25 Greatest Celtics of All-Time : #16

[Edgar]

KC Jones
KC Jones
KC Jones

I will consider this one a biased opinion 

[wild]

Danny Ainge
Paul Silas
Reggie Lewis

[tenn_smoothie]

just came upon this thread ...........

i suppose you've heard plenty of argument and criticism already, but how you guys can put Dave Cowens in 8th place is beyond me. He is clearly the 3d most important player in franchise history.

i guess there are too many young voters here.

[KCattheStripe]

just came upon this thread ...........

i suppose you've heard plenty of argument and criticism already, but how you guys can put Dave Cowens in 8th place is beyond me. He is clearly the 3d most important player in franchise history.

i guess there are too many young voters here.

He's more important than Hondo? Than Cousy?

[tenn_smoothie]

just came upon this thread ...........

i suppose you've heard plenty of argument and criticism already, but how you guys can put Dave Cowens in 8th place is beyond me. He is clearly the 3d most important player in franchise history.

i guess there are too many young voters here.

He's more important than Hondo? Than Cousy?

yes he was - definitely - he was the best player (league mvp) on the championship teams of the 1970's - he was the key player during that run in Celtic history - that puts him right behind the other two players who fit that role - Russell & Bird.

Havlicek was a great lieutenant to both Russell and Cowens - kinda like Pierce to Garnett on today's Celtics.

like i said ...... too many young voters who probably never saw Cowens play - the guy was unbelievable.

[Roy Hobbs]

just came upon this thread ...........

i suppose you've heard plenty of argument and criticism already, but how you guys can put Dave Cowens in 8th place is beyond me. He is clearly the 3d most important player in franchise history.

i guess there are too many young voters here.

He's more important than Hondo? Than Cousy?

Yeah, I appreciate Dave Cowens, but I don't have him in my top three.

[tb727]

Frank Ramsey
Reggie Lewis
KC Jones

[KCattheStripe]

just came upon this thread ...........

i suppose you've heard plenty of argument and criticism already, but how you guys can put Dave Cowens in 8th place is beyond me. He is clearly the 3d most important player in franchise history.

i guess there are too many young voters here.

He's more important than Hondo? Than Cousy?

yes he was - definitely - he was the best player (league mvp) on the championship teams of the 1970's - he was the key player during that run in Celtic history - that puts him right behind the other two players who fit that role - Russell & Bird.

Havlicek was a great lieutenant to both Russell and Cowens - kinda like Pierce to Garnett on today's Celtics.

like i said ...... too many young voters who probably never saw Cowens play - the guy was unbelievable.

This isn't a list of who was the best player, its a list of who has meant more to the franchise. Who has been the best "Celtic".

[Casperian]

just came upon this thread ...........

i suppose you've heard plenty of argument and criticism already, but how you guys can put Dave Cowens in 8th place is beyond me. He is clearly the 3d most important player in franchise history.

i guess there are too many young voters here.

He's more important than Hondo? Than Cousy?

Yeah, I appreciate Dave Cowens, but I don't have him in my top three.

I have him in my top 5, though, and only because Tommy is my #4.
Cousy is arguable, maybe even Pierce, but did Kevin McHale really mean more to the 80ies teams than Cowens to the 70ies teams? 

[Roy Hobbs]

just came upon this thread ...........

i suppose you've heard plenty of argument and criticism already, but how you guys can put Dave Cowens in 8th place is beyond me. He is clearly the 3d most important player in franchise history.

i guess there are too many young voters here.

He's more important than Hondo? Than Cousy?

Yeah, I appreciate Dave Cowens, but I don't have him in my top three.

I have him in my top 5, though, and only because Tommy is my #4.
Cousy is arguable, maybe even Pierce, but did Kevin McHale really mean more to the 80ies teams than Cowens to the 70ies teams? 

McHale was an amazing player.  He's one of the best defensive players of all-time, and has some of the best post moves of any power forward ever.  A lot of people argue that he's the best power forward of all-time, or the best prior to Tim Duncan.

[Casperian]

McHale was an amazing player.  He's one of the best defensive players of all-time, and has some of the best post moves of any power forward ever.  A lot of people argue that he's the best power forward of all-time, or the best prior to Tim Duncan.

I know that (although it was prior to Karl Malone^^), and I guess I don`t have to tell you about Cowens.

But the point remains: Did McHale ever mean more to the 80ies teams than Cowens to the 70ies team? You can disagree, and the polls show that the majority shares this view, but I would say "no".

[RAcker]

McHale was an amazing player.  He's one of the best defensive players of all-time, and has some of the best post moves of any power forward ever.  A lot of people argue that he's the best power forward of all-time, or the best prior to Tim Duncan.

I know that (although it was prior to Karl Malone^^), and I guess I don`t have to tell you about Cowens.

But the point remains: Did McHale ever mean more to the 80ies teams than Cowens to the 70ies team? You can disagree, and the polls show that the majority shares this view, but I would say "no".

This is what makes Celtics history so fun to discuss.  Cowens had Havlicek during his best years and McHale had Bird.  Hard to discuss them against each other when you consider that each played alongside the #1 and #2 scorers in franchise history.  Besides, Cowens played center at 6'9".  McHale played PF at 6'11".  Hard comparison.

[tenn_smoothie]

just came upon this thread ...........

i suppose you've heard plenty of argument and criticism already, but how you guys can put Dave Cowens in 8th place is beyond me. He is clearly the 3d most important player in franchise history.

i guess there are too many young voters here.

He's more important than Hondo? Than Cousy?

yes he was - definitely - he was the best player (league mvp) on the championship teams of the 1970's - he was the key player during that run in Celtic history - that puts him right behind the other two players who fit that role - Russell & Bird.

Havlicek was a great lieutenant to both Russell and Cowens - kinda like Pierce to Garnett on today's Celtics.

like i said ...... too many young voters who probably never saw Cowens play - the guy was unbelievable.

This isn't a list of who was the best player, its a list of who has meant more to the franchise. Who has been the best "Celtic".

"Who has been the best 'Celtic' ??  that adds even more credence to my argument to rank Dave Cowens with Russell and Bird. Cowens was as Celtic as they come and he meant as much to the franchise as far as i'm concerned as those two guys. Cowens was the heart and the talent behind one of the Celtic championship eras and he is only the 3d Celt to win the NBA MVP .......... what more do you want ?

not sure what the thinking is here  - may be just another case of people's tendency to lose appreciation for greatness over time.

[Roy Hobbs]

Why do you rank Cowens more highly than Hondo, TS?  As the team's leading scorer, and a bridge being two championship eras, I gave him a lot of extra credit.

[tenn_smoothie]

Why do you rank Cowens more highly than Hondo, TS?  As the team's leading scorer, and a bridge being two championship eras, I gave him a lot of extra credit.

......... and you have a good argument for havlicek - what a great player and a great celtic.

my perspective though is that russell, cowens and bird have been the pillars around which three championship groups have revolved. havlicek is probably my #4 all-time celtic and i see him & cowens compare so closely with pierce & garnett by their team role relationships. havlicek was the great lieutenant, but he needed russell and cowens to make those championships happen.