Buffalo Braves Thread -all things Braves

[Chandler#81]

Great nostalgia!

 

Edited May 17, 2022 by Chandler#81

[Chandler#81]

‘nother one

 

[Bob Lamb]

The Braves were linked with Toronto in 1974 - good read here of attitudes back then (48 years ago)

https://sportsteamhistory.com/when-toronto-got-buffaloed-by-the-nba

 

 

[Chandler#81]

‘mo Braves/Celtics playoffs

 

[PromoTheRobot]

On 5/15/2022 at 6:56 AM, Chandler#81 said:

Great nostalgia!

 

 

I'm pretty sure I was at this game. Standing room above the oranges at the Aud.

[The Poojer]

Interesting that buffalo braves in a very convoluted way became the boston celtics and the celtics became the san diego clippers.  

[The Dean]

2 minutes ago, The Poojer said:

Interesting that buffalo braves in a very convoluted way became the boston celtics and the celtics became the san diego clippers.  

 

 

Yup. That's the way I've always seen it, too.

[Augie]

10 minutes ago, The Poojer said:

Interesting that buffalo braves in a very convoluted way became the boston celtics and the celtics became the san diego clippers.  

 

That was the beginning of the end for my relationship with the NBA. We split season tix to the Braves with another family and I was all on board. My sister used to babysit for Bob Kauffman and his wife and he’d play with us at the community hoop. 

 

When the Braves left I was angry and gradually lost my interest. The season is too long and they don’t give 100% on a Tuesday night in Charlotte, as noted by my young son when we treated him to a game for good behavior while traveling. I guess we were lucky that nobody was just plain sitting out that night.

 

It’s a shame because I enjoyed those Braves teams so much. Now? It’s gotten to the point where I might tune into a game in the Finals. 

[Buftex]

1 hour ago, The Poojer said:

Interesting that buffalo braves in a very convoluted way became the boston celtics and the celtics became the san diego clippers.  

The Braves were my team as a kid... the Bills and the Sabres were distant seconds.  I take a lot of grief for becoming a Celtics fan now (I hated them in the 70's), but this always gives me some comfort!

[Rico]

2 minutes ago, Buftex said:

The Braves were my team as a kid... the Bills and the Sabres were distant seconds.  I take a lot of grief for becoming a Celtics fan now (I hated them in the 70's), but this always gives me some comfort!

Hard to say who I’d rather see lose more: the team from Boston or the team from Miami.

 

GO WARRIORS!

[Chandler#81]

‘Mo Braves

 

[BADOLBILZ]

2 hours ago, Buftex said:

 I take a lot of grief for becoming a Celtics fan now (I hated them in the 70's), but this always gives me some comfort!

 

Being a front runner of the most ridiculous sort.........rooting for your former chief rival.........gives you some comfort?  

 

I have family in Boston and spent a lot of time in the area visiting as a kid..........but being a Buffalo pro sports fan and rooting for Boston pro sports teams is to be lower than a snake's belly. 

[The Poojer]

4 hours ago, Rico said:

Hard to say who I’d rather see lose more: the team from Boston or the team from Miami.

 

GO WARRIORS!

Warriors all the way for me, but I love Jimmy Buckets so I'll definitely root for them over Boston.  I also have grown a lot of respect for spoelstra as a coach.  But golden state for me now that the Sixers flamed out.... again

[K-9]

Never forgave Darrell Garretson and Mendy Rudolph for that foul call against Bob MacAdoo with no time left on the clock in a tie game that gave Jo Jo White three to make two at the line. 

[Marv's Neighbor]

I know I may not be missed, but since we lost the Braves.....What NBA??

[Chandler#81]

 

 

[Chandler#81]

 

[PromoTheRobot]

It's sad Buffalo lost the Braves but it would have been worse being the punching bag of the NBA like the Sacramento Kings, who oddly enough, used to the Rochester Royals. The NBA has become such a diva league, you can only compete for elite talent if you are in a major city or sexy location. And even if you do get someone they could decide not to even try. (Looking at you, James Harden.) I can't stand the NBA. I'd rather watch college ball.

[Buftex]

15 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

Being a front runner of the most ridiculous sort.........rooting for your former chief rival.........gives you some comfort?  

 

I have family in Boston and spent a lot of time in the area visiting as a kid..........but being a Buffalo pro sports fan and rooting for Boston pro sports teams is to be lower than a snake's belly. 

I was slightly kidding about getting some comfort there...

 

There is some context...before the Braves came along, my older brother (8 years my senior) was a huge Celtics fan.  We both loved basketball.  When the Braves came to Buffalo, my brother ditched his Celtics loyalty, in favor of the Braves.  My dad only ever really paid attention to basketball (college).  I loved the game, still do.

 

I seriously tried to be a Clippers fan, when they moved to San Diego.  They still had some Braves players that I loved.  But, living in Buffalo in the late 1970's, with the NBA an afterthought on the Buffalo sports landscape, my only way of following them was looking at box-scores, which may or may not appear in the Buffalo News, or the Courier Express, two days after the games were played.  

 

About a year later, my family got cable.  We got the Boston super station, and WOR in NY.  So, all of the sudden, I could follow the Celtics and/or the Knicks, as most of both teams games were broadcast.  My brother had already fallen back to the Celtics... and in 1979-80, the Celtics were a hell of a lot more entertaining than the Knicks.  Seeing Bob McAdoo in Celtic green (even if only briefly) didn't hurt.

 

For me, it is purely a basketball thing.  I loathe all other Boston teams...and I don't own a single piece of Celtics gear that uses the word "Boston" in the graphics.   Take them out of context of the Bird-era, they have hardly been a "front-runner" kind of team over the last 35 years.  They have had as many horrible years as good ones...and have won exactly one championship since then.  Even that was 13 years ago, now.  

Edited May 17, 2022 by Buftex

[Rico]

Random Braves thoughts from when I was a kid:

- I remember being excited when they got Dick Garrett who started for the great Willis Reed Knicks championship team in the expansion draft, but he really didn’t do anything here.
- Elmore Smith zzzzzz.

- Ernie D was beloved by everyone until they realized he was Ernie No-D, but he was fun to watch.

- Loved it when they traded for Jack Marin (great range, he could gun it) and Bob Weiss (didn’t look like a basketball player, but he got the job done).

- Walt Hazzard -> Machdi Abdul Rahman -> no all-star with the Braves.

- Jack Ramsey: always liked him, glad he won championships later with the Blazers. 

- Bob McAdoo: what a stud, likewise glad he won with the Lakers.
- Randy Smith = fastest player in the league, my fav.

 

ETA: My bad memory, Dick Garrett started on the Lakers team with Wilt, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor that lost to Willis Reed’s Knicks team DOH.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/1970.html

Edited May 17, 2022 by Rico

[ExiledInIllinois]

Showing my age... But growing up, we'd go to the games.  Sit in Oranges, where my vertigo was honed at an earlier age!

 

Free tickets... Collect the sides from Dairylea milk cartons... Trade them in for the cheap seats. 

Edited May 18, 2022 by ExiledInIllinois

[PastaJoe]

I got to see a double header at the Aud. First game was the Harlem Globetrotters vs the Washington Generals, followed by the Braves vs Bill Walton and the Portland Trail Blazers.

[Augie]

2 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Showing my age... But growing up, we'd go to the games.  Sit in Oranges, where my vertigo was honed at an earlier age!

 

Free tickets... Collect the sides from Dairylea milk cartons... Trade them in for the cheap seats. 

 

Yes, you are young. 😋

 

 

1 hour ago, PastaJoe said:

I got to see a double header at the Aud. First game was the Harlem Globetrotters vs the Washington Generals, followed by the Braves vs Bill Walton and the Portland Trail Blazers.

 

I saw the Globetrotters there, but Braves vs Bill Walton would have been AWESOME in those days. Good for you! 

[dhg]

Loved the Braves. My dad had 1/2 season tickets, center court reds, last few years. Went to a lot of games

 

Randy Smith was my guy. NBA Ironman. Pretty sure 78 All Star game MVP.  Had picture taken with him in the stands on a player picture night. Met him years later. Great guy

[BADOLBILZ]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:42 AM, Rico said:

Random Braves thoughts from when I was a kid:

- I remember being excited when they got Dick Garrett who started for the great Willis Reed Knicks championship team in the expansion draft, but he really didn’t do anything here.
- Elmore Smith zzzzzz.

- Ernie D was beloved by everyone until they realized he was Ernie No-D, but he was fun to watch.

- Loved it when they traded for Jack Marin (great range, he could gun it) and Bob Weiss (didn’t look like a basketball player, but he got the job done).

- Walt Hazzard -> Machdi Abdul Rahman -> no all-star with the Braves.

- Jack Ramsey: always liked him, glad he won championships later with the Blazers. 

- Bob McAdoo: what a stud, likewise glad he won with the Lakers.
- Randy Smith = fastest player in the league, my fav.

 

ETA: My bad memory, Dick Garrett started on the Lakers team with Wilt, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor that lost to Willis Reed’s Knicks team DOH.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/1970.html

 

 

Of all of the Buffalo sports franchises the Braves probably had the most personnel luck.    

 

To have an All Star like Randy Smith and HOF'ers McAdoo, Dantley and even Moses Malone all pass thru the organization early in their careers.........oh what coulda' been.

 

And after they became the Clippers they couldn't so anything right with regard to personnel.   

 

Maybe the best thing about the Braves leaving is we didn't have to live thru Benoit Benjamin playing in Buffalo.    He was the Leodis McKelvin of NBA big men.

 

[Rico]

33 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Of all of the Buffalo sports franchises the Braves probably had the most personnel luck.    

 

To have an All Star like Randy Smith and HOF'ers McAdoo, Dantley and even Moses Malone all pass thru the organization early in their careers.........oh what coulda' been.

 

And after they became the Clippers they couldn't so anything right with regard to personnel.   

 

Maybe the best thing about the Braves leaving is we didn't have to live thru Benoit Benjamin playing in Buffalo.    He was the Leodis McKelvin of NBA big men.

 

Moses Malone… I was actually in the Aud to witness his 2nd game & 2 of his 3 mop-up minutes before being traded away.  I was pissed they didn’t play him, and then he was gone.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/197610230BUF.html

 

Agreed, so much talent, but no one made the worst trades. McAdoo to the Knicks made me cry, $$$ and John f’n Gianelli. Dantley trade was outrageous too, after his great rookie year for Billy Knight. I just read this article, it says John Y. Brown thought they had too many ‘inside’ scorers so they traded AD and kept John Shumate & Swen Nater wtf!

 

https://medium.com/top-level-sports/adrian-dantley-couldnt-stop-scoring-slept-on-sports-ep-18-b72469fb3ddc

 

Elmore Smith for Jim McMillian was a good one though.

 

 

[The Dean]

28 minutes ago, Rico said:

Moses Malone… I was actually in the Aud to witness his 2nd game & 2 of his 3 mop-up minutes before being traded away.  I was pissed they didn’t play him, and then he was gone.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/197610230BUF.html

 

Agreed, so much talent, but no one made the worst trades. McAdoo to the Knicks made me cry, $$$ and John f’n Gianelli. Dantley trade was outrageous too, after his great rookie year for Billy Knight. I just read this article, it says John Y. Brown thought they had too many ‘inside’ scorers so they traded AD and kept John Shumate & Swen Nater wtf!

 

https://medium.com/top-level-sports/adrian-dantley-couldnt-stop-scoring-slept-on-sports-ep-18-b72469fb3ddc

 

Elmore Smith for Jim McMillian was a good one though.

 

 

 

 

Billy Knight was an incredibly smooth player.  I was a big fan.

[Rico]

12 hours ago, The Dean said:

 

 

Billy Knight was an incredibly smooth player.  I was a big fan.

I would rather have AD. 
 

I was living in Ann Arbor when the Pistons traded AD for Mark Aguirre, got pissed off all over again lol.

[The Dean]

2 minutes ago, Rico said:

I would rather have AD. 
 

I was living in Ann Arbor when the Pistons traded AD for Mark Aguirre, got pissed off all over again lol.

 

 

Duh

[Ned Flanders]

I remember going camping at Darien Lake in the early 70s, which BTW was nothing like it is today...it was mainly just a campground...but I remember Braves logos all over the place.  Did the Braves actually have their preseason training camp there?

[Another Fan]

On 5/17/2022 at 9:38 AM, PromoTheRobot said:

It's sad Buffalo lost the Braves but it would have been worse being the punching bag of the NBA like the Sacramento Kings, who oddly enough, used to the Rochester Royals. The NBA has become such a diva league, you can only compete for elite talent if you are in a major city or sexy location. And even if you do get someone they could decide not to even try. (Looking at you, James Harden.) I can't stand the NBA. I'd rather watch college ball.

I mean granted I'm pretty out of the loop when it coms to the NBA but I wouldn't say Milwaukee is the center of night life for guys in their 20s/30s.

 

The Bucks were last years champs 

 

On 5/17/2022 at 1:06 AM, Chandler#81 said:

 

 

wonder how many Knicks fans would remember Walt Frazier was a Cav? 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Another Fan

[BuffaloBill]

My uncle was a huge Braves fan.  He thought my cousin, who was like 3 or 4 at the time, to run around and cheer “McAdoo!!!” 

[Chandler#81]

Such a sad ending. I’m STILL not over it..😡

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, Another Fan said:

I mean granted I'm pretty out of the loop when it coms to the NBA but I wouldn't say Milwaukee is the center of night life for guys in their 20s/30s.

 

The Bucks were last years champs 

 

wonder how many Knicks fans would remember Walt Frazier was a Cav? 

 

The talk of the NBA now is where will Giannis play next. Anytime someone good is in a minor market, all they talk about is which elite franchise will get them.

[Chandler#81]

https://youtu.be/0dcZXg3j5W4

[Chandler#81]

https://youtu.be/2rKgqi0YceM
 

Game 5 vs Celts 

[\GoBillsInDallas/]