Bob Pettit is better than Bill Russell.

[Richesly]

Tired of that ****er being overrated. He basically is the reason Lucky Charms were made because he had them all around him. Great defensive personal at every position.


Switch Pettit to the Celtics, Russell to the Hawks. Does Russell get 11 rings with just Hagan?(This scenario was almost possible since Hawks drafted him. And most likely wouldn't have had Pettit due to the butterfly effect).

Pettit's only other good teammate was Hagan, who was just a scoring SF who didn't play a lick of D.

And Hagan hadn't hit his prime when Pettit led the Hawks to the chip.

Pettit and Hagan were the only forces on that Hawks team.

[Sarcastic]

No.

[Richesly]

No.

**** off, little dude. You're clueless.

Says "No" because you have no idea what the hell I'm even talking about, and just agreeing with the media.

[Legends66NBA7]

1) Hawks traded Russell because they wanted more scoring.

2) Pettit doesn't fit the Celtics because they needed defense, not more guys who could score. The only player who could have fit Russell's role (but not the same or better results) are Nate Thurmond and Wilt Chamberlain... and Wilt has been recorded saying that earlier on in his career be might have taken away from what made the Celtics great.

2) The Hawks only title against the Celtics was when Russell got injured and couldn't finish the series. They are possibly the worst team NBA history to win a NBA title, at least according to SRS (they are the only negative rating champ).


Pettit was great, but he isn't Bill.

[Richesly]

Lets look at the match ups between the Hawks and Celtics in the '58 finals, after Hawks won the series 4-2.

Starting Match Ups:
Bob Cousy vs Slater Martin
Bill Sharman vs Jack McMahon
Frank Ramsey vs Cliff Hagan
Tom Heinsohn vs Jack Coleman
Bill Russell/Arnie Risen(started 2 games) vs Bob Pettit





Please, someone explain how that Hawk's starting line up won in 6?

I know someone will say, "WELL, YOU SEE, BILL WAS MAD HE COULDN'T CONTAIN PETTIT AND QUIT", then very well.

[Richesly]

1) Hawks traded Russell because they wanted more scoring.

2) Pettit doesn't fit the Celtics because they needed defense, not more guys who could score. The only player who could have fit Russell's role (but not the same or better results) are Nate Thurmond and Wilt Chamberlain... and Wilt has been recorded saying that earlier on in his career be might have taken away from what made the Celtics great.

2) The Hawks only title against the Celtics was when Russell got injured and couldn't finish the series. They are possibly the worst team NBA history to win a NBA title, at least according to SRS (they are the only negative rating champ).


Pettit was great, but he isn't Bill.

Oh shit, then Sam Jones is a lying ****. Pretty sure he said Bill just quit, but the team covered it because it would've been bad publicity for him. Sam was even his teammate during the damn series.

Watch footage of the game, and notice how frustrated Russell is before apparently being too hurt to play. Matter of fact, Pettit wore his ass out the first quarter.

[Smoke117]

Settle down...this guy getting all upset over two players he's probably seen a combined 20 mins of on youtube.

[Richesly]

1) Hawks traded Russell because they wanted more scoring.

2) Pettit doesn't fit the Celtics because they needed defense, not more guys who could score. The only player who could have fit Russell's role (but not the same or better results) are Nate Thurmond and Wilt Chamberlain... and Wilt has been recorded saying that earlier on in his career be might have taken away from what made the Celtics great.

2) The Hawks only title against the Celtics was when Russell got injured and couldn't finish the series. They are possibly the worst team NBA history to win a NBA title, at least according to SRS (they are the only negative rating champ).


Pettit was great, but he isn't Bill.

Your right, he wasn't Bill because he was better than Bill. Pettit actually revealed his technique to beating Russell, which was outsmarting him. He literally said it was easy to out smart him and that while Russell was just relying on strength, Pettit was actually analyzing balls after they were shot to grab rebounds. He could tell where the ball would bounce off the rim, something Russell didn't know.

There is a YT video about it. Ya should look it up.

[warriorfan]

op took too much adderall

[Richesly]

Settle down...this guy getting all upset over two players he's probably seen a combined 20 mins of on youtube.

My father was actually a Detroit fan, and hated the Celtics. He was the biggest Yardley fan ever and thought Detroit were going to win that year with that great team, which the Hawks also beat in the playoffs that year.

In the finals he rooted for the Hawks(must be a sign, since I'm an atlanta hawks fan) to beat the Celtics. He recorded 1 game on the radio, and has 3 game tapes.

[Richesly]

op took too much adderall

How the **** you remember that thread? And yeah I did take some adderall. It really made me start thinking of how my dad became a Hagan fan(he thought Hagan led the Hawks to win) but I believe Pettit was more important. Then it led me to thinking of why Russell is better than Pettit. Conclusion? He isn't.

[Richesly]

I actually want CavsFTW and his father to comment on this thread and what they think.

[CavaliersFTW]

OP, I'm a huge Bob Pettit fan.

I made this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFTY-6sk3iA

But do you know why Bob Pettit retired his hook shot in the NBA?

Because Bill Russell caught it.

Do you know who Bob Pettit thinks is the greatest and best player to have ever played basketball?

Bill Russell.

Want me to upload his interviews and reasons why he thinks so?

[Richesly]

OP, I'm a huge Bob Pettit fan.

I made this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFTY-6sk3iA

But do you know why Bob Pettit retired his hook shot in the NBA?

Because Bill Russell caught it.

Do you know who Bob Pettit thinks is the greatest and best player to have ever played basketball?

Bill Russell.

Want me to upload his interviews and reasons why he thinks so?

But it Pettit was the one that told coach to start him at center and Coleman at the 4. Pettit led the league in rebounding before he buffed up(mentioned in your video), and he had already started playing the 5 quite a bit.

He knows he is better than Russell. He's being humble and modest. He stopped using his hook shot because he developed a solid jumper that most bigs at the time were not suppose to defend or couldn't defend.

Matter of fact, he switched his hookshot into a one hand jumpshot.

Nonetheless, amazing video and I am definitely going to show my dad it when I visit him.

[CavaliersFTW]

But it Pettit was the one that told coach to start him at center and Coleman at the 4. Pettit led the league in rebounding before he buffed up(mentioned in your video), and he had already started playing the 5 quite a bit.

He knows he is better than Russell. He's being humble and modest. He stopped using his hook shot because he developed a solid jumper that most bigs at the time were not suppose to defend or couldn't defend.

He retired his hook shot specifically because he says his hook shot got caught by Bill Russell. It was such a memorable event in his career he mentions it in two different interviews I've got.

I don't think he's being humble. I think he thinks highly of himself as a player too but he's pretty clear about his admiration of Russell. I can't tonight but I will try to collect all of Bob Pettit's references of Bill Russell and upload them here hopefully this weekend for you.

And once more, Pettit was a career forward with the Hawks. If he rotated into the center position it was a minority of his career, for injuries, maybe for a match up on a given night here or there, etc. His centers were all bigger/taller/stronger players than he was in Share, Lovelette, and Beatty and they were not quite as good of shooters, and certainly less capable drivers which is why he played forward. Though he did eventually bulk up to 245lbs, those guys were naturally that strong and heavy and/or heavier before ever even bulking up and Pettit was a superstar that needed to be 'protected' so to speak (preserved as much as possible from too much physical abuse), so those were the big rough and tough hatchet guys inside trying to deal with the Chamberlains, Russell's, Duke's, and Bellamy's. They more naturally fit the profile of center position at the NBA level.