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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.

Oscar Robertson

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Oscar Robertson
Age: 85
Born: 1938
Born: November 24
Basketball Coach
Basketball Player
The Big O
Oscar Palmer Robertson
Time
Think
Thinking
Players
Played
Basketball
Player
Greatest
History

More quotes by Oscar Robertson

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I don't blame David Stern because a player gets on the court and he doesn't put out competitively. No one can make you play if you don't want to play.
Oscar Robertson
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I think that basketball players should get the job done no matter how it looks on the screen.
Oscar Robertson
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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.
Oscar Robertson
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The triple-double is just a stat. It's a test of your strength and stamina and playing ability, really.
Oscar Robertson
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When you go into a game on offense, you make a couple moves and see what the defender is going to do. Then you pretty much can figure out what he is going to do against you - whether he carries his hands low or high, whether he is bumping or pushing, those type of things.
Oscar Robertson
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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.
Oscar Robertson
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Now, I guess, people want stars. People are trying to invent stars.
Oscar Robertson
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You've got to learn the footwork, the positioning, how to box out, how to pass, how to shoot your free throws. All these things are necessary, not to be the No. 1 player in the world, but maybe you can play against him.
Oscar Robertson
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I think that teaching coaches are the norm now.
Oscar Robertson
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But I like to think an athlete is an athlete.
Oscar Robertson
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We're all Americans trying to compete. Magic was competing for his team and Larry for his team.
Oscar Robertson
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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!
Oscar Robertson
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But if people are buying the products, naturally they're gonna use them.
Oscar Robertson
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When I started playing, I wasn't fast, I was gangly, my jumpshot was terrible.
Oscar Robertson
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Just because it is an All-Star Game doesn't mean that you are playing as efficiently as you should.
Oscar Robertson
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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.
Oscar Robertson
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I think no one has written a history of the great coaches who were around 30 to 40 years ago who taught the fundamentals.
Oscar Robertson
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I'd like to think that the nature of the two teams - Boston being a championship team over the years and the Lakers, same thing - was a lot bigger than Larry Bird or Magic Johnson.
Oscar Robertson
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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.
Oscar Robertson
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The Olympics were great, because you had to make the team, and then go to the games. Now, I don't know, these guys today don't want to do anything like that.
Oscar Robertson