How Did K.C. Do It?

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How Did K.C. Do It? Empty How Did K.C. Do It?

Post by spikeD Sat Dec 05, 2009 11:43 am

For decades it was a West Coast legend: in the 1955 NCAA Western Regional Finals, 6'1" K.C. Jones of USF went up against 7'3" Swede Halbrook of OSU for a jump ball with seconds remaining and USF clinging to a 2 pont lead. In the time-afflicted memories of the 12,000 people who were there, all that was remembered for certain was that the referee tossed the ball in the air, it bounced around and ended up in the hands of a USF player. So, how did K.C. do it?

It was March 12, 1955 when the University of San Francisco Dons met the Oregon State University Beavers to decide which team would go to the Final Four.

Bill Russell was suffering from a heavy cold and had been ruled unfit to play at halftime of the USF-Utah game the night before. The doctor who made the decision was from the host team, Oregon State University, which was scheduled to meet the winner of the USF-Utah game. The USF coach, Phil Woolpert, found a doctor who was a USF alumnus, who gave a second opinion that Bill could play. But Bill would have to be fully examined and given medical clearance the next day.

After his examination on game day, Bill was cleared to play. But many experts, among them John Wooden, believed Bill Russell was destined to meet his match. "Russell's the greatest defensive man I've ever seen," Wooden said, "but I don't see how he can cope with Swede Halbrook. . . . I don't believe that Russell will be able to block Halbrook's shots or control him like he does smaller men."

A couple of years later, when his college career was over, Russell singled out Swede Halbrook as the toughest center he played against in college. To make the match-up even more daunting, even though he was cleared to play, Bill was still sick.

But you never would have known that by the way he played. Halbrook was tall and thin, like Bill, but he could run and jump and had skills. And, he had his team within a basket at the end. So, what happened? How did David slay Goliath?

The following is from a description of the legendary encounter on the USF web site.

"Accounts vary. Some say Jones outjumped Halbrook; some say he deflected the ball as Halbrook tipped it; some say he got away with tipping it on the way up. However it happened, the ball flew into the waiting hands of teammate Hal Perry, who doubled over and protected it until the game ended a few seconds later."

That was written before the days of youtube. If you want to know how K.C. did it, you'll just have to watch the following amazing clip of the game.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeQzpI2L7Dg&feature=related

spikeD

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Post by beat Sat Dec 05, 2009 12:25 pm

Spike

Love the tape I'd never seen it before.
Russ's foul shooting? What is up with that? The running 10-15 hook shots by both teams, goaltending allowed ect.

So how did he get the tip?

He didn't even jump.

Russ with those long arms reached over and deflected it after it was heading to a Beaver.

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Post by spikeD Sat Dec 05, 2009 12:35 pm

beat

It's an example of the stuff of legends. Until this was posted, the legend was that somehow K.C. did it.

What is truly incredible is how did Bill do it. How did he know where to position himself? He probably scouted Halbrook as well as he could have. Did he maybe know which player on the OSU team Swede liked to tip it to?

Bill and K.C. right about this time were working out their theory of the blind spot. Was Bill hiding from Halbrook in his blind spot? I see it on youtube but I don't believe it. With this tip and some of those rebounds on this tape, you get the impression Bill knew where the ball was going before it went there.

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Post by beat Sat Dec 05, 2009 12:59 pm

At first I thought Oregon had a hole there, 2 players near each other with no one between them on the circle but there was a Don player to the left of Beaver player that was to get the tip although a good couple steps away. Halbrook certainly controlled the tip but perhaps and most certainly "underestimated" the reach of Russ. Had the ball been over a foot more, who knows?

I can see what Red was drooling about when he saw Russ!

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