The University of San Francisco basketball team is featured on the cover of this weeks January 31, 1977 Sports Illustrated magazine. In 1976 the team had a collapse at the end of the season that saw the them lose four of their last five games. One player refused to play the second half of a game and overall, the team wasn’t working well together.
In 1977 it was a completely different story for the Dons. At the time that this article was published, they were on a nineteen-game winning streak. Over the course of the year, USF had an average margin of victory that was more than nineteen points per game. The team scored an averaged of 94.6 points a game. USF went 14-0 in their conference and 29-1 on the season with their only loss against Notre Dame.
A big part of their success were three remarkable sophomore players James Hardy, Bill Cartwright and Winford Boynes.
- Hardy was selected 11th overall in the 1978 NBA draft by the New Orleans Jazz. He went on to average 5.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game over four seasons in the NBA.
- Cartwright was the third overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft. He was selected by the New York Knicks and played 16 seasons for the New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Seattle SuperSonics. Cartwright helped the Bulls capture consecutive championships in the 1991, 1992 and 1993 seasons. After his playing career was over Cartwright went on to have a long NBA coaching career.
- Boynes was the 13th selection in the 1978 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets. In two seasons from 1978 to 1980, he played 133 games for the Nets, averaging 9.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Coach Gaillard had a loose approach to training that seems to have been paying off. When he was asked about it, he said “This is not a military site.” The article goes on to confirm that USF had no curfew, didn’t review film, practice was loose, didn’t like calisthenics or running drills, had no playbooks and didn’t close the locker room for post game meetings. When asked, one of the players indicated that a good practice was a 2 ½ hour scrimmage while a bad practice was 10 minutes of drills.
Bjorn Borg vs. Jimmy Connors
Bjorn Borg went up against Jimmy Connors in the final at Boca Raton Florida. Borg had only won once against Connors when they first met in 1973, then Connors was on the winning side each of the seven matches since. This time around Borg was successful in upsetting Connors 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
When asked what the difference was this time Borg said “This time I was knowing I can beat him.” Borg’s $100,000 first prize was more than the entire amount he earned in winning his 1976 Wimbledon and WCT titles.
The 1977 Ford Granada
I don’t remember ever having the opportunity to experience the Mercedes like luxury of a Ford Granada, but I do remember similar family cars from the period. The styling was a bit blocky to me when compared to the contours of earlier vehicles.
When it comes to the interior comforts, a front bench seat is something that you don’t see much anymore. I feel like the seats in those old cars were so much more comfortable than the cars of today. They had a lot more spring to them instead of the harder foam seats used in modern vehicles.
We look forward to hearing from our readers. Please leave a comment and let us know if you remember something from this period of time.
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