Could you beat Bob Cousy 1-on-1?

[The_Third_Man]

Tbh, I don’t think he’d beat somebody who can actually play today. The ball handling, athleticism, and shooting today is just at a whole other level. There’s high school kids and D3 players who would work a ‘50’s Cousy on the floor.

But if Cousy came out today he might be a good player. He’s described as having a good wingspan/large hands and his legs were very strong, look at his bottom half.

His vision and passing flair was clearly ahead of his time, the passes he made are impressive. It would come to him developing a modern handle (back then seems like player dribbled with one hand and looked to keep it low) and having a decent jump shot.

Cousy did shoot 80% from the line for his career, he had that famous scene in Blue Chips knocking down FT after FT as an old man. So maybe he could hit a 15 footer.


Modern comps I’d say Rajon Rondo and T.J. McConnell.

you really think he'd be good player if he came out today?

a full game highlights give a better idea about him as a player than a compilation of 3 second-long highlights


it's impossible to compare Cousy to any current player.

 

[ISO]

you really think he'd be good player if he came out today?

a full game highlights give a better idea about him as a player than a compilation of 3 second-long highlights


it's impossible to compare Cousy to any current player.

From that footage he playing in a 50’s and 60’s style. Back them jumpshooting was in early stages and players dribbled low like that. Somehow he was hitting those awkward jumpers in that clip and he had a sky hook type shot in his repertoire.

I said the things from his game that translate regardless of eras. Long wingspan, large hands, strong tree trunk legs, great court vision and passing flair, 80% FT shooter.

From that I deduced that he would be a scrappy, pass first PG in the vain of Rondo or T.J. McConnell today if he maximized his ability.

 

[The_Third_Man]

From that footage he playing in a 50’s and 60’s style. Back them jumpshooting was in early stages and players dribbled low like that. Somehow he was hitting those awkward jumpers in that clip and he had a sky hook type shot in his repertoire.

I said the things from his game that translate regardless of eras. Long wingspan, large hands, strong tree trunk legs, great court vision and passing flair, 80% FT shooter.

From that I deduced that he would be a scrappy, pass first PG in the vain of Rondo or T.J. McConnell today if he maximized his ability.

he was hitting them in the clip because they didn't show his missed shots which happened more often than not since he shot 35% from the field in his prime. add that to the fact he couldn't dribble with his left hand.

I can only think of him as 50s-60s player.

 

[ISO]

he was hitting them in the clip because they didn't show his missed shots which happened more often than not since he shot 35% from the field in his prime. add that to the fact he couldn't dribble with his left hand.

I can only think of him as 50s-60s player.

In this time they played at a break neck pace 120+ possessions per game with trash spacing, lots of low % taken back and forth. The league wide FG% was pretty bad.

Bill Russell shot 44% for his career

Yeah it’s tough to see him as anything more than a 50’s/60’s player I just tried to project based off the things from his game that would translate regardless of era.

Do you think any players from back then could play now?

 

[Greenhornet]

The fact that you are talking about the 50s compared to 2018 shows why it was so dope. You cousy train here before he plays you and he wins. The man was obviously dedicated and in control. That's like comparing eras of war. Doesn't mean you're better because you have dessert storm equipment compared to WW2. If you are trash in 2018 with just a pull up J how would you translate back, then if you hardly have a skill set in modern times? I dont see anyone running at a 50s pace for 80 games a year. Cousy could probably run all night and sleep on a bus to beat you the next day modern stuff would work but what if you let him train for 6 months before you played?

 

[The_Third_Man]

In this time they played at a break neck pace 120+ possessions per game with trash spacing, lots of low % taken back and forth. The league wide FG% was pretty bad.

Bill Russell shot 44% for his career

Yeah it’s tough to see him as anything more than a 50’s/60’s player I just tried to project based off the things from his game that would translate regardless of era.

Do you think any players from back then could play now?

maybe Bill Russel.

 

[YoungMoneyCashMoneyBoy]

Love to see cousy getting the ultimate respect in this thread but players from the 80s are the joke.

Cacs out in full force

 

[Jim Cornette]

just watched that Twitter highlight package
cousy was fukking ass, you know that cac averaged 8 turnovers a game


the players hes passsing too make Boris diaw look like an elite athlete

 

[Da King]

Most nikkas would wash him 1 on 1


That’s why the Celtics having all those chips is a joke

 

[Houston911]

Nba was damn near a ymca level league back then. If you wanted to play and you were white you could get on a team

That picture of George Mikans team is downright embarassing.

 

[Benjamin Sisko]

Hilarious classic thread

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Self-quoting for truth.

I'm talking about any strong athlete who plays a lot of ball. Including any college baller and any good high school baller as well as rec ballers if they practicing serious, know what they're doing and have athleticism.

Personally, I'm 6'1" and 195lbs, played college football, and played four seasons total in a couple of city bball leagues up until I was 23. Any time in my peak (say 20 to 25) I'm washing him and everyone watching will know that from the first two possessions.

Show me a clip of the one-to-one defensive skills Cousy would be using to stop me.

As far as stopping him, he shot 37% on twos against crap defense, never learned a jump shot, doesn't leave the ground, and rarely dribbled left. Exactly what is he going to beat me with - those over-the-shoulder prayers in the highlight clip?

Cousy was a 37% lifetime shooter in an era with no three-point shot.

Shot 37.8% in his MVP season in 1957.

In 1958 he averaged 18 and 7 on 35% shooting and was named 1st-team All-NBA and finished 6th in MVP voting.


I'm bigger than him, faster than him, have a better handle than him, have a higher release than him, and play defense like nothing he's ever seen in his era.

So not really sure how the little man thinks he's gonna score. Better be tossing up a lot of those "wing and a prayer" shots over his head.

Bob Cousy was a 6'1" 175lb basketball player at a time when the NBA was in its infancy and not even many White athletes played, let alone Black athletes. They were just a bunch of janitors and mechanics off the street named "Slater" and "Billy" and "Bud." Here's a picture of the NBA champs in Cousy's rookie season:

Not only are they all White and unathletic looking as hell, but the only guy over 6'7" is the star George Mikkan, a player who literally had to spend years in college getting taught how to be coordinated because he had never played sports in his life. He spent nearly two years of his childhood in bed from a smashed knee and he even walked awkward. THAT was the NBA when Cousy entered.

Here's Cousy's team, btw. He's #14:

Their big man was 6'8", 185lb Ed Macaley, "Easy Ed." He was a 7-time All-Star, made three straight 1st-team All-NBA and was an All Star Game MVP.

6'8", 185lb Ed Macauley is in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

When Cousy came into the league, real professional basketball wasn't even 5 years old yet. Guard play was in its infancy. The jump shot hadn't been invented yet, the dunk hadn't been invented yet, most ballhandling moves hadn't been invented yet, and no one played any real defense. Big men dominated everything, even though they were skinny unathletic loafs like Mikan and Macauley, because the guards never jumped and couldn't shoot. Cousy is on record as saying that basketball was a game meant to be played on the ground.

And Black players were barely being allowed on the teams at all.

NFL running backs were THE game in the 1950s. NBA guards were just a few skinny white guys running around who couldn't cut it in the other sports.

Why not?

Basketball wasn't even popular in the 1950s, hardly any of the good athletes played (baseball, football, boxing, and olympic sports were all bigger), Black people were hardly even allowed to play, and no international players played. The talent pool was minuscule.

The jump shot had hardly even been invented - none of them grew up shooting it. There was no offensive philosophy. Teams just ran down the court and tossed up ugly shots - a guy at 44-45% shooting could lead the league. Handles were weak as hell. And pretty much no one played real defense until Russell came along.

Who cares if they were professionals, when they were professionals in THAT weak-ass era? Any Coli breh who grew up playing basketball and was at least a college-level athlete (or high-level high school athlete) could take an infancy-era bballer.


Paul Arizin, one of the most dominant players of the 1950s, beat Cousy in the MVP vote some of those years. Wheezed and shyt while he played cause he had chronic asthma. He was best known for having the greatest jump shot of the era, which means that he shot 42% from the field (again, on all TWOs) with this beauty of a shot:

But in March 1963, a month before his final game for the Celtics, Bob Cousy complained to the Associated Press, “I think the jump shot is the worst thing that has happened to basketball in ten years.” Cousy’s objections? “Any time you can do something on the ground, it’s better,” he said, sounding very much like a coach who would have enjoyed benching Kenny Sailors or Bud Palmer. “Once you leave the ground, you’ve committed yourself.” Jump shot critics discouraged players from flying into the air because they feared the indecision that came when someone left their feet. They feared the bad passes from players who jumped with no clear plan of what they’d do in the air. Staying grounded meant fewer mistakes. It was simply a safer way to play the game, if not as exciting.

"Any time you can do something on the ground, it's better."

And fools have him beating any athlete who can play bball today.