Oscar Robertson Quotes
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You see what happens in college and high school games today - a three-point shot or a dunk. I think that's the reason that you see a lot of that in the pros today.
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You don't cut anywhere, don't pick down anywhere, don't double screen, no weak side picking. All these things that should happen in a game of basketball don't happen anymore.
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I don't know hardly any of the players who have the in-between game like me, who can go to any position on the court.
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People say that, but I think the NBA was bigger than Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
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People will think there are no other great ballplayers. Look at Garnett. Look at Duncan, Shaq, Kobe. Look at the players with Sacramento. The have a really good basketball team.
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They should have a rule: in order to be a sportswriter, you have to have played that sport, at some level; high school, college, junior college, somewhere. Or, you should have had to have been around the game for a long time.
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When I came into the league, once a team drafted you, they owned you forever. If they didn't like the clothes you wore, or the car you drove, they could blackball you.
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But after that you don't see a lot of real good fundamental play. You see a showboat-type basketball which is almost parallel to street basketball.
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The triple-double is just a stat. It's a test of your strength and stamina and playing ability, really.
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But I think the image that's thrown out on television is a bad image. Because you see players who want to imitate hip-hop stars. And the NBA is taking advantage of the situation.
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I think that teaching coaches are the norm now.
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There's so many young peoople who start to play basketball and never learn the fundamentals.
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Who do I think was the greatest? This might shock you: Elgin Baylor. He did so many great things. Nobody could guard him, playing in the forward spot. I'd love to see some of today's greats playing against Elgin. They couldn't guard him. Nobody could.
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I'm sorry that the young athletes in basketball will not get the chance to play (in the Olympics) anymore, and live that dream.
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We're all Americans trying to compete. Magic was competing for his team and Larry for his team.
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I played when I played, and played, I think, against the greatest players in the greatest time in the history of basketball.
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It's a sad commentary when I have to say that sometimes in our country we are real sensitive to race.
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I was taught to play that way when I was in high school and even before I got to high school.
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Just fundamental things - I played guard and I played forward, so you get into a position where you are pivoting out on the court.
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This is where young players today want to land. They want to be NBA players because of the money.
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You need a teaching coach who understands the game of basketball, not just some guy coming on the court talking about Xs and Os.
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Look, I think you should promote the game, but I think you should make it what it ought to be. Not some kind of a side-show.
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It's like all guys want to do is make a dunk, grab their shirt and yell out and scream - they could be down 30 points but that's what they do. Okay, so you made a dunk. Get back down the floor on defense!
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If you're a basketball player, you've got to shoot.
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You look at today, it's a different situation. You have a game that has been transformed into a game where almost every shot is either an outside shot - a three-point shot - or a dunk.
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But when I did it (the triple-double), I didn't even know it until someone told me.
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Now, I guess, people want stars. People are trying to invent stars.
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College coaches want to power the ball inside, they want (their post players) to power the ball up, but no one can shoot from that 15-foot area anymore.
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The thing about it is almost everyone could pass that way, but we were kept from doing it by our coaches.
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You have to teach now - tell a kid how to box out, tell him how to pass, teach him footwork. Players don't understand that anymore.
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