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Re: Wilt & Russ
The sad passing of the Stilt had me wondering last night about the great
Philadelphia Warriors team and how well they matched up with the vintage
old Russell-led C's.
Wilt Russell
Luke Jackson Heinsohn
Billy Cunningham Howell (?)
Hal Greer Sam
Wally Jones K.C.
That Philly team was within an eyelash of defeating our boys on several
occasions. I think they were one of the most under-rated teams of all-time.
Luke Jackson was one of the STRONGEST players ever.
Cecil
----- Original Message -----
From: peter delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com>
To: Celtics <Celtics@igtc.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 1999 7:28 PM
Subject: Wilt & Russ
> >From today's San Jose Mercury News. (Chamberlain's death has been big
news in
> the Bay Area, in part because he played here.)
>
> Wilt vs. Russell -- classic clashes
>
> Man against team: Chamberlain had the
numbers,
> Celtics the titles.
> Mercury News Staff and Wire Reports
>
> When Bob Cousy would dribble into the lane
> against Wilt Chamberlain, he wouldn't
> imagine taking a shot. He would just hope to
get
> a pass around this guy he still thinks of
> as ``humongous.''
>
> ``I don't know what height they listed him
at;
> it should have been 7-4,'' Cousy said
> Tuesday. ``To me, he looked like 7-8. The
image
> he would project to the guards
> penetrating was frightening.''
>
> Of course, Cousy, the great point guard for
> those Boston Celtics championship teams of
> the 1960s, had a front-row seat for one of
the
> classic rivalries in sports: Wilt
> Chamberlain against Bill Russell.
>
> That matchup, and the way it was marketed
and
> promoted, brought more attention and
> exposure to the league than any in NBA
history,
> Cousy said. Not even the rivalry
> between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson two
decades
> later compared.
>
> ``I don't think I'm reaching,'' Cousy said.
>
> Russell's Celtics teams beat Chamberlain's
teams
> twice in the championship series and
> five times in the conference finals. Three
> times, a series was decided by a seventh game
> that Boston won by either one or two points.
>
> ``As a youngster growing up in Massachusetts
I
> was a Celtics fan, and I remember those
> epic battles between Russell and Wilt,''
> Warriors General Manager Garry St. Jean said.
> ``He was so talented, and such a great
athlete
> and had such a flair about him.
>
> ``It really was like these two giants, each
with
> their separate styles. Wilt with the great
> individual talent with the great numbers,
but
> yet, Russ somehow was the fulcrum to the
> wheel to the Celtics that allowed them to
win.
> He didn't have those big numbers, but yet
> the end result was at the end Russ won. And
the
> debate was, if you switched them on
> different teams would Wilt have won all of
> these? And that's where you get into the
> psyche of Bill Russell and the way he
approached
> the game.
>
> ``What I thought was tremendous was the
respect
> each had for each other's game. Russ
> would have Wilt over to his house for
> Thanksgiving, take a nap on one or the other's
> beds, depending on whether they were in
Boston
> or Philadelphia. And Russ used to say,
> `I gave him a big turkey dinner and then
he'd go
> out and score 50 on me.' ''
>
> But the rivalry extended off the court.
There
> was the time Chamberlain demanded a raise
> from the Warriors to $100,000 per season so
that
> he could be paid more than Russell,
> only to find out later that Russell's deal
with
> the Celtics called for him to make one dollar
> more.
>
> Another Celtics Hall of Famer, Tom Heinsohn,
> thought that Celtics-Chamberlain rivalry
> was the single best example of the sports
axiom
> that it takes a team to beat an individual.
>
> Wilt's statistics were overwhelming, of
course.
> He scored 100 points against the Knicks
> in 1962 in Hershey, Pa. He had 55 rebounds
in
> another game. He averaged 50.4 points
> in one season, and led the league in assists
in
> another. And he never fouled out of a
> game.
>
> ``I don't think if Wilt said, `I'm going to
be
> like Russell and block shots and play
> defense,' I don't think it would have made
the
> difference on those early teams he played
> on,'' said former teammate Bill Melchionni.
>
> ``Wilt always had the ego thing going with
Russ
> right to the end,'' Cousy said. ``Neither
> one neutralized the other, but I think Russ
> forced Wilt to be adaptable. Everyone else in
> the league, he'd literally overpower. He'd
throw
> it up and go chase it. I think that's how
> Wilt developed that little fadeaway shot
that
> became his staple.''
>
> Of course, the Celtics had to deal with
> Chamberlain. When he arrived in the league in
> 1959, after playing at Kansas and a year
with
> the Harlem Globetrotters, ``his first game,
> he dominated Russell,'' said Heinsohn.
>
> ``I think he scored, like, 53 points. I
said,
> `We're never going to win another title.' But
> after that, we had to find ways to beat
Wilt.''
>
> The last time Heinsohn saw Chamberlain was
in
> late May when he flew into Boston for a
> ceremony re-retiring Russell's number.
Heinsohn
> said he ended up going out with
> Chamberlain after the event. They were out
late
> telling war stories.
>
> In the end, Heinsohn said, Russell had more
> championships, but ``it's amazing, the
> happier person ended up being Wilt. Russell
had
> his own demons to exorcise.''
>
>
> Mercury News Staff Writer Jesse Barkin
> contributed to this report.
>
- References:
- Wilt & Russ
- From: peter delevett <pdelevett@amcity.com>