Bill Russell, Shot-blocker

Just read another book that claims that Bill Russell used to deliberately block shots softly, so that they wouldn't go out of bounds, and therefore Bob Cousy could pick up the loose ball and start a fast break.


Does anyone know how this came to be regarded as fact? I assume one of the Celtics, perhaps Russell himself, made the claim at one time.


It seems absurd to me. First that you could regularly choose how hard and to what position on the court you would block a shot. And second, why keep the ball in play at your opponent's end of the court? Isn't it more likely they would score with a loose ball than the team that has to go all the way down to the other end of the court?

What's more demoralizing than blocking a shot, having it luckily come to someone standing around near the basket and having him scoring. Better, if you can, to knock it out of bounds, as Mr.Divac found out, courtsey of Mr. Horry, the other night.

Andy,


Russell, certainly, was never above self-aggrandizement, but if you watch footage, you'll see that he often controlled the ball himself after blocking the shot, rather than deflect the ball to a teammate. The reasoning seems clear: why block the shot out of bounds and hand the ball back to the opponent?


I remember seeing Russell in the playoffs make a simply great block: Hal Greer from the the great 76'ers team catches the ball at midcourt, and Russell, starting from the foul line, catches him from behind to block the shot. Greer, by the way, was no slouch.


John

Only us old folks care about Russell and Greer. You're right about Greer, I think he made the 50 Greatest Players of All Time team, and deservedly so. I remember once the 76ers were playing the Knicks and I saw, outside old Madison Square Garden, Mr. Greer. He was a giant! I think he was, maybe 6'1", which was a tall man in those days (probably 1962 or 1963 or is that too far back?), but on the court he looked tiny, always the smallest guy on the court. Made me realize how tall those guys were even in those days.


I still can't believe Russell "often" did what you say. I'm sure all the great centers had times where they were able to control the block to themselves or even a teammate. But this still strikes me as a few examples blown up into something more than it was.

if you think about it, many records and plays that occured in the past, are considered to be far greater then they actually were... so to say that russell did this on a consistent basis is an obvious case and the questions you raised are very good ones... also, that willie mays catch over his head that we've all seen a million times doesn't come close to jim edmonds reverse dive catch he made a few years back... just goes to show...

Andy,


Russell put "team" first, second, and third. He did the little things to help the Celts win, and from all the footage I've seen this was one of them. Showing up an opponent by blocking the ball into the grandstands just wasn't his style. That doesn't mean he could control every block, but every block where he could control it he would try and usually did. Many of today's players would rather look intimidating on a highlight reel then make a soft block that puts the ball in a teammates hands.


Regards,


Rick


PS I did get to see Russell once at the Boston Garden near the end of his career. Our seats were in a far corner under an overhang and we had to bend over to see the downcourt basket! Of course I've been behind a pillar at Fenway too. Someday maybe I'll have connections for good seats but it looks like it will be in another lifetime ;-).

go to huntington west va, john cole, and you can drive down hal greer blvd. bill russell did quite often not only block the shot , but deflect it to himself or a teamate to start the famed celtic fast break...greer, wali jones..chet walker..luke jackson...wilton norman...hey no slouches there...gl

I've seen Red preach this concept in the mid-80's on some coaching spotlight thingy on TV. He was using Kevin McHale as an example of a player that does it, and Kevin was also in the spot demonstrating. I don't remember whether Red specifically mentioned Russell as a source for the technique, but would not be surprised if he did.


And besides, it makes a lot of sense. If a player can reject a shot into the 8th row in an attempt to intimidate (which happens at all levels of the game), he can certainly "dink" that same shot to an area on the court in which he expects a teammate to be.

I think you're missing a couple of things about the Mays catch that puts it a cut above almost any other defensive play. First, it was on the highest stage (the world series). second, the polo grounds centerfield was almost 500 feet deep. Mays went a loooong way to make that grab. Third, the catch would have been damn impressive just for the track and catch aspect, but Mays really sealed the deal with his instant pivot and throw that kept the runners from advancing two bases on the tag up.

His presence of mind to not only get there and make the grab, but to remember the game situation and wheel and throw after the catch really puts his play on an all time plane.

True but it may not be as important of a play in the NBA today. Here's why. First of all teams play much better defense today and thus the fast break opportunities are not as plentiful. Second of all the shot clock does not reset when a player blocks it into the stands. Therefore the offensive team must make an out of bounds play and it is often time consuming to set up the offense again and it can be difficult because of the better defense being played today to get the ball inbounded in a good place on the floor.


With all that said Bill Russell is the greatest defensive basketball player I've ever seen. He basically made the blocked shot an integral part of the game.

Like Vlade did in game 4. . .


Knock it out of bounds, and don't take a chance of someone on the other team getting the ball close to his basket. Especially in the old days, when a zone defense was illegal, were your players standing around with no player from the other team right next to them? I can't imagine such a play would be successful more than one or two times a game, and the "mistakes" that would happen, trying to block the ball to a teammate, would happen more often.

I didn't mean to imply that Russell was not a great player. He was. And a thoughtful and honorable man.


Manny Mota, the ex-baseball player, claimed that when pinch-hitting, in order to better time the pitcher, he would deliberately swing and miss at the first pitch sometimes. Sounds like hogwash to me, maybe an excuse for the times he would swing and miss for strike one. Is it possible sometimes a block would accidentally go to a teammate and . . . no, that wouldn't be possible.


Anyway, Russell was a fantastic basketball player, the sum of his parts being greater than any individual skills he had. The Celtics record during his years there is unequalled in any major sport. He and Red knew their stuff, no doubt about it.

I know you weren't questioning the greatness of Russell. I think you're right basically. I remember him doing this occasionally but probably more found their way out of bounds than anything else.

pointing out that there probably isn't that much value in trying to keep the ball in bounds.

. . .the book I read this in is "Clearing the Bases," by Allen Barra. Mostly baseball essays, all pretty interesting, though, IMO, almost all filled with errors and faulty logic and conclusions.

Walton said the same thing, as did Chamberlain and Kareem. In fact, Walton gladly spouts off every time he sees a current center volleyball spike a shot away.


It might be demoralizing to be swatted into the stands. But then you get the ball back, another 24 seconds, and you go on. If the center decides to block the ball in a certain direction (ie, to the high post where the guards should usually be for outlet passes), fastbreaks are easily started. It's all part of team transition.


But today's basketball culture is about making the other guy look bad for that one second and doing something that will give you a chance to trash talk him. Volleyball spike blocks do that. Blocking the shot and then running on a fast break is not.


But its clear which is the better play.

1) You don't get another 24 seconds. I believe it used to be the case that you did, but you don't anymore. Don't know when the rule changed.


2) I think it's rare that the center gets to "decide" to block the ball in a certain direction. I think more often he's simply trying to stop the shot. I have to believe that Cousy was trying to guard his man and, as the smallest man on the court, would have been the most difficult target at which to aim a blocked shot.


3) Were I convinced that a center could make this play reguarly, I would believe it exists. I just don't think it can be done successfully often enough to make it a worthwhile play. I think a blocked shot left on the court more often turns into a basket for the other team rather than for the team that did the blocking. And I have more respect for Bill Russell, as a man and as a baketball player, than any other player, including those I think were better players than him.


I'd change my mind (about the shot-blocking argument) if presented with evidence to the contrary.

Hi Andy,


I do think Russell had the knack of blocking shots to himself and to teammates. I'm only 34 so have only seen films but it always appeared to me he was able to do it in help defense situations.


His arms were long and he could jump in a flash. The blocks I see him make most are those when he has a penetrating guard going in for a lay in or a short jumper. It seems that Russell had a knack of not having to jump until after the penetrator/shooter had gone airborne or actually shot the ball. He literally would just put up his hands to block the shot and giving him the opportunity to control the ball.


It is similar to someone around the basket who doesn't catch the ball to put it back in but gently taps at it or Dennis Rodman in his Detroit Piston years who would tap the ball to himself for a rebound against 7 footers. Definitely a knack.


From another sport, like a goalie who is able to intentionally deflect shots into the corner by the angle of his pads or stick. Granted a goalie has more time to position himself but I don't find it far fetched that you can block a shot to a location around the basket especially with practice.


Last example is a jump ball. It is obvious that players who control the jump are tapping it to a teammate. I don't think it is a stretch to say that a player would be able to see the floor and try and deflect/block a shot to a teammate.


I could be all wet but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I agree it could and did happen. I just don't think it happened very often. Let's give Russell an optimistic 8 blocks a game (the blocks stat wasn't kept in those days). Let's say 50% of them were controlled blocks, i.e., he could attempt to block them to himself or another player, rather than merely swatting at the ball to block it from going in.


And let's say 50% of these worked, that is, went to the teammate to whom he was blocking it. And that 50% of these became successful fast breaks resulting in a Celtic basket. That's one basket a game. One time a game where this play proved successful. As opposed to 4 times a game when he swatted the ball out of bounds.


I have no statistics to back this up, I'm just trying to assume logical and likely numbers. Someone should watch tapes of complete Celtic games to see how often the play actually happened (maybe someone has): how often he appeared to have tried it and how often it was successful.

Andy,


My guess is that he tried to guide the ball when he could and would swat it out of bounds when he couldn't. IOW, when he tried to guide it the chances of success where far greater than 50/50.


That being said, old highlight reels tend to focus on plays that work, not plays that don't.


Regards,


Rick

Good points, Rick. Rather than highlight reels, there must be tapes of complete games available. I think I watched an old 76ers-Celtics game from the 1960s on ESPN Classics or something a few months back. There must be some complete games available where we could see if this play was made, and if so, how often, and how often it was successful.


BTW, did you notice the picture of a young Magic in today's L.A. Times sports section showing him holding a basketball in each hand?