Rick "the Rocket" Mount v. Iowa in 1970

[ChosenChildren]

The Big Ten Icon show about Rick Mount was on the Big Ten Network again tonight.

Known as The Rocket, watching the show brought back vivid memories of watching Rick Mount play against my beloved Hawkeyes in the Old Fieldhouse in 1970. I still think the 70 team was the greatest Iowa BB team ever assembled.

The first game against Purdue that year was played in Iowa City. Mount went off for 53 points, but Iowa won the game, 94-88. We had seats on the floor - I'll never forget how loud it was in that old building. You couldn't talk to the person seated next to you, it was that loud.

Late in the year, an undefeated Iowa team traveled to West Lafayette to play Purdue. Mount scored 61 points, but the Hawks won 108-107, to clinch a Big Ten title. Iowa went 14-0 in the Big Ten that year!!

Mount was the greatest shooter I have ever seen in basketball, but he couldn't stop the Hawks that year. Iowa played a style of basketball in 1970 very similar to the style being played now by Fran (I call it John Wooden fast break basketball). Just a great way to play the game.

Back then, if you made contact, you were called for a foul. In my opinion, a much better game then, since it promoted scoring and speed over raw physical play.

 

[ColumbusHawk]

Back then if you put your hand on the player with the ball, it was a foul. Today you see it all the time; a player out front puts his hands on the hip of the point guard & no foul is called. Likewise, a player gets the ball in the post & the defender places his hand on the small of the back of the offensive player; when I played high school & college ball that was an automatic foul.

The big difference between now & when I played, a long, long time ago, Just Before the War with the Eskimos, is the NBA concept of "of no harm, no foul" in high school & college basketball.

I just had to get that J.D. Salinger reference in there.

 

[Hawkimi]

Re:Rick "the Rocket" Mount v. Iowa in 1970I

I was 9 years old and went to that game. Was sitting in the bleachers west of the court. The game was televised, a rarity in those days I think.

 

[mbchawk]

I agree, the 1970 team was the best Hawkeye team of all time. Awesome memories!!!!

 

[papathawki]

Noise in the old field house could get unreal! The upper bleachers?? Called I don't know what, were metal and hollow underneath, and when we students all stomped on them with our feet, the noise was deafening.

 

[leiserom]

I was at that game when Mount scored 53. The noise in the fieldhouse was incredible

 

[twinlaker]

The Big Ten Icon show about Rick Mount was on the Big Ten Network again tonight.

Known as The Rocket, watching the show brought back vivid memories of watching Rick Mount play against my beloved Hawkeyes in the Old Fieldhouse in 1970. I still think the 70 team was the greatest Iowa BB team ever assembled.

The first game against Purdue that year was played in Iowa City. Mount went off for 53 points, but Iowa won the game, 94-88. We had seats on the floor - I'll never forget how loud it was in that old building. You couldn't talk to the person seated next to you, it was that loud.

Late in the year, an undefeated Iowa team traveled to West Lafayette to play Purdue. Mount scored 61 points, but the Hawks won 108-107, to clinch a Big Ten title. Iowa went 14-0 in the Big Ten that year!!

Mount was the greatest shooter I have ever seen in basketball, but he couldn't stop the Hawks that year. Iowa played a style of basketball in 1970 very similar to the style being played now by Fran (I call it John Wooden fast break basketball). Just a great way to play the game.

Back then, if you made contact, you were called for a foul. In my opinion, a much better game then, since it promoted scoring and speed over raw physical play.

Absolutely no doubt about it! That team was fantastic. Averaged over 100 points a game!

 

[ColumbusHawk]

Ralph may be a little biased, but he said the '70 team was the best passing team in the nation & that he hasn't seen a better one in college basketball.

Miller's Six-Pack or my favorite J.J. and the Dealers.

John Johnson, University of Iowa, 1993 | The Des Moines Register | DesMoinesRegister.com

Led by 'J.J.' Johnson, Iowa's slick combo came on late - 03.09.70 - SI Vault

 

[doclee]

They were absolutely the best passing basketball team I have ever seen. I had season tickets that year and yes, the field house was so loud you literally could not talk to the person next to you. Metal bleachers, stomping feet...wow. I remember going into the fieldhouse one day during the week and the team was practicing in the old "north gym." I walked right in and stood and watched practice for about 1/2 hour...nobody seemed to care that I was there. They were doing half court offense live and I was totally shocked at how fast the ball moved. I think if I had tried to catch the pass, I would have had VOIT printed on my forehead. Oh, the memories! And, yes, Fran's style is very much like Ralph's. Great fun...and, I still have season tickets.

 

[SirJamaLot]

I remember watching Jacksonville beat the 70 Hawkeyes and I was depressed for weeks,

 

[eyekwah]

I remember watching Jacksonville beat the 70 Hawkeyes and I was depressed for weeks,

I'm still depressed!

I have a photo I took of Rick Mount at the game in Iowa City. I'll scan it and try to get it posted on the web. The first trick will be to find it.

 

[ChosenChildren]

There is an interesting story about Mount before that first game in Iowa City in 1970. In pre-game warmups, Mount kept missing jump shots (very unusual). We got there early so we could watch him warm up. Mount asked the equipment manager to check the height of the rim. Apparently it was not exactly 10 feet. They adjusted the rim, and then he started making shots. And making more shots. And still more shots. I quit counting the number of consecutive shots he made. It was hilarious.

What a shooter he was.....

 

[SirJamaLot]

There is an interesting story about Mount before that first game in Iowa City in 1970. In pre-game warmups, Mount kept missing jump shots (very unusual). We got there early so we could watch him warm up. Mount asked the equipment manager to check the height of the rim. Apparently it was not exactly 10 feet. They adjusted the rim, and then he started making shots. And making more shots. And still more shots. I quit counting the number of consecutive shots he made. It was hilarious.

What a shooter he was.....

About ten years ago I traveled to Indiana for a shooting clinic, Rick Mount demonstrated how to shoot a perfect 3 point jumpshot, balance, release, ect. he was in his sixties and the first 37 never touched the rim. Then he backed up to NBA distance and made 47 consecutive 3's. No lie! He and Pete Maravich never played in college with a 3 point line!

 

[Hawknwiowa67]

I too had season tickets that year.....the games were fabulous and the field house rockin'! 14-0 and I believe it was the Iowa City newspaper's sports reporter said he'd eat his words if the Hawks went undefeated in the Big 10....which he did with a little ketchup at the end of the season surrounded by the players. The Jacksonville loss was soooo disappointing but the consolation game against Notre Dame was great with the Hawks winning 121-101. Will never forget that season!!!!!!!!!
One fantastic team for sure.........

 

[woodyk1]

Regional consolation games. Boy have times changed. Remember, Iowa playing a Final Four consolation game in 1980?

According to the link below, Mount would have had 13 three pointers in the 61 point game. Wow.

The March to Madness: Rick Mount: The Last Great Shooter

 

[ColumbusHawk]

I too had season tickets that year.....the games were fabulous and the field house rockin'! 14-0 and I believe it was the Iowa City newspaper's sports reporter said he'd eat his words if the Hawks went undefeated in the Big 10....which he did with a little ketchup at the end of the season surrounded by the players. The Jacksonville loss was soooo disappointing but the consolation game against Notre Dame was great with the Hawks winning 121-101. Will never forget that season!!!!!!!!!
One fantastic team for sure.........

Seventy-five points in the first half. Adolph Rupp said it was the greatest exhibition of basketball he'd ever seen. With the clock & three-point shot, Lick's teams had trouble scoring seventy-five points in two games.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Regional consolation games. Boy have times changed. Remember, Iowa playing a Final Four consolation game in 1980?

According to the link below, Mount would have had 13 three pointers in the 61 point game. Wow.

The March to Madness: Rick Mount: The Last Great Shooter

That was actually the LAST Final Four Consolation Gaem, too. Kind of anticlimactic for the Hawks, given Roger Berkman undercutting Ronnie in the semis...

 

[woodyk1]

That was actually the LAST Final Four Consolation Gaem, too. Kind of anticlimactic for the Hawks, given Roger Berkman undercutting Ronnie in the semis...

I used to think that the last 3rd place game was in 1980, but there was one in 1981 between Virginia and LSU before the championship game between UNC and Indiana. Both games were delayed due to the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan that day.

30 years ago this afternoon @ TigerDroppings.com

 

[Smarthawk]

Best Iowa team I ever had the pleasure of watching. Ralph would sometimes..literally.. take the air out of the ball during practice so the players wouldn't dribble and would concentrate on pure passing. I still get a sick feeling when I think about the Jacksonville game. It remains by far my lowest point in Iowa sports and it happened 42 years ago.

 

[ColumbusHawk]

Four of Iowa's top seventeen career scoring average leaders played on that team. Johnson & Brown are two & three on the list with 23.9 & 22.7 ppg, respectively. Vidnovic is 14th at 16.1 ppg & Calabria is 17th at 15.8 ppg.