Hal Greer RIP

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/hal-greer-sixers-76ers-dies-obituary-naismith-hall-of-fame-20180416.html

His '67 Sixers were one of the best of all time.

Luke Jackson was an absolute stud on that team.


In some ways Smart plays a lot like Greer did.


Watching those games from the late 60’s was a lot of fun.

beat

beat wrote:Luke Jackson was an absolute stud on that team.


In some ways Smart plays a lot like Greer did.


Watching those games from the late 60’s was a lot of fun.

beat

"In some ways Smart plays a lot like Greer did."

Shooting is not one of them.

steve3344 wrote:

beat wrote:Luke Jackson was an absolute stud on that team.


In some ways Smart plays a lot like Greer did.


Watching those games from the late 60’s was a lot of fun.

beat

"In some ways Smart plays a lot like Greer did."

Shooting is not one of them.

That’s why I said “some ways”. 

beat

beat wrote:

steve3344 wrote:

beat wrote:Luke Jackson was an absolute stud on that team.


In some ways Smart plays a lot like Greer did.


Watching those games from the late 60’s was a lot of fun.

beat

"In some ways Smart plays a lot like Greer did."

Shooting is not one of them.

That’s why I said “some ways”. 

beat

  A much better comparison would be guards Hal Greer and our Sam Jones - who went head to head from 1958-59 to 1968-69 - both were outstanding shooters in their day.
 See below link

  http://bkref.com/tiny/EDNtm 

         swish

Swish. 

Wanted to make a more current comparison.  If you didn’t see Sam play unlikely you saw Greer.

beat

beat wrote:Swish. 

Wanted to make a more current comparison.  If you didn’t see Sam play unlikely you saw Greer.

beat

beat

I understand.

swish

Did Greer defend at similar level in his era as Smart?

cowens/oldschool wrote:Did Greer defend at similar level in his era as Smart?

cowens

No one did - simply because the level of offensive play was so much inferior.

swish

He was a kicker whenever he took a jumper

Use to drive Johnny Most insane

Hal will forever be a part of Celtic lore for this reason, he threw the inbound pass when..."Havlicek stole the ball"!!!
https://youtu.be/J4fTjcJwImw

swish wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Did Greer defend at similar level in his era as Smart?

cowens

No one did - simply because the level of offensive play was so much inferior.

  swish

So if there was an all defensive team from the 60’s, would Greer make it?

cowens/oldschool wrote:

swish wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Did Greer defend at similar level in his era as Smart?

cowens

No one did - simply because the level of offensive play was so much inferior.

  swish

So if there was an all defensive team from the 60’s, would Greer make it?

cowens

I don't have a clue - All I know is that most of the defensive hype in those early years went to the BIGS - centering on the very visible rebounds and blocks - primarily by the centers. Until recently there have not been a lot of defensive stats available to help in the selection process - but that's all changed now. Here are four guards from the 60's that stick out in my memory as being special defensively - West, Havlicek, Frazier and KC Jones. When the first All Defensive team was selected in 1969 West, Havlicek and Frazier were selected - KC Jones was already retired.

swish

Swish I actually did see a little of Hal Greer at the tail end still playing with Luke Jackson and I didn’t remember him being a great defender, that’s why I was asking. I do remember Greer being a very good shooter and didn’t quite get the Smart comparison at all.

I hated Hal Greer because he always seemed to save his very best performance for games against the Cs, but he certainly was a very special NBA player.

RIP, Mr. Greer.

He uses to shoot jump shots at free throw line.  Very unorthodox but effective.

Greer was near the heart of so much early Celtic history, so many big games.  He was Philly's next leading scorer after Wilt, very consistent, very competitive, a warrior.  There were no easy championships with Wilt in the league, and Greer made sure Wilt didn't have to go it alone.

The comparison to Sam Jones seems appropriate.  Both men came into basketball right after the dawn of the jump shot and both were among the first to perfect it. They established a prototype of a shooting guard, running the lane, guarding their man closely on defense, blocking out.

Lest we forget, when Greer inbounded it, Havlicek "stole the ball" by tipping it to Sam.  What no one says is that Sam was in position to steal the ball himself if Havlicek hadn't tipped it.  Always wanted to point that out.

Lastly, it's false and objectionable to call the '67 76ers the greatest team of all time.  They beat the real greatest team, winner of 8 titles in a row, in one playoff series, that's their enduring claim to fame.  The Celtics beat them the following year and would have beat them in '67 if it hadn't been Bill Russell's first year as coach.

rickdavisakaspike wrote:Greer was near the heart of so much early Celtic history, so many big games.  He was Philly's next leading scorer after Wilt, very consistent, very competitive, a warrior.  There were no easy championships with Wilt in the league, and Greer made sure Wilt didn't have to go it alone.

The comparison to Sam Jones seems appropriate.  Both men came into basketball right after the dawn of the jump shot and both were among the first to perfect it.  They established a prototype of a shooting guard, running the lane, guarding their man closely on defense, blocking out.

Lest we forget, when Greer inbounded it, Havlicek "stole the ball" by tipping it to Sam.  What no one says is that Sam was in position to steal the ball himself if Havlicek hadn't tipped it.  Always wanted to point that out.

Lastly, it's false and objectionable to call the '67 76ers the greatest team of all time.  They beat the real greatest team, winner of 8 titles in a row, in one playoff series, that's their enduring claim to fame.  The Celtics beat them the following year and would have beat them in '67 if it hadn't been Bill Russell's first year as coach.

Rick

Celtics the greatest dynasty - very reasonable assumption. The 76ers of 1966-67 are frequently considered to be the greatest team of all time. I think that's understood to be for only a given year. There are several top 10 list on line that offer up opinions on this subject.

swish

Greer was a thorn in the Celtics backside, he saved the best for those games against them. He was a terrific shooter and the comparison to Sam is close. I would still give Sam the edge. Say what you want, but while Russell was playing as far as I am concerned there was no one better. Comparing generations is ridiculous, so many things have changed and the game itself has changed. Let's just remember a time when it seemed like no one could beat the Celtics and we lived through it. I loved every minute of it, as I do now with this team.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Greer was a thorn in the Celtics backside, he saved the best for those games against them.  He was a terrific shooter and the comparison to Sam is close. I would still give Sam the edge. Say what you want, but while Russell was playing as far as I am concerned there was no one better. Comparing generations is ridiculous, so many things have changed and the game itself has changed.  Let's just remember a time when it seemed like no one could beat the Celtics and we lived through it.  I loved every minute of it, as I do now with this team.

Rosalie

Perhaps the best and fairest way to judge the greatness of any given team is to only compare it with the teams of it's generation. Like you, I idolized those Russell teams who were for 11 of 13 years the very best. But as it now stands there are frequent discussions as to the greatest teams of ALL TIMES - which turns it in to an inter generational issue - and I do take issue with any of the Russell year Celtic teams being considered the greatest ever - and the same goes for the 1966-67 76ers. A major up grading in the quality of play has taken place since the first game of professional basketball was played in Boston 72 years ago. In fact, in just about all facets of life, the last 72 years have seen some pretty remarkable changes .

swish