70sFan wrote:I disagree that Costello was only their 4th-5th best player though. You can argue that he was their 3rd best player period (and to be honest, I don't see anyone else close in 1965) but his absence was even more critical because Sixers had no depth at guard position. They lost Paul Neumann in Wilt's trade (very solid option from the bench) and they didn't have Wali Jones yet, which forced them to play Al Bianchi heavy minutes. Bianchi wasn't good player at that point. So not only he was their 3rd best player in a vaccum in my opinion (you can argue Walker, but I wouldn't - not at this point), but Costello loss was more critical than any other player, outside of Wilt and Greer of course.
You're probably right, I never really looked at PHI until the year after, and didnt realize Costello was still playing as well as he did 64 and 65. I assumed Chet the Jet was definitely the better player, with Costello 4th, but looking at it he is 3rd-4th best.
Been watching a lot of the playoffs, and thinking that teams have all kinds of guys on their bench, and not just 10 bodies.
Interesting to notice that Steve Jones, who was a 63 draftee, got picked up that year by the 76ers and was 9-10th man. He's out of the league, and then becomes an ABAer, and an all-star the first few years. That's not atypical; the first two years have guys like him, as well as other guys who were drafted and didnt make the league. The ABA in 68 and 69 was a lot different than in 75 and 76.