New Bill Russell NCAA Footage - 1956 San Francisco Dons

Bill Russell was a world-class athlete. Like Wilt, he also excelled at the track and field sports.

That said, its impossible to know what kind of player he would have been in today's game. He would't have the sheer physical edge over his opponents that he had back then. He revolutionized the game with his defensive rim protection in that era, but would he stand a part from the centers of today in that respect? Who knows.

 

That was ******* awesome!

 

I meant in terms of athleticism, not height/bulk.

 

He saw Wilt frequently, and I am still convinced that Wilt had more athletic talent than anyone ever in the game.

 

Basketball is a 5-on-5 game. His impact defensively isn't simply a matter of his edge over the opposing center.

 

This is an impossible debate to win on any side.

 

count me as one of the some.

played in an 8-team league and won 11 titles vs nonathletic white kids half his size.

always has been bizarre to me how today's players are seemingly forced into reverence of him.

and color me unimpressed by that clip, too. and that's pretty much as good as his highlights get.

not even kidding when i say this: in today's game, he'd fall right around Donatus Motiejunas' level.

 

Bill Russell and KC Jones on the same team at USF was phenomenal. Possibly the best NCAA team to ever play.

Bill Russell and KC Jones and others again were possibly the best NBA teams ever.

I think everyone here knows I love defense more than anyone else on the board...and Bill Russell was the best, until Akeem Olajuwon walked into Guy Lewis's office.

 

Bill Russell could PLAY in today's league, sure. And be a GOOD player.

I don't think he'd necessarily be a top 10 frontcourt player as an AUTOMATIC.

I remember a quote from Red Auerbach saying players from his era could beat the '92' Dream Team. That was 20 years ago and even THEN having a little bit of bias for his guys, he still had to selects guys from the 50's through 70's to form a team. While the Dream Team was basically just 80's players. 3 decades to meet 1 decade. And its been another 2 decades of bigger stronger athletes since then.

That said, with rebounding some players just seem to have a knack for grabbing boards. Can you say that Kevin Love, Zach Randolph, Al Jefferson, Demarcus Cousins, Tim Duncan are better more explosive athletes than Russell? I think Russell would still have good rebounding instincts and timing on blocks.

I'm not gonna sell Russell too short and just say he'd be a Ryan Hollins. He could be a Joakim Noah Meets Serge Ibaka type.

 

Javale McGee

40 and 20 player back then.

 

Wilt could literally lift with one hand any center in basketball and raise him to the rim. He would chew up and spit out any 4 or 5 today. Some of the many facts back then:

Many don’t know it, but Wilt used to lift weights with Arnold Schwarzenegger and got his bench press up to over 500 lbs. He has been credited by many as having been able to bench as much as 500 pounds even during his college days, but there are not very many credible sources for this. He was a world class track and field star during those days though, competing in the 440, shot put, broad jump, and high jump.

Wilt’s leaping ability was incomparable. His “Sergeant” or vertical leap was higher than Michael Jordan’s at 48”. Chamberlain had won the Big 7 High Jump championship in his junior year of college.

There are great leapers today, even among centers, including the self-proclaimed “Superman” Dwight Howard. However, while Dwight is a great leaper, his ability doesn’t equal The Big Dippers’.

Many tales have been told over the years of players leaping up and touching the top of the backboard, including tales of feats involving players grabbing money from atop the board.

However, as Chamberlain himself once said about all these claims, "I defy anyone to say they took change off the top of the backboard. I could. Someone would put a quarter up and I'd snatch it down. I've heard stories about Jackie Jackson doing it, but I've never seen anyone (but himself) come close."

 

James White is an equally competent athlete. As durvasa notes, we just can't say how he'd be in today's NBA.

 

40 turnovers and 20 fouls?

 

That dude was probably 5'8"

 

That video did not look new to me. I'm pretty sure 1956 is not new.

 

I think the players we think of as trash back then, were probably a lot better than than we think. The game of basketball hasn't changed that much. Bill Russell would be a force in any era. That said, Hakeem greatest Defensive player of all time.

 

Two thoughts/questions:

-I'm sure Daryl Morey could run some analysis on old game footage to see what type of player he could be comparable to today.

-Similarly, I understand that not many games were filmed back in his playing days, but surely someone has thought of taking a sample of game films (say ~5-10 games per year that he played, if available) and averaged the rate of blocks per game to get a decent estimate of how many he (or guys like Wilt) had in their playing careers?