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.