Robert Joseph Cousy was born on August 9, 1928 in New York City, United States. He was a great player who revolutionized basketball with his tremendous dribbling, shooting and assisting abilities.
Everyone starts from somewhere, Bob Cousy was born to a very poor family, he grew up a “ghetto rat” on Manhattan’s East Side. He struggled very much throughout life, and finally somehow managed to save up 500$ playing stickball. Miraculously, the money was able to get himself and his family out the ghetto and into a house in the St. Albans neighbourhood of Queens, Long Island. He was recognized as a very humble and hard working being.
This legend played as a point guard with the NBA’s Boston Celtics from 1951 to 1963. Basketball had its turning point because of Cousy, he put heart and dedication into the game which really changed the whole style of the game for future stars. He was often referred to as “ The Cooz” or “ Houdini of the Hardwood” because of being clutch at nerve raking moments and for his talented ability of dribbling out the last seconds of a game around the whole opposing team.
Bob “The Cooz” Cousy stands 6 feet one inch tall and weighing at a 175 lbs. After seeing Cousy at his prime we discover that it is not really a concern of weight or height that determines a players potential, it is about heart and hard work! Bob Cousy’s style was appreciated by everyone in the United States and it also was capturing the eyes of foreign countries around the globe.
Bob Cousy’s career really began at the ‘College of the Holy Cross’, where he earned a spot as a point guard in his second year of the national championship season. At first, Bob Cousy was given no time to play because his coach considered him as a ‘Show boater’. Therefore because of this accusation , Cousy decided to transfer to St. John’s, but the St. John’s coach persuaded Cousy to Stay with Holy Cross. And so, luckily for Alvin Julian, the coach of Holy Cross’s NCAA basketball team, he got back a very talented player who he didn’t really know about. Within couple of months, coach Julian soon realized how lucky he and his team were to have Bob Cousy play for them. During a game against Loyola Of Chicago at Boston Garden, Holy Cross was trailing with only 5 minutes on the clock. Cousy had not been on the court for the whole first half and so everyone in the crowds began to chant his name “ We want Cousy! We want Cousy!. At this point Coach Julian had no choice but to put Cousy on, and so, he hit the hardwood floor and went right to work, earning 5 field goals and 2 foul shots, totaling 12 amazing points, including a buzzer-beating left- handed hook shot that he threw up after spinning past a much larger player with a behind- the-back dribble.
From Holy Cross, he was drafted in 1950 by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and after a couple games with them he was immediately traded to the Chicago Stag, and finally was drawn by the Celtics in a dispersal draft of the Stags franchise. With the Boston Celtics, Cousy led his team to six championships, which included the 1957 one and five consecutive ones from 1959 to 1963. He retired in 1963, and Cousy was known to be the Celtics all-time leader in assists with 6,955. He led the NBA in assists from 1953 to 1960 and included a career high of 9.5 assists per game in 1960. Bob Cousy scored 16,960 points, and he participated in the NBA All- Star game thirteen consecutive times, picking up the All- Star MVP award in 1954 and 1957. Cousy still owns two unbeatable NBA records: most assists in one half (19 in a February 27, 1959 game against the Minneapolis Lakers) and most free throws in an NBA playoff game (or in any NBA game, for that matter) when he made 30 out of 32 free throw attempts on March 21, 1953 against Syracuse.
Cousy is still now looked upon as a great motivator to our young players in our era. He is an unforgettable legend who set the basis of what basketball is today. He went from rags to riches and it was all due to his heart and hard work. Therefore in memory of this great man, I present you what it was like…back in the days!!!
Enjoy,
No comments:
Post a Comment