How Good was Walt Bellamy

[LAZERUSS]

For those that may not be aware of it, a 60's Walt Bellamy was a beast. His only problem...he played in leagues with Wilt and Russell...and then Wilt, Russell, Thurmond, and even Reed.

But here is some interesting footage, with a way-past-his peak Bells going up against Kareem (Alcindor) in the early part of the 70-71 season, which would ultimately be KAJ's PEAK season (albeit, he was just as dominant in the 71-72 regular season.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv9LhEH3YCw

Bellamy looked pretty damned good considering he was just a shell of what he had been.

[L.Kizzle]

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212351

He was probably the 5th best center in the 60s behind Wilt Russell Reed Thurmond.

[navy]

You're not going to get a good answer here, but I am curious to see your top ten center list.

[LAZERUSS]

You're not going to get a good answer here, but I am curious to see your top ten center list.

Wilt
Russell
Kareem
Shaq
Duncan (if you include him as a center)
Moses
Hakeem
Robinson

After that it gets interesting. Reed had a short, albeit, great career, but he wasn't even the starting center when he played alongside Bellamy. Thurmond is arguably the third greatest defensive center in NBA history (Russell and Wilt.) A PEAK McAdoo was the best player in the league for three straight seasons in the mid-70's. Some here would argue a peak Walton in there somewhere. And I suppose Dwight has to be among the best. And, of course, Bellamy was a beast on offense at his peak.

[L.Kizzle]

Wilt
Russell
Kareem
Shaq
Duncan (if you include him as a center)
Moses
Hakeem
Robinson

After that it gets interesting. Reed had a short, albeit, great career, but he wasn't even the starting center when he played alongside Bellamy. Thurmond is arguably the third greatest defensive center in NBA history (Russell and Wilt.) A PEAK McAdoo was the best player in the league for three straight seasons in the mid-70's. Some here would argue a peak Walton in there somewhere. And I suppose Dwight has to be among the best. And, of course, Bellamy was a beast on offense at his peak.
Mikan can't overlook his career.

[GimmeThat]

this probably sounds like a stupid question.

but for those old schoolers who were old enough to watch Walt Bellamy


without the 3 point line, how much of the X's O's still came in to play regarding each position?

was that more so just still a matter of player height/size as well as skills (ball handling)

because looking at these footages, the spacing all seemed so free and open, that it's as if you could really run any plays on any side of the floor in regards to the basket. since again, there's no 3 point line.


could be way out of the blank on this, but just straight shooting with a question.

[L.Kizzle]

this probably sounds like a stupid question.

but for those old schoolers who were old enough to watch Walt Bellamy


without the 3 point line, how much of the X's O's still came in to play regarding each position?

was that more so just still a matter of player height/size as well as skills (ball handling)

because looking at these footages, the spacing all seemed so free and open, that it's as if you could really run any plays on any side of the floor in regards to the basket. since again, there's no 3 point line.


could be way out of the blank on this, but just straight shooting with a question.
A lot of big men had food jumpers. Jerry Lucas being one of them.

[Jameerthefear]

i don't know who that is. stop posting.

[Marchesk]

i don't know who that is. stop posting.

Orlando sucks.

[LAZERUSS]

Bellamy vs. Russell 61-62 season:


Russell vs Bellamy 10 H2H games:

Russell: 21.3 ppg, 17.2 rpg, .593 eFG% (3 known games)
Bellamy: 33.2 ppg, 20.9 rpg (9 known games), (no known FG% games.)

Bellamy had high games of 41 and 47 points against Russell. He outscored Russell in 9 of the 10 H2H's. He outrebounded Russell 7 of the 9 known games.


Bellamy vs Russell 62-63 season:


Russell vs. Bellamy ... 9 H2H games:

Russell: 16.6 ppg, 22.0 rpg (6 known games), .314 eFG% (3 known games)
Bellamy: 30.3 ppg, 19.0 rpg (6 known games), no known FG% games.

Bellamy outscored Russell 9-0, and they tied in rebounding H2H's, 2-2-1.

Bellamy had games in which he outscored Russell by margins of 32-18, 39-24, 35-16, and 33-10.


Bellamy vs Russell 63-64 season:


Russell-Bellamy in their 10 H2H's:

Russell: 13.5 ppg, 20.9 rpg (9 known games), .366 eFG% (3 known games)

Bellamy: 24.9 ppg, 18.9 rpg (7 known games), and no known FG% games.

Bellamy outscored Russell, 8-2, in those 10 H2H's, with margins as high as 29-8, 32-10, and 45-14.

Russell outrebounded Bellamy in their 7 known games, 4-3.


Bellamy vs. Russell 64-65:




Bellamy in 9 H2H's: 25.8 ppg, 15.8 rpg (5 known games), no known FG%'s.
Bellamy's high scoring game against Russell was 45 points. He also had two other 32 point games against him.

Russell in 9 H2H's: 12.9 ppg, 19.7 rpg, .475 FG% (5 known games.)




Bellamy vs Russell 65-66:


Bellamy vs, Russell in 11 H2H games:

Russell averaged 15.9 ppg, 25.2 rpg, and .554 (6 known H2H's.)
Bellamy averaged 23.8 ppg, 17.8 rpg (8 known H2Hs), .476 (9 known H2Hs)

Bellamy had games of 32 and 31 points against Russell. Russell's high game against Bellamy was 22 points. Bellamy's high rebounding games were 25 and 23, while Russell had 10 of 20+ with a high of 29. Overall, Bellamy outscored Russell by a 9-2 margin, while Russell outrebounded Bellamy, 8-0 in their 8 known H2Hs.


Bellamy vs. Russell in 66-67:


Bellamy vs. Russell in 9 H2H's:

Bellamy: 18.9 ppg, 13.3 rpg (3 known), .513 FG% (3 known)
Russell: 11.4 ppg, 20.5 rpg (6 known), .405 FG% (4 known)

Bellamy had four games of 20+ points against Russell with two of 27. He also had a 22 point, 23 rebound game. Russell's high game against Bellamy was 21 points, and his high rebound game against Bells was 26. Overall, Bellamy outscored Russell, 7-2 in those H2H's, while Russell held a 2-1 margin in known rebounding games.


Bellamy vs. Russell 67-68:


Bellamy vs Russell in 8 H2H's:

Bellamy: 14.8 ppg, 11.0 rpg (4 known), and .429 FG% (4 known.)
Russell: 10.8 ppg, 16.0 rpg, and a .677 FG% (4 known, but he had four games of single digit scoring, and none of them had known FG%'s.)

Bellamy did have a 30 point game, and another 26-19 game against Russell. Russell's high scoring game was 17, and in the same game, he had his high rebounding game, with 20.

[L.Kizzle]

I think Bellamy is a third tier center along with Deke Johnston Sikma Kerr ect.

[La Frescobaldi]

Wilt
Russell
Kareem
Shaq
Duncan (if you include him as a center)
Moses
Hakeem
Robinson

After that it gets interesting. Reed had a short, albeit, great career, but he wasn't even the starting center when he played alongside Bellamy. Thurmond is arguably the third greatest defensive center in NBA history (Russell and Wilt.) A PEAK McAdoo was the best player in the league for three straight seasons in the mid-70's. Some here would argue a peak Walton in there somewhere. And I suppose Dwight has to be among the best. And, of course, Bellamy was a beast on offense at his peak.

Bellamy couldn't play the 4 when he was on the Knicks. While Reed excelled there. Bellamy was tripping over his feet and everybody else's and it was so bad they put him back at the 5 and it didn't take long at all to figure that out either. I distinctly remember Walt Frazier laughing at him for being so clumsy.

They were both fine players but Bellamy was far and away one dimensional compared to the Captain. Reed is right up there when he was injury free.

[La Frescobaldi]

this probably sounds like a stupid question.

but for those old schoolers who were old enough to watch Walt Bellamy


without the 3 point line, how much of the X's O's still came in to play regarding each position?

was that more so just still a matter of player height/size as well as skills (ball handling)

because looking at these footages, the spacing all seemed so free and open, that it's as if you could really run any plays on any side of the floor in regards to the basket. since again, there's no 3 point line.


could be way out of the blank on this, but just straight shooting with a question.

there's a lot of factors, but no question the 3 point line changed basketball enormously.
Another thing is there was extreme levels of transition hoops in those days. They ran, and ran, and ran, and never stopped til they dropped.
Set plays were much less important than the fast break in those long ago days, and it was mid-70s when you saw the big sea change to the half court game. Of course the 3 came just a few years later and that blew the game wide open.
edit ~ the '72 Lakers were the last of those great '60s style fast break teams. You can see some of that team on youtube and the quality of the film is way superior to what you can get out of '60s tape. If you watch it seems like the league suddenly jumped levels higher, but the league didn't overnight change skill level like that. It's the quality of the film not the players............ who are actually the same 60's guys lol.

[cltcfn2924]

this probably sounds like a stupid question.

but for those old schoolers who were old enough to watch Walt Bellamy


without the 3 point line, how much of the X's O's still came in to play regarding each position?

was that more so just still a matter of player height/size as well as skills (ball handling)

because looking at these footages, the spacing all seemed so free and open, that it's as if you could really run any plays on any side of the floor in regards to the basket. since again, there's no 3 point line.



could be way out of the blank on this, but just straight shooting with a question.


It was more open. You could not play anything resembling a zone. All 1 on 1.

[cltcfn2924]

Bellamy vs. Russell 61-62 season:




Bellamy vs Russell 62-63 season:




Bellamy vs Russell 63-64 season:




Bellamy vs. Russell 64-65:




Bellamy vs Russell 65-66:




Bellamy vs. Russell in 66-67:




Bellamy vs. Russell 67-68:


Why are you talking about Russells' scoring? He never was a scorer.

[La Frescobaldi]

The thing about Bellamy... to me, his weakness was mentality.

He had all the skills in the world at the 5, great athletic ability, pretty high defense for those days of almost pure improvisation. What separated him from the big guys of that era, which was Wilt, Russell, Reed, and Thurmond, was mental toughness but also just plain smarts on the court.

Bill Russell had him bamboozled mentally, Chamberlain intimidated him physically, Reed was stronger too, and Thurmond had that ethereal defense.

Bells could rack up points in a hurry if you let him slide. He had some big games against all of the stars in those days, especially when Maravitch showed up because that was a real inside outside team.

To me he is sort of a primitive version of Patrick Ewing, without all the training and years of drills behind Ewing's game.
If you put Bells on the '60s Celtics in place of Big Bill, they win some rings but the Warriors would have won some too. On the Sixers in place of Chamberlain, they don't Bells imo didn't have the smarts to do what Wilt did.
The biggest 60s question mark for Bells would be....... what if he was on those great Laker squads? Because everbody knew the way to beat LA was in the paint, and that's exactly where and how they got beat, and if somebody like Bellamy had been on that team that may have made enough of a difference.

[LAZERUSS]

Why are you talking about Russells' scoring? He never was a scorer.

Russell was indeed a scorer in the early 60's. He had seasons of 19 ppg, post-seasons of 20-22 ppg, and even post-season series of 24 ppg (in the Finals no less.)

BUT, that was NOT the point. Bellamy had two full seasons, covering a total of 19 H2H's, in which he averaged 30 and 33 ppg against Russell. And in his career he had high games of 41, 45, 45, and 47 points against him.

This was not intended as a knock on Russell, but rather a pretty strong illustration of just how explosive Bellamy was in the first half of his career. Again, watch the video in the OP. Here was a Bellamy that was basically a shell of what he once was, putting up an impressive effort against a Kareem (Alcindor) that would go on to have arguably the greatest season of his career.

[LAZERUSS]

Bellamy basically retired following the 73-74 season (technically he played ONE game in the 74-75 season), but near the end of that season, he faced Kareem for the final time, and badly outplayed KAJ. Kareem played 39 minutes, scored 15 points, on 6-16 shooting, with 11 rebounds, while Bellamy put up a 23 point, 16 rebound effort.

[CavaliersFTW]

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212351

He was probably the 5th best center in the 60s behind Wilt Russell Reed Thurmond.
I believe he was the 4th best center in the 60's. He and Willis Reed were teammates on the Knicks in the 60's for 3 of Willis's 5 1960's seasons and Willis played forward next to him all three of those seasons. It wasn't until Bellamy was traded away in 1969 that Reed played center again, so Willis Reed was only a center in the 60's for 2 season (1965 his rookie year, and 1969).

I'm about to drop some footage most of you guys have probably never seen of Bellamy before and it's REALLY great stuff in my opinion. Bellamy could flat out ball. He could pass, he could drive one or two dribbles from the outside and go straight to the hole STRONG with either hand. His dunks are vicious, no matter who's waiting for him at the rim. He goes in for chest to chest dunks on Wilt, Russell, and Kareem without hesitation. I've got footage of Wilt blocking his dunks a few times but that speaks more to Wilt's prowess than Bellamy's lack of it, because at least two clips Bell gets through and jams it on Wilt with force even knocking Wilt back on one of them. And the 3 complete game films I've got reveal you couldn't just sag back on Bellamy to wait for his drives, he could dribble to the side and shoot or catch and shoot up to 20 feet out from anywhere on the floor and it appears he liked the corners on either side and the triple threat position on the right side. If his shot was falling it looks like you had to go out and get a hand in his face or he could hit multiple shots in a row as he did on Jabbar in that game Laz posted so he could stretch the floor and pull the really great rebounders and rim protectors away from the board.

Physically my research leads me to believe Bellamy came into the league at about 225 or 230, quickly bulked up and played most of his career at 245, and topped out at 265lbs towards the tail end of his career when he carried a small gut. He's listed 6-11 and I'm inclined to believe unlike with Russell or Wilt or Jabbar that that's what he'd also list in the modern era. I'm inclined to think he's more like 6-9 and change or 6-10 without shoes but maybe I'm wrong. He just doesn't look any taller than Bill Russell but I could be mistaken. Either way it doesn't matter, in both height and weight that'd make him in the ballpark of Deandre Jordan or Dwight Howard today and he was also a pretty good athlete.

I just ordered a DVD of one of his complete games on Ebay. So I should have another high quality complete single-game highlight of Bellamy coming soon as well as many more players from that game. The project I'm working on now is all of Bellamy's and Kareem's h2h's as I've got 3 good sources of that match up. At the start of the video will be a few clips of Bellamy strutting his stuff against other legends so that fans can get a glimpse how good he was in the 60's.

[iamgine]

They said he was like Steve Nash on defense...if Steve Nash played center.

[CavaliersFTW]

They said he was like Steve Nash on defense...if Steve Nash played center.
Who's "they"? Or are you being facetious? Lakers coach Fred Schauss in 1965 said Bellamy was a good defensive center. Bellamy looks like a good defensive center in the 3 games I've got on film. Not nearly as gifted a one as Russell, Wilt, Thurmond, or Jabbar but it looks like he tries to protect the rim, box out and switch as needed.

[La Frescobaldi]

I believe he was the 4th best center in the 60's. He and Willis Reed were teammates on the Knicks in the 60's for 3 of Willis's 5 1960's seasons and Willis played forward next to him all three of those seasons. It wasn't until Bellamy was traded away in 1969 that Reed played center again, so Willis Reed was only a center in the 60's for 2 season (1965 his rookie year, and 1969).

I'm about to drop some footage most of you guys have probably never seen of Bellamy before and it's REALLY great stuff in my opinion. Bellamy could flat out ball. He could pass, he could drive one or two dribbles from the outside and go straight to the hole STRONG with either hand. His dunks are vicious, no matter who's waiting for him at the rim. He goes in for chest to chest dunks on Wilt, Russell, and Kareem without hesitation. I've got footage of Wilt blocking his dunks a few times but that speaks more to Wilt's prowess than Bellamy's lack of it, because at least two clips Bell gets through and jams it on Wilt with force even knocking Wilt back on one of them. And the 3 complete game films I've got reveal you couldn't just sag back on Bellamy to wait for his drives, he could dribble to the side and shoot or catch and shoot up to 20 feet out from anywhere on the floor and it appears he liked the corners on either side and the triple threat position on the right side. If his shot was falling it looks like you had to go out and get a hand in his face or he could hit multiple shots in a row as he did on Jabbar in that game Laz posted so he could stretch the floor and pull the really great rebounders and rim protectors away from the board.

Physically my research leads me to believe Bellamy came into the league at about 225 or 230, quickly bulked up and played most of his career at 245, and topped out at 265lbs towards the tail end of his career when he carried a small gut. He's listed 6-11 and I'm inclined to believe unlike with Russell or Wilt or Jabbar that that's what he'd also list in the modern era. I'm inclined to think he's more like 6-9 and change or 6-10 without shoes but maybe I'm wrong. He just doesn't look any taller than Bill Russell but I could be mistaken. Either way it doesn't matter, in both height and weight that'd make him in the ballpark of Deandre Jordan or Dwight Howard today and he was also a pretty good athlete.

I just ordered a DVD of one of his complete games on Ebay. So I should have another high quality complete single-game highlight of Bellamy coming soon as well as many more players from that game. The project I'm working on now is all of Bellamy's and Kareem's h2h's as I've got 3 good sources of that match up. At the start of the video will be a few clips of Bellamy strutting his stuff against other legends so that fans can get a glimpse how good he was in the 60's.
I can't wait to see your new movie!
You probably already know Walt was the center on the 1960 Olympic squad which for many years was considered the greatest amateur basketball team ever assembled and maybe still is.

[Asukal]

Better than Wilt. :bowdown: :applause:

[LAZERUSS]

Better than Wilt. :bowdown: :applause:

:roll: :roll: :roll:

From the first time the two stepped on the floor against each other, until their final H2H, Chamberlain OWNED Bellamy.

:roll: :roll: :roll:

[LAZERUSS]

BTW, Chamberlain hung 14 games of 50+ on Bellamy in their 100 career H2H's, with three of them being 60+, and a high game of 73.

And in their first meeting CavsFTW unearthed an article which confirmed what had long been claimed...that Chamberlain blocked Bellamy's first nine shots, en route to outscoring him, 51-14.

[eliteballer]

In past research I got the impression he was one of those guys who's stats looked a lot better than he was as a player.

[Asukal]

:roll: :roll: :roll:

From the first time the two stepped on the floor against each other, until their final H2H, Chamberlain OWNED Bellamy.

:roll: :roll: :roll:

You never learn old man that's why its so much fun to rustle your jimmies. :oldlol: :lol :roll:

[Elosha]

Wilt
Russell
Kareem
Shaq
Duncan (if you include him as a center)
Moses
Hakeem
Robinson

After that it gets interesting. Reed had a short, albeit, great career, but he wasn't even the starting center when he played alongside Bellamy. Thurmond is arguably the third greatest defensive center in NBA history (Russell and Wilt.) A PEAK McAdoo was the best player in the league for three straight seasons in the mid-70's. Some here would argue a peak Walton in there somewhere. And I suppose Dwight has to be among the best. And, of course, Bellamy was a beast on offense at his peak.

Can't overlook Ewing. I'd argue he was better than Dwight, and perhaps equal or better than some of the others mentioned. Like Bellamy, he had the misfortune of playing against transcendent players like Jordan and Hakeem at his absolute best.

[MiseryCityTexas]

Seriously if a time machine existed, 64-65 era Walt Bellamy would easily be the best center in the NBA today.

[Marchesk]

Seriously if a time machine existed, 64-65 era Walt Bellamy would easily be the best center in the NBA today.

ISH posters would be altering NBA history with a time machine. Everyone else would be getting rich or drowning Hitler as kid in the bathtub. A few might bring back some live dinosaur eggs. That would make them rich.

[iamgine]

Who's "they"? Or are you being facetious? Lakers coach Fred Schauss in 1965 said Bellamy was a good defensive center. Bellamy looks like a good defensive center in the 3 games I've got on film. Not nearly as gifted a one as Russell, Wilt, Thurmond, or Jabbar but it looks like he tries to protect the rim, box out and switch as needed.
He was called Tinker Bell by his fellow players. That should tell you something.

[CavaliersFTW]

He was called Tinker Bell by his fellow players. That should tell you something.
It tells me nothing actually, please cite something if you can I'm genuinely curious to hear input here. He's lauded particularly early and middle of the 1960's for his all around play on both ends. I do get the impression he was moody from some testimony and news archives but I haven't heard anything about him being a poor defender other than your initial comment and a YouTuber said they read it somewhere in the past but they couldn't cite where. It's not that I don't believe you've read that somewhere or something I'd just like to know where so I can interpret it myself

[Gotterdammerung]

In this copy and paste job of an old webpage, Charley Rosen claims that players subverted Walt Bellamy's nickname, "Big Bells" by calling him "Tinker Bell."

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=886122

[CavaliersFTW]

In this copy and paste job of an old webpage, Charley Rosen claims that players subverted Walt Bellamy's nickname, "Big Bells" by calling him "Tinker Bell."

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=886122
Jesus. Charley Rosen is famous for having caustic views. By his description you'd think Bellamy was worse than Kwame Brown meanwhile Fred Schauss, then the Lakers coach, was saying he's as good all-around as any other center in the league in 1965. Honestly sounds like Bellamy ****ed Rosen's wife or something his disdain seems excessively harsh. Bellamy did have multiple News Archive articles written about how moody he could be, but he was also praised and credited by many of the other coaches and players in the league as being one of the greatest centers of that era. Interesting contrast. I wonder why that guy hates him so much.

[Marchesk]

Cavs, what year from the 60s has the most amount of existing film and about how many games is that?

[CavaliersFTW]

Cavs, what year from the 60s has the most amount of existing film and about how many games is that?
That's difficult to answer. All years - relatively speaking - have hardly anything at all. An impossibly small fraction of what actually happened in a given season. You could never get an understanding or satisfying amount of content of any one player or team if you tried to just isolate your search for one year as the 60's decade doesn't really have games so much as little documentary snippets and newsreels. The complete surviving games don't really come along until the early 70's save for a 1963 Finals game and a 1967 Knicks/Pistons game which I've yet to acquire, and the 1969 NBA All Star Game. There tends to get more clips and game fragments the later into the decade you get. Most "60's players" have more film from the early 70's (if they played that long) than they do from the 60's. 1967 and 1969 probably have the most "clips" and game fragment combo of any year. 0.xx to 1.xx amount of games on film those years, with a very small handful of 3 minute newsreels and 1 to a few 20 minute league/playoff/team recap documentaries.

I can say with confidence the year/s with the least amount of film clips and fragments is 1960-1963. I was thinking about this topic the past week. I'd guess 50% or more of the big name players that were a big part of the "Wilt Chamberlain era" do likely have enough film to make decent short videos on (I'll probably never have the time to do that though). Decent as in, you can sort of pick up their habits on the floor. That sounds like a lot. But in reality, the actual source material still isn't a lot, and any end product would never truthfully be highlights. The biggest stars of that era have only a maximum of about 2.5% of their career baskets on film from that era and I'm talking about ones that played well into the early 1970's. At least 97.5% of the superstars of that era's baskets are missing. Some other guys don't even have games. For example players like Red Kerr, or Walter Dukes. There's literally nothing to speak of of those guys.

[Marchesk]

And you've never found out that anyone or the NBA has a secret stash of taped games?

I recall talk about the NBA and private collectors holding on to tape from the 60s, including the 61/62 season, but maybe the posters were talking out of their asses.

[CavaliersFTW]

And you've never found out that anyone or the NBA has a secret stash of taped games?

I recall talk about the NBA and private collectors holding on to tape from the 60s, including the 61/62 season, but maybe the posters were talking out of their asses.
The NBA has more than they're letting on. Also some collectors do have some stuff I don't have, and I'm trying to get a hold of some of it (such as the 1967 Pistons/Knicks game I mentioned). But a "lot" of material from that era still doesn't exist, as far as I know. Like, I'd bet 97+% of that era still doesn't exist on film even if everyone combined everything they had from private collections to the NBA's archive. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they've got at least double or possibly even triple the amount of material I've got. I keep seeing 'new' clips I've never seen before, or new angles of plays I've seen before every time an older player passes away or something when they make tributes. And the editing they do seems so minimal in effort, it makes me think their archives are going to go to waste and never get used properly. If I had access to their stuff I would put it to use.

[Gotterdammerung]

Jesus. Charley Rosen is famous for having caustic views. By his description you'd think Bellamy was worse than Kwame Brown meanwhile Fred Schauss, then the Lakers coach, was saying he's as good all-around as any other center in the league in 1965. Honestly sounds like Bellamy ****ed Rosen's wife or something his disdain seems excessively harsh. Bellamy did have multiple News Archive articles written about how moody he could be, but he was also praised and credited by many of the other coaches and players in the league as being one of the greatest centers of that era. Interesting contrast. I wonder why that guy hates him so much.
Indeed. :banghead:
I've read enough of Charley Rosen's writings (articles on the Internet and published books) to figure out his writing strategy.

I sort of understand where he's coming from in that article bashing some of the greats. His problem is that he has trouble explaining himself. He's somewhat right about David Robinson, for instance, cuz he's not as good as Ewing or Robinson, for many reasons, but he goes for hyperbole or overstatement in explaining his opinions, which totally undercuts himself.

Rosen has the ability to write great articles when he tells stories, or be specific in breaking down the technical aspects of basketball.

But then he slips into a lazy black or white mentality that forces players into two categories:
GODS among mortals (e.g., Michael Jordan).
OR.
Complete Waste of Protoplasm that Cannot Play to Save Their Lives and Ought to be Terminated Immediately. :oldlol: