Retro Player of the Year 1957-58 UPDATE — Bob Pettit

[Doctor MJ]

So ftr on Pettit vs Hagan, I'd tend to side with Pettit as my POY and Hagan as my POY. Both candidates in both awards, but I think Pettit's the more capable two-way player, and it's hard to argue with his capstone game.

I don't think that Hagan doing his thing was about defenses totally focusing on stopping Pettit - and generally, I don't think defenses focusing on stopping interior scorers makes perimeter scorers get high volume & efficiency.

And of course, Russell as DPOY, and would have likely been POY had he been able to be 100% in the finals.

[trex_8063]

It is easier to shine as a #2 when the #1 is drawing the doubles and being gamed for so I am hesitant to favor someone like Hagan over his teammate Pettit even if his playoff numbers are better.

Let us assume for the sake of argument Pettit is drawing doubles ...

Hagan out assists Pettit every which way: per game RS, more so per 36, more so per game in playoffs (doubling Pettit 3.6 to 1.8), most so in playoff per 36.

However deep you might want to plausibly define their rotation Pettit is lowest in RS and playoff assists per 36.

If he is getting doubles he's not directly channeling them into frequent teammate baskets.

Given the trend toward liking guys that can do both creating for self and others more and only one (perhaps especially only self ... perhaps because it fails to open [and perhaps fails to legitimate the threat of opening] four other routes) if you are taken by this way of thinking Pettit might be someone that's harmed by it.

I think Owly makes a very salient point about Pettit's ability to translate any additional defensive attention that he gets directly into "easy" scoring opportunities for teammates. The assist numbers, at least, are not highly suggestive of this.

However, there may still be some teeth to what pen is saying, too.
If I had to hazard a guess, I'd wager defenses were focused more on stopping/containing Pettit [than they were with Hagan], simply based on: 1) the disparity in scoring volume between the two of them (i.e. Pettit appears like the bigger threat, particularly to 1950s basketball minds [who seemed less attentive to efficiency compared to today]); and 2) reputation (particularly in '58, given this was the first year Hagan really "broke out" as a scorer).

From that standpoint, there may still be some truth to saying Hagan had an "easier" time scoring.

[eminence]

The 3 guys I'm thinking of for 4-6, just sticking their basic stats together in one spot to look at.

Hagan: 70 games (39-31), 31.3 mpg, 19.9/10.1/2.5 slash line, 114 TS+ (perceived as Pettit's #2)
Arizin: 68 games (36-32), 35.0 mpg, 20.7/7.4/2.0 slash line, 107 TS+ (uncertain, some sort of co-star situation with Gola/Johnston)
Yardley: 72 games (33-39), 39.5 mpg, 27.8/10.7/1.3 slash line, 113 TS+ (perceived as Pistons #1)

By my brief impressions/going by general perceptions I tend to think of Hagan as the best defender of the trio, but all in the below average to above average range imo, not any huge gaps.

PO stats.

Hagan: 11 games (5 Pistons, 6 Celtics), 38.0 mpg, 27.7/10.5/3.4 slash line, 57.6 TS%
Arizin: 8 games (3 Nats, 5 Celtics), 38.6 mpg, 23.5/7.8/2.0 slash line, 46.8 TS%
Yardley: 7 games (2 Royals, 5 Hawks), 36.3 mpg, 23.4/10.3/2.4 slash line, 52.4 TS%

[Owly]

It is easier to shine as a #2 when the #1 is drawing the doubles and being gamed for so I am hesitant to favor someone like Hagan over his teammate Pettit even if his playoff numbers are better.

Let us assume for the sake of argument Pettit is drawing doubles ...

Hagan out assists Pettit every which way: per game RS, more so per 36, more so per game in playoffs (doubling Pettit 3.6 to 1.8), most so in playoff per 36.

However deep you might want to plausibly define their rotation Pettit is lowest in RS and playoff assists per 36.

If he is getting doubles he's not directly channeling them into frequent teammate baskets.

Given the trend toward liking guys that can do both creating for self and others more and only one (perhaps especially only self ... perhaps because it fails to open [and perhaps fails to legitimate the threat of opening] four other routes) if you are taken by this way of thinking Pettit might be someone that's harmed by it.

I think Owly makes a very salient point about Pettit's ability to translate any additional defensive attention that he gets directly into "easy" scoring opportunities for teammates. The assist numbers, at least, are not highly suggestive of this.

However, there may still be some teeth to what pen is saying, too.
If I had to hazard a guess, I'd wager defenses were focused more on stopping/containing Pettit [than they were with Hagan], simply based on: 1) the disparity in scoring volume between the two of them (i.e. Pettit appears like the bigger threat, particularly to 1950s basketball minds [who seemed less attentive to efficiency compared to today]); and 2) reputation (particularly in '58, given this was the first year Hagan really "broke out" as a scorer).

From that standpoint, there may still be some truth to saying Hagan had an "easier" time scoring.

Not looking to say (to the extent teams did this) that Pettit wasn't a first priority for planning... that being said ...

- this will be more of a thing that's impactful where you've got one outlier usage, outlier quality guys (David Robinson, Wilt Chamberlain);
- if the guy can't or won't pass effectively (assists not a perfect proxy for this, granted) teams are happier allowing/encouraging the ball down that route
- Hagan's usage, scoring really isn't that far behind Pettit's RS in rate of points, shots. Pettit plays more but teams would presumably know (this isn't complex) that when on Hagan is shooting, scoring nearly as much (BP: 8.3 fgm per 36, 20.2 fga per 36, 10.6 fta, 24.6 pts; CH: 8.3, 18.7, 8.2, 22.9).

Combine this with Hagan receiving ... seemingly less playmaking support...

Pettit has the bigger career, is the bigger star maybe those priors help, mileage on playoffs varies ... I'm not taking a hard and fast stand ... just ... Hagan had a good year and an excellent playoffs.

[AEnigma]

Less than a day to go before the soft submission deadline.

[Djoker]

VOTING POST

Player of the Year

1. Bob Pettit - Second best in the regular season after the #2 guy on this list but proved his worth in the Finals once again, dominating his way to a title. 1st Team All-NBA. Averaged 24.6/17.4/2.2 on 49.2 %TS (+4.3 rTS) in the RS and then 29.3/17.0/2.2 on 51.2 %TS (+6.3 rTS over league average) in the Finals and again like last season he couldn't be stopped when it mattered most.

2. Bill Russell - Already the best player in the league in his 2nd season leading an outlier defensive team. Best rebounder in the league and became a pivot on offense as his passing reads evolved. 2nd Team All-NBA for some odd reason despite being the league MVP. Averaged 16.6/22.7/2.9 on 46.5 %TS (+1.6 rTS) in the RS and then 15.1/24.6/2.7 on 42.0 %TS (-2.9 rTS) in the PS although reduced minutes in two games took a toll on those PS numbers. If not for his injury in the Finals, I suspect the Celtics would have been champs and he would be my #1.

3. Dolph Schayes - Didn't do enough in the playoffs to warrant a higher ranking but he's as good as ever. 1st Team All-NBA. Averaged 24.9/14.2/3.1 on 50.8 %TS (+5.9 rTS) in the RS and then 26.7/15.0/2.0 on 50.1 %TS (+5.2 rTS) in the PS so despite a first round exit, not much more more could be asked of him.

4. Cliff Hagan - Very strong scoring in the PS and in fact he carried Pettit through the WDF and was arguably the Hawks' best player in the first four games of the Finals. He struggled in the home stretch of the Finals and his regular season doesn't strike me as good enough to serious challenge Pettit for alpha dog or the impact of the #2 and #3 guys. Still I feel he's the most fluid of all the guys on this list. 2nd Team All-NBA. Averaged 19.9/10.1/2.5 on 51.3 %TS (+6.4 rTS) in RS and then 27.7/10.5/3.4 on a monstrous 57.6 %TS (+12.7 rTS) in the PS.

5. Bob Cousy - Still the best offensive engine in the league. 1st Team All-NBA. Averaged 18.0/5.0/7.1 on 41.5 %TS (-3.4 rTS) in the RS and then 18.0/6.5/7.5 on 43.2 %TS (-1.7 rTS) in the PS. Scoring efficiency declined a lot but his play carried the Celtics even in the Finals when Russell got hurt. I could end up picking Yardley or Arizin here but Zep's newspaper clipping show that perhaps Cousy is underrated in his impact.

Offensive Player of the Year

1. Bob Pettit

2. Cliff Hagan

3. Bob Cousy

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Bill Russell

2. Maurice Stokes

3. Dolph Schayes

[eminence]

Voting Post

Player of the Year
1. Bob Pettit
Feel pretty good about this one. Russell would've been here without the injury. Good offensively, decent defensively, very high energy big. Hagan rising up was a big part of it, but the Hawks giving the Celtics as much as they could handle even when Russell was healthy is a big plus for Pettit (looking at this season and others). I'm very impressed by the overall talent on those Celtics squads and not as impressed overall by the Hawks. The closeout in game 6 is a very strong cherry (50/19, 19 in the final quarter including the game sealing bucket).

2. Bill Russell
Great player, improved from last season, would've gotten a relatively clear #1 if he'd gotten over the line. But he didn't, so he winds up #2 to the guy who got past him. To be critical - I'm generally unimpressed by Russell's offensive skills and see him as absorbing a lot of a teams easiest looks at pretty mediocre efficiency without greatly improving others looks. #1 ability on that end being his rebounding creating more looks, overall closer to Rodman than a big you can run your offense through. But being just okay on offense and The GOAT on D is a pretty damn potent combo, expect many #1s to follow.

3. Dolph Schayes
I'm a Schayes fan and he keeps just chugging along as a top ~3 guy in the league. In the right team setting I think he could've taken #1 this year (maybe #2 behind PO healthy Russell). As is, I don't see enough of a personal failure in their upset loss to move him down any further than this.

4. Cliff Hagan
My top #2 guy, can't see him over the guys I really considered for best in the league (think Frobe), but he was a critical portion of the 2nd most important team of the era, and this is the year he/they got it done. His big carry performance coming against the Pistons and not the Celtics does put a hard cap on how high he can rise, but also cleanly puts him past my #5.

5. George Yardley
Arizin did enough to make me think about it, but at this point Yardley just seems a step ahead in the same role. Arizin made it closer in the POs, but didn't really do anything more when it came down to it. I'm not huge on these score first/last types (think 80s forwards, KD, Melo, etc to various levels), but when they're in prime they can be consistent threats for the back ends of this list. Yardley scored very very well this season.

[70sFan]

5. George Yardley
Arizin did enough to make me think about it, but at this point Yardley just seems a step ahead in the same role. Arizin made it closer in the POs, but didn't really do anything more when it came down to it. I'm not huge on these score first/last types (think 80s forwards, KD, Melo, etc to various levels), but when they're in prime they can be consistent threats for the back ends of this list. Yardley scored very very well this season.

I think taking Yardley over Arizin is perfectly reasonable, he had a very strong scoring season while Arizin had arguably his weakest prime year in 1958. Per thinkingbasketball.net:

Yardley: 26.4 pp75 on +5.6 rTS% in RS, 23.8 pp75 on +7.1 rTS% in PS
Arizin: 22.5 pp75 on +3.0 rTS% in RS, 23.1 pp75 on +2.1 rTS% in PS

The problem I have with Yardley is that the Pistons were never a good offensive team during his prime. He didn't have a great supporting cast, but Shue and McGuire is a solid offensive backcourt, with Gallantin in his last season being solid as well. At the same time, he did remarkably well later in his career when he joined a talented Nats team, so maybe I am overly critical of him.

We don't have much footage of him available, the closest to this season I could find is this short reel from RS game against Royals (you can see Maurice Stokes here as well):

Watch on YouTube

[Dr Positivity]

Sharman has a better scoring season than Arizin this year and has a better all around game so I don't really have a reason to support the latter over him.

[OhayoKD]

Alright, this will be my voting post

1. Bill Russell

Last thread I voted for a member of the losing finalist and I'll repeat the act today. 1958 Celtics improve in the regular-season and even with Hagan's emergence for the Hawks look the best team until Russell gets injured. Notable to me is Russell jumps from second in minutes per game (35) on his own team to a standout minutes leader (38) on top of a 2-point volume increase with a higher fg% and a higher ft%.

Fwiw, there is a 3-rebound spike(i take it at least as a weak indicator of rim-protection), and we have the "more involved in offensive sets" from 70sfan who is one of the few people who has actually seen full games from this season.

With Russell already a near POY for me in 1957 I think i'll take this seemingly improved version as POY this year. I'm not big into massively penalizing otherwise durable players for unfortunate injury timing though I give petit a bit of extra-credit playing a few extra games and a few extra playoff games overall.

2. Dolph Schyaes

With the Hawks becoming a 2-man team as opposed to a 1-man one these playoffs, I'm more willing to set aside the final team success as an indicator here. With both higher PPG and higher TS+ add it seems fair to argue he was a better scorer ontop of being considered a more impactful defender. Over a 3-game sample he didn't play as well as Hagan(and probably was comparable to Petit), but for the season in totality I'd say the 2nd place in MVP voting played like the 2nd best guy.

3. Cliff Hagan

This wouldn't have really even registered for me as a possibility had the postseason not played out differently than the regular season where Petit, again doubled as both the team's far and away leading scorer and potential primary paint-protector (guessing from both the outlier rebound total, his height, and the negative reputation Mcauley held). But in the postseason not only did Hagan become, by a margin, the highest volume scorer for St. Louis. He also became by far their most efficient scorer with a fg% .11% higher and a ft% 10% higher than Petit. He also doubled his rebounds(10), and saw an assist spike(nearly doubling Petit).

Petit had a legendary close-out performance but it seems to me Hagan was the better performer overall in the biggest games.

Additionally while I'm skeptical of just how much he was offering during the regular-seaosn, it should probably be noted his minutes and games increasing coincided with a 7-win and 1+ srs increase which is more than I can say for samples for Petit until a few years later.

I am open to the idea it was Petit's doubles which allowed for Hagan to shine though I would like to see some tape for this if it's accessible.

4. Bob Petit

There's some questions regarding his primacy here but Petit is much more of a common denominator between this win and the previous near-win than Hagan is and for my money likely the best regular-season player for the Hawks despite what tiny WOWY samples might suggest. A solid feat on what was the 3rd best team in the league in the RS.

5. Maurice Stokes

The second best defender in the league and the only one conceivably approaching Russell not to mention strong overall impact signals:

32-31 with Stokes, 1-8 without him (counting playoffs, 32-32 and 1-9 respectively)… then 19-53 the following year without him

Looking more into Stokes I think I've underrated him.

DPOY

1. Bill Russell
2. Maurice Stokes
3. Dolph Schayes


OPOY

1. Schayes
2. Hagan
3. Petit

[ZeppelinPage]

Player of the Year
1. Bob Pettit
2. Bill Russell
3. Dolph Schayes
4. Cliff Hagan
5. Bob Cousy

Pettit was tremendous in a tense Game 6 and that puts him over Russell, who was injured. Schayes is still amazing even later in his career, with his shooting continue to ascend as he ages. Hagan was ridiculous in the playoffs and certainly has a case over Schayes, even with Pettit taking on much of the responsibility on offense. Cousy did have a down year with injury problems, but I think his playoffs was rather underrated, especially without Russell. The Celtics were actually very close to getting the Hawks to Game 7 at the Boston Garden.

Offensive Player of the Year
1. Bob Pettit
2. Cliff Hagan
3. Bob Cousy

Pettit and Hagan both have to be here for their all-around offensive ability and playoffs. Hagan and Cousy could be interchangeable, but I gave Hagan the nod because of his playoff run. The Celtics did finish 3rd in ORTG via Ben Taylor, and Cousy was still at the helm of that, so credit to him there.

Defensive Player of the Year
1. Bill Russell
2. Maurice Stokes
3. Tom Gola

Russell is the clear choice here. Stokes probably would have won a couple of these without Russell in the mix. Gola deserves some praise for his ability to defend, rebound, and steal. He was highly regarded as an all-around player at this point and his defense was especially notable.

[trex_8063]

Offensive Player of the Year
1. Dolph Schayes - Comfortably the apparent anchor for the league’s 2nd-best offense; and note he edged Pettit in both ppg and apg this season, and with better shooting efficiency, while producing a marginally better ORtg [at least estimated] with Larry Costello, Ed Conlin, and Red Kerr for support…….than Pettit anchored with Cliff Hagan, Slater Martin, and Ed Macauley.
Schayes poured in 24.9 ppg [2nd in league] on the 8th-best TS% (is 3rd in TS Add); while also being 2nd on the team [13th in league] in apg, and leading the squad in rpg [4th in league, iirc].
Maintained his scoring volume and efficiency in their one playoff series, too (while much of the rest of his team were shrinking violets).

2. George Yardley - Although the disparity between ppg and apg suggests he’s a black hole, and though the team offense produced leaves something to be desired (not like he had NO help, with Harry Gallatin, Dick McGuire, and Gene Shue around)......I’ve got to give some props to the league leader in both ppg and TS Add.

3. Cliff Hagan - Very close after Schayes (+/- Yardley) for this category. I think Pettit, Bob Cousy or Bill Sharman, or Kenny Sears are all valid choices, too. I’ll give Hagan his props in this category (for now, at least), ahead of his star teammate Pettit. As Owly noted his rate of scoring is pretty close to Pettit’s, he just plays less (fwiw, I suspect this may be partly his fault: noting he averages 4.4 PF’s per 36……he was likely often in foul trouble when playing large minutes). And factoring in also his apparent playoff rising, seems like a solid choice.
The disconnect between his box production and impact signals (that I noted at great length in the Top 100 Project), and which could relate to why few of his peers ever seemed to think he was one of the league’s elite, is a bit of a concern. So I may end up switching this pick.
However, he’s averaging 19.9 ppg (-4.7 relative to Pettit), but on efficiency that’s +2.1% relative to Pettit, and +0.3 apg compared to Bob (and again: doing all this in less playing time). Them being the 3rd-best offense (or maybe 4th by Ben Taylor’s estimates) makes me feel someone on this roster should arguably be in there.
But again, Sears or Pettit or Cousy (Sharman??) all look like good options too. So I might switch this. It is a bit of a slumped year for Cousy, though (his shooting efficiency really tanks this year).


Defensive Player of the Year
1. Bill Russell - Duh. I know it’s lazy, but I don’t feel I even need to explain this one.

2. Maurice Stokes - I actually don’t think this one needs a ton of explanation either. Stokes is the leading rebounder for the 2nd-best defense in the league (2nd in league to Russell in rpg). He’s actually got the league-best estimated BPM this year, with a DBPM component that’s marginally HIGHER than Russell’s (though it’s being overstated because assists are used as a proxy for steals). His defensive reputation is great, though, so he seems like the easy choice for #2.

3. Bob Pettit - Going mostly based on rebounding numbers. There a number of other arguable choices……maybe Schayes or Kerr from Syracuse, Sharman, Heinsohn, or Cousy from Boston; Gola from Philly.
Idk, I’ll think on it some more, and try to read what others are thinking.


Player of the Year
1. Dolph Schayes - Russell getting injured in the playoffs (as well as ‘58 being one of his 4-5 worst seasons when healthy) has prompted me to put him behind Schayes this year [which was arguably Dolph’s best].
He’s the obvious anchor to the #2 offense in the league (see above in OPOY comments), while placing 4th in the league in rpg (for the 3rd-rated defense, fwiw).
He ranks 2nd in the league in each of PER, WS/48, and estimated BPM, while leading the league in mpg [40.5] and not missing a single game. He’s consequently 1st in WS and estimated VORP.
They lost a 3-game series in the playoffs, though certainly not on account of Schayes underperforming (26.7 ppg @ 50.1% TS [+5.2% rTS], 15.0 rpg………Larry Costello was the ONLY teammate to even top 40% TS [at 42.3%]). In the final loss, Schayes dropped a game-high 26 pts on +4.0% rTS, while the rest of his team was a combined -9.6% rTS (meanwhile the Warriors got a combined 32 pts on [uncharacteristic] league-avg efficiency from the usual offensive quagmire that is the duo of Graboski and Sauldsberry).
Although he didn’t have to face Russell, his post-season numbers held up a little better than Pettit’s.
Overall, though, I had him #1 in my OPOY and at least a weak HM in my DPOY balloting.

2. Bob Pettit - My tentative #3 in DPOY balloting, and an HM in OPOY. Was the consensus best player on the title team (even if Hagan did go off in the playoffs).

3. Bill Russell - Honestly, it feels a pinch gross going this low with Russell. But, given his post-season injury, and this being one of his weaker all-around years [when healthy], and that it coincides with Pettit’s title season and what is one of Schayes’ top-3 seasons…….idk, here I am.

4. George Yardley - Dude was scoring better than anyone in the league this year (and we’re talking about a league with prime Pettit, Schayes, Hagan, Sears, Sharman, etc). 10+ rpg too, and a solid showing in the playoffs.

5. Maurice Stokes - I like his defensive imprint, the fact that he appears a serious playmaker at the PF, and his impact signals are more solid than Hagan’s (who was one of my other main considerations, along with Cousy and Sharman).

[LA Bird]

Player of the Year
1. Bill Russell
2. Dolph Schayes
3. Bob Pettit
4. Cliff Hagan
5. Maurice Stokes

The beginning of Russell's reign - I personally don't penalize one-off injuries much so he still goes #1. Pettit seems to be the overwhelming favorite for POY because of the title but this was a less impressive year to me than the one before. A strong argument for Pettit last season was how well he performed despite the difference in supporting cast vs the Celtics but that is no longer the case this time around. Cousy fell off and Hagan is the one who not only joins the top 5 but arguably outplayed Pettit in the playoffs. And I really don't get this second option talk. When you are scoring clearly more points on far higher efficiency as the perimeter player while almost doubling in assists, there is not really a question in my mind who was the better offensive player. And the actual gap is even bigger than the per game numbers since averages in such few games is skewed in favor of the player with the one big outlier performance. In the 1958 postseason, Pettit's median scoring game was 20 points vs 28 points for Hagan. For comparison, in the 1957 postseason, Pettit's median scoring game was 32.5 points. The one 50 point game to clinch the title tricked people into thinking Pettit had a dominant title run when in reality he was quite underwhelming the rest of the games. With all that being said, I still have Pettit ahead of Hagan overall because of the better regular season and defense.

The Nationals finally acquired a guard (Costello) so Schayes doesn't have to lead the team in assists but the overall talent was still not at the level of the other contenders. Nevertheless, they were still the second best offense and second overall and Schayes even led the league in win shares in the regular season. I am guessing most people will have an issue with his first round upset but it was a best of 3 series and he still played great despite the loss. If we swap the #2 guy between the Hawks and the Nationals, is there any question whether Schayes could advance to the Finals with Hagan? Alternatively, does Pettit make it out of the first round himself with his 18 points on 41% TS if his #2 was putting up 11 points on 42% TS? I'm a bit surprised to see someone else voting Schayes even higher but the gap between non-rookie Russell and Schayes was just too big for me.

Arizin/Johnston have been a regular on this list for years but neither are making it this time for me. Johnston looked like his usual self the first half of the season but declined thereafter before retiring early next season. Arizin started slow and overall had a down year like in 1955. Yardley was the scoring leader on great efficiency but his lack of passing is too often overlooked. His 20.4 TSA per assist is even worse than 62 Wilt for example. All three were on teams with below league average offenses too. To be fair, the Royals with Stokes were an even worse offense but this is the second season in row where they would have been the #1 defense (and Stokes as unanimous DPOY) if Russell didn't exist. And as bad as his scoring efficiency was, Stokes was a great passer for a bigman and he had smooth handles and moved well in transition. Team success overall was still lacking (6th of 8 in SRS) but Yardley's Pistons were even worse and there are strong impact signals for Stokes this season:

1958 Royals (regular season + playoffs)
Stokes IN (64G): -0.8 MOV, 41.0 win pace
Stokes OUT (10G): -8.3 MOV, 8.2 win pace

[AEnigma]

Alright, this will be my voting post

DPOY
1. Bill Russell
2. Schayes
3. Gola

I have generally been soft on the lack of OPoY/DPoY reasoning in many ballots, but not voting for Stokes at all is a significant departure from how you usually assess players, to the point that I am guessing you just forgot about him or otherwise did not recognise his name, and the lack of reasoning means there is nothing with which we can engage.

The purpose of this project is to discuss the players, not just coldly post ballots.

EDIT: Thank you for amending.

[AEnigma]

Votes are tallied. I recorded 11 voters: Djoker, Trex, AEnigma, Eminence, Dutchball97, Dr. Positivity, OhayoKD, LA Bird, Zeppelin, 70sFan, and trelos. LA Bird and eminence abstained from voting for Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year. Please let me know if I seem to have missed or otherwise improperly recorded a vote.

1957-58 Results

(Retro) Offensive Player of the Year — Dolph Schayes

Code: Select all

Player       1st   2nd   3rd   Points  Shares
1. Dolph Schayes    4   3   0    29     0.644
2. Bob Pettit    4   1   1    24     0.533
3. Cliff Hagan   0    4    2     12    0.311
4. George Yardley   0    1    3      6     0.133
5. Carl Braun   1    0    0      5     0.111
6. Bob Cousy   0    0    3      3     0.067

(Retro) Defensive Player of the Year — Bill Russell (2) (Unanimous)

Code: Select all

Player         1st   2nd   3rd   Points  Shares
1. Bill Russell   9    0    0     45     1.000
2. Maurice Stokes    0    9    0    27    0.600
3. Dolph Schayes    0    0    3      3    0.067
3. Tom Gola    0    0    3      3    0.067
5. Joe Graboski    0    0    2      2    0.044
6. Bob Pettit    0    0    1      1    0.022

Retro Player of the Year — Bob Pettit (2)

Code: Select all

Player      1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Pts  POY Shares
1. Bob Pettit  7  1  2  1  0   90    0.818
2. Bill Russell   3  6  2  0  0   82    0.745
3. Dolph Schayes   1  4  5  1  0   66    0.600
4. Cliff Hagan   0  0  2  7  1   32    0.291
5a. George Yardley   0  0  0  1  3   6   0.055
5b. Maurice Stokes   0  0  0  1  3   6    0.055
7. Bob Cousy   0  0  0  0  2   2    0.018
8. Bill Sharman   0  0  0  0  1   1    0.009
8. Paul Arizin   0  0  0  0  1   1    0.009

In the prior project, there were 14 votes, with Dr. Positivity overlapping. With his prior ballot removed, these are the aggregated results of the two projects across 24 total ballots:

Spoiler:

Code: Select all

Player   1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Pts  POY Shares
1. Bob Pettit  15  4  4  1  0   201    0.838
2. Bill Russell   8  13  3  0  0   186    0.775
3. Dolph Schayes   1  6  13  4  0   129    0.538
4. Cliff Hagan   0  1  4  15  1   73    0.304
5. George Yardley   0  0  0  2  13   19   0.079
6. Maurice Stokes   0  0  0  2  3   9    0.038
7. Bob Cousy   0  0  0  0  3   3    0.013
8. Bill Sharman   0  0  0  0  1   1    0.004
8. Kenny Sears   0  0  0  0  1   1    0.004
8. Neil Johnston   0  0  0  0  1   1    0.004
8. Paul Arizin   0  0  0  0  1   1    0.004

1959 thread will open shortly.

[Djoker]

Russell got a decent number of #1 votes which surprises me. I guess many people don't penalize getting hurt in the Finals that much.