Sam Jones Has Passed Away

RG33

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Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
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Oh crap
2021 can’t end soon enough

He can join KC( who also died last week of the year, last year) in the Jones backcourt again.

RIP Sam
 
Sep 1, 2019
170
His use of the backboard has never been replicated. And warding an irate Wilt Chamberlain off with a stool is one of the most iconic moments in Celtics history. RIP, Sam.
 
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RG33

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His use of the backboard has never been replicated. And warding an irate Wilt Chamberlain off with a chair is one of the most iconic moments in Celtics history. RIP, Sam.
Yeah, watching that video was impressive. I don’t think I have ever seen someone take a turnaround-fallaway shot off the glass like he consistently did. Even the Tim Duncan’s of the world were usually facing up against it. The other crazy shot was his 25-foot set shot off the glass which is shown around the 2:10 mark of that video
 

Dahabenzapple2

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My late mom’s favorite of all of the guys from the 60’s

saw him play live at the Garden when I was about 8 years old. I remembered liking the bank shots

RIP, sir
 

Sam Ray Not

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Jul 19, 2005
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For today we can be SOSJ.
Nice. I’d sign a petition to name the whole subforum that for a bit.

Sons of Sam Jones
Sons of Sam Bam Cunningham
Sons of Samsonov
Sons of Sam Peckinpah
Sons of Sam Adams
Sons of Sam Ray Not (Warriors subforum)

Etc.

Seriously, RIP Sam Jones. Sucks. Makes my mind immediately jump to Bill Russell, and how sad he must feel, and how we have to cherish him in his remaining time.
 

RoDaddy

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For today we can be SOSJ.
FWIW, I've suggested this a few times for this forum

Sam was one of my favorite all time Celtics. At his best, a great shooter and scorer. I believe Wilt once called him the greatest clutch shooter ever. I also remember Johnny Most raving that one of his set shots was from 40 feet out - which I guess meant 25 feet in reality

And his signature bank shot was so cool!
 

Al Zarilla

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His use of the backboard has never been replicated. And warding an irate Wilt Chamberlain off with a stool is one of the most iconic moments in Celtics history. RIP, Sam.
OMG, I was in the Garden for that one. Sunday afternoon, Celtics absolutely destroying the Warriors. Sam was getting under Wilt's skin a lot when Wilt came after him, chased him around the court (Wilt twice as big as Sam) and they ended up at the Celtics bench. Sam grabbed the 3 legged stool to ward him off, etc.

And, Sam did have the sweetest bank shot ever.
 

Humphrey

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Aug 3, 2010
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Celtics legend and 10-time NBA champion Sam Jones has passed away at the age of 88. Known as one of the great shooters of his time (46% FG, 80% FT), he was a 5-time All-Star. He was drafted by Red in 1957 out of an HBCU, North Carolina Central (I would imagine this was rare in those days).

View: https://youtu.be/jmiARaf4lJs


https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32968550/sam-jones-won-10-nba-titles-boston-celtics-dies-age-88
The Wake Forest coach, Bones McKinney, recommended Sam Jones to Red Auerbach. Pretty much the way it worked in those days, word of mouth from trusted contacts. Little or no tv nor film.

I saw his last home game, Game 6 of the NBA Finals in 1969, which was known well in advance of that game. Turned out it was Bill Russell's as well.

Heinsohn, who was the Celts broadcaster for a few years before coming coach, frequently used the "Too Late" remark.

Guys in the NBA today certainly shoot as well or better than Sam, but I'd say in this century for sure, no one makes bank shots like he did.
 
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NAR29996

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He came up to Auburn, ME after his retirement to give a clinic. I was probably no more than 12. They had fan shaped backboards there, and every time he missed a shot, he would mutter "Damned fan shaped backboards." I didn't really know who he was at the time, but I eventually figured it out.
 

Reggie's Racquet

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My father was VP of a shoe company in Boston that made basketball shoes and had Sam Jones for a spokesperson. We lived in Canton and Sam lived close by in Sharon. When I was in Junior High playing basketball my father took me over to Sam’s house where I got to meet and play basketball with Sam and his son in the driveway in the front of his house. Sam was a wonderful and gracious person. RIP.
 

Kliq

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In the 50s and into the 60s, there was not that much distinguishing the shooting guard from the point guard. Maybe one guy handled the ball a bit more than the other, but in general players were just "guards" and their roles were fairly interchangeable. In the late-50s/early 60s, as the game continuned to evolve, positions became more defined and a new type of player emerged. These players were taller, like forwards, but they didn't rebound and bang down low, like most forwards. Instead they specialized in shooting and scoring. At that time, scoring was almost entirely done by forwards and centers; maybe someone like Cousy was an exception, but the biggest scorers in the game were either big men (Mikan, Pettit, Chamberlain, etc.) or forwards (Arizin, Fulks, Schayes, etc.)

The new guards didn't distribute, they were all about scoring. Sam Jones (and Hal Greer) would be the protoypes for generations of scoring guards who would come into the league and get buckets. Lanky, athletic, guys with sweet strokes who started mastering the art of shooting, something that really hadn't been developed in basketball up until that point in time. Creative and aggressive, Jones was capable of scoring in multiple varietys, from an array of different types of shots from all angles over the court, as well as someone that could penetrate and finish around the basket. Years ahead of his time before the three point shot was developed, Jones was a sharpshooter who also stretched defenses to new dimensions, which opened up holes for teammates like Cousy and Havlicek to operate.

Sam didn't start until he was 28 years old, stuck behind Bill Sharman. His best season would be in 64-65; Cousy had retired the season before and the Celtics were missing their engine on offense. Havlicek was good but not quite JOHN HAVLICEK yet. It was Jones, who averaged 25 ppg in the regular season and 28 ppg in the playoffs, who guided the Celticcs to the title that season.
 

runnels3

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OMG, I was in the Garden for that one. Sunday afternoon, Celtics absolutely destroying the Warriors. Sam was getting under Wilt's skin a lot when Wilt came after him, chased him around the court (Wilt twice as big as Sam) and they ended up at the Celtics bench. Sam grabbed the 3 legged stool to ward him off, etc.
How lucky were you! Remember it well with Johnny going nuts.
 

reggiecleveland

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As a player I went from no three point line, to at the end lots of threes being shot. At the beginning of three point line if a guy missed a three in any tight spot he was benched. A guy had to be abllsy to shoot the three when tio was tight, which is why Bird's impact is underrated by young players. I discussed this with an old coach (bio below) he told me way back it was like that with an outside shot of any kind. He said Sam, then Jerry West changed the game because they took and made jumpers when the game was on the line. Sam Jones is one of the giants Jordan, Kobe et al stood on his shoulders.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Klucas