THE J0KER wrote:I'm the one of those 10% who voted so far for Harden, not because I'm thinking he is the any better player than Russel or D.Robinson, but because I think Harden and Ginobili are the only players I ever watched which use fact that they are left-handed like clear advantage (opponent players is less adjusted vs left-handed). While Russel and Robinson are also known for their very high BBIQ, on Center position player have no too much options to use left-handed trait as any kind of advantage, so in their cases, it is just trivia fact.
Basketball is positional team sport only by "depth", not by "depth and side" like most of the others team sports where being a lefty is a great benefit, so in basketball, it will never be a big deal if someone is left-handed. But some players can find a way to use it as an advantage doing unusual moves for their defenders, like Harden, Ginobili, IT, Derek Fisher, Kukoc...
Speaking as a lefty, this is just wrong.
First of all, being left-handed is a huge advantage defensively. Russell himself has spoken about this on many occasions. Your dominant hand is always opposite your opponent's dominant hand. The most obvious times this is an advantage are when contesting or blocking shots, but it's actually advantageous in almost any man to man defensive situation.
On offense, being lefty puts you at a significant disadvantage for the same reason. All right-handed defenders have the same advantage over you that you normally have over right-handed offensive players. Yes, you can catch defenders off-guard since they are not as used to playing against lefties, but I think that is overstated and applies mostly to poor defenders who don't pay attention. I know that the first thing I look for in an opponent is which hand is his dominant hand. In pickup/rec league situations where I am not familiar with opposing players, I will check them out during warm ups or while waiting to play, to assess tendencies. In the NBA, where you have extensive scouting and play against the same guys frequently, players are not getting caught off guard a lot. They may get beaten by a deceptive move, but not because they forgot a player was lefty.
Oh, and since Bill Russell is left-handed, the question is, "Who is the SECOND best left-handed player ever, after the guy who was the best player on 11 championship teams in his 13 years?"
Just because it happened to you, doesn't make it interesting.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.
Yesterday I was lying; today I'm telling the truth.
. He was consistently disappointing in his prime.