The Nuggets are the team of Denver City, and Denver City is a highland city, with an altitude of 1609 meters, many stars are not willing to play here, but in the 70s and 80s of the last century, there was a group of men who set off an offensive frenzy here, after this group of men retired, many people chose to go home to do something else, and one person also cared about the Nuggets, he changed into a suit, led the Denver boys, completed the first time in NBA history on the "Black Eight", and chased 3 consecutive game points in the second round, making the Iselford Nuggets the focus, After leading the Nuggets to such a great achievement, this man became the totem of the Denver Nuggets.
Who is this man? He is Deisel, an unknown superstar who was inducted into the Hall of Fame and retired in his jersey, and I will talk about Dan Isel below.
A thick and clumsy but very dangerous center
Isel was born in Batavia, and among children of the same age, Isel did not look like the most clever one, but the most clumsy one, and this appearance image accompanied Isel's basketball career.
Because of his excellent play in high school, Isel was hit by the coach of the University of Kentucky, Adolf Rupp, Isel also came to Kentucky, joined the Kentucky Wildcats team, when he first came, his teammates took people by appearance, looking at Isel's thick and clumsy appearance, he felt that Isel had nothing to do, and they all doubted that he knew how to play basketball, and his players treated Isel like this, which made Rupp very angry, in a game, Isel had been turning back for a long time on the court, and could not catch the ball, which made Rupp explode, he called a timeout, yelled" Listen, this boy is going to be the greatest player in the history of the University of Kentucky, and one day he's here, you're going to have him as the core for a day. The coach's outrage made these players who looked down on Isel dare not look down on Isel anymore, and began to focus on Isel, and Isel's future performance also confirmed Rupp's words.
In his senior year, Isel averaged 33.9 points and 13.2 rebounds per game, was named to the First Team of the All-American College Team, and scored 2138 points in his four years of college, the first place in the Wildcats' scoring list.
Under Rupp, Isel played a reputation, and at the same time formed his own style of play, he looked thick, clumsy, but he had his own unique rhythm, one move and one action is not fast, but every time he hit the soft ribs of defense, the bounce is not good, the height is not high, but the rebounding sense is excellent, always able to catch the board, although he is a center, but proficient in shooting, can shoot on the outside, he is generally talented, but he is patient, rarely disturbed by injuries, and his career has been absent from 24 games for 15 years. In 11 seasons in 15 years of playing, with more than 20 points, Isel's thick appearance is a dangerous soul underneath, and people who have dealt with Isel have said, "Don't be fooled by his seemingly thick looks." The words of Carl Hill, the general manager of the Nuggets at the time, reflected the danger of Isel, "Isel is like a dinosaur."
Excellent ability has made Isel's playing career very brilliant, and it is the glory of spanning 2 leagues.
ABA's leading scorer overall champion, NBA's All-Star
Isel finished college and participated in the draft, when the ABA was still there, Isel was selected by both the ABA and the NBA, but Isel finally chose the ABA, joined the Kentucky Colonel, after coming to the ABA, Isel's charismatic style conquered the ABA, and was selected as an All-Star in the rookie season. Averaged 29.9 points, 13.2 rebounds and assists per game, the second season, Isel averaged 30.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, Isel himself played a storm, but the team could not establish dominance, such days lasted for 4 seasons, to the 74-75 season, Isel made a change, began to decentralize, so that Kentucky began to gradually have dominance, they passed the playoffs, after winning 15 games, won the championship, Isel won the only championship ring of his career.
In the 76-76 season, Kentucky lost the defense of the title, while the ABA league was crumbling, Isel was sent to the Nuggets of the ABA, and then joined the NBA with the Nuggets in the 76-77 season, becoming a member of the Iselford Nuggets.
Isel played in the ABA for 5 seasons, averaging 26.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, got a best rookie, a scoring champion, 4 times selected for the best team second team, 6 times selected as an All-Star, an All-Star MVP, a championship, it can be said that Issell's ABA career is very brilliant, and when he arrived in the NBA, although he was 28 years old, his performance was still wonderful, becoming the second scorer in the history of the Nuggets.
In his first season with the Nuggets, Issel averaged 22.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, shooting 51.5 percent from the field, and the NBA welcomed Isel and selected Issel as an All-Star. In the following years, Isel did not enter the All-Star, but played steadily, maintaining an average of 20 points per game for 5 seasons, and the firepower was very durable.
Isel remains dangerous in the regular season, and in the playoffs, Isel is still powerful. In the 77-78 season, the Nuggets entered the playoffs as the second scorer on the team, but gave "Skywalker" David Thompson a lot of help, in the first round of the series, Isel averaged 22 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, helping the team to pass the test with a 4-3 score, advancing to the next round, in the second round, Isel averaged 22.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, but the team could not defeat the opponent and stop the second round. In this year's playoffs, Isel averaged 20.2 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, which was the best playoff game of Isel's NBA career from the perspective of game numbers and play.
Isel played nine seasons with the NBA Nuggets, averaging 20.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, and his strong scoring ability has put Isel in second place in the Nuggets' all-time scoring list, second only to Inglish.
In the summer of '85, Issel decided to retire and ended his career.
Lead the director of the first "Black Eight" in NBA history
In the 92-93 season, Isel took over the coaching whip and became the nuggets coach, this Nuggets is too young, the oldest player in the team is only 28 years old, and Mutombo, who was later known as "Uncle Mu", is only 26 years old this year, and the team is mostly 22 or 23-year-old boys, what does it mean to be young? It means easy to make mistakes, it means instability, but being young also has the advantage of being fearless and daring to fight.
Isel's first season in charge, the Nuggets 36 wins and 46 losses, missed the playoffs, this result is not surprising, because they still need to practice, in the 93-94 season, Isel began to build their own tactical system, the speed is very important, the Nuggets play very fast, and the important Rauf, this point guard with the nickname of "Moonlight Pistol", coupled with Mutombo's town guard inside, the Nuggets showed their fangs in the regular season, achieved a record of 42 wins and 40 losses, and successfully entered the playoffs.
After entering the playoffs, the Nuggets' young weaknesses were exposed, they came up and were confused by the First Supersonics of the West, losing two games in a row, and the format at that time was three wins in five games, the Nuggets had lost two games, half of their bodies had fallen off the cliff, and in the second post-game interview, Issell said, "Frankly, we're just here to get some playoff experience." Isel said very modestly, but he did not intend to tie hands with his players, in the third game, Isel continued to ask the team to speed up, in the bombardment, the Nuggets cut 41 points in the first quarter, each player played their own power, this multi-point blossoming Nuggets made the supersonic at a loss, in the panic, they lost 17 points, but the Nuggets situation is still dangerous, in the fourth game, the two sides directly began to fight, the score was very low, and the Supersonics led by 3 points in the end, and there were free throw opportunities, but unfortunately Kemp did not score two free throws, Subsequently, the Nuggets hit a three-point shot, the game went into overtime, and in overtime, the Nuggets played a supersonic 12-3, and won the victory with difficulty.
By now, the Nuggets have nothing to fear, before the tiebreaker began, Issell told the players, don't be nervous, the pressure is on their side, sure enough, the pressure is on the supersonic side, the supersonic opening was suppressed, although they fought back, but eventually lost, the First in the West went so disgraced, the unworthy Nuggets completed the first "black eight" in NBA history, a young coach and a group of young people staged a miracle.
Entering the second round, the young Nuggets met the Jazz led by Malone and Stockton, the Jazz gave the Nuggets three sticks in the first three innings, winning 3 innings in a row, but this time the Nuggets still did not give up lightly, they chased three consecutive innings, and dragged the series into the rush to grab the seventh, but the young Nuggets were ultimately underpaid, in the rush of seven, they lost by 10 points, and the miracle was over.
Although the miracle is over, but the Nuggets led by Isel gave the Isselvers, gave the NBA fans a big enough shock, starting from the Nuggets, the word "black eight" only appeared on the stage of the NBA, the Nuggets opened history, and this "black eight" is also the most brilliant moment of the Nuggets in the 90s, and the director of this miracle is Isel, the man who played for the Nuggets.
Unfortunately, after the miracle, the Nuggets fell into chaos, and Issel's team was greatly limited, and eventually left the coaching position for poor performance.
Write on the back
Isel dedicated half of his life to the Denver Nuggets, he brought glory to the Nuggets, he made the Nuggets a different team, he led the Nuggets to make history, Isel reshaped the Nuggets as a team, Isel's contribution to the Nuggets was too great, the Nuggets chose to retire his jersey, as a recognition, the Naismith Hall of Fame chose to include him as a tribute to Issel, Issel used half his life to write a story that can be passed down for a hundred years.