Is practice over rated?

[Yuma]

Just saw Bill Russell on TV. He said that during the Celtics nine Championships in a row(?) that Red Auerback knew he was going to play Russell over 40 minutes a game. So once individual drills were done, Red had Russell sit on the sidelines during team drills and scrimmages in order that he was fresh for games. Now the NBA plays many more games a year. Wouldn't it seem prudent to have Amare, Matrix, and JJ sit during team scrimmages once in a while? This past season, the last few weeks, JJ and Marion looked gassed. Amare wasn't so bad, but he missed a bunch of games earlier. That probably lead to his strong finish. Plus we have to get the bench guys more reps so JJ, Marion, and Amare aren't tanked by season's end. I can see we don't want to take them out of games right now, so we have to rest these guys somewhere. What do you guys think?

 

[George O'Brien]

Just saw Bill Russell on TV. He said that during the Celtics nine Championships in a row(?) that Red Auerback knew he was going to play Russell over 40 minutes a game. So once individual drills were done, Red had Russell sit on the sidelines during team drills and scrimmages in order that he was fresh for games. Now the NBA plays many more games a year. Wouldn't it seem prudent to have Amare, Matrix, and JJ sit during team scrimmages once in a while? This past season, the last few weeks, JJ and Marion looked gassed. Amare wasn't so bad, but he missed a bunch of games earlier. That probably lead to his strong finish. Plus we have to get the bench guys more reps so JJ, Marion, and Amare aren't tanked by season's end. I can see we don't want to take them out of games right now, so we have to rest these guys somewhere. What do you guys think?

At the time Russell entered the NBA in the 1950's, his team had just won three consecutive national championships. He not only knew what he was doing, he was the only person who even understood how to do it on defense.

The real questions is whether he practiced the first couple of years. I suspect he did. But after that, they had a veteran team that did not change personnel quickly, so there was less need to get to know each other.

The Suns have young players who do not have enough fundimental skills and need to learn to play with each other.

The Suns need to practice.

 

[fordronken]

Man, we talkin' about practice. Practice, man. Practice? Why we doin' this? Why we even talkin' 'bout practice. Practice?

 

[devilalum]

Man, we talkin' about practice. Practice, man. Practice? Why we doin' this? Why we even talkin' 'bout practice. Practice?

The Answer

 

[Errntknght]

George, you must be desperate for things to write about... digging back into the archives like this.

One thing Yuma said about playing so many more games now than back in the fifties. If my memory is right each team played 82 regular season games back then, just like now. The playoffs were shorter and involved fewer teams so for the better teams the season is a little longer now.

 

[Yuma]

George, you must be desperate for things to write about... digging back into the archives like this.

One thing Yuma said about playing so many more games now than back in the fifties. If my memory is right each team played 82 regular season games back then, just like now. The playoffs were shorter and involved fewer teams so for the better teams the season is a little longer now.

I looked it up, in 64-65, they played 80 games! So, they DO play MORE games now!