A Small Beginning
for a Big Dynasty
John Wooden's First Championship
Although UCLA entered the 1964 NCAA tournament undefeated and ranked Number 1 in the country, there were a lot of doubts about John Wooden's team.
In fact, not many experts thought that UCLA could win it all. Michigan and Duke, ranked second and third, were both much bigger than Wooden's under-sized squad and they were considered much more likely to win the championship.
There was no mystique about Wooden in those days. He'd been coaching at UCLA since the 1948-49 season and, although he'd produced a string of winning teams, none of them had been a real powerhouse.
The 1964-65 team didn't look like much on paper. Center Fred Slaughter was the only top recruit on the squad and, at 6-5, he probably would have played forward at most schools. But UCLA didn't have anybody taller than 6-5.
Another 6-5 starter, Keith Erickson, was generally considered better at volleyball than basketball. The other starting forward, Jack Hirsch, was only 6-3. The guards were Walt Hazzard, 6-3, and Gail Goodrich, 6-1. When Wooden pondered his lineup before the season began, he knew he would have to capitalize on speed and quickness to win games. So he decided to use the 2-2-1 zone press, a defense that had worked for him at South Bend Central High School in the 1930s.
He hadn't tried it since then, because he didn't think it would work against top college competition. But, entering the 1963-64 season, he figured it was worth a shot.
Wooden schooled his players intensively in how the zone press worked. He also whipped them into top condition, because the defense obviously requires it. The zone press is designed to wear down the opposition, but it can just as easily wear down the defenders.
Critics were skeptical, as skeptical as Wooden himself had been. The zone press often gave up easy baskets when teams were able to pass over the top. But it also produced big scoring runs for the Bruins, and those runs more than cancelled out the easy baskets.
The semi-final gave a perfect example of how it could work. Kansas State was leading UCLA, 75-70, with 7:28 left. Suddenly, the zone press clamped on. The Bruins got a fast break basket, three consecutive baskets off turnovers caused by the press, another fast break basket, and a free throw for 11 unanswered points in less than three minutes. They won, 90-84, to advance to the championship game.
Duke had knocked off Michigan, 91-80, in the other semi-final. The Blue Devils had two 6-foot-10 players, Jay Buckley and Hank Tison, towering over Wooden's two tallest men.
In the early going, Duke consistently beat the press with over-the-top passes. Only Goodrich's hot hand from outside kept UCLA in the game. With 7:14 left in the first half, the Blue Devils had a 30-27 lead.
Then the press began to click, as it had against Kansas State. Duke's big men suddenly looked worn out and clumsy against Wooden's small, fast, and well-conditioned players. Turnover followed turnover as the Bruins scored 16 consecutive points in just over 2 1/2 minutes to go ahead, 43-30. They ended up winning, 98-83.
Nobody saw it coming, of course, but 20-20 hindsight makes it obvious that Wooden's 1963-64 team was more than the beginning of a dynasty. It was the very foundation of that dynasty.
Just like that, UCLA was a national basketball power. Recruiting became much easier. The most recruited high school player in history, Lew Alcindor (a.k.a. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) decided to come all the way from New York to play in Westwood. He was followed by Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, Henry Bibby, Bill Walton, Dave Meyers and Richard Washington, as Wooden's teams won 10 NCAA championships in a 12-year stretch.
And the zone press that started it all because of that undersized 1963-64 squad was an integral part of all those championships.