Vintage NBA

bob


.

Tommy was a great player and a great coach!

I long for the days when we just ran teams off the court.

For Celtics fans that came of age when Bird showed up or when the big 3 of PP, KG and RA were put together you would be amazed at how often the Celtics used to run.

That is the reason why every single year I have talked about fast break basketball. Every year I mention this. I rarely hear any of my board members talking about this. But Sam did. He knew.

You love Brad well I do too but he is missing a fundamental aspect of how a small team needs to play in order to win. This team will never win a title unless they add a post scoring, rebounding and shot blocking big or just run teams off the court.

Golden State was # 1 for 3 years in a row and are 4th this year in fast break points.

The Celtic fast break caught the attention of the fans - but it was the Celtic defense that triggered the Celts success during the Russell years.

swish

No doubt the anchor for those great Celtics teams was their defense but at the same time their fast break was a defining element for their offense.

During the Cowens era the fast break again was front and center.  Their defense was also good but not like it was with Russell.

I would rate the 08 KG-Pierce Celtics defense better than the 80’s Bird Celtics defense and 70’s Cowens-Hondo Celtics teams. Shame they only won one championship.

cowens/oldschool wrote:I would rate the 08 KG-Pierce Celtics defense better than the 80’s Bird Celtics defense and 70’s Cowens-Hondo Celtics teams. Shame they only won one championship.

Cowens/oldschool,

Dave Cowens and John Havlicek won 2 Championships together, '74 and '76.  Shame on you.


bob


.

Geez

There is no shame here. KG was a transformative defender. The 74 and 76 teams were hard as rocks. ..and they had a killer fast break.

Let's hope the current addition lives up to all the hype.

cowens/oldschool wrote:I would rate the 08 KG-Pierce Celtics defense better than the 80’s Bird Celtics defense and 70’s Cowens-Hondo Celtics teams. Shame they only won one championship.

   You did good cowens - The 07-08 Celts were the statistical best of all the Championship Celtic teams.
     * They held their opponet to 9.3 fewer points than the league average.
     * The 65-66 Celts were 2nd at 7.7 fewer points
     * The 85-86 Celts allowed 5.5 fewer points
     * The 73-74 Celts allowed only 0.6 fewer points

   swish

That 08 champion had a plus point differential of 10.3

They only had 3 players taking 10 or more shots per game.

The Celtics of the 60's - from 1960-61 through 1968-69 were either 1st or 2nd in points allowed.

swish

swish wrote:The Celtics of the 60's - from 1960-61 through 1968-69 were either 1st or 2nd in points allowed.

  swish

Pretty amazing stretch anchored by the best ever.

dboss wrote:

swish wrote:The Celtics of the 60's - from 1960-61 through 1968-69 were either 1st or 2nd in points allowed.

  swish

Pretty amazing stretch anchored by the best ever.

No defensive awards in those days but unofficialy Sanders and k C Jones were considered as defensive stoppers and would have joined Russell on any all- league defensive teams.

swish

Bob I was talking about 08 Celtic team, it was a shame won only one championship....

Swish thanks for confirming my eye test. As much as I loved Dave Cowens, and if you saw the way he battled every night, who wouldn’t fall in love with him, KG was the best big defender ever after Russell and better than Cowens, Parish and McHale. Adding the physical load that was Perk allowing KG to roam all over the floor with the fastest pg in the league at that time, Rondo was just breathtaking to watch if you like hard nosed defense.

Great players with 2 point shooting percentages considerably above average is the name of the game now. A lot of attention has been shifted to the 3 point shot - and deservedly so because of the way that it has spread the floor, enabling the 2 point shooting percentages like the 3 pointer, to also rise considerably. Two point shooting percentages are even now topping the high percentages of the 1980's when the 2 pointer was still the choice shot. Hopefully The Celtics will join the other teams that are enjoying great success with their 2 point shooting percentages.

swish

gyso wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Bob I was talking about 08 Celtic team, it was a shame won only one championship....

Look at my post above.  I had your back.

Thanks

Say what you will about their athleticism, if our current roster hit their open shots like Tommy did here we'd be golden...




bob


.

bob



.

West, the only player to ever win Finals MVP with the losing team, with 42.  Wilt with 18 points and 22 rebounds.  Baylor with 18.

Havlicek with 24.  Sam Jones fouls out of his last game.  Nelson looks pudgy.

Celtics up 17 in the 4th quarter, but LA cuts that down to 1 with a few minutes left on torrid shooting by West and Baylor.

Lots of running, very uptempo.  Some very good shooting (West, Baylor) and some very poor shooting (Emmett Bryant).  Larry Siegfried was playing pretty good defense on West but West was unconscious.  Just about everything he threw up went in.




bob



.

Russ says he could get his eyes above the rim and could touch the top of the backboard.  How many NBA players today can do that?!





bob


.

bob



.

bob



.

bob



.