Kingdom on Fire by Scott Howard-Cooper

Author:Scott Howard-Cooper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 2024-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

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What would have been an impressive 8-0 start for any UCLA team held special significance for the young team handling the transition to varsity life with ease amid national expectations and while second only to the Dodgers in fan interest among Los Angeles teams. Even in the regular season of a record 33-game winning streak, the Lakers without a championship since arriving from Minneapolis in 1960 “had very few fans, and when they showed up for the game, they were rooting for the other team,” Jerry West said. “We were trying to make our own way. We were like explorers, to be honest, in the town.” “They far overshadowed us and they overshadowed a lot of professional teams because of their excellence,” West said, to the point that the Lakers even with a roster with greats West and Elgin Baylor felt like the little brother in L.A. hoops.

The boisterous support that carried from the Alcindor era to the Wicks-Rowe-Bibby generation gained a fresh level of excitement with Walton, who was a lit sparkler on the court. Not merely an injection of emotions that would have been trigger enough, he gave the fast break Wooden demanded and fans loved a dimension never seen before as a center who got a rebound and whipped the first long throw. The dual act of controlling the loose ball and firing the pass would sometimes come before he even touched the ground. Demoralizing opponents with blocked shots had a similar effect on crowds as Walton needed less than half a season to become one of the best Bruin defenders ever at any position, and maybe already ahead of senior Lew Alcindor among big men. Customers thirsting for blood became such a factor that visiting coaches began game-planning for the crowd, not just the team, and opting to go minutes at a time without taking a shot to dull the ravenous Pauley faithful into boredom. At home, players noted, their same overmatched roster might be given different instructions.

“When we were up by twenty points, we kept pouring it on,” backup center Swen Nater wrote. “When we were down by ten points, we raised our game and made the comeback to win. Nothing could rattle us, no fan, score or official. Nothing could cause us to think it was hopeless or in the bag. We were tough, as tough as nails.” Players might have decided Wooden was a lost cause as a square, but, Nater continued, “UCLA players were mentally tough because our coach was. Nothing rattled John Wooden. Nothing affected his concentration. He was a tough son of a gun.”

Going on the road after eight home contests and five weeks of schedule became an important test, even without, again, the curiosity factor to match that of varsity rookie Alcindor in Pullman. The sophomores of 1971–72 heading to Oregon the first week of January, Corvallis on Friday and Eugene on Saturday in typical back-to-back conference scheduling, would also get the introduction to away-game John Wooden, a bigger threat than most opponents.

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