The Not So Winning Years

1971-72 Blazers team won a mere 18 games, but rookie Sidney Wicks was named NBA Rookie of the Year.

Topps came out with what has to be my favorite card set of the 70's.  The colors are bright, the players stand out, and all in all the cards look great!  Now for a brief look at this team:

• Geoff Petrie played college ball at Princeton. Petrie held the Blazer's single game scoring record of 51 until 2005.  His jersey #45 hangs in the Rip City rafters.  He has also been credited as the first NBA player to switch from Converse to Nike.  After retirement from the NBA, Petrie worked in the private sector for several years but went back to work in the Blazers offices in 1985.  He left Portland in 1994 and went to work for the Sacramento Kings as President of Basketball Operations.  He was replaced in Sacramento in June of 2013.
• Claude English played his 18 game professional career for the Blazers.  He had one start at Buffalo where he played 20 minutes.  At present he is the director of athletics at Park University in Parkville, Missouri.

• Shaler Halimon was drafted by the 76ers out of Utah State.  He joined the Blazers 4 games into their inaugural season in a trade from Chicago.  He appeared in all 79 games after coming to Portland and scored a career high 28 points versus Buffalo.  He was waived by the Blazers following the 1970-71 season.  Following basketball, Halimon worked many years as a bus driver for Tri-Met, Portland's metro transportation agency.

The 1972-73 managed to win 21 games, a slight improvement over the year before.  Topps also came out strong with another nice set, though not as nice as the year before.  The quirkiest thing about this set is that many of the depicted players are wearing their uniform's backward.

Lets talk players.

• Sidney Wicks, as mentioned before, was drafted by the Blazers as the second pick in the 1971 draft out of UCLA after the Blazers paid the Cavs $250,000 not to draft him. He had a big year being named Rookie of the year and playing in the All-Star game (see card back below).  He played for Portland until 1976, serving as an All-Star 4 of those years.  He was sold to the Celtics in 1976.  Following basketball, he served as an assistant coach for 4 years at UCLA and later went into real estate.
• Larry Steele played college ball at Kentucky under legendary coach Adolph Rupp.  He was selected by the Blazers's 37th overall in the 1971 draft. He joined the Trail Blazers at the start of the Blazers’ second season and became a roster mainstay for nine years before injuries forced him into retirement at the end of the 1979-80 season. His 610 games in a Portland uniform ranks sixth on the club’s all-time list.  His jersey was retired by the Blazers in 1981.  After retiring from pro basketball, he worked in the Blazers front office in marketing and served as a commentator with broadcaster Bill Schonely.  He was later head coach at the U. of Portland and currently runs a basketball camp in Vernonia, Oregon.

View of back of 1972-73 Topps card set:

• Ron Knight was one of the original Blazers and one of the 2 rookies in the first ever Blazer starting lineup.  Knight played his entire 2 season NBA career for Portland.
• Terry Dischinger played college ball for Purdue and won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics.  Dischinger was NBA rookie of the year in 1962-63 with the Chicago Zephyrs.  Following his third NBA season, Dischinger served 2 years service in the U.S. Army.  He returned to basketball in 1967 and played for the Blazers during the 1972-73 season before retiring from the NBA.  Dischinger is currently an orthodontist in the Portland Metro area.  

It's worth noting that not only was Dischinger an orthodontist, he was my orthodontist. :-)