Bored? Me too? Choose Your All Time Starting Five!

Boy swish, you might be traveling down this road alone in Boston. Points didn’t matter, the Celtics beat them, period and Russell made sure if it.  Did you originally come from Philadelphia????

The lesson from that game is that Russ limited Wilt to only 18 points. The Celts depended on Russ to stop Wilt from scoring. He did. The Lakers needed Wilt to score, not to prevent Russ from scoring. He didn't. Swish, you really know basketball and NBA history, so out of deference to you, if we ever meet up in heaven, I'll give you first pick when it comes to selecting players for the real All Stars game.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Boy swish, you might be traveling down this road alone in Boston. Points didn’t matter, the Celtics beat them, period and Russell made sure if it.  Did you originally come from Philadelphia????

Sorry to disappoint you Rosalie - but I have lived just south of Boston all my life - and been a Celtic fan since just about the year you were born. Perhaps I have mellowed a bit over the years and don't have the blind devotion to all things Celtics that I once had - in fact it is sort of a relief to be able to view things from a opposing perspective. Bottom line Rosalie - We simply disagree on this Russell issue.

swish

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
Any team without ultimate winners would be incomplete (IMO).
Therefore:
Bill Russsell
Bird
MJ

The PG spot I can't give to anyone but Magic.
The PF is a toss between Tim Dunkin and KG.

AK

Only possible weakness for this team is does it have enough 3 pt shooting? only great prolific outside shooter is Bird.

Just a Wilt vs Russ observation. Also some points for this friendly debate.

I'm with Swish on this one. BobC asked what would you pick as an all-time starting 5, and regardless of positions. I picked Wilt and Kareem as forwards, both over Russ.

Swish points out some good supporting stats. I'm less of a numbers guy (despite a long career monitoring the markets all day!) and more of an eye-test type. We all form our opinions in our own way. We can explain those opinions here or not; doesn't matter, but I often like to.

My own thinking in picking Wilt and Kareem, is that they were the top two centers I ever saw play. Never saw Russ or Wilt in person, but just on TV broadcasts. I saw both toward the end of their career, as a young fan. Beyond that I do go by stats and stories, and, as I've written here before, some of those stories were from those who were there, on the court. I tried to answer without "homerism." Home-team fan that is, not Simpson. That's probably why 4 of my 5 are Lakers. In my opinion, picking a top 5, Russ is probably 4th or 5th among centers, maybe not in the top 6 among all forwards, and somewhere around number 8 among all-time greats, regardless of position.

Where I do think Russ ranks at #1, and there is limited statistical evidence on these, is 1st as the NBA's all-time winner, and 1st as a professional athlete-ambassador to society in general. Russ is among my favorite athletes ever, and his book "Russell Rules" has been a big part of my career and day-to-day business.

So, here on a Celtic fan forum, I can give my straight-forward opinion that I wouldn't pick Russ on my top 5 team. All-around, in every way combined, however, he's still among the greatest and I'm a huge fan.

NYCelt wrote:Just a Wilt vs Russ observation. Also some points for this friendly debate.

I'm with Swish on this one. BobC asked what would you pick as an all-time starting 5, and regardless of positions. I picked Wilt and Kareem as forwards, both over Russ.

Swish points out some good supporting stats. I'm less of a numbers guy (despite a long career monitoring the markets all day!) and more of an eye-test type. We all form our opinions in our own way. We can explain those opinions here or not; doesn't matter, but I often like to.

My own thinking in picking Wilt and Kareem, is that they were the top two centers I ever saw play. Never saw Russ or Wilt in person, but just on TV broadcasts. I saw both toward the end of their career, as a young fan. Beyond that I do go by stats and stories, and, as I've written here before, some of those stories were from those who were there, on the court. I tried to answer without "homerism." Home-team fan that is, not Simpson. That's probably why 4 of my 5 are Lakers. In my opinion, picking a top 5, Russ is probably 4th or 5th among centers, maybe not in the top 6 among all forwards, and somewhere around number 8 among all-time greats, regardless of position.

Where I do think Russ ranks at #1, and there is limited statistical evidence on these, is 1st as the NBA's all-time winner, and 1st as a professional athlete-ambassador to society in general. Russ is among my favorite athletes ever, and his book "Russell Rules" has been a big part of my career and day-to-day business.

So, here on a Celtic fan forum, I can give my straight-forward opinion that I wouldn't pick Russ on my top 5 team. All-around, in every way combined, however, he's still among the greatest and I'm a huge fan.

Hey bob - who were your top 5 - I see Wilt and Kareem - The other 3 ?

swish

sinus007 wrote:Cow,
True - 3pt is a weakness for the team. But since we're looking at the last 60 years and considering that 3pt hasn't been that popular for the first 20 years (1979 on), if we average all this ( ) - this team is superb

AK

.

Right ofcourse your team is superb, I’m trying to justify my pick of Tatum over Magic on my team, I believe he brings superior scoring, shooting and defense over what Magic brings, and that his modern athletic complete game is more valuable than Magic’s.

swish wrote:

NYCelt wrote:Just a Wilt vs Russ observation. Also some points for this friendly debate.

I'm with Swish on this one. BobC asked what would you pick as an all-time starting 5, and regardless of positions. I picked Wilt and Kareem as forwards, both over Russ.

Swish points out some good supporting stats. I'm less of a numbers guy (despite a long career monitoring the markets all day!) and more of an eye-test type. We all form our opinions in our own way. We can explain those opinions here or not; doesn't matter, but I often like to.

My own thinking in picking Wilt and Kareem, is that they were the top two centers I ever saw play. Never saw Russ or Wilt in person, but just on TV broadcasts. I saw both toward the end of their career, as a young fan. Beyond that I do go by stats and stories, and, as I've written here before, some of those stories were from those who were there, on the court. I tried to answer without "homerism." Home-team fan that is, not Simpson. That's probably why 4 of my 5 are Lakers. In my opinion, picking a top 5, Russ is probably 4th or 5th among centers, maybe not in the top 6 among all forwards, and somewhere around number 8 among all-time greats, regardless of position.

Where I do think Russ ranks at #1, and there is limited statistical evidence on these, is 1st as the NBA's all-time winner, and 1st as a professional athlete-ambassador to society in general. Russ is among my favorite athletes ever, and his book "Russell Rules" has been a big part of my career and day-to-day business.

So, here on a Celtic fan forum, I can give my straight-forward opinion that I wouldn't pick Russ on my top 5 team. All-around, in every way combined, however, he's still among the greatest and I'm a huge fan.

Hey bob - who were your top 5 - I see Wilt and Kareem - The other 3 ?

 swish

Swish,

Not Bob. NYCelt.

Look for his top 5 on the first page of this thread.

C Giannis
F Lebron
F Tatum
F Kawhi
G Luka

What do you think of this team? 4 interchangeable 6’8” wings and the Greek Freak, everyone can initiate offense, create and pass

cowens/oldschool wrote:C  Giannis
F   Lebron
F   Tatum
F   Kawhi
G   Luka

What do you think of this team? 4 interchangeable 6’8” wings and the Greek Freak, everyone can initiate offense, create and pass

cowens

With all 5 players being players that are still active, your handing out high praise for the caliber of play of the present day player - a little overboard for me- but I am very high on the talent level of the present generation.

swish

gyso wrote:

swish wrote:

NYCelt wrote:Just a Wilt vs Russ observation. Also some points for this friendly debate.

I'm with Swish on this one. BobC asked what would you pick as an all-time starting 5, and regardless of positions. I picked Wilt and Kareem as forwards, both over Russ.

Swish points out some good supporting stats. I'm less of a numbers guy (despite a long career monitoring the markets all day!) and more of an eye-test type. We all form our opinions in our own way. We can explain those opinions here or not; doesn't matter, but I often like to.

My own thinking in picking Wilt and Kareem, is that they were the top two centers I ever saw play. Never saw Russ or Wilt in person, but just on TV broadcasts. I saw both toward the end of their career, as a young fan. Beyond that I do go by stats and stories, and, as I've written here before, some of those stories were from those who were there, on the court. I tried to answer without "homerism." Home-team fan that is, not Simpson. That's probably why 4 of my 5 are Lakers. In my opinion, picking a top 5, Russ is probably 4th or 5th among centers, maybe not in the top 6 among all forwards, and somewhere around number 8 among all-time greats, regardless of position.

Where I do think Russ ranks at #1, and there is limited statistical evidence on these, is 1st as the NBA's all-time winner, and 1st as a professional athlete-ambassador to society in general. Russ is among my favorite athletes ever, and his book "Russell Rules" has been a big part of my career and day-to-day business.

So, here on a Celtic fan forum, I can give my straight-forward opinion that I wouldn't pick Russ on my top 5 team. All-around, in every way combined, however, he's still among the greatest and I'm a huge fan.

Hey bob - who were your top 5 - I see Wilt and Kareem - The other 3 ?

 swish

Swish,

Not Bob.  NYCelt.

Look for his top 5 on the first page of this thread.

Thanks gyso. There goes my short term memory again - perfect timing as it confirms that as I cellebrated my 88th birthday today father time was playing games with my memory.

swish

swish wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:C  Giannis
F   Lebron
F   Tatum
F   Kawhi
G   Luka

What do you think of this team? 4 interchangeable 6’8” wings and the Greek Freak, everyone can initiate offense, create and pass

cowens

With all 5 players  being players that are still active, your handing out high praise for the caliber of play of the present day player - a little overboard for me- but I am very high on the talent level of the present generation.

 swish

.


Right I was waiting for someone to blast me on my original picks, because I have Tatum there too and I was gonna say I’m taking into account how much better he’s going to be at 24 then 25, and 26, so I’m betting my chips on his future greatness. These are the best most complete players in today’s era, don’t really have a monster board eater, but with those 4 6’8”-6’9” wings, they would hold their own and be a match up nightmare for a lot of all time teams.

cowens/oldschool wrote:C  Giannis
F   Lebron
F   Tatum
F   Kawhi
G   Luka

What do you think of this team? 4 interchangeable 6’8” wings and the Greek Freak, everyone can initiate offense, create and pass

Cow,

Good one, new parameters.

Choose Your Best Starting Five from Current Players!

C    Kristaps Porzingis
P    Pascal Siakam
F    Jason Tatum
F    Zion Williamson
G    Trae Young

Note that I only used one of your picks.  My goal was to use none of them, but I had to go with Tatum.

gyso

Happy Birthday Swish!!!

This round's on me!!!

Happy Birthday Swish

Gyso by all means, you can pick any of my players on the modern team, on the all time team everyone seems to be going with the Magic-Jordan backcourt, which has obvious merit.

Happy Birthday Swish!

If it wasn’t for Covid19 I’d treat you to lunch as I think we aren’t that far away. Perhaps when the all clear is given!