sidney wicks and what could have been
Posted: Mon Jul 9, 2012 10:28 am
generally i don't play these "what could have been" games, but sidney and bill happen to be my two favorite bruins.
imo, sidney was a player ahead of his time by 20 years. he was a harbinger of pf's to come. he was lebron before lebron. his end to end speed was matchless. he was a t&f athlete in high school who long jumped over 20'. he blocked future hof'er artis gilmore 6 times, something even lebron hasn't done. he was a 5 position player. he was a PF with guard speed and skillset. he had an outside shot.
but his numbers also deteriorated after '74, and as i perused the portland stats it was interesting to note that the following year petrie took over as assist leader by a landslide. iirc, that there was a problem between petrie and wicks. and being an assist leader means having the ball all the time, and if sidney gave up that then he gave up control of the rock.
it seems like sidney couldn't rectify this and it was the end of him. he definitely didn't take John Robert Wooden's teachings about team play to heart. too bad. what could have been is that sidney could have been one of the greats.
does anyone have something to add? thx
imo, sidney was a player ahead of his time by 20 years. he was a harbinger of pf's to come. he was lebron before lebron. his end to end speed was matchless. he was a t&f athlete in high school who long jumped over 20'. he blocked future hof'er artis gilmore 6 times, something even lebron hasn't done. he was a 5 position player. he was a PF with guard speed and skillset. he had an outside shot.
but his numbers also deteriorated after '74, and as i perused the portland stats it was interesting to note that the following year petrie took over as assist leader by a landslide. iirc, that there was a problem between petrie and wicks. and being an assist leader means having the ball all the time, and if sidney gave up that then he gave up control of the rock.
it seems like sidney couldn't rectify this and it was the end of him. he definitely didn't take John Robert Wooden's teachings about team play to heart. too bad. what could have been is that sidney could have been one of the greats.
does anyone have something to add? thx