Re: Russel

[KK <Kestutis.Kveraga@Dartmouth.EDU>]

"R. Bentz Kirby" wrote:
> Ya know, Russell did have to guard Chamberlain.  Not much different.  In
> fact, I'd like to see Shaq try to play if they called him for charging,
> walking, 3 seconds and other offences that are routinely ignored.

One of the more interesting facts about Wilt is that he never fouled out of
a game. Given the astounding amount of games and minutes he played, could he
accomplish it without a little help from the officials? You be the judge.
> 
> As for Cousy, who knows what kind of player he would be if he came up
> today with weight training, basketball camps, etc.  He would still have
> great vision, cross over, ball handling, etc.  And somethings can't be
> taught.  The intangibles he had and would still have.
>

Don't get me wrong: I'm NOT claiming that Russell, Cousy, Chamberlain et al.
were not great players - they were.  All I'm saying is, the game has become
much more physical, athletic, and defensively oriented, and the greats of
yesteryear would not dominating today's players to the extent they were
dominating their peers. As awesome as Wilt the Stilt was, I doubt he'd be
able/allowed to average 50 ppg and 30+ rpg were he to magically reappear in
today's NBA in his prime. How many 7-foot athletic centers were in the NBA
in his day? Unseld, Reed, and Russell were all under 6-10, and Alcindor came
along only at the end of Wilt's career. Nowadays we have many guards who are
6-7 and up. 

> I remember reading an article where Russell was talking about he and
> some of the Celtics going out on the court, finding all their blind
> spots in their vision, 

That's interesting. They must've been looking for a long time, since people
with normal vision have only one blind spot per eye - the so-called optic
disk where nerve fibers exit the retina. However, you can only find it when
one eye is closed, since, when both eyes are open, our visual system "fills
in" for the blind spots and we in effect don't have any. If you want
details, write me off-list. 
 
> finding all the funny spots on the floor and
> working on covering each other on defense and knowing where the other
> was on offense.
> 
> Bird spent hours by himself working on those aspects of his game.  

Part of it is true, and part is myth that Bird himself liked to maintain,
perhaps for gaining that competitive edge. For example, I remember reading
in one of the books about him that he'd tell everyone he's going to run 6
miles every day in the offseason. He might do it the first few days, then
give it up, but would claim he did it nonetheless. 


> Can
> you imagine Toine in Boston doing that with Pierce etc, so that they
> could play better team offense and defense.  It ain't gonna happen.

Why not? I see many players improve from year-to-year, and I don't know why
Walker and Pierce would be any exception.  Once they get older and realize
what needs to be done to win in the NBA, watch out! (if Ricky doesn't break
them up before then). The best example of this is the Blazers: weren't quite
a few of these players written off as talented misfits, loose cannons, and
selfish jerks? If J.R. Rider can grow up and improve his game to the point
where he's one of the best at his position, Antoine and Pierce can do
likewise.