Retro Player of the Year 1952-53 — George Mikan

[AEnigma]

General Project Discussion Thread

In this thread we'll discuss and vote on the top 5 players and the top 3 offensive and defensive players of 1952-53.

Player of the Year (POY)(5) — most accomplished overall player of that season
Offensive Player of the Year (OPOY)(3) — most accomplished offensive player of that season
Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY)(3) — most accomplished defensive player of that season

Voting will close sometime after 6:30 PM EST on Sunday, July 21st. I have no issue keeping it open so long as discussion is strong, but please try to vote within the first three days.

Valid ballots must provide an explanation for your choices that gives us a window into how you thought and why you came to the decisions you did. You can vote for any of the three awards — although they must be complete votes — but I will only tally votes for an award when there are at least five valid ballots submitted for it.

Remember, your votes must be based on THIS season. This is intended to give wide wiggle room for personal philosophies while still providing a boundary to make sure the award can be said to mean something. You can factor things like degree of difficulty as defined by you, but what you can't do is ignore how the player actually played on the floor this season in favor of what he might have done if only...

You may change your vote, but if you do, edit your original post rather than writing, "hey, ignore my last post, this is my real post until I change my mind again.” I similarly ask that ballots be kept in one post rather than making one post for Player of the Year, one post for Offensive Player of the Year, and/or one post for Defensive Player of the Year. If you want to provide your reasoning that way for the sake of discussion, fine, but please keep the official votes themselves in one aggregated post. Finally, for ease of tallying, I prefer for you to place your votes at the beginning of your balloting post, with some formatting that makes them stand out. I will not discount votes which fail to follow these requests, but I am certainly more likely to overlook them.

Current Voter List

Spoiler:

________________________________________
Layaway Voters
* Bad Gatorade
* MyUnibroDavis
* penbeast0

[ZeppelinPage]

The Sam Davis Memorial Award was given to Bob Cousy for this season, making him the unofficial 1953 MVP.

A truly brilliant season from Bob Cousy. His name was now starting to be placed alongside the likes of George Mikan, Nat Holman, Hank Luisetti, and Bobby McDermott. He finished 3rd in minutes, 4th in points, 1st in assists, and 1st in field goal attempts. The Celtics have the #1 offense in the league.

The playoffs roll around and the Celtics upset the 2nd seed Nationals, who have the 3rd highest SRS in the league that season. Cousy scores 20 points in a foul heavy game one that the Celtics win through their 22 straight free throws to end the game.

Then came game two--a magical night in Boston. Cousy has a ridiculous 50 points (breaking Mikan's single-game scoring record) and goes 30-32(!) from the free throw line (still a record for free throws made in a game) in 66 minutes. Integration-era historian Josh Elias (TringlePringle) considers it one of the most impressive things in the history of the sport:

And I'm not entirely sure where within this grouping Bob Cousy's 50-point game to send the Nats home in '53 belongs, since he had four overtimes' worth of extra time to do it in, but scoring 25 points in overtimes alone in pre-shot clock basketball would be one of the most impressive things in the history of the sport even if it wasn't in the playoffs to complete a series upset.

66 minutes played.
30 free throws.
25 points in overtime alone.
A playoff upset as the underdog.
Elimination game.

It was a player rising to the occasion under exhausting and dire circumstances.

Cousy made a free throw at the end of regulation to take the game into overtime. He scored six points in the 1st overtime, including a free throw to send it into a 2nd overtime.

In the 3rd overtime, he scored 7 of 9 points for the Celtics and tied the game with 18 seconds left on two free throws. With three seconds remaining, he dropped in a one-hand push shot from 25 feet to send the game into the 4th overtime.

In the 4th overtime, he scored 9 of 12 points for the Celtics, and erased a five-point deficit in the last three minutes.

Down 104-99, in these last three minutes he:
Sank a free throw
Tipped-in a rebound
Stole a pass and scored off a left hand layup
Drew a foul on Red Rocha, making one of two free throws
Drew a foul on Al Cervi, making both free throws
Scored off a technical foul free throw

Cousy played through five fouls in the last two overtimes and sank 18 straight free throws until he missed one with two minutes left in the 4th overtime.

Here are some quotes from after the game:

A woman fan, tears streaming down her face, held onto her young son and kept saying: “It’s impossible. He did it all by himself.”

A Syracuse writer, too jittery to light a cigarette, kept insisting: “He’s the greatest thing anybody ever will see any place. He beat this league all by himself. He’ll bring the championship back to Boston for you guys. He is the one who can do it.”

The Cooz, drawn and pale and operating on a leg that threatened to buckle under him any second, put on the greatest one-man show ever seen in Boston Garden or any other place in this town during the 3-hour, 11-minute stretch that seemed an eternity to 11,053 limp fans.

His great floor play and foul shooting kept the sagging Celts in the ballgame through the regulation periods, his last three free throws sending the game into the first overtime. He bailed the team through that session with two of the four points. In the third hectic extra round, he scored seven of the nine points, including a basket with three seconds left to preserve the tie, and he got nine of the 12 points in the wild windup.

“He did it, just that one kid,” Al Cervi, Syracuse player-coach, agreed. “We should be going back to play the third game now. Instead, we’re going home for the year. What a ballplayer! He’s the best.”

Even the players were shot. Bob Donham, who fouled out with little more than a minute to play, could hardly talk in the dressing room. “Greatest thing anybody ever saw.”

Bob Harris, who doesn’t say much anytime, just murmured, “He’s the best. Nothing like him.”

Cousy led the playoffs in points, field goal attempts, and free throw attempts, and finished 2nd in assists and minutes. He was 6th in TS% on 20 FGA per game.

Bob Cousy is, unequivocally, my 1953 Player of the Year and 1953 Offensive Player of the Year.

[trex_8063]

Not that this is by any means a thing to base ranking on, but just to share in easy-to-read list form (I wish bbref listed this on their yearly leaderboards)......

'53 rs Leaders in TS Add
1. Neil Johnston - 261.2
2. Ed Macauley - 253.1
3. Bill Sharman - 166.4
4. Harry Gallatin - 131.2
5. Dolph Schayes - 127.5
6. Vern Mikkelsen - 122.6
7. George Mikan - 105.2
8. Carl Braun - 101.5
9. Arnie Johnson - 95.8
10. Ernie Vandeweghe - 79.0
11. Paul Seymour - 78.6
12. Slater Martin - 67.1
13. Bobby Wanzer - 63.7
14. Bob Davies - 63.0
15. Odie Spears - 60.0

(NOTE: Bob Cousy was a modest +1.9, though while avg 19.8 ppg [4th in league, barely 2nd on his team behind Macauley] and a league-best [+2.0 over 2nd!] 7.7 apg, for the best offense in the land; I can't help feeling he has a hand in the striking efficiency of Macauley and Sharman).

[Djoker]

Great post Zep!

Cousy was a beast this year. And yea he might challenge Mikan even though the latter led his team to another title. Still probably slightly leaning towards Mikan though. Some familiar names like Neil Johnston and Bill Sharman enter the fray too.

[Dr Positivity]

I'm considering Paul Seymour for top 5 as I consider it to be relatively open as I'm not sure I'm going to vote for Johnston on a 12 win team. His scoring is respectable enough at 14ppg on the 11th highest TS% in the league (.485 TS) while being possibly the best defensive wing in the league and a 4 assist SG. Moreso looking at the success of the Nationals in this era contending this year, G7 finals in 54 and 55 title with a team that doesn't look that spectacular outside of Schayes, it would makes sense if he was a legit 2nd star. Sharman is a better offensive player however I believe Seymour is better on D (although Sharman is underrated) and passing to make up for it, and Sharman doesn't have great playoffs.

Cousy probably has to be voted 2nd this time (still Mikan 1st) though I find it underwhelming that the core of him, Sharman and Macauley with Auerbach were set up pretty well to be the dominant Eastern team talent wise and don't even make a finals.

[trelos6]

I need to reconcile the fact that Neil Johnston led the league in scoring with +8.9 rTS%, but his team were dead last in ORtg, and second last in DRtg. I'd love to give him a spot on my final list, as I believe this was a weak MVP level season.

The league leading Celtics (on offense), were driven by Cousy (league average TS%), Sharman (+7.6 rTS%), and Macauley (+9.8 rTS%). Sharman played significantly fewer minutes than the other 2, but looking at the scoring per 36, they are all between 17.2-17.7 ppg. In the playoffs, Cousy turned into more of a scorer this season, and eclipsed the other 2. Plus his general playmaking, I think the order should be Cousy, Macauley, Sharman. But all 3 should be in consideration.

The second best offense were the Nationals, led by Dolph Schayes. +5 rTS%, with 17.8 ppg. He was also strong defensively, grabbing 13 boards a game (more valuable in this era of lower FG%).

Knicks were the 3rd best offense, and they as always, are more of an ensemble cast. Gallatin had another terrific year, I think I need to look into him more for my CORP rankings, though he probably lands in the 120-150 range.

And of course, the Lakers, 4th ranked offense, but 1st ranked defense, anchored by the best player of the era, George Mikan. 20.6 ppg, +3.5 rTS%. Still dominating defensively.

POY

1. George Mikan
2. Bob Cousy
3. Dolph Schayes
4. Ed Macauley
5. Harry Gallatin

OPOY

1. Bob Cousy
2. Neil Johnston
3. Bob Davies

DPOY

1. George Mikan
2. Nat Clifton
3. Dolph Schayes

[AEnigma]

DPOY

1. George Mikan
2. Dolph Schayes
3. Harry Gallatin

I really do not see any case for Gallatin over Clifton as a defender this year.

[eminence]

Annual worst to first by SRS.

Warriors: Oofta these guys stunk. The corpses of Fulks/Senesky and some guys I've barely heard of, rough go for Johnston. Who was probably actually pretty good, but I have a tough time imagining voting for a player on a squad this bad. Next year for sure Neil.

Bullets: Nearly as bad as the Warriors, but no stars. Played in the playoffs at 16-54, what a time to be alive.

Hawks: A return to a normal level of bad squad. Hutchins anchored a pretty decent defense, I'll think about him for my DPOY ballot.

Olympians: Snuck into the playoffs above the Hawks, I already gave Graboski his flowers last season. They're all-around less impressive this time.

Pistons: Above .500 and into decent team territory. Upset the Royals and then gave the Lakers a full 5 games. I'm highest on Foust here, but not a no brainer pick by any means. Would have to consider he vs Johnston.

Celtics: Great offense, bad defense. Beat the Nationals in a... memorable series before falling to the Knicks. Sharman's arrival in the starting lineup kicked the offense into high gear, still have Cousy as the head of the snake. Cousy will be on my ballot, Macauley/Sharman strong help.

Royals: League is catching up offensively (and overall), no longer the clear 2nd tier to Minnesota. Get upset by the Pistons. First season I might put Wanzer ahead of Davies, but overall I don't think any Royals will make it onto my ballot. Several good players though.

Nationals: Seymour grows into a true 2nd star by this point, Rocha still quite solid, Schayes clear top dog. Horrible PO outing from Schayes gets them upset by the Celtics in round 1 (bad game 1 and then gets thrown out early in game 2 after a fight). Certainly dings him relative to the competition, but I'm not sure how heavily to weight the 2 game sample.

Knicks: Braun returns, Zaslofsky leaves and the Knicks have their strongest RS and once again push through the East. Split on Braun/Clifton as their top player this go around but they are once again the team I see as the deepest in the league. Clifton will be on my DPOY ballot, and this is likely he/Brauns best shot at the overall ballot. Gallatin may have been in contention as well with a better playoff run.

Lakers: Reigning dynasty has the best RS and marches to another title. Mikan still the top minutes guy and an easy pick for POY/DPOY again imo. The 2-4 of Martin/Pollard/Mikkelsen continues to be reliable, but I once again don't see any in contention for POY awards.

A strange year overall, with less clear picks imo than the last few.

Mikan is an easy #1.
Cousy will easily be on my ballot.
Clifton will likely take my #2 DPOY slot.
But after that I'm very much up on the air.

[trex_8063]

There was a poster some years ago who'd utilized the existing box stats, AST%/TOV%/etc estimations, and team results to compile some [estimated] BPM (and VORP) for seasons prior to '74, and his numbers generally passed the smell test most years (though probably not the offense/defense splits [had to rely too heavily on rebounding for defensive splits (like as proxy for blocks), and I think assists as proxy for steals to some degree]).
Thought I'll share the BPM and VORP leaders for '53.....


rs BPM Leaders (OBPM/DBPM splits)
1. Dolph Schayes - 6.9 (3.2/3.7)
2. George Mikan - 6.6 (3.1/3.5)
3. Neil Johnston - 5.1 (2.5/2.6)
4. Ed Macauley - 4.9 (3.3/1.6)
5. Jack Coleman - 4.4 (0.9/3.5)
6. Harry Gallatin - 4.2 (1.6/2.6)
7. Vern Mikkelsen - 3.9 (1.6/2.3)
t8. Bob Cousy - 3.4 (2.4/1.0)
t8. Mel Hutchins - 3.4 (-0.5/3.9)
10. Andy Phillip - 3.1 (1.1/2.1)
11. George Ratkovicz - 2.9 (0.5/2.4)
12. Larry Foust - 2.7 (0.7/2.0)
13. Nat Clifton - 2.5 (-0.7/3.1)
14. Leo Barnhorst - 2.4 (0.6/1.8)
t15. Ernie Vandeweghe - 2.2 (2.0/0.2)
t15. Jim Pollard - 2.2 (0.0/2.2)


rs VORP Leaders
1. Dolph Schayes - 6.9
2. George Mikan - 6.7
3. Neil Johnston - 6.6
4. Ed Macauley - 5.8
5. Jack Coleman - 4.9
6. Bob Cousy - 4.6
7. Mel Hutchins - 4.4
8. Vern Mikkelsen - 4.3
9. Harry Gallatin - 4.2
10. Leo Barnhorst - 3.6
11. Nat Clifton - 3.3
12. Larry Foust - 3.2
t13. Andy Phillip - 3.0
t13. Jim Pollard - 3.0
t15. Bobby Wanzer, George King, Paul Seymour, Red Rocha - 2.7

[Doctor MJ]

So something that I discovered only during the current project was that TinglePringle gives his DPOY award vote this year to Sweetwater Clifton:

Who would win each award if they already existed in 1947

Previously I've given it to Mikan with Clifton in second.

He also gives Cousy the MVP.

Of course, he's just going by regular season here, so to the extent the playoffs tell a different story, we'd expect different conclusions.

[Doctor MJ]

Annual worst to first by SRS.

Warriors: Oofta these guys stunk. The corpses of Fulks/Senesky and some guys I've barely heard of, rough go for Johnston. Who was probably actually pretty good, but I have a tough time imagining voting for a player on a squad this bad. Next year for sure Neil.

Yeah this is one of those situations where you can't say losing anyone from their roster would have actually made a meaningful difference so I can't really treat them like any of them were accomplishing anything.

It's been commented that I have a pro-Arizin anti-Johnston bias. While I won't claim of us are immune from bias in anything, I would emphasize that with stuff like this we're not talking about bias in a traditionally developed sense where information is taken in in real time.

What made me skeptical of Johnston's box score correlating with impact? This year right here, '52-53.

To be clear, I'm not saying it means Johnston can't have value on a good team, but what it does mean is that it was entirely possible for Johnston to get his numbers as a matter of course without his team actually threatening opponents.

Johnston isn't utterly unique here - the possibility of this stems from us getting accustomed to talking as if a guy scoring a small fraction of what a team needs to win a game is "unstoppable" and thus indicative of an offense that was making the defense struggle, when sometimes the reality is that the opposing team is perfectly content to allow the offensive strategy because it's not working very well.

Why it is this is happening can't be known simply from the limited data we have, but I would say that there's a particular historical theme of this happening with interior volume scorers because of the degree of difficulty in getting the ball into him where he needs it to get his shot off when the defense knows that that's how your offense works. This is true even for 7-footers like Wilt & Shaq, but I'd expect it's harder still when the player his only 6'8".

And if this is an issue, it also makes sense why Arizin & Johnston would work pretty well together, because any interior traffic jam gives a perimeter guy more space to work with, and a teammate who spaces the floor forces the defense to give the interior man more openings.

[Dr Positivity]

I think losing Phillip was a major factor (they were 4-9 with him so it was plausible they could've had a mediocre instead of terrible season) and he went on to help Fort Wayne to conference finals. But 12 wins seems way too low. I think the only way to defend Johnston is to claim his impact got better in his other seasons than his first real one as a star, in 54 they play at 34 win pace over 82 which is fine for an Arizin less supporting cast. Unlike a player like Bellamy where it never really happened, at least the Warriors have the peak success, although I find him and Arizin's results mediocre without Gola in the year preceding him and his army year, then by the time they had all three again Johnston is declining and Arizin seems like he was banged up.

[eminence]

Top 10 per100 guys (25+ mpg), still no multi-teamers, sorry to Phillip who certainly would've been on the Ast list.

Pts/100
1. Mikan 27.8
2. Johnston 25.0
3. Sharman 25.0
4. Schayes 24.5
5. Macauley 24.4
6. Cousy 24.2
7. Davies 23.2
8. Nichols 22.5
9. Simmons 22.0
10. Foust 21.9

Reb/100
1. Gallatin 20.3
2. Mikan 19.5
3. Schayes 17.9
4. Foust 17.6
5. Risen 16.7
6. Clifton 15.7
7. Johnston 15.6
8. Coleman 15.1
9. Hutchins 14.9
10. Brannum 14.4

Ast/100
1. Cousy 9.4
2. McGuire 8.7
3. King 7.4
4. Davies 6.4
5. Hoffman 6.1
6. Senesky 5.7
7. Seymour 5.7
8. Tosheff 5.5
9. Braun 5.5
10. Barnhorst 5.4

[Djoker]

Cousy probably has to be voted 2nd this time (still Mikan 1st) though I find it underwhelming that the core of him, Sharman and Macauley with Auerbach were set up pretty well to be the dominant Eastern team talent wise and don't even make a finals.

Boston really struggled defensively and on the glass in the pre-Russell years. They were sort of like the 7SOL Suns of the 50's.

[Dutchball97]

Player of the Year
1. George Mikan - Not his most convincing year but it's a pretty weak field overall this season. Arizin went to the military, Johnston missed the play-offs, of course no Groza anymore since last season and Schayes fumbling in the play-offs make it pretty easy for Mikan to keep his spot on top with him being the clear defensive player in the league and leading his team to another dominant title.

2. Bob Cousy - He led the best offense in the league during the regular season even though help from Macauley and Sharman can't be understated either. Though what really sets Cousy apart and even makes him a contender for the #1 spot is his offensive outburst in the play-offs. He did a lot to seperate himself from his teammates there. I don't blame the Cousy and the Celtics for losing to such a deep Knicks team but overall I don't think Cousy got to show quite enough to put him over Mikan here.

3. Larry Foust - It's already starting to become pretty slim pickings after the top 2 imo but out of the options that are available I'm most impressed by Foust. He had a solid regular season but then led a so-so Pistons team to a win over the higher seeded Royals and took the eventual champion Lakers to a deciding game. I do still think third might be a bit bullish on him but considering my next picks aren't the best players on their team I'm alright with keeping Foust here unless someone has a really convincing argument for why this overrates him.

4. Ed Macauley - Just like how Cousy benefits from playing with Macauley, the reverse is even more true. Still Macauley had another impressive regular season showing and while Cousy showed himself as the clear offensive leader of the Celtics, Macauley kept up in his own right. I think he's still the clear 2nd best player on the Celtics at this point.

5. Vern Mikkelsen - I think Mikkelsen stepped up as a second star to Mikan once again in the regular season. I'd have placed him higher but he didn't really show that same seperation from Pollard/Martin in the play-offs. Like I said at the start, I think Schayes imploded too hard in the play-offs to put him on my ballot when guys like Macauley and Mikkelsen held up much better in deeper runs. Same goes for Davies really. Gallatin is another one I considered but decided not to include him when I saw his relatively low amount of minutes played, which go even lower in the play-offs to just 27MPG.

Offensive Player of the Year
1. Bob Cousy
2. Larry Foust
3. Ed Macauley

I think it's hard to make an argument Cousy wasn't the best offensive player this year, he excelled as both a scorer and playmaker while leading the best offense in the league. Foust had a strong regular season but like Cousy (although to a lesser degree), Foust set himself apart in the play-offs. Macauley gets the nod for the last spot as even with Cousy helping him out, I'm still impressed by his offensive output. I gave some consideration to Mikan but at this point in his career I don't see him making another offensive ballot for me. The Royals didn't stand out as much in the regular season and then Davies had a whimper in the play-offs which makes him a hard sell for me too. Johnston deserves a mention but I'm not sure I'll ever include someone who missed the play-offs completely on any of my ballots. I guess Kareem will be testing that theory in the mid 70s.

Defensive Player of the Year
1. George Mikan
2. Nat Clifton
3. Vern Mikkelsen

Pretty clear 1-2 for me. The leaders of the best defenses in the league who both had consistent impact throughout their runs to the finals. Schayes was my frontrunner for the last spot as I feel he took over as the main defensive guy on the Nationals this season but I can't justify putting him over Mikkelsen after that play-off outing.

[AEnigma]

Offensive Player of the Year
2. Larry Foust

Foust had a strong regular season but like Cousy (although to a lesser degree), Foust set himself apart in the play-offs… I gave some consideration to Mikan but at this point in his career I don't see him making another offensive ballot for me

Foust was a relatively balanced player, but I would say he skews more to defence than to offence. In the regular season he is 11th in points per game (estimated 10th in points per possession) on marginally positive efficiency. Not a playmaker. You are putting him second almost entirely off his playoff run… yet you are discounting the guy who outscored Foust head-to-head on better (51.3% versus 47.1%) efficiency while being a better passer and having a much better regular season. High odds Mikan grabbed more offensive rebounds too.

[Dutchball97]

Offensive Player of the Year
2. Larry Foust

Foust had a strong regular season but like Cousy (although to a lesser degree), Foust set himself apart in the play-offs… I gave some consideration to Mikan but at this point in his career I don't see him making another offensive ballot for me

Foust was a relatively balanced player, but I would say he skews more to defence than to offence. In the regular season he is 11th in points per game (estimated 10th in points per possession) on marginally positive efficiency. Not a playmaker. You are putting him second almost entirely off his playoff run… yet you are discounting the guy who outscored Foust head-to-head on better (51.3% versus 47.1%) efficiency while being a better passer and having a much better regular season. High odds Mikan grabbed more offensive rebounds too.

Over his career I'd agree on Foust being slightly more defense minded although he was still pretty balanced. He also had a strong scoring season this year though and yes, his play-off run carries a lot of weight here. I've never made it a secret the play-offs are a huge part of my process no matter if it's only small sample sizes, you don't show up when it matters most and you're out while guys on the outside looking in can definitely make a case with a good run.

I also wouldn't say I'm discounting Mikan but he had pretty notable efficiency drop off in the play-offs, while Foust pretty much went the opposite way on much higher volume as well. How can that be then when Mikan outperformed Foust on offense in their head to head match up? Well because Mikan averaged 13.5 PPG in the first round and then only shot 30.9% from the field in the finals. I did consider him for my ballot but I prefer what the likes of Macauley and Foust brought this year.

[Dr Positivity]

Vote

1. George Mikan - He is still really good scorer with 2nd highest PPG nad 12th highest TS% and DPOY/best rebounder

2. Bob Cousy - I see Cousy as sharing credit with Sharman and Macauley but his playoffs along with Schayes poor 2 games makes him the right pick here.

3. Dolph Schayes - His stats are good not great, but I'm confident in his impact based on the Nationals results with this version of them (prime Seymour, Lloyd, etc.). He would have started improving his shooting/floor spacing by now, I believe.

4. Paul Seymour - There are several other players who are 2nd bananas available here (Macauley, Mikkelson), I think I'll give credit to Seymour for being the 2nd guy and getting results on a less stacked team, as I mentioned above his combination of scoring, defense and playmaking is very good.

5. Vern Mikkelson - Great defender/physicality and pretty solid offense at 15ppg on great efficiency for this time, second best player on top team.

Offensive player of the year:

1. Bob Cousy
2. Ed Macauley
3. Neil Johnston

Defensive player of the year

1. George Mikan
2. Mel Hutchins
3. Nat Clifton

[Doctor MJ]

I think losing Phillip was a major factor (they were 4-9 with him so it was plausible they could've had a mediocre instead of terrible season) and he went on to help Fort Wayne to conference finals. But 12 wins seems way too low. I think the only way to defend Johnston is to claim his impact got better in his other seasons than his first real one as a star, in 54 they play at 34 win pace over 82 which is fine for an Arizin less supporting cast. Unlike a player like Bellamy where it never really happened, at least the Warriors have the peak success, although I find him and Arizin's results mediocre without Gola in the year preceding him and his army year, then by the time they had all three again Johnston is declining and Arizin seems like he was banged up.

Would be interesting to read details on why the Warriors decided to sell Philip off. Back then there could be a wide variety of reasons so I don't want to just assume that they'd have kept him if their team looked like a quality team, but in general, when a team starts badly and then sells off talent to a better team, the two things are often related.

[Doctor MJ]

Cousy probably has to be voted 2nd this time (still Mikan 1st) though I find it underwhelming that the core of him, Sharman and Macauley with Auerbach were set up pretty well to be the dominant Eastern team talent wise and don't even make a finals.

Boston really struggled defensively and on the glass in the pre-Russell years. They were sort of like the 7SOL Suns of the 50's.

The 7SOL Suns were not known for getting repeatedly upset by non-champions.