How is Bill russel Top 3 Center of all time?

[xtn5021]

Dude was a true "Player Coach". And let's not forget about the rings...

[oh the horror]

We've entered the era of the "stat fan" that lives and dies by the stats as far as how great a player was. They' dont care to acknowledge other areas of the game, human psyche, and other aspects that make someone a great leader, a great team mate, dominating, and intimidating.


There are ballers in the league now, that are massively talented, yet still STINK as a player on a team.

[Bigsmoke]

yea i doubt if he would go against Tim Duncan and still win 11 rings

[EllEffEll]

We can tell it to you, but we just can't understand it for you.

[RoseCity07]

I don't think I'm the first one to say this but Oden looks like Bill Russell's brother. lol.

[Thunderstruck]

I waiting for this board to actually start talking about basketball instead of incessantly making threads calling players they never saw play overrated over and over again, among many annoying topics that dominate this message board.

[juju151111]

I guess we should all just ignore the intangibles that don't show up on a boxscore, such as team leadership (and coaching while playing, literally), unselfishness, constitution and mental fortitude (imagine today's ***** athletes in the racist 60's. They couldn't handle it), etc.

What Russell did was the most important thing for that team. He controlled the paint, and was possibly the best shot blocker ever (but they didn't record those stats back then). Rebounding the basketball is incredibly important. On defense, it limits the scoring chances of the opposition, while sparking the offense by the fastbreak (Russell was a great passer that ignited the Celtic's transition game). On offense, he wasn't just a Ben Wallace type who had no offensive ability. He could score (as shown when he was the team's second leading scorer), but he didn't need to because he was surrounded by other players who could fill that role. Cousy, Hondo, Jones (both), all could spread out the offensive load while Russell could control the game in the post.

If you look at the impact a prime Mutombo and Wallace had, and then imagine a better player overall who was a better passer, scorer, team leader, and winner, and you have a player that nobody should call overrated.

I said he was a bit overfated because people say he better then the players i listed which is BS.

[juju151111]

If I have to tell you then you don't need to post on a basketball MB.

Enlighten me oh great one.

[MD23]

I love how people are always like Iverson,Tmac,Lebron etc aint nuffin cos they havnt won a ring. Then we have a thread suggesting the greatest winner of all time is overated cummon now. He won 11 rings thats insane what more could he have done but win.

[97 bulls]

What about the other 11 guys on the team??

he has enough rings for each

[lolwut]

why do a bunch of people who were born in the 80's pretend to understand how important Bill Russell was?

[Dasher]

Bill's FG% would increase in today's era of open lanes that are the result of 3 point arc induced spacing and defensive 3 seconds.

[zay_24]

Bill Russel wouldnt be a top3 center in todays league

[Showtime]

I said he was a bit overfated because people say he better then the players i listed which is BS.

I think he's better than Shaq. Shaq, because of his selfishness and ego, has the potential to sink a franchise, which is why his stops have been relatively short. I also think Shaq gets more hype because of his dominance when he was winning championships once the competition in the post diminished. I would choose Bill over Shaq every time because of that.

Moses Malone? How is he superior to Russell?

Wilt? Wilt's greatest opponent was Russell. Despite giving up a few inches in height and some weight, Russell would out rebound Wilt and Russell got the best of Wilt several times, and he won. Wilt was possibly the greatest center ever, but whenever they matched up, Russell wasn't dominated.

[Showtime]

why do a bunch of people who were born in the 80's pretend to understand how important Bill Russell was?

I, for one, respect the history of the game and research the past eras that I didn't get a chance to see. I hear what people who were a part of that time said about players, I read what some people write about it, I watch what I can, and that's why I can form an opinion. That's one thing I dislike about modern fans: they form opinions without any first hand experience, but they do so without even looking into the topic and taking advantage of the resources of others who did.