Cazzie Russell & Bill Bradley
For those people into all things Michigan, I thought I'd pass this along. At the 12 minute mark of David Axelrod's most recent podcast, Bill Bradley talks about how Cazzie Russell and him asked each other for forgiveness at the 40th Anniversary of their championship.
I did not know that Cazzie Russell became a preacher.
Some google research also showed that Cazzie, now an assistant coach at Armstrong State, will be coming back "to the University of Michigan and Crisler Arena - dubbed the 'House That Cazzie Built' - when Armstrong State faces UM in an exhibition contest on November 4, 2017. It will be the first time that Russell will be on the court for a UM contest since 1966."
That should be a fun night.
Brief Edit: So, the webpage from Armstrong State, which I quote and link to says 2017. But, yes, this happened in 2016. Didn't know about the tension between Russell and Bradley prior to the podcast. Again, for those people into all things Michigan.
September 29th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
Cazzie and Bradley . Two of the finest basketball players of that era. Basketball has changed so much from the days of Russel, Rick Mount and Pistol Pete Maravich. Then one man could carry a team scoring 30+ per game.
September 29th, 2017 at 2:41 PM ^
I have some copies of the 1965 final four program, in which my great uncle kept scores and stats. Bradley's numbers were ridiculous (~50 pts, ~25 rebs, something like that).
September 29th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
This already happened: Nov 4, 2016. I was at the game. It was a good time.
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2016/11/cazzie_russell.html
September 29th, 2017 at 3:15 PM ^
It's hard to not be good when he was 18' tall back in his heyday!
September 29th, 2017 at 2:38 PM ^
I dream of an mGoBlog where people put more than 2 seconds of thought into their thread titles.
September 29th, 2017 at 2:39 PM ^
Weird -- the quote from the school's website says this year:
http://armstrongpirates.com/sports/mbkb/coaches/crussell?view=bio
September 29th, 2017 at 2:49 PM ^
selflessness, discipline and imagination. Rare to find nowadays.
Cazzie Russell and Bill Bradley had it. Both played the game beautifully.
September 29th, 2017 at 3:10 PM ^
There seemed to be a little friction between Bradley and Russell back in the day. The documentary covered it is a way that wasn't entirely favorable to Russell in terms of his having some sour grapes over the situation w/ Bradley at that time. I had no idea it took them so long to bury the hatchet.
September 29th, 2017 at 3:18 PM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 3:54 PM ^
With two UFR's today, I thought we were winning, but I think with the threads today Bye tied it back up. Damn.
September 29th, 2017 at 3:20 PM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 3:28 PM ^
Yeah, it ain't true. Typo on the other school's website.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:20 PM ^
September 29th, 2017 at 3:22 PM ^
But that MLive story about Cazzie Russell was really heartwarming.
That's the good side of college sports, that puts to shame these people in the FBI investigation.
September 29th, 2017 at 5:01 PM ^
Of course UCLA came along and Wooden's players received benefits and the rest is history.
September 29th, 2017 at 5:33 PM ^
September 30th, 2017 at 3:25 AM ^
cazzie
September 29th, 2017 at 5:35 PM ^
And they played for my team, the NY Knicks with Dave DeBuscherre from Detroit Mercy. Back in the day, this was the team, the team, the team, of the NBA. The Knicks traded Walt Bellamy and Howard Komives to the Pistons for DeBuscherre who solidified the best starting five in pro basketball and led the Knicks in their glory years.
Cazzie came off the bench and supplied instant offense. Bradley was the go-to-shooter on the floor, a shooting specialist who would have been a killer from the three-point line, if the league had one back then. Beilein should have coached that team with the three-point shot. They would have dominated the league for years with their defense and shooting range.
You can't imagine the talent the Knicks accumulated through the dfraft in the late 60's with Bradley, Cazzie, Donnie May and Bill Hoskett, not to mention Phil Jackson who was all arms and rebounds on the floor. That team had greatness in character and skill. The Knicks were a sweet team back in the day. Today they are a skeleton of the past.
September 29th, 2017 at 7:53 PM ^
Just a minor pedantic point: Dave attended the University of Detroit, not Detroit Mercy.
I understand and recognize the appropriate and sensible reasons for the institutional name change since Dave was in school at U of D, but regardless no sports team should ever have the name "Mercy" connected to it.
September 29th, 2017 at 8:56 PM ^
Walt Frazier was a great pick. Jalen Rose's dad was picked first. Earl the Pearl was drafted second. Pat Riley and Phil Jackson taken later.
Interesting notes about the 1967 # 1 picks. Jimmy Walker was drafted to play in the NFL too and NFL draft #1draft pick BUbba Smith was drafted in the NBA as well.
DeBuscherre played pro baseball as well as in the NBA. He was 3-4 as a pitcher for the White Sox before concentrating on basketball.
September 30th, 2017 at 8:24 AM ^
Up till '65, the NBA had a draft rule where a team could forfeit its 1st round pick in order to draft a player who was within 50 miles of its home arena. After these territorial players were claimed, the draft proceeded as normal. The idea was there would be more fan interest if there were local players on the team.
Both Bradley (Knicks) and DeBuscherre were territorial picks.
September 30th, 2017 at 8:16 AM ^
Bradley and I were at a fundraiser at the Washington Hilton for an Ohio politico. We started chatting and I told him that I was from Detroit. Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Pistons v. Lakers, was that night. Conversation turned to basketball, he looks at his watch and says the game just started, this fundraiser is winding down, let's go watch some of the game.
So we did. We went off, sat at the hotel bar, had a beer and watched the 1st Quarter. Great guy, smart as could be, both about basketball and politics. Afterward, I couldn't believe what had just happened.
September 29th, 2017 at 7:23 PM ^
My dad once played a pick-up basketball game with Cazzie Russel back in the 60s in A2. (/coolstorybro).
Also, I think I read that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (as a young Lew Alcindor) cited the Cazzie vs. Bradley Michigan/Princeton game in Madison Square Garden as a game he saw live and which made a huge impression on him as a young ball player. Would have been great if he had followed Cazzie to Ann Arbor.
September 29th, 2017 at 10:24 PM ^
September 30th, 2017 at 3:02 PM ^