The greatest BB player in A&T history

[oleschoolaggie]

bird was the kind of player who was a "ton" of fun to watch, even when he was playing pickup ball at the old ymca outdoor court that use to be next door to hi rise (that's zoe barbee for you youngins ;D).

i remember seeing him dribbling the ball up court many times while being guarded by an opponent and shaking his head like this basically "taunting" the guy with his body language saying "man, you can't guard me"!

bird was a one man show. he would throw down a one handed "connie hawkins" like tommy hawk power dunk "off the dribble" without touching the ball with his left hand, and then jog back down court shaking his head as if to say "they can't stop me!"

clearly he was the most "entertaining" aggie basketball player i've ever seen. whenever his jumper was on, everybody knew we were in for a big night from bird. but bird didn't have the speed and "quickness" to play in the nba, in my opinion. not that he was slow, but at 6'6", you must have enough quickness to create your own shot in the nba. plus, bird never played one possession of "defense" in his entire life!

lack of defensive ability (or, lack of desire) and lack of quickness is why bird didn't make the nba, imho...

[saabman]

I have to disagree on the lack of Quickness part OSA. I was living in San Fran and saw Bird play in a scrimmage Game against the Warriors. Bird had 28 points made the GLOVE look like a fool..lol But as you stated he had No Defensive Skills and no Desire to play Defense just from looking from the stands.
I see Bird as the GREATEST ENTERTAINING/SCORING BALL PLAYER A&T HAS EVER HAD. NOW IF YOU PUT IT THAT WAY IT'S BIRD HANDS DOWN!!! BUT NOT THE GREATEST ALL A ROUND BALL PLAYER (SCORING AND DEFENSIVE) THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE AL ATTLES BECAUSE HE COULD DO IT ALL!!

[Aggie77]

Mar 21, 2012 11:39:32 GMT -5 aggierattler said:

Mar 21, 2012 11:00:18 GMT -5 Aggie77 said:

I could be wrong, but I think AggieGroove's intent was limited to an Aggie uniform. If you broaden it to a post Aggie career, then Al Attles is second to none.

I have been watching Aggie Basketball since the late 60s and have seen alot of players in Blue & Gold. There may have been better dribblers, better shooters, better defenders, but none better all-round than "The Bird" and the excitement/embarrassment factor was off the scale, especially on the break.

Taking his NBA career out of the equation, some of the old timers are still saying that Al Attles was the best Aggie cager ever.

I agree, anybody that saw Al Attles play at A&T is definitely an old timer or do you mean has Alzheimer? ;D Heck, Al is about 80 isn't he? (Al, if you are reading this, I'm just messing with your boy).

The player the old timers I know talk about is Sylvester Adams.

[oleschoolaggie]

Mar 21, 2012 15:16:37 GMT -5 saabman said:

I see Bird as the GREATEST ENTERTAINING/SCORING BALL PLAYER A&T HAS EVER HAD. NOW IF YOU PUT IT THAT WAY IT'S BIRD HANDS DOWN!!! BUT NOT THE GREATEST ALL A ROUND BALL PLAYER (SCORING AND DEFENSIVE) THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE AL ATTLES BECAUSE HE COULD DO IT ALL!!

i agree with that. best scorer and best entertainer. dude would be out there cracking jokes in the middle of a game if it wasn't close. everybody loved him cuz he was fun to watch.

man, some of the games against wssu and carlos terry were off the hook! we didn't win all of those games, i think we split most of the time. bird didn't clown on winston too much cuz he knew they were capable of kicking our azz. but he'd clown on central all the time cuz they had no chance of beating us back then.

dude was just fun to watch. unfortunately, he came along at a time when folk didn't have video cameras and the internet. and we (the meac) didn't have an espn contract back then either. i don't recall any of our games against hbcu's being televised during that time. if any, it would've been on bet because they were the only ones who'd occasionally put our games on tv back then. probably the only place that has footage on bird's era would be our athletic department. but knowing our low budget butts, they probably didn't archive that stuff...

[Aggie77]

Where is the Al Attles scoring machine coming from? That's the first I heard of Al being a scorer. The old timers I talked to say Al was a brick mason.

And I don't remember Bird not playing defense, in fact he led the team in steals at least one year. Granted he didn't devote 100% effort, 100% of the time but he wasn't a matador.

[pj]

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dude was just fun to watch. unfortunately, he came along at a time when folk didn't have video cameras and the internet. quote]
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Oleschool reminded me
4XL did you run across an 'u-matic' video tapes of championship games? I remember seeing a Spruill vs Marvin Webster game on a big videotape player in the student union. They had it on repeat.

I also remember seeing images of great players on the wall somewhere. ..even Joe Faust I believe.

[aggie2ru]

Mar 21, 2012 16:14:30 GMT -5 Aggie77 said:

Where is the Al Attles scoring machine coming from? That's the first I heard of Al being a scorer. The old timers I talked to say Al was a brick mason.

And I don't remember Bird not playing defense, in fact he led the team in steals at least one year. Granted he didn't devote 100% effort, 100% of the time but he wasn't a matador.

You didn't get in the NBA back in that day of time by not being able to score. Just think about it. That was 1961! Al WAS NOT a brick mason he led A&T in scoring.

Let me say this think 1961, think 1961, think 1961.....how many players were even in the NBA from a HBCU in 1961?

Enough said!

[oleschoolaggie]

Mar 21, 2012 16:14:30 GMT -5 Aggie77 said:

Where is the Al Attles scoring machine coming from? That's the first I heard of Al being a scorer. The old timers I talked to say Al was a brick mason.

And I don't remember Bird not playing defense, in fact he led the team in steals at least one year. Granted he didn't devote 100% effort, 100% of the time but he wasn't a matador.

i've never seen attles play, so i can't comment on him. but i saw bird play for 3 years and i love defense, so i always pay close attention to defensive play. no, i wouldn't exactly say bird played "matador" defense. otherwise, he wouldn't have been in the game very long. but i have no images whatsoever of bird being in a proper "defensive stance" that i can recollect.

when bird played, we had a lot of "size" in our front court. so he could afford to take risks going after steals. he had a 6'10" shot blocking center playing behind him and 2 high jumping forwards 6'9" (pimpkin) and 6'8" (ron johnson) to back him up.

let's just say that defense was not a priority for bird. like i previously posted, bird's front line were all tremendous defenders. it was clear to me that if we needed a stop, bird would not be the guy you'd look to. seriously, he wasn't a very good defender because he didn't put forth 100% effort to play defense. you can go an entire game not guarding someone, but still lead your team in steals. so i wouldn't use steals as an indicator of how well someone plays defense...

[aggiedoe1]

Man, I have seen players from back in the early 60's to present and Bird is barely in the top
top ten if at all.

Al Attles
June Harris
George Mack
Allen Spruill
Joe Binion
Daryl Cherry
James Outlaw
Joe Powell
Ted Campbell
Al Carter
Bird - Maybe

[oleschoolaggie]

Mar 21, 2012 16:32:31 GMT -5 pj said:

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dude was just fun to watch. unfortunately, he came along at a time when folk didn't have video cameras and the internet. quote]
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Oleschool reminded me
4XL did you run across an 'u-matic' video tapes of championship games? I remember seeing a Spruill vs Marvin Webster game on a big videotape player in the student union. They had it on repeat.

I also remember seeing images of great players on the wall somewhere. ..even Joe Faust I believe.

pj, al spruiell was my homeboy, but i never got to see him play at a&t. i watched him play when i was a snotty nosed little kid when he was in high school and he was nothing but the truth! he too was a very exciting offensive player! i would love to see footage of him playing at a&t! he might have to be in the conversation as one of the best offensive players.

we use to read a bunch of newspaper articles on him when he was at a&t. but i never got to see him play in an aggie uniform. would luv to see that...

[saabman]

I said all around player scoring and defense!! Mr B informed me that Attles could have scored any time he wanted to but that he was a HEADED PLAYER and that was what set him apart from the other players that A&T have had. He also stated that Attles was more physical with and with out the ball. As you no you could hand check back in the day.

[pj]

Oleschool, me too! I saw him when they came to Durham vs NCCU. My Brothers took me.

But that videotape was playing in the Union around '75 or '76. Maybe the radio station's Welborne knows where it is.

I dont want to change the thread but:

We/A&T really needs to gather this stuff up for a TRUE Hall of Fame.

I'm glad that the yearbooks were put online. We are loosing our history. I'm glad that Brothers are naming names in this thread. Just think of the Football Players who made it to the league who could contribute something.'Pee Wee' Board, Cornell Gordon, Hicks,....shucks.

[saabman]

Mar 21, 2012 16:42:08 GMT -5 oleschoolaggie said:

Mar 21, 2012 16:32:31 GMT -5 pj said:

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dude was just fun to watch. unfortunately, he came along at a time when folk didn't have video cameras and the internet. quote]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oleschool reminded me
4XL did you run across an 'u-matic' video tapes of championship games? I remember seeing a Spruill vs Marvin Webster game on a big videotape player in the student union. They had it on repeat.

I also remember seeing images of great players on the wall somewhere. ..even Joe Faust I believe.

pj, al spruiell was my homeboy, but i never got to see him play at a&t. i watched him play when i was a snotty nosed little kid when he was in high school and he was nothing but the truth! he too was a very exciting offensive player! i would love to see footage of him playing at a&t! he might have to be in the conversation as one of the best offensive players.

we use to read a bunch of newspaper articles on him when he was at a&t. but i never got to see him play in an aggie uniform. would luv to see that...

Man Spruill was died on..lol He had this low cross over that he would do what would just F.. a dude up...lol

[Deleted]

Who is the best player of the past 10 years? I vote for Steven Rush.

[saabman]

Mar 21, 2012 16:36:15 GMT -5 oleschoolaggie said:

Mar 21, 2012 16:14:30 GMT -5 Aggie77 said:

Where is the Al Attles scoring machine coming from? That's the first I heard of Al being a scorer. The old timers I talked to say Al was a brick mason.

And I don't remember Bird not playing defense, in fact he led the team in steals at least one year. Granted he didn't devote 100% effort, 100% of the time but he wasn't a matador.

i've never seen attles play, so i can't comment on him. but i saw bird play for 3 years and i love defense, so i always pay close attention to defensive play. no, i wouldn't exactly say bird played "matador" defense. otherwise, he wouldn't have been in the game very long. but i have no images whatsoever of bird being in a proper "defensive stance" that i can recollect.

when bird played, we had a lot of "size" in our front court. so he could afford to take risks going after steals. he had a 6'10" shot blocking center playing behind him and 2 high jumping forwards 6'9" (pimpkin) and 6'8" (ron johnson) to back him up.

let's just say that defense was not a priority for bird. like i previously posted, bird's front line were all tremendous defenders. it was clear to me that if we needed a stop, bird would not be the guy you'd look to. seriously, he wasn't a very good defender because he didn't put forth 100% effort to play defense. you can go an entire game not guarding someone, but still lead your team in steals. so i wouldn't use steals as an indicator of how well someone plays defense...

t
The stoppers were Stan Wolfman Parham, Ray Perry,Ron Johnson, Sinclair Colbert, lon smith and Vince Buter they set the tone for the defense.