No Subject

[Peter Delevett <pdelevett@sjbj.com>]

Enjoy this one from the ESPN ongoing series on the greatest athletes of the century. Cheers, Peter.

The funny thing
                      is, the Celtics didn't want Bob
                      Cousy. They skipped drafting him
                      and picked him up only by a blind
                      draw after Cousy's first NBA team
                      folded. Red Auerbach should be
                      happy over his dumb luck on this
                      one. Because, as SportsCentury
                      points out, Cousy and his
                      ball-handling and passing skills
                      carried the Celtics through their early
                      stages of greatness.

Bob Cousy is to the art of passing a basketball what Babe Ruth was to the skill of hitting a home run.

                      Cousy seemingly had eyes in the back of his head, and he was the first player to regularly use the
                      behind-the-back dribble as a weapon. Cooz, as he was called, revolutionized pro basketball in the
                      1950s with his sleight-of-hand tricks. By mastering no-look passes and running the fast break like a
                      magician, Cousy became the Houdini of the Hardwood.

                      "He was the ultimate creator," said former teammate
                      Tommy Heinsohn. "Let me put it in perspective -- if you
                      think Magic Johnson could pass, if you think John
                      Stockton can pass, multiply them by 10 and you have
                      Bob Cousy."

                      Unlike big men George Mikan, Bill Russell and Wilt
                      Chamberlain, Cousy did not enter the NBA with glittering
                      accolades despite being an All-American at Holy Cross.
                      His future pro coach didn't want him: Boston's Red
                      Auerbach referred to him as a "local yokel." Cousy
                      received this evaluation from a pro scout in 1950: "The
                      first time he tries that fancy Dan stuff in this league,
                      they'll cram the ball down his throat."

                      But neither Auerbach nor the scout could see what
                      Cousy, who had amazing peripheral vision, could. Couz
                      made both of them eat crow (although Auerbach was
                      delighted to eat it). All the 6-foot-1 guard did was lead the
                      league in assists for eight consecutive seasons, and when
                      he retired in 1963 no player had passed off for more
                      baskets. He was the backcourt leader whose uncanny
                      passing wizardry and clutch shooting helped the Celtics
                      win six championships. He was first-team All-NBA 10
                      consecutive times and second-team twice in his 13
                      seasons. He scored 50 points one game and had 28
                      assists in another. He was voted the league MVP.

{DAMN! GO BACK AND READ THOSE LAST THREE SENTENCES AGAIN!! - Peter)

                      Cousy was born Aug. 9, 1928 in New York City to
                      emigrants from France. French was spoken at home until
                      Cousy was 5. Cousy's father drove a cab and when his
                      son was about 12, he had saved enough money so the family could move to a cleaner neighborhood in
                      Queens.

                      One day when he was 13, Cousy hung around the hoop during recess. "I had never had a basketball
                      in my hands," he said. "Once I did, I was hooked."

                      Cousy, who didn't play varsity for Andrew Jackson High School until the second half of his junior
                      year, won the city scoring championship as a senior. Next to his picture in the 1946 Jackson yearbook
                      it reads:

                                                 "Bob Cousy, who plays a mighty fine game
                                                 "Will be among those of basketball fame."

                                                 Holy Cross won the NCAA title in 1947 when Cousy was a
                                                 freshman and he contributed as part of the Crusaders' second
                                                 platoon. After an uneven sophomore season, Cousy refined his
                                                 ball-handling skills and one-handed set shot and was ready for
                                                 prime time as junior. That year, Holy Cross trailed by a point late to
                                                 Loyola when Cousy went behind his back for the first time in a
                                                 game. The move enabled him to score the winning basket with his
                                                 left hand.

                                                 By his senior year, the flamboyant Cousy was first-team
                                                 All-American. But some didn't appreciate his flashiness. Boston had
                                                 the first pick in the 1950 NBA draft, and Auerbach selected 6-11
                      center Chuck Share of Bowling Green. After being criticized by the Boston media, Auerbach
                      responded: "We need a big man. Little men are a dime a dozen. I'm supposed to win, not go after
                      local yokels."

                      The local yokel was picked fourth in the first round, by Tri-Cities (Moline and Rock Island in Illinois
                      and Davenport, Iowa), but was soon traded to the Chicago Stags. Before the season started, the Stags
                      folded and their best players were distributed throughout the league. The names of Max Zaslofsky, a
                      scorer; Andy Phillip, a playermaker; and Cousy were put into a hat. Boston wanted Zaslofsky first,
                      Phillip second. After the Knicks drew Zaslofsky, Boston got "stuck" with Cousy when Celtics owner
                      Walter Brown drew his name.

                      In his rookie season, Cousy was ninth in the 11-team NBA in scoring with 1,078 points (15.6
                      average), and he averaged 6.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists (fourth in the league) per game. Boston
                      improved from 22-46 the season before to 39-30. Cousy jumped to third in the league in scoring
                      (21.7) and second in assists (6.7) the next season, after which he was voted first-team all-league for
                      the first time.

                      In 1952-53, Cousy began his streak of assist championships, averaging 7.7, and was fourth in
                      scoring average at 19.8. In the first round of the playoffs against the Syracuse Nats, Cousy put on a
                      show. After scoring only seven points in the first half, he scored 18 in the second. Then, in four
                      overtimes, he added another 25 points, becoming the first NBA player to score 50 in a playoff game.
                      He made 30 of 32 foul shots as the Celtics won 111-105, their first victory in a playoff series.

                      While the Celtics were good during Cousy's first six seasons, they became great in 1956-57.
                      Actually, it started at that year's draft when the Celtics used their territorial choice to select Holy
                      Cross' Heinsohn, traded for Bill Russell (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and selected K.C. Jones.

(CLEARLY THE BEST DRAFT IN CELTICS HISTORY, IMO - Peter)

                      With Cousy and Bill Sharman, the Celtics already had the game's best backcourt. Both averaged more
                      than 20 points. Russell averaged a league-high 19.6 rebounds and anchored the defense, and his outlet
                      passes to Cousy triggered the Celtics' vaunted fast break. Cousy was voted MVP as Boston had the
                      best record in the NBA at 44-28. The Celtics won their first title in a thriller, edging the St. Louis
                      Hawks 125-123 in double overtime in Game 7 of the Finals.

                      Only in 1958, when Russell sprained an ankle in the Finals, would Cousy fail to win the final game of
                      the season. From 1959 through 1963, Cousy and the Celtics were champions. (The Celtics would
                      stretch that streak to eight straight after Cousy retired).

                      Cousy set an NBA record with 28 assists against the Minneapolis Lakers in 1959. Almost four
                      decades later, only two players (Scott Skiles with 30 and Kevin Porter with 29) have produced more
                      assists in a game.

(AGAIN, FOLKS, HEARKEN BACK TO THAT SURVEY WHERE ONLY 2% OF THOSE POLLED CHOSE COUSY AS ONE OF THE GREATEST CELTICS OF ALL TIME. -- Peter)

                      In 1962-63, Cousy's last season, his scoring average dropped to a career-low 13.2, but he still
                      finished third in the league in assists. On March 17, 1963, the Celtics gave the Cooz a big retirement
                      ceremony. There wasn't a dry eye, including Cousy's, in an emotional Boston Garden.

                      "The Celtics wouldn't be here without him," Walter Brown said. "He made basketball in this town. I
                      don't know but what he made basketball period. If he had played in New York he would have been
                      the biggest thing since Babe Ruth. I think he is anyway."

                      Cousy left the Celtics as the league's fourth-highest scorer with 16,955 points (he would get another
                      five in a seven-game comeback with Cincinnati in 1969-70) and a then-record 6,949 assists.

                      After retiring as a player, he coached Boston College for six seasons, compiling a 117-38 record. He
                      quit the Eagles mostly because he didn't like the idea of recruiting. Later in 1969, the Cincinnati
                      Royals made him what he termed a "Godfather offer." "I did it for the money," Cousy said. "I was
                      made the offer I couldn't refuse."

                      He played those seven games at age 41 before retiring as a player for good. In November 1973, he
                      finally had enough as a coach, too, and stepped down from leading Kansas City-Omaha with a
                      141-209 record in four-plus seasons.

                      Cousy, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971, was commissioner of the
                      American Soccer League from 1974 to 1979, and he has been a color analyst on Celtics telecasts since
                      the 1980s. 
(YOU KNOW, I REMEMBER AN ARTICLE IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SEVERAL YEARS AGO ABOUT COUSY'S PERIPHERAL VISION. HE WAS SITTING IN AN ARMCHAIR AND CLAIMED TOP BE ABLE TO SEE, LOOKING STRAIGHT AHEAD, A LAMP THAT WAS LIKE 100 DEGREES BEHIND HIM. - Peter)