Had 28 points against Jacksonville who had Artis Gilmore and Pembrook Burrows both over 7’ tall.
Dan ISSEL…just how good was he?
- Thread starter Gromcat
- Start date
My Dan Issel story……..
Kentucky Colonels playing an exhibition game at the Owensboro Sportscenter…….. probably 73 or 74.
I was in HS, a basketball player so me and a teammate went to check it out, we had never seen pro ( or college players) up close and personal before. Quite a treat. We sat on the edge of the stage at the Sportscenter, so we were really close.
Issel steals a pass at mid court and is uncontested, coming right at us.
His coach, Babe McCarthy, leaps up and yells “Lay it in, lay it in!”
Dan executes a monstrous slam jam, rock your mama dunk, with extreme prejudice.
Of course, I had not seen anything like that in person before. I had lost my virginity, right there.
I noticed Coach McCarthy sat down without saying another word and Dan stayed in the game.
I remember thinking “Hmmmm, so that’s the way it is in the pros.” Learning experience right there.
Also, they had some local HS cheerleaders there and with Dan Issel and Artis Gilmore on the low block during a Ft attempt, they were chanting, “Rebound, rebound”
My buddy and I found humor in that saying, “Yeah, I think they might get it if he misses”
Kentucky Colonels playing an exhibition game at the Owensboro Sportscenter…….. probably 73 or 74.
I was in HS, a basketball player so me and a teammate went to check it out, we had never seen pro ( or college players) up close and personal before. Quite a treat. We sat on the edge of the stage at the Sportscenter, so we were really close.
Issel steals a pass at mid court and is uncontested, coming right at us.
His coach, Babe McCarthy, leaps up and yells “Lay it in, lay it in!”
Dan executes a monstrous slam jam, rock your mama dunk, with extreme prejudice.
Of course, I had not seen anything like that in person before. I had lost my virginity, right there.
I noticed Coach McCarthy sat down without saying another word and Dan stayed in the game.
I remember thinking “Hmmmm, so that’s the way it is in the pros.” Learning experience right there.
Also, they had some local HS cheerleaders there and with Dan Issel and Artis Gilmore on the low block during a Ft attempt, they were chanting, “Rebound, rebound”
My buddy and I found humor in that saying, “Yeah, I think they might get it if he misses”
I'd say... in short - GOAT at Kentucky.
Nuff' said?
Nuff' said?
Awesome picture!! Those 2 together with the Colonels were almost unstoppable..I can remember when the Kentucky Wildcats played the Jacksonville University Dolphins in 19 70.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 14 (AP)—Jacksonville continued its climb in major college basket ball today, upsetting Kentucky, 106‐100, in the National Colle giate Mideast regional final.
Rex Morgan scored 28 points and 7‐foot‐2‐inch Artis Gilmore made 24 points and seized 20 rebounds to spark the Dolphins into the N.C.A.A. semifinals next week against St. Bonaven ture at College Park, Md.
Top‐ranked Kentucky, suffer ing only its second loss against 26 triumphs, played the last 10 minutes without its all‐Ameri can, Dan Issel. The 6–8 Wild cat star fouled out after he had 28 points and 10 rebounds.
Just think Issel was only able to play 3 years at
Uk. Fresmen were intelligible at the time.
50 years later he is still the leading scorer in
School history. With one and done so
prevalent nowadays. That record might never be broken. He wasn't the most athletic
But man he could shoot the ball and just
knew how to score. He played at about the time I started following UK basketball
He had a hell of a career in the ABA and continued that in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets.
GBB
As a senior he averaged 33.9 points per game leading the team to the Elite 8. AVERAGED. Then proceeded to score over 27,000 points in the ABA/NBA with over 11,000 rebounds and 2900 assists. The man was an outstanding player and outstanding ambassador for UK.
I do remember him in the pros. He was a below the basket, slow, average heighted basketball player. But he was one hell of a basketball player. He was just gifted around the basket. He was VERY strong, aggressive and had a very high basketball IQ.
That slow below the basket, 6'9" guy had such amazing skills that he played 15 years in the ABA and NBA. He was among the elite who ever played in the ABA, a top 10 guy. Over those 15 years that saw a transition to high flying basketball, Issel managed lifetime stats of 22.6pts, 9.1reb, 2.4asst and 1 steal per game.
He scored a total of 27482 points with 11133 rebounds, 2907 assists and 943 steals. MJ was a rookie in Issel's final year, Dr. J played against him for a long time. Issel ranks 12th in most points ABA/NBA ever. He is ranked 31st in most rebounds in ABA/NBA history.
He was a frigging beast.
Saw Dan play. He would have no problem fitting into today's game and would likely thrive in it. He was like a poor man's Larry Bird as mentioned above. He had a high basketball IQ, was tough as nails, a great shooter who would have benefitted from the 3 point line, great rebounder, great work ethic, etc. He wasn't called the Horse for nothing. Love to have him on the team in the current era.
He was actually a very poor 3pt shooter in the pros, 20% for his career, 25% in the NBA.
Different distance from college. Still believe he would have been fine.
I recently sold my collection of UK basketball cards on Ebay. $$$$$$
The game at Memorial Coliseum on January 24, 1970 was one of my all time favorite regular season games to see in person. Maravich was the most entertaining player I have ever seen. He would score 50 and you walk away talking about his passing skills. He was a magician.
Rupp said let Maravich get his 50 and hold the rest of the team down. Issel was outstanding that game and he had plenty of help.
A month later Maravich goes for 64 and Issel 51. Loved it. No stall ball when those two teams played.
Feel free to make any donations as you see fit. Consider my children as your descendants.
Or run by me anything you want to let go of before it hits the block.
I remember when the can't miss game back in those days was KY vs LSU (Issel vs Maravich). Issel would get his 40p and 15r, Maravich 50 or 60. It seemed like neither could miss a shot. Maravich was a magician with the ball you couldn't take your eyes off of him he would do something on every single play that you would say wow. Those were some fun games to watch and we usually won, Issel and KY always had the better supporting cast.
Most disappointing UK loss of my lifetime. Issel was and still is my favorite UK player and it's not close. A great player who'd still be just as relevant today as he was then.
Honestly, if you’re going to will Rupp’s game used brown suit to my kids, it’s probably best I go ahead and hold on to that and ensure quality control, climate control, secure placement etc.
Saw him at every level. Best ever at UK. IN the pros.?? But Kareem said he was the toughest for him to guard. Best of the best.
I watched him he had a great up and under move and as Adolph Rupp said about him "he doesn't jump very high but he always comes down with the ball" he didn't get nicknamed the horse for nothing...remember him playing his last game against Jacksonville and their two 7 footers Artis Gilmore and Pembrook Burroughs he kept UK in the game till fouling out.
The first 2 UK games I got to see were …….Western Ky and Jacksonville. Not a great start, lol .
I was at that game. Issel was fouled out on an offensive foul at about midcourt.I can remember when the Kentucky Wildcats played the Jacksonville University Dolphins in 19 70.
COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 14 (AP)—Jacksonville continued its climb in major college basket ball today, upsetting Kentucky, 106‐100, in the National Colle giate Mideast regional final.
Rex Morgan scored 28 points and 7‐foot‐2‐inch Artis Gilmore made 24 points and seized 20 rebounds to spark the Dolphins into the N.C.A.A. semifinals next week against St. Bonaven ture at College Park, Md.
Top‐ranked Kentucky, suffer ing only its second loss against 26 triumphs, played the last 10 minutes without its all‐Ameri can, Dan Issel. The 6–8 Wild cat star fouled out after he had 28 points and 10 rebounds.
Dan was/is the best basketball player I have ever seen in a UK uniform!!! Mike casey was the best on his freshman team, but from Soph forward Dan got better almost every game.
They played Pistol Pete 6 times and Pete was phenominal every game , but Dan's team never lost to Pete.
Again, Dan was the BEST!
I was blessed to see Dan Issel play multiple times in Lexington in the best college basketball venue ever, and, on television several times, including the second nationally televised regular season college basketball game in Baton Rouge vs Maravich their senior year. I am sure many of you have seen the second half video of that game without sound online. If you haven't you should take time to do that.
I have played and watched a lot of basketball in my nearly 70 years. #44 was a great player. He was very good when he came to UK but through great COACHING, being blessed with really good players around him, and a desire to be great (which you don't often see today) and worked so hard at it, he became one of the best of all time.
You can look at Jon Scott's website and look at the numbers. What he accomplished in three years of varsity basketball was beyond impressive. Unlike many of the players of today, while he missed an occasional free throw, when he went to the line, you expected "money." When he went up for that jumper from anywhere on the court, you expected "money." When a teammate took a shot, you expected #44 to crash the offensive board. He was special.
While he made great progress from his Freshman year to Senior Year, he took it to another level his senior year, partially because of work ethic, but I have always thought because of Mike Casey's tragic and NCAA Championship ending automobile accident in the summer prior to his senior year. He knew, and Mike Pratt knew, they really needed to step it up with Case being out for the season. If you were around at that time and you saw those teams play, it was Mike Casey who was the best of the three. Look at the stats. That tragic accident elevated Issel and Pratt to beyond what they would have been stats wise and really, playing wise. Side note: We found out that year just how great Mike Casey was. We also found out just how good Terry Mills, Jimmy Dinwiddie, Stan Key, and Kent Hollenbeck were...they were really good...but Casey was really really good.
We have found as UK basketball fans...I have been with them since Cotton Nash...that we have had a lot of great players, some of the best to ever play the college game. We have found it very difficult to come up with a list of the best 5 or even 10 because it is so hard to compare from decade to decade. The one person that can't be left off that list no matter how you devise it, is Dan Issel, The Horse, as Cawood called him. He was the player and he loves the University of Kentucky and its basketball program...that latter gives him bonus points as far as I am concerned.
I have played and watched a lot of basketball in my nearly 70 years. #44 was a great player. He was very good when he came to UK but through great COACHING, being blessed with really good players around him, and a desire to be great (which you don't often see today) and worked so hard at it, he became one of the best of all time.
You can look at Jon Scott's website and look at the numbers. What he accomplished in three years of varsity basketball was beyond impressive. Unlike many of the players of today, while he missed an occasional free throw, when he went to the line, you expected "money." When he went up for that jumper from anywhere on the court, you expected "money." When a teammate took a shot, you expected #44 to crash the offensive board. He was special.
While he made great progress from his Freshman year to Senior Year, he took it to another level his senior year, partially because of work ethic, but I have always thought because of Mike Casey's tragic and NCAA Championship ending automobile accident in the summer prior to his senior year. He knew, and Mike Pratt knew, they really needed to step it up with Case being out for the season. If you were around at that time and you saw those teams play, it was Mike Casey who was the best of the three. Look at the stats. That tragic accident elevated Issel and Pratt to beyond what they would have been stats wise and really, playing wise. Side note: We found out that year just how great Mike Casey was. We also found out just how good Terry Mills, Jimmy Dinwiddie, Stan Key, and Kent Hollenbeck were...they were really good...but Casey was really really good.
We have found as UK basketball fans...I have been with them since Cotton Nash...that we have had a lot of great players, some of the best to ever play the college game. We have found it very difficult to come up with a list of the best 5 or even 10 because it is so hard to compare from decade to decade. The one person that can't be left off that list no matter how you devise it, is Dan Issel, The Horse, as Cawood called him. He was the player and he loves the University of Kentucky and its basketball program...that latter gives him bonus points as far as I am concerned.
He stacked up against guys like Maravich, Dr. J, Magic Johnson, Kareem, Larry Bird, Moses Malone, Bill Walton, etc. I have to think in his prime he could have held his own. Dude was tough as nails.
He would have taken Boogie and Townes and all of Cal's big guys and not so big guys to school.
That was a cheap ass call too. Everyone was running down the court and the guy just stopped at mid court and dan hit him and he fouled out. Maybe that was the beginning of the flop?
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