Well. I compared him to Don Nelson a few days ago and I think the comparison is apt.
If time machine basketballl ever happens Cowens would be one of the first guys I would dial up and throw into an NBA camp because of the divided opinions. Lots of guys say he was only good in his era, but other compare him to Bird saying as a non leaping white guy he is underrated and point to how he did against Kareem and other elite centers.
Non-leaping white guy? Cowens was athletic by any standards. That's what allowed him to keep up bigger centers. He wasn't some block of granite like Wes Unseld.
I agree. Just the stereotype of the white player. By NBA standards he was very strong and quick and an average jumper. I had three pages of young guys raking me over the coals for saying bird was not a bad athlete. Cowens wasn't a big dunker, compared to today's guys, so younger people write him off.
Not to extend the Cowens tangent, but I dont have much doubt he would have developed three point range in today's game. He had a soft touch.
I am happy to extend any Cowens tangent and agree. As an undersized center (6'9"), he got his points from mid-range, and then when some lumbering Artis Gilmore type left the paint to challenge the jumper, Cowens would drive and finish. In 2019, instead of taking 15 footers, Cowens would be draining threes. Of all the great 70's non-Kareem big men (Elvin Hayes, Paul Silas, Walton, Dan Issel) I think Cowens would have transitioned best to the current style of play.
Agree that Cowens would be highly sought after in today's game - he would be a bigger Draymond with a consistent jump shot and able to guard multiple positions - but I believe Hayes and Walton would still be superstars (and Walton would benefit not to have go through some of the pounding) and Issel would have thrived.
Although it might have been partly a concession to injury as he neared the tail end of things, Kevin McHale began to use the 3 pointer as a weapon.
I remembered him using the three more at the end of his career, but when I looked it up, he took 137 threes over four seasons and 277 games. His first nine seasons he took only 20 threes.
Cs fans of a certain age will recall 7 foot Brad Lohaus launching the occasional 3 pointer usually followed by KC Jones wincing in pain and Brad returning to the bench.
And then Brad being shipped off to Sacramento (part of the Ainge trade) in exchange for Joe Kleine -- the prototypical lumbering big man.
True. To bring two themes together, even Dan Issel, who had a great jumper, went 0-15 / 3-11 / 3-15 / 3/17 / 0-5 in his first five years with KY in the ABA.
Funny Lohaus shot 3Ps at a .361 clip for his career but never averaged more than 3 attempts per game. Lohaus earned $5.5M in his career. He would get at least 10 times that in today's NBA.
He was really strong for his era. Apparently, he started weight training at college (FSU) well before it was the vogue. https://www.investors.com/news/management/leaders-and-success/dave-cowens-went-to-the-mat-for-the-boston-celtics-and-won-it-all/
Paul Silas was only 6'7" (almost as short as Grant Williams), and he couldn't jump even as high as Cowens, but he was unparalleled at establishing position on the offensive boards, and using his low center of gravity to root post players off their spot and out of their comfort zone (like Marcus Smart). In the 1974 Finals game 7, Cowens fronted Kareem, Silas played behind Kareem, and Cornell Warner muffed his opportunity to become a household name.
My suggested comp was Williams to Silas, as opposed to the OP's Willams to Cowens, which I think unrealistic, as Cowens was an all-time great NBA player, and I don't see the same skill set in Williams. If Williams turns into a player as accomplished as Silas, he will be a steal.
