MUScoop
MUScoop => Hangin' at the Al => Topic started by: MuggsyB on March 21, 2023, 02:23:35 PM
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Well before my time but that G7 was it 1970? moment is still iconic. Condolences to his family. How did he compare to the other great centers?
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Willis was a warrior. He was one of the few centers in the league who had a medium jumpsuit from the foul line, plus he was a great defender and rebounder.
He went up against Russell, Chamberlain, Lanier, etc. all the old school centers. Used to love Marv Albert calling the games and would say "Willis...yes"
A beloved Knick of all time with the best starting five:
Dick Barnett
Walt Frazier
Willis
Bill Bradley
Dave Debusshure
Four Hall of Famers
Game seven was a Willis moment that goes down in history as he entered the Garden, but it was Walt Frazier's game. He had 36 points and 19 assists against a great Lakers team.
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What color was Reed's suit, hey?
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Reed wasn't the tallest but he was one of the strongest.
A gentle giant, a bit similar to Bob Lanier in that respect.
Injuries cut short his career. Played 650 games, or about 8 full seasons.
The espn documentary "When The Garden Was Eden" goes into depth on the 1970 team.
Try and find the Reed fight against the Lakers from a few years earlier. Laker big man Rudy LaRusso claims Reed threw an elbow while rebounding a FT. LaRusso throws a haymaker and Reed goes off pursuing LaRusso to the Lakers bench.
Several Lakers suffered pretty bad injuries and three bigs were on the floor when Reed was pulled off; broken noses, black eyes, broken jaws....
It was basically Reed against the entire Laker team in their bench area.
Reed later asked teammate Dick Barnett why no one stepped in to help him against an entire team. Barnett said "You Was Winning".
There was talk of suspending Willis from the NBA, but after the league watched the film, he was fined $50.
A few days later Reed was named team Captain of the Knicks.
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Reed wasn't the tallest but he was one of the strongest.
Injuries cut short his career. Played 650 games, or about 8 full seasons.
The espn documentary "When The Garden Was Eden" goes into depth on the 1970 team.
Try and find the Reed fight against the Lakers from a few years earlier. Laker big man Rudy LaRusso claims Reed threw an elbow while rebounding a FT. LaRusso throw a haymaker and Reed goes off pursuing LaRusso to the Lakers bench.
Several Lakers suffered pretty bad injuries and three bigs were on the floor when Reed was pulled off; broken noses, black eyes, broken jaws....
It was basically Reed against the entire Laker team in their bench area.
Reed later asked teammate Dick Barnett why no one stepped in to help him against an entire team. Barnett said "You Was Winning".
There was talk of suspending Willis from the NBA, but after the league watched the film, he was fined $50.
A few days later Reed was named team Captain of the Knicks.
Damn....sounds like someone who was not to be trifled with! Thanks for sharing. We could use an enforcer. May Mr. Reed rest in peace.
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Reed was a solid center when he played.
He does not compare to the greats - he is somewhere just outside the top 10 centers all-time.
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Reed was a solid center when he played.
He does not compare to the greats - he is somewhere just outside the top 10 centers all-time.
You have the worst takes sometimes.
Willis Reed Jr. was an American professional basketball player, coach, and general manager. He spent his entire professional playing career with the New York Knicks. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1996, he was voted one of the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History"
Well that was a sneaky quick edit lol
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You have the worst takes sometimes.
Willis Reed Jr. was an American professional basketball player, coach, and general manager. He spent his entire professional playing career with the New York Knicks. In 1982, Reed was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1996, he was voted one of the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History"
He may have been top 50 - maybe. But he in no way compares to the great centers.
Jabbar, Chamberlain, Russell, Shaq, Robinson, Duncan, Moses, Hakeem, Pettit, Walton, Embiid, Jokic were all appreciably better.
I'd put him in the next group with guys like Cowens, Parrish, Ewing, Thurman, and Unseld.
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What color was Reed's suit, hey?
Navy blue, with wide pinstripes.
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Navy blue, with wide pinstripes.
He couldn't keep up with Clyde when it came to attire.
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I would put Reed around 10th in the non-active centers. But that's pretty incredible when you think about all the greats that have played this game.
putting as the top 8 centers:
Kareem, Russell, Chamberlain, O'Neal, Olajuwon, Moses, D.Robinson, Ewing
next tier of about 10:
Reed, Unseld, Cowens, McAdoo, Mikan, Walton, Mourning, Parish, Lanier, Thurmond
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I should have put Lanier and Mourning in my next group as well.
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I would put Reed around 10th in the non-active centers. But that's pretty incredible when you think about all the greats that have played this game.
putting as the top 8 centers:
Kareem, Russell, Chamberlain, O'Neal, Olajuwon, Moses, D.Robinson, Ewing
next tier of about 10:
Reed, Unseld, Cowens, McAdoo, Mikan, Walton, Mourning, Parish, Lanier, Thurmond
Thats a fair ranking to this old guy.
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Reed and Bill Bradley in MSG... https://nypost.com/2023/03/21/bill-bradley-mourns-loss-of-knicks-legend-willis-reed-he-was-the-captain/
Must be a bittersweet week for Dollar Bill given Princeton's success...
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oldwarrior
Great list. Sadly Walton had too many injuries, otherwise he would be very high on list. Never was a Lanier guy, mainly because of the watered down version that came to the Bucks late in his career,
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off topic, but Lanier's first 9 years before the trade to Milwaukee.
Pts: 22.8, Reb: 12.0, Assists: 3.3, , Blocks: 2.0, FG% over 50% and 78% from the FT line
numbers wise, very favorable to many on my list.
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That Willis Reed game is one of the most legendary sports games in New York City history, second only to the shot heard round the world. But nobody ever mentions that Clyde Frazier had one of the greatest games ever in the Willis game – 36 points, 19 assists, seven rebounds.
Woops- just saw that NYG had mentioned Clyde's feat.
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Willis was a damn good center who fit the Knicks system very well . I watched him play live against all the greats . He had a thick body and knew go to use it to his advantage . Was a leader on the court . I would put him in the top tier due to his Championship Pedigree.
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He was only 235?? Wasn't Wilt 290ish?
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He was only 235?? Wasn't Wilt 290ish?
Willis was what they used to call Country Strong. That is in the era before heavy Weight Training .
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He was only 235?? Wasn't Wilt 290ish?
You can't really trust those measurements from back in the day. Once you were assigned a weight, that was your weight for your career.
Reed was listed as 6' 9 1/2 and 240 at Grambling. I'd guess he put on a few pounds after his college days. Some say he was closer to 6'8".
I saw a picture of Reed next to Ali, and Ali probably carried around 225 pounds or more. Reed looked like a giant of a man next to him.
Using basketball-reference, Kareem is listed at 225. He had to be much heavier later in his career.
Moses Malone is listed at 215 pounds. Yeah, maybe in high school.
The league has tried to have the teams be keep a bit more current with the height/weight the past few years.
Otherwise, Giannis might still be listed at 6'9" and 180, which is what he was listed as during his rookie season.
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Even now a lot of that goes on. To find out a player’s true height (at least for modern guys) check NBA Combine stats. They are measured with and without shoes.
Some very big differences from college listings.
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You can't really trust those measurements from back in the day. Once you were assigned a weight, that was your weight for your career.
Reed was listed as 6' 9 1/2 and 240 at Grambling. I'd guess he put on a few pounds after his college days. Some say he was closer to 6'8".
I saw a picture of Reed next to Ali, and Ali probably carried around 225 pounds or more. Reed looked like a giant of a man next to him.
Using basketball-reference, Kareem is listed at 225. He had to be much heavier later in his career.
Moses Malone is listed at 215 pounds. Yeah, maybe in high school.
The league has tried to have the teams be keep a bit more current with the height/weight the past few years.
Otherwise, Giannis might still be listed at 6'9" and 180, which is what he was listed as during his rookie season.
Thx Old Warrior. It is not humanly possible Moses was 215.