Bucks in a Breeze

The Milwaukee Bucks have a problem: they just may be too good for their own good. Last week the Bucks won what could easily be the first of a string of National Basketball Association titles. Like the old New York Yankees, they so humbled their opposition that they robbed the championship of much of its interest. With 7-ft. 2-in. Buck Center Lew Alcindor dominating the last game like a keyhole colossus, Milwaukee beat the Baltimore Bullets 118-106 to sweep the finals in four straight games. It was one of the most lopsided final play-offs in N.B.A. record books.

For all practical purposes, the outcome was decided two weeks ago in the second round, when the charged-up Bullets, led by Guard Earl ("the Pearl") Monroe and Center Wes Unseld, upset the New York Knicks in seven hard-fought games. The defense-minded Knicks, who had beaten the Bucks four out of five games during the regular season, seemed to be the team with the best chance of taking Milwaukee. But with Knick Center Willis Reed hobbled by injuries, the Bullets managed to win that round--although just barely. Going against the Bucks, a team that had defeated them four out of five games in the season, once by the embarrassing margin of 52 points, the Bullets looked like the walking wounded. No fewer than three of their starters--Gus Johnson, Kevin Loughery and Monroe--were ailing. The young Bucks, on the other hand, were not even breathing heavily after demolishing the San Francisco Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers in two quick five-game series. About the most optimistic that Bullet Coach Gene Shue got was in his report on the injured Johnson: "He's walking real well."

The games seemed to crawl. Before the final, Costello summed up the play by saying: "It's strange. We've beaten them three times and haven't played a good game yet." The final was so one-sided that it looked like the varsity scrimmaging the jayvees. The results of the key match-ups--Robertson v. Monroe, Alcindor v. Unseld--told the story. In the series, the Big O outscored the Pearl 94 to 65, while Lew topped Wes 108 to 60. Forward Jack Marin, the Bullets' highest scorer in the series, said of Alcindor: "Every time you make a move to the hoop, you run right into that giant oak tree. You just can't make any penetration, and you can't beat anybody by taking 20-footers all night." After the game, one Baltimore fan offered a solution similar to that so often proposed by the Yankee-haters of old: "Those Bucks oughta be disbanded."

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