Zerk;842508054 said:
I've heard this a few times, but something doesn't make sense. They go to the Western Conference Finals and lose in a game 7, doesn't seem too bad. What happened in the offseason after that run in the playoffs?
I didn't mean to imply that it was a sudden collapse of a franchise. It was gradual. The Warriors were a very good established franchise and had gone to the NBA Finals in 1964 and 1967. Rick Barry jumping to the NBA ruined the next few seasons, but he returned, and the W's won the title in 1975. The decline from the 1976 playoff loss took perhaps 3 years to happen:
1975: 48-34, 1st place NBA Pacific Division, NBA championship with 4-0 sweep over the Bullets
1976: 59-23, 1st place NBA Pacific Division, lost 3-4 to Phoenix in Western Conference Final
1977: 46-36, 3rd place NBA Pacific Division, lost 3-4 to LA Lakers in Western Conference Semi-Final
1978: 43-39, 5th and last place NBA Pacific Division, missed playoffs
1979: 38-44, 6th and last place, NBA Pacific Division, missed playoffs
I suppose there are many reasons for the decline. For one, the competition. The Pacific Division was the strongest NBA division, top to bottom, over the five seasons, with very few Pacific teams having losing records. The Warriors won the NBA title in 1975, the Blazers won it in 1977 and the Sonics won it in 1979. The Lakers with Jabbar were always tough. Even the Clippers who joined the Pacific in 1978-9 had a winning record (and ten players averaging in double figures). In 1976-77, the ABA merged with the NBA, adding a lot of very good talent to the league.
In the off season after the 1976 finals debacle, the Warriors drafted Robert Parish and Sonny Parker. They waived rookie guard Robert Hawkins, who had averaged only 4 points, and he joined the Nets, where he averaged 19 points. By drafting Parish, this made George Johnson, the reserve center who was the catalyst for the Warrior's fast break, expendable. Parish was to supposed to be an upgrade over Johnson, but it may have been a possible source of friction. Parish did not play well for the Warriors. It was hard to see where Parker would fit in, as Barry and Wilkes were established starters. Jeff Mullins retired.
In 1975, they started a team of older veterans plus rookie Wilkes. It was a slower team, more of a half-court team on offense, and a good man-to-man defensive team. The trouble was they often got off to a slow start in games and would fall behind. Coach Attles tried substituting in the normal manner, but it wasn't much help. He then either hit upon the idea (or, in my opinion, he got so disgusted with the first unit) to substitute 5 fresh new players all at once. The second unit was a fast-breaking team, blocking shots and stealing the ball to create havoc, and they would blow by the other team. Later in the game, Attles would put the veterans back in to calm things down and hold the lead. Barry often played with both units. Attles was lauded as the first coach to use the concept of substituting 5 players at once to entirely change the momentum of the game.
With that second half meltdown in the Conference Finals in 1976, Attles abandoned that strategy for the first time. The following season, he rarely used it, and went to a more conventional lineup, naming Phil Smith and Gus Williams starters, and with the 5 starters getting the majority of minutes. There was still a 10-11 man rotation but the minutes of key players like George Johnson and Charles Johnson were reduced.
In the 1977 off season, Jamal Wilkes left and signed as a free agent with the Lakers, and Gus Williams left and signed as a free agent with the Sonics. They traded George Johnson for Wesley Cox, who was a bust. They added E.C. Coleman and Nate Williams and drafted Rickey Green and Ricky Marsh. They played 1978 with the 5 starters again getting the most minutes and basically a 7-8 man rotation, and gone forever was the unit substitution strategy. Charles Johnson was waived at mid-season, and signed with the Bullets, played 20 minutes a game for them, as they won the NBA Championship that year.
In the 1978 off-season, Rick Barry left and signed as a free agent with Houston, and the Warriors received John Lucas as compensation. Derrick Dickey left and signed with the Lakers, but was released. E.C. Coleman was waived and signed with the Rockets. Rickey Marsh and Wes Cox were waived. Rickey Green was traded for a future draft pick. They signed an aging JoJo White, and Tom Abernathy. They drafted Wayne Cooper, Purvis Short, Ray Epps and Ray Townsend. They proceeded to have a losing record for the next 4 years.
They had a great year, followed by an almost great year, and then three years of decline to the basement of the Pacific division. The only players who played for the Warriors for all 5 years were Clifford Ray and Phil Smith. Some of the players who left went on to have good careers, but most did not. Charles Johnson, Robert Parish, Jamal Wilkes, and Gus Williams would go on to win NBA Championships with other teams. Messing with chemistry to improve a team is always a risky gamble.
