Bill Russell talking out his ass, making sure people know about his titles

[LogicMan]

go husk, save yourself, I will allow it

 

[LogicMan]

Damn, people start questioning how great St. Bill and the rest of the Celtics were given the fact that they played against guys who had to work jobs on the side because there was no money in the sport and Boston fans get all worked up.

nice deflection, carry on

 

[gohusk]

go husk, save yourself, I will allow it

You call that a response? Please elaborate. Like I said before, he's a HOF talent in any era. But let's not pretend that the league is anywhere near the level it's at now as far as talent goes. Him, Wilt, and the Big O were modern players that were ahead of their time.

 

[gohusk]

Damn, people start questioning how great St. Bill and the rest of the Celtics were given the fact that they played against guys who had to work jobs on the side because there was no money in the sport and Boston fans get all worked up.

nice deflection, carry on

Deflection? Who's deflecting? Was Ted Williams a great baseball mind in your book? Simple question.

 

[trojanfan12]

Deflection? Who's deflecting? Was Ted Williams a great baseball mind in your book? Simple question.

LM will say yes he considers Ted Williams a great baseball mind because he played for a Boston team. Boston fans think that the mere act of playing in Boston makes an athlete a great player and a great sports mind. Boston fans think Babe Ruth used to be a great baseball mind, but then he went to the Yankees.

But then again, Boston fans think that Kelly Olynyk is going to lead them to the title next year.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Bill Russell = one of the G.O.A.T.

*Definitely top 10....maybe even top 5.... imho.

 

[UK Cowboy]

I'm sorry, 11 total titles is great and all. But if we want to make predictions on how weak the NBA is today, how about we go back to Russel's playing days?

Just to play Devil's Advocate, in 1960, there were 8 teams in the NBA. While the talent level has certainly gone way up in the league, consider for a second the level of competition in the NBA if there were only 8 teams. If we did an 8 player SportsHoopla draft of current players, all the teams would be absurdly good

 

[LogicMan]

Precisely my other point UK. The league is quite watered down now, and as an example, the Heat are managing to dominate because they are going to stuff the top 4 or 5 players of one of the greatest draft years are one team.

Trajan, I enjoyed your response. Actually, Ted's mind was suspect, but he was a phenom hitting and he was one of the greatest fly fisherman of his generation.

 

[gordontrue]

The problem with the "watered-down" argument is that the talent pool has grown tremendously since the early days of the NBA.

There are hundreds of D1 basketball players that could've played in the NBA in its early days that can't even get into a training camp today.

Yes there are 22 more teams. There are also millions of kids playing bball that didn't used to, and thousands upon thousands of gifted amateur players that would give anything to play in the league.

 

[LogicMan]

Gordon, there is no question that the quality of talent is at a better level today, but once again, because of so many teams, the top talent is not concentrated and many teams never ever see the playoffs let alone a conference final. The disparity between the best and worst is amazing, and it can be manipulated as we see with the Heat by getting the top talent to concentrate.

I guess NBA popularity allows marginal teams to survive, even with suspect rosters.

 

[Sportsman]

I like to imagine Russell playing in today's league. He would never become MVP of the league if he played in today's NBA, he isn't a good enough scorer. Bill put up mediocre offensive numbers against much slower, much shorter opponents, he would struggle to score 10 ppg in this league. I don't see a player getting MVP honors, scoring 10 ppg. Plus, Russell would have a hard time keeping out of foul trouble, having to guard the various types of bigs today and all the athletic wings coming to the basket strong to dunk on his ass.

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

I like to imagine Russell playing in today's league. He would never become MVP of the league if he played in today's NBA, he isn't a good enough scorer. Bill put up mediocre offensive numbers against much slower, much shorter opponents, he would struggle to score 10 ppg in this league. I don't see a player getting MVP honors, scoring 10 ppg. Plus, Russell would have a hard time keeping out of foul trouble, having to guard the various types of bigs today and all the athletic wings coming to the basket strong to dunk on his ass.

Struggle to score 10? Really? By the way, 10 is one fewer than the number of championships I won... - Bill Russell

 

[HizzleRocker]

Bill Russell was 6'9 and 225 pounds, playing center. He would be 3rd string at best today.

 

[HizzleRocker]

Bill Russell was 6'9 and 225 pounds, playing center. He would be 3rd string at best today.

Edit 215 pounds.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Bill Russell was 6'9 and 225 pounds, playing center. He would be 3rd string at best today.

Yep, he would coming off the bench averaging 5 and 5. Not a top 100 player in my opinion.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Bill Russell = 11 rings[/B]

*Definitely top 1000....maybe even top 500.... imho.

Fify

 

[Sportsman]

Struggle to score 10? Really? By the way, 10 is one fewer than the number of championships I won... - Bill Russell

Yes, really.

 

[wildturkey]

Take a look at this topic from last year because the linked to analysis that is pretty good imo:

http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/...n/101421-fascinating-pace-adjusted-stats.html

The most relevant part:

NBA Stars of 1960s Pace Adjusted Stats | Double Dribble

Bill Russell : 12 ppg, 12 rebs, 4 blks.

He's essentially Joakim Noah. Very good player but his status has a lot more to do with what's around him than his own skill set.

 

[trojanfan12]

Take a look at this topic from last year because the linked to analysis that is pretty good imo:

http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/...n/101421-fascinating-pace-adjusted-stats.html

The most relevant part:

NBA Stars of 1960s Pace Adjusted Stats | Double Dribble

Bill Russell : 12 ppg, 12 rebs, 4 blks.

He's essentially Joakim Noah. Very good player but his status has a lot more to do with what's around him than his own skill set.

Hmm.....so adjusted to today. Bill Russell becomes Joakim Noah (nothing wrong with that) and Wilt is still the best center in the game.

Logicman is not going to be happy about that!!

 

[Sportsman]

Take a look at this topic from last year because the linked to analysis that is pretty good imo:

http://www.sportshoopla.com/forums/...n/101421-fascinating-pace-adjusted-stats.html

The most relevant part:

NBA Stars of 1960s Pace Adjusted Stats | Double Dribble

Bill Russell : 12 ppg, 12 rebs, 4 blks.

He's essentially Joakim Noah. Very good player but his status has a lot more to do with what's around him than his own skill set.

Sounds right.