My sister won an ABA ball for hitting a layup after a Colonels game. They allowed every fan to come down and line up to try a layup. Those who hit got a free RW & B ball. This was during the league's early years, and the promotion put thousands of the the ABA's trademark basketballs out there.
The talent on this court (and on the sideline) is incredible. You give me a team with Malone, Lucas, Gilmore, Carr in their primes ... and if he could have gotten his head on right, Marvin Barnes might have been better than all of them. Plus Hubie Brown coaching!
And Joe Mullaney coaching, too - his 4th (and final) ABA team in 5 years. (He coached the Kentucky Colonels in 1971-1972 and 1972-1973 (making it to the ABA finals in the latter year before losing to Indiana), the Utah Stars in 1973-1974 (a 51-33 regular-season record and another ABA finals appearance, losing this time to the New York Nets, earned him Coach of the Year honors in the ABA that season), and the Memphis Sounds in 1974-1975 (a 27-57 regular-season record was good enough for 4th place in the ABA Eastern Division that season, and a 4-1 series loss to the Kentucky Colonels in the Eastern Division semifinals).)
@@jmccracken1963 Thanks for that info. He's one I hadn't much about. I grew up a Colonels fan, and followed the Pacers, too. The talent on this court includes the defending ABA champs, and future NBA title winners Maurice Lucas, M.L. Carr and finalist Caldwell Jones.
Thank you for bringing back so many memories. Glad Marvin decided to show up for this one. He may have been the most talented player on the floor when he decided to play. As Jack Carney of KMOX in St. Louis referred to him "Little Bobby" Costas on the play by play. Only Jack Carney could get away with such a remark and have Costas smile and thank him.
I have to say, however, that Arlene Weltman (wife of Spirits' GM Harry Weltman) is one of the worst color commentators I have ever heard. Phyllis Ackerman did a MUCH better job as color commentator for the New York Nets that season, partnering with Steve Albert.
No flopping or fouling either, nice quick pace, no slowed down dribbling half court game either, or, maybe best of all, no trash talking!, straight forward announcing, not like today, where there's just patter while the game is going on, oh my gosh, Moses Malone too?
Mocked at the time, no credit given to the ABA. Similar to how the original XFL was mocked, but then the NFL took their “gimmicks” and gave XFL no credit. Sky-cam, mic’d up players, sideline interviews, pyro after home team touchdowns, jumbotrons (at some stadiums) at the endzone, etc
Not only did it "catch" on, the NBA got hooked on it. What was intended to be a secondary offensive weapon became the mark of an efficient shooter. I'd be exaggerating if Basketball Reference hadn't created efficient field goal percentage, or "eFG%." A shooter with a 33.3 eFG% is statistically as point-productive as a 50% field goal percentage one with only 2-point attempts. The wiki on the Three-point revolution (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_revolution) credits Stephen Curry with popularizing the shot. NBA players had been incorporating the shot with greater frequency since its introduction in the 1979-80 season. Some would claim this cheated ABA survivors from the 1976 merger who relied on the shot to use it for its intended purpose, score more points. None of the ABA top 10 in 3-pointers played in the NBA outside of a single season by Freddie Lewis in the first post-merger year 1976-77. It was Daryl Morey who experimented with increasing the frequency of threes with a D-League team. The influence of that success caused the number of threes per game to increase from 21.4 in 2014 to 32.0 by 2020, a 50% increase. That is the biggest change in the style of play in the NBA since the 24-second clock arrived for 1954-55 season.
It is an absolute pleasure to hear Bob Costas straight out of Syracuse University. I had heard of his work with the Spirits but never heard it. Costas sounds like a seasoned veteran. What an amazing broadcaster he is!
Great to see Ron Boone here, It was sad to see the Utah Stars fold and merge with St. Louis. A few years later Ron returned back to the Utah Jazz, finally retired and still announces for the Jazz.
Wow a great find if you can come across some WHA world hockey association games L.A sharks vs Winnipeg jets that would be cool first hockey game was in 72 in L.A.
Gary Davidson was instrumental in the birth of both the American Basketball Association and the World Hockey Association - and was just as quickly cast aside when it turned out that he didn't have the financial wherewithal to back up his braggadoccio.
2:27 Talk about a First. A woman Color Commentator (It be a LONG Time before Cheryl Miller would get to the Microphone)... Bob Costas on the play-by-play for the St. Louis Spirits in his first Professional Gig.
Virgil Moody I said that kind of in jest. Fun to see that this quality of play might have led to the merger. I hope you find some AFL games. I was a Raiders fan but TV home games were blacked out then if you lived near enough, so I saw more Chargers games and that was an exciting brand of football.
Not quite "fresh from college." This telecast is from late in his second season as play-by-play man for the Spirits of St. Louis - so he had already broadcast roughly 140-145 basketball games.
IM 65 YEARS OLD BORN AND RAISED IN BROOKLYN NEW YORK CITY I FOLLOWED GEORGE ICEMAN GERVIN SINCE ICE WAS PLAYING FOR THE VIRGINIA SQUIRES JANUARY 1973 AND I WAS AT THE HALL OF FAME WHEN ICE WAS INDUCTED MAY 1996 AND I LOOK LIKE JAMES JIMMY SI CAPTAIN LATE SILAS WOW WHAT A LIFE I'VE LIVED AND IM ONLY 65 YEARS OLD
Ended up as the ABA's all-tine scoring leader. Trivia - He was one of only three (?) players who were with the same team for all nine years of the league. Byron Beck of Denver was another. I believe there is a third but don't recall who it is.
@@trapezemusic I think that Bob Costas mentioned Dampier and Beck and someone else (I've forgotten who) as being the only three "original" (i.e., 1967-1968) ABA players still active in the league at one point in the telecast.
3-pt line “gimmick” mocked at the time, no credit given to the ABA. Similar to how the original XFL was mocked, but then the NFL took their “gimmicks” and gave XFL no credit. Sky-cam, mic’d up players, sideline interviews, pyro (at some stadiums) after home team touchdowns, jumbotrons (at some stadiums) at the endzone, etc.
Fly Williams' only season of pro basketball was 1974-1975, when he averaged 17.5 minutes played and 9.4 points scored in 71 games for the Spirits of St. Louis.
The WHAT-B-A's greatest games? Let's get it right! This is the ABA, the best league during the early 1970s. Re-writing history by changing the name of this league is one last unfair stab at our league.
I'm not seriously raggin on ya. I know your video collection has a title it has to stick to. Growing up a Colonel and Pacer fan, the dissing of the ABA was an old issue!
Marvin BARNES..was unstoppable..until the drugs..but drugs was ABA culture so...a lot of cats vices were readily catered to or began..in the fantastic ABA. Bob Costas out of Syracuse..i think he like 22 yrs old calling games here.
Arlene Weltman (wife of Spirits of St. Louis General Manager Harry Weltman) and Phyllis Ackerman (housewife who won a contest run by the New York Nets) both worked as color commentators in the ABA during the 1975-1976 season.
kentucky had to be the birthplace of girls trying some kind of an idea about basketball--the late penny ann early played one minute for the kentucky colonels--long before the wnba--and the announcer of this game did the spirits of st. louis--in kentucky, where the famous chicken hq appears!
Arlene Weltman, wife of GM Harry Weltman. She did TV/radio for the Spirits whenever she wanted to. She was legitimately interested in a TV gig, but was seen by the Spirits as a gimmick to draw female fans/viewers in
It's a joke that they are calling an ABA game, "NBA's Greatest games". They didn't want to acknowledge the ABA in the early/mid 70s. I guess the NBA bought up what was left of ABA televised games. Greedy bastards.
Gotta love the ABAs red, white and blue basketballs.
Used to have the red, white and blue ABA basketball when was a kid
We
played with ours so much all the colors. Faded till it was just all white
Me too
My sister won an ABA ball for hitting a layup after a Colonels game. They allowed every fan to come down and line up to try a layup. Those who hit got a free RW & B ball. This was during the league's early years, and the promotion put thousands of the the ABA's trademark basketballs out there.
The talent on this court (and on the sideline) is incredible. You give me a team with Malone, Lucas, Gilmore, Carr in their primes ... and if he could have gotten his head on right, Marvin Barnes might have been better than all of them. Plus Hubie Brown coaching!
And Joe Mullaney coaching, too - his 4th (and final) ABA team in 5 years. (He coached the Kentucky Colonels in 1971-1972 and 1972-1973 (making it to the ABA finals in the latter year before losing to Indiana), the Utah Stars in 1973-1974 (a 51-33 regular-season record and another ABA finals appearance, losing this time to the New York Nets, earned him Coach of the Year honors in the ABA that season), and the Memphis Sounds in 1974-1975 (a 27-57 regular-season record was good enough for 4th place in the ABA Eastern Division that season, and a 4-1 series loss to the Kentucky Colonels in the Eastern Division semifinals).)
@@jmccracken1963 Thanks for that info. He's one I hadn't much about. I grew up a Colonels fan, and followed the Pacers, too. The talent on this court includes the defending ABA champs, and future NBA title winners Maurice Lucas, M.L. Carr and finalist Caldwell Jones.
Thank you for bringing back so many memories. Glad Marvin decided to show up for this one. He may have been the most talented player on the floor when he decided to play. As Jack Carney of KMOX in St. Louis referred to him "Little Bobby" Costas on the play by play. Only Jack Carney could get away with such a remark and have Costas smile and thank him.
I have to say, however, that Arlene Weltman (wife of Spirits' GM Harry Weltman) is one of the worst color commentators I have ever heard. Phyllis Ackerman did a MUCH better job as color commentator for the New York Nets that season, partnering with Steve Albert.
Virgil Moody, Thanks for this! The old ABA games give so much joy!
No flopping or fouling either, nice quick pace, no slowed down dribbling half court game either, or, maybe best of all, no trash talking!, straight forward announcing, not like today, where there's just patter while the game is going on, oh my gosh, Moses Malone too?
That gimmicky 3 pt. line thing will never catch on!
Mocked at the time, no credit given to the ABA. Similar to how the original XFL was mocked, but then the NFL took their “gimmicks” and gave XFL no credit. Sky-cam, mic’d up players, sideline interviews, pyro after home team touchdowns, jumbotrons (at some stadiums) at the endzone, etc
Not only did it "catch" on, the NBA got hooked on it. What was intended to be a secondary offensive weapon became the mark of an efficient shooter. I'd be exaggerating if Basketball Reference hadn't created efficient field goal percentage, or "eFG%." A shooter with a 33.3 eFG% is statistically as point-productive as a 50% field goal percentage one with only 2-point attempts. The wiki on the Three-point revolution (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-point_revolution) credits Stephen Curry with popularizing the shot. NBA players had been incorporating the shot with greater frequency since its introduction in the 1979-80 season. Some would claim this cheated ABA survivors from the 1976 merger who relied on the shot to use it for its intended purpose, score more points. None of the ABA top 10 in 3-pointers played in the NBA outside of a single season by Freddie Lewis in the first post-merger year 1976-77. It was Daryl Morey who experimented with increasing the frequency of threes with a D-League team. The influence of that success caused the number of threes per game to increase from 21.4 in 2014 to 32.0 by 2020, a 50% increase. That is the biggest change in the style of play in the NBA since the 24-second clock arrived for 1954-55 season.
It is an absolute pleasure to hear Bob Costas straight out of Syracuse University. I had heard of his work with the Spirits but never heard it. Costas sounds like a seasoned veteran. What an amazing broadcaster he is!
The good old days
GLAD TO SEE THESE GAMES FROM YESTERYEAR...ABA WAS FUN TO WATCH.. NICE POST
Bring Back The Spirits Of St. Louis. NBA Expansion.
i want hart orange jerseys iwant condors also
a young Mike D'Antoni around 24:00 in! he'd go on to become a noted head coach a couple of decades later
Bob Costas is your play by play man
This is gold. Hall of Fame talent on both teams.
Great to see Ron Boone here, It was sad to see the Utah Stars fold and merge with St. Louis. A few years later Ron returned back to the Utah Jazz, finally retired and still announces for the Jazz.
I will never forget that brief period when we had a pro basketball team called St. Louis/Utah. The only time any sports team has ever born that name.
Wow a great find if you can come across some WHA world hockey association games L.A sharks vs Winnipeg jets that would be cool first hockey game was in 72 in L.A.
Gary Davidson was instrumental in the birth of both the American Basketball Association and the World Hockey Association - and was just as quickly cast aside when it turned out that he didn't have the financial wherewithal to back up his braggadoccio.
21:50 Caldwell Jones must have had some OCD in him with his free-throw routine. That’s a lot of dribbles!
Marvin Barnes coked out of his mind lol
2:27 Talk about a First. A woman Color Commentator (It be a LONG Time before Cheryl Miller would get to the Microphone)... Bob Costas on the play-by-play for the St. Louis Spirits in his first Professional Gig.
No, Costas had been a play-by-play announcer in college for the Syracuse Blazers of the North American Hockey League.
Who is calling this game with Costas? I loved the ABA. You know what they say about all good things...
Arlene Weltman.
Would be impressed even more if you had the Pittsburgh Pipers versus the Anaheim Amigos
I think I have one more ABA game somewhere. They are super hard to find. Just like AFL football.
Virgil Moody I said that kind of in jest. Fun to see that this quality of play might have led to the merger. I hope you find some AFL games. I was a Raiders fan but TV home games were blacked out then if you lived near enough, so I saw more Chargers games and that was an exciting brand of football.
Some Connie Hawkins would be great
we need more aba videos
Pittsburgh Pipers vs. New Orleans Buccaneers 1967-1968 ABA championship series would be ESPECIALLY impressive.
I believe this game was originally carried by KPLR-TV in St. Louis
Yes, that's channel 11 that Bob Costas mentioned.
A young Bob Costas - fresh from college - calling the game. I just found out he began his legendary career at 20 for KMOX/CBS.
Not quite "fresh from college." This telecast is from late in his second season as play-by-play man for the Spirits of St. Louis - so he had already broadcast roughly 140-145 basketball games.
@@jmccracken1963 Ok.
Muchas Gracias!👍
IM 65 YEARS OLD BORN AND RAISED IN BROOKLYN NEW YORK CITY I FOLLOWED GEORGE ICEMAN GERVIN SINCE ICE WAS PLAYING FOR THE VIRGINIA SQUIRES JANUARY 1973 AND I WAS AT THE HALL OF FAME WHEN ICE WAS INDUCTED MAY 1996 AND I LOOK LIKE JAMES JIMMY SI CAPTAIN LATE SILAS WOW WHAT A LIFE I'VE LIVED AND IM ONLY 65 YEARS OLD
Whaaat?
wow, travelling?!!
I saw Caldwell Jones play for the Conquistadors quite a few times.
He seems like he was much more offensive minded with this team than I remember when he played with the Sixers.
@@johnm8096- For sure - He’s a totally different player here
spirit st louis was excellent team,
Some phantom calls on Gilmore!
If Fred Lewis doesn't go down with injury this series might have looked and turned out differently.
The rims back then were merciless!
Artis walks everytime he has the ball
One of my favorites on the court... Louis Dampier of Rupp's Runts and the University of Kentucky!
Ended up as the ABA's all-tine scoring leader. Trivia - He was one of only three (?) players who were with the same team for all nine years of the league. Byron Beck of Denver was another. I believe there is a third but don't recall who it is.
@@trapezemusic Wow, I had no idea he was the top scorer in the ABA. Thanks for the information!
@@trapezemusic I think that Bob Costas mentioned Dampier and Beck and someone else (I've forgotten who) as being the only three "original" (i.e., 1967-1968) ABA players still active in the league at one point in the telecast.
3-pt line “gimmick” mocked at the time, no credit given to the ABA. Similar to how the original XFL was mocked, but then the NFL took their “gimmicks” and gave XFL no credit. Sky-cam, mic’d up players, sideline interviews, pyro (at some stadiums) after home team touchdowns, jumbotrons (at some stadiums) at the endzone, etc.
That’s Bob Costas on the play by play!
Where was fly williams
Fly may have been in Memphis during this time- or else he had been released by this point in the season.
Fly is open let’s Go Peay! Lol
Fly Williams' only season of pro basketball was 1974-1975, when he averaged 17.5 minutes played and 9.4 points scored in 71 games for the Spirits of St. Louis.
6:48 "Welcome back to the NBA's greatest games." The NB _WHAT?_ That damn league steals everything from the ABA it shunned, including its identity.
Hubbie Brown looks so young.
The WHAT-B-A's greatest games? Let's get it right! This is the ABA, the best league during the early 1970s. Re-writing history by changing the name of this league is one last unfair stab at our league.
I'm not seriously raggin on ya. I know your video collection has a title it has to stick to. Growing up a Colonel and Pacer fan, the dissing of the ABA was an old issue!
A VERY YOUNG Bob Costas on the call.
Long live the ABA
0:35 y’all see the one guy open😂
Young Bobby Costas! 😅
Yeah it did
Marvin BARNES..was unstoppable..until the drugs..but drugs was ABA culture so...a lot of cats vices were readily catered to or began..in the fantastic ABA. Bob Costas out of Syracuse..i think he like 22 yrs old calling games here.
I think I was at this game.
That's amazing. I'm fascinated by the talent that Marvin Barnes had. Could you tell me what you remember about watching him?
1:36:14 See Bob Costas, too, in the blue get-up.
Don’t know the lady but was she the first female color commentator?
Arlene Weltman (wife of Spirits of St. Louis General Manager Harry Weltman) and Phyllis Ackerman (housewife who won a contest run by the New York Nets) both worked as color commentators in the ABA during the 1975-1976 season.
Where are the fans?
kentucky had to be the birthplace of girls trying some kind of an idea about basketball--the late penny ann early played one minute for the kentucky colonels--long before the wnba--and the announcer of this game did the spirits of st. louis--in kentucky, where the famous chicken hq appears!
Who's the female commentator?
Arlene Weltman, wife of GM Harry Weltman. She did TV/radio for the Spirits whenever she wanted to. She was legitimately interested in a TV gig, but was seen by the Spirits as a gimmick to draw female fans/viewers in
Love how they made the female announcer interview a cheerleader...because the "little black boy" who was to entertain at halftime caught the flu.
I wondered if I heard her correctly when she said "little black boy." WTF?
Costas is coked out of his mind…
It's a joke that they are calling an ABA game, "NBA's Greatest games". They didn't want to acknowledge the ABA in the early/mid 70s. I guess the NBA bought up what was left of ABA televised games. Greedy bastards.
NBA all star game need to use the red white and blue ball in that game