 14-0) F Larry Farmer, Sr. F Keith Wilkes, So. C Bill Walton, Jr. G Larry Hollyfield, Sr. G Greg Lee, Jr. 1971-1972 (30-0, Pacific-8 14-0) F Larry Farmer, Jr. F Keith Wilkes, So. C Bill Walton, So. G Greg Lee, So. G Henry Bibby, Sr. 1963-1964 (30-0, AAWU 15-0) F Keith Erickson, Jr. F Jack Hirsch, Sr. C Fred Slaughter, Sr. G Walt Hazzard, Sr. G Gail Goodrich, Jr. 1966-1967 (30-0, AAWU 14-0) F Lynn Shackelford, So. F Kenny Heitz, So. C Lew Alcindor, So. G Lucius Allen, So. G Mike Warren, Jr. 1967-1968 (29-1, AAWU 14-0) F Lynn Shackelford, Jr. F Mike Lynn, Sr. C Lew Alcindor, Jr. G Lucius Allen, Jr. G Mike Warren, Sr. SOURCE: UCLA Sports Info Original graphic by JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web adaptation by CHRISTINE TAN/Daily Bruin