Wednesday, October 30, 2024

"Winning Without Your Best Stuff"

Nobody has their "A game" every day. Even the best have off days, searching for other ways to impact winning.

From Reddit:

It's pretty well known that Bill Russell was 21-0 in winner-take-all-games, but that's incorrect

It's been commonly stated over the years that Russell was 21-0 in winner-take-all games (example). If Russell's team played even with an opponent throughout a series or they both got to the same place in a tournament, Russell's team was ALWAYS going to pull it out in the end.

But where does that 21-0 mark come from?

  • At USF, his '55 team was 5-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.

  • At USF, his '56 team was 4-0 in the tourney on the way to the title.

  • In the '56 Olympics, the US squad was 2-0 when it came to the winner-take-all final 4 for gold after the group stage.

  • In the NBA, the Celtics were famously 10-0 in Games 7's throughout his career.

That adds up to 21-0, but it's incomplete.

  • In the '66 playoffs, the Celtics won Game 5 in the best-of-5 series with Cincinnati (link), so Russell was actually 22-0 in winner-take-all-games.

Statmuse shows Russell (17-2) with two elimination game losses. Many factors go into elimination game record, yet even the great Michael Jordan is listed at 6-7 in elimination games. Not the be-all, end-all of comparison, just another set of statistics. 

Other notables:

  • Magic Johnson 6-7
  • Kareem Jabbar 11-12
  • John Havlicek 16-5
  • Kobe Bryant 9-10
  • Steph Curry 9-5
  • Shaquille O'Neal 6-12
  • Larry Bird 15-9
  • LeBron James 15-13
  • Kevin Durant 6-10
  • Tim Duncan 9-10

When the ball isn't dropping, find ways to make a difference on defense, on the boards, with better passing, and more loose balls won. 

Lagniappe. Make competition bring out our best. 

Lagniappe 2. D White, a winning player sequence... 

Lagniappe 3. Shooting is the premier basketball skill. 

 

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