Lex Nihil Novi - Russell v. Chamberlain: Game 68 (Celtics Take Strangelhold on Another Banner)

Bob,

What's the significance of the numbers "games 66, 67, 68?"

This was the culmination of the Celtics' first year since 1949 without Bob Cousy. Here's what a good book titled, "Championship NBA" says about that season. Actually, it's a combination of several excerpts:

This was a different kind of Celtic team. The overriding question had been, how would they do without Cousy, even an aging Cousy? Was he really their mainspring, or was it Russell? The talents of the two Joneses were beyond dispute, but would the same cohesion and leaderhip be there?

It certainly was. Auerbach, always a keen analyst and flexible of mind, had his adaptation ready. The 1864 Celtics were superior to all previous Celtic teams defensively. In the Cousy-Sharman era, offense had been the key, with Russell bearing the brunt of defensive responsibility. Now, with the quick hands and feet and alertness of the Jones Boys and Havlicek, the Celtics played a pressing type of team defense that produced devastating results. Their defense became their offense, setting up innumerable easy scoring opportunities. Of course, Heinsohn and Sam (and, it turned out eventually, Havlicek) didn't need much room: they could score any time, under any kind of pressure. But the interceptions, the flow-reversing blocks by Russell, the stolen balls, triggered Celtic "big-inning" rallies even more than before.

I assume, Bob, that you'll be posting about the Championship Game. I hope it comes out the same way it did when I watched it in person.

Sam

More on this game.  Celts down by 10 in the second quarter; 36-point third quarter AT SAN FRANCISCO to take a 12-point lead; Warriors storm back in the fourth to cut the lead to one, whereupon Sam Jones, from under the Philly basket, throws a floor-length pass right on the money to a cutting Havlicek, who's fouled to open up the final margin.

So great to see those guys again.  I knew how the game would end, but I was still on the edge of my seat as the two teams raced back and forth, with the Celts pressing much of the time.  Tired?  Who's tired?  Wilt and Guy Rodgers shooting free throws underhanded.  Red pacing and screaming.  Largest crowd in San Francisco basketball history (up to that time).  No boring, slow-down isolations; no working the clock; just pell mell basketball the way I believe the game was meant to be.  Last few minutes of the game available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6Daeb0pi2M

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Sam

San

you say at Philly box score says San Fran?

beat

beat

You say 'San', but his name is Sam. Sorry, couldn't resist.

The Warriors went west after the Lakers made out so well in L.A. They did eventually win a championship, as I recall. Very likeable team, too, after they got rid of Wilt.

Thanks, Sam. that youtube video is great stuff. Russell neutralized Wilt with positioning. His quickness, especially going for a loose ball, was shocking. Lots of turnovers for the Celts: they definitely missed Cooz's ball control and floor generalship. Havlicek played point near the end. Ramsey was covering Thurmond. Tommy went up for a shot and passed the ball instead. The Warriors were no pushovers. Rodgers was giving Havlicek fits. Meschery, Attles and Phillips were very good. Any team with Wilt and Nate should have been dominating. The difference, as always was Number 6.

Bob,

Oh, I get it. Thanks for the explanation.

Sam

Beat,

You got me.  I'll always associate Wilt with Philly.  But he was certainly with San Francisco in 1964.  I've changed it. At least I did refer to the largest crowd in SAN FRANCISCO history toward the end of the same post. So I claim to be only half crazy.

Sam

sam wrote:Beat,

You got me.  I'll always associate Wilt with Philly.  But he was certainly with San Francisco in 1964.  I've changed it.  At least I did refer to the largest crowd in SAN FRANCISCO history toward the end of the same post.  So I claim to be only half crazy.

Sam

been planting garden most of the day so far with a couple small breaks, got to it sort of late as I had issues with the tiller. Agree re Wilt dispite a career in other places to me there will always me PHILA across that #13 jersey.

beat

Beat,

So you're planting a garden and I'm packing moving boxes. I'll trade with you.

Sam

I read somewhere (Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam?) that before the '64 season a sports writer penned an article about how the title run was dead now that Cousy had retired. Russell confronted the writer asking if he actually believed that. When the writer responded that he did, Russell said, "Pay attention son you're really going to see something this year."


Russell has said that the '64 season was his best year. Russell used Cousy's retirement to stoke to even higher levels his "neurotic need to win" (the term was Tommy Heinshon's).


Jerry West in his 1970 book cited that '64 team as the best he had seen. Like the excerpt posted by Sam, West said that the defense--particulary with KC Jones inserted as a starter--became even more devastating.

West, also in his 1970 book, listed Tom Sanders and KC Jones as the best defensive forward and guard and Russell as the best defensive player regardless of position. That team of course also had John Havlicek who went on to make every all defensive team when the NBA finally got around to having all defensive teams.

The '64 team must have been something to behold.

Sloop,

Thanks for adding the memories. Although I feel the 1962-63 team was the best of all time: nine future hall-of-famers, although one—Sanders—got in largely for reasons other than his playing ability), a great blend of offense and defense (whereas the 1963-64 team was oriented somewhat more toward defense), an ability to play practically any style and win, etc., the '63-'64 team was indeed great.

That wasn't the first season when the so-called experts began sounding the death knell for the Celtics. There were some who did it in 1961 after Bill Sharman retired. Basically, there were increasingly dire predictions for the Celtics during every season of the 60s.

Russ wasn't blowing smoke when he made that quote. I don't know of any athlete in any sport who could just plain will things to happen the way that Bill Russell could. All those Celtics teams had a feeling of invincibility and an absolute insistence of winning the big ones.

A lot of people (many on this board) feel that other teams (including the 1985-86 Celtics) were the greatest of all-time. But no other team has been so supremely dominant for such an extended period, and I feel the best measure of a team;s greatness is during the era in which they played, not across eras. The problem is that there were so many great Celtics teams in the 60s that they all divide the "votes" as to which was the greatest. (Sort of like two political candidates splitting the liberal vote in a three-horse race.) I believe that (god forbid), if the Celtics had won only one title in the 1960s, that squad (by not having to "compete" against other Celtics teams of the 60s) would have been deemed the best of all-time by acclimation.

It has long been my dream to have a Celtics party (probably in Boston, although it would depend on where—geographically—the most interest came from) in which I could show videos of old Celtics games. But, when I've floated the idea in the past, interest has been lukewarm at best. I can understand why people wouldn't want to sit around watching video for an extended period, so it's probably just an unworkable idea. So I just keep enjoying the videos myself; and, believe me, my most recent viewings are just as thrilling as the earliest ones.

And, whenever I find old Celtics footage online, I post the link for those who might enjoy it.

Sam

Sam, thanks for the youtube footage of the '64 game four.  Got a big kick out of seeing Hondo in his second year.  What was striking is that Hondo looked basically the same in '64 as he did when he retired in 1978.  That guy kept himself in fantastic condition.

Also got a kick out of the commentators using "cornermen" for "forward" (no "small" or "power" forwards then). I recall "cornermen" as a kid but haven't heard the term in decades.

The greatest Celtic team and the greatest of teams that I personally witnessed is the 85-86 team. I don't get into arguments or debates on which is the greatest of teams I did not see.

But the most emotionally gratifying titles for me were '74's number 12 (the first title I personally experienced),  '84's number 15 because the C's should have been swept and the opponent was the f**kin Lakers.  Nothing like using and abusing LA to make me smile even after all these years, and the last title because the draught was so long.  I sat there with tears in my eyes when they blew out LA by forty to clinch it.

Sloop,

Most emotional for me was '69 when virtually the entire sports world counted them out (they had finished fourth in their division) but they broke the Lakers' balloons. The final game was probably the greatest example of will and grit I've ever witnessed in sports. As they came out of the locker room to start the game and again at halftime, their faces were positively gray with determination.

Sam

That '69 seventh game is the first game I recall enjoying, probably because I saw it on a new fangled gizmo called a colored TV my dad had just bought. I was about 7 years old at the time and always watched games with my dad but I would get antsy like most small kids.

But the color!!! Now, that sustained my attention.

I recall one team had bright gold uniforms and the other had green uniform that looked drab by comparison.

Only years later did I realize I had watched title #11 and Russell's and Sam Jones's last game.

I'm ashamed to say I took Latin in college and can't remember a lick. I do know from Nihil comes words like annihilation, etc. What does Lex Nihil Novi mean?

Awesome! Thank you bh. I went to Davidson College outside of Charlotte, NC. It's motto was Alenda Lux Ubi Orta Libertas, Let learning be cherished where liberty has arisen. But that's all I've got!!

Sloop,

I saw it in color too....from about the 15th row in the L.A. Forum.

Come to think of it, I have two videos of that game (one a partial), and neither is in color. Think I got cheated?

Sam