Bob Cousy claps back at JJ Redick

[VFX]

JJ’s comment was off the cuff during a debate about the top point guards of all time.

Some of you make it sound like JJ wrote a dissertation against Cousy.

I highly doubt that he doesn’t have respect for that generation of players.

[DavidSterned]

Bunch of people that weren't around when Cousy played taking his side to be edgy and sound historical. JJ wouldn't make the nba back then? Foh

Playing in Chuck Taylors with no 3 point line and having to take smoke-filled trains and freezing cold buses around the country? He'd maybe be a mediocre benchwarmer if he time traveled back to 1957, sure.

[bradybunch]

Cousy played when rules existed.

Now people look at his handles and laugh because carrying and traveling are allowed.

[vital_signs]

In today's league? Sure. But he wasn't playing at that time. He was playing at the time where he had as much athleticism as they did.

You literally just made JJ's point. Don't be so stubborn now.

How is that making his point? At one point in the conversation he says "great players could play in any era." Probably so he won't go around talking crap about Wilt and Oscar Robertson and those guys. Then in the next point he says that he was getting guarded by plumbers and fireman. So is Cousy a great player that could play in any era, or was he just better than the supposed plumbers and fireman he was playing against?

His skill was without a doubt elevated by the competition. I've watched plenty of Cousy highlights in the past, it wouldn't hold in today's game.

[Nate505]

JJ’s comment was off the cuff during a debate about the top point guards of all time.

Some of you make it sound like JJ wrote a dissertation against Cousy.

I highly doubt that he doesn’t have respect for that generation of players.

I mean, if the current generation of players thought your generation were nothing but a bunch of fireman and plumbers who played part time, I can see why he wouldn't have much respect for them. Though I doubt all the current players think that.

[vital_signs]

Bunch of people that weren't around when Cousy played taking his side to be edgy and sound historical. JJ wouldn't make the nba back then? Foh

Playing in Chuck Taylors with no 3 point line and having to take smoke-filled trains and freezing cold buses around the country? He'd maybe be a mediocre benchwarmer if he time traveled back to 1957, sure.

That makes no sense, it's called getting acclimated. He played in an era when people have some of the best trainers that exist, same as everyone else, and still made a name for himself. It's as if he sucked in gradeschool in some $50 tmacs like the rest of us and then suddenly found success.

[DavidSterned]

Bunch of people that weren't around when Cousy played taking his side to be edgy and sound historical. JJ wouldn't make the nba back then? Foh

Playing in Chuck Taylors with no 3 point line and having to take smoke-filled trains and freezing cold buses around the country? He'd maybe be a mediocre benchwarmer if he time traveled back to 1957, sure.

That makes no sense, it's called getting acclimated. He played in an era when people have some of the best trainers that exist, same as everyone else, and still made a name for himself. It's as if he sucked in gradeschool in some $50 tmacs like the rest of us and then suddenly found success.

Right, and he would have had literally none of that if he suddenly had to learn to survive in the 1950s. Pretty simple concept. It was a different era with completely different standards, completely different technology, and the game had different rules. The time travel logic works both ways. Quit insulting the greats of the past because it makes you feel better about propping up the present.

[Nate505]

Like here's another gem from this clown:

"Honestly like Kevin Love is better than probably 99% of the power forwards that made that list. That’s a fact”.

Ok, here are the PFs I see on the list:

Charles Barkley
Karl Malone
Dolph Schayes
Kevin McHale
Dennis Rodman
Elvin Hays
Bob Pettit
Jerry Lucas
Dave Debusschere
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett

Sure, he might be better than Pettit or Debusschere or Schayes or a few others, but if he thinks he's better than Barkley/Malone/Duncan/Garnett/Rodman, I don't know what to say. Because he can hit 3s better?

[YogurtProducer]

Playing in Chuck Taylors with no 3 point line and having to take smoke-filled trains and freezing cold buses around the country? He'd maybe be a mediocre benchwarmer if he time traveled back to 1957, sure.

That makes no sense, it's called getting acclimated. He played in an era when people have some of the best trainers that exist, same as everyone else, and still made a name for himself. It's as if he sucked in gradeschool in some $50 tmacs like the rest of us and then suddenly found success.

Right, and he would have had literally none of that if he suddenly had to learn to survive in the 1950s. Pretty simple concept. It was a different era with completely different standards, completely different technology, and the game had different rules. The time travel logic works both ways. Quit insulting the greats of the past because it makes you feel better about propping up the present.

Reddick is a hall of fame if he played in the 50s

Let’s not act like the overall talent level of thr NBA hasn’t grown at insane rates.

We can appreciate Cousy, but my god he would be wiped by modern players

[jokeboy86]

JJ definitely turning into a clown. So disrespectful to the people who paved the way for his ass. He’s doing a lot more hot takes on EPSN now. I think him hanging around First Take is having an effect on him.

That's like dismissing a hypothetical scenario where Nas says he's better than Sugarhill Gang because ahhhh can't be, Sugarhill Gang paved the way for him.

It's funny you bring up hip-hop because the younger generation nowadays is even more dismissive of the older rappers and the way they rapped. I'm sure some young people think Rakim can't compare to Drake or Kendrick on any level. For some reason its in vogue now to publicly diss or dismiss older things or people now more than ever. I don't know if its cause people are feeling more emboldened by social media or what.

[DavidSterned]

That makes no sense, it's called getting acclimated. He played in an era when people have some of the best trainers that exist, same as everyone else, and still made a name for himself. It's as if he sucked in gradeschool in some $50 tmacs like the rest of us and then suddenly found success.

Right, and he would have had literally none of that if he suddenly had to learn to survive in the 1950s. Pretty simple concept. It was a different era with completely different standards, completely different technology, and the game had different rules. The time travel logic works both ways. Quit insulting the greats of the past because it makes you feel better about propping up the present.

Reddick is a hall of fame if he played in the 50s

Let’s not act like the overall talent level of thr NBA hasn’t grown at insane rates.

We can appreciate Cousy, but my god he would be wiped by modern players

Josh Reddick? Probably not.

If you mean JJ Redick, then no, a guy who was largely a one dimensional 3 point shooter, who wasn't an exceptional ballhandler even in today's "anything goes" era, and who wouldn't stand out as particularly athletic in any era, very likely wouldn't have a HOF level impact if suddenly transported back to the extremely different NBA landscape of 60 years ago. Kind of a ludicrous argument, actually.

[tdotrep2]

We see futher because we're standing on the shoulders of giants

___
Sent from my Nokia 3210 using RealGM mobile app

pretty much this, i'd like to see what jjs game would look like if he was born 40 years prior

[SalsaNchips]

Ok think JJ felt safe to disrespect certain players of that era, but we all know he wouldn’t say any of this if Bill Russell was part of the discussion.

[DaPessimist]

You can only beat who they put in front of you. Generations should never be ranked against one another.

Also, what is there to gain by insulting the previous generation?


I still like Redick and his podcast, but he missed on this one.

[MikeTheKid]

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[MikeTheKid]

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[MaxZaslofskyJr]

Bob Cousy is a Hall of Famer that never shot 40% from the field a single season in his career. That entire era was trash. And just like his career, he missed again.

And then there's Ricky Rubio ... not a hall of famer but with a .380 something lifetime FG %... making how much a year!

[DAWill1128]

I thought JJ was a total jack a** for ripping on Bob Cousy, the guys alive and super old. I don't agree with him ripping on such an old guy who helped pioneer the game so hard. He's at his end and him and his family should be proud for what he did for the game.

Bob Cousy imo is like the original floor general. He paved the way for guys like Stockton who paved the way for Nash who paved the way for Chris Paul.

To be fair Chris Paul has had an amazing career but Bob Cousy stacks up historically in terms of the awards and accolades. Not saying he's better, but it's just blasphemous to treat this guy like he's nothing to the game. I don't see Kendrick or Ryan Hollins ripping on Russell and Wilt.

I don't see MLB analysts ripping on Babe Ruth or Pete Rose.

[LewisnotMiller]

One thing I learned throughout my life, the reason we have more tools and resources today is because of the someone built the foundation from yesterday. So yes, a Bugatti is going to run faster, stronger than the 1st car ever made, but without someone making that first car, there would be no Bugatti.

Us, in present tense, needs to learn from the past and innovate for the future; while the past needs to adapt in present times and continue building for the future.

We stand on the shoulders of giants.

[soxfan2003]

Most guards of today including Reddick would dribble worse than Cousy if they called traveling/palming today like they did back then.

No doubt more great athletes but given the limits of how many 6"10+ people there are interested in playing basketball, average team hasn't gotten that much better if we were playing by late 1950's or early 1960's rules. By that I mean no 3 point shot, fouling actually consistently called and traveling/palming according to late 50's rules.

Don't underestimate the athleticism of some of those players. The body types and games were obviously influenced by how refs called the games. As NBA allowed more hacking, players naturally added weight/strength but in fast paced game, it made sense to be able to run the court.

The poor shooting percentage had more to do with rules than anything else. The free throw percentages last I checked were similar when you factor in bigs were taking the lions share of the free throws back then.