The NBA is celebrating the NBA 75 roster almost daily between now and the end of the season. Today’s honoree is Bob Pettit, grandpa of St. Louis Hawks. This story about Pettit, the season after he was the NBA Rookie of the Year, originally appeared under the headline “Hawks tab Pettit Game’s Greatest Shotmaker” in The Sporting News of November 30, 1955.
ST. LOUIS, MO. – Alex Hannum is a bald, hardened veteran of professional basketball, currently serving on the St. Louis Hawks. He’s seen them all in recent years, and he’s in no hurry to compliment himself, but when it comes to handsome, baby-faced Bob Pettit, Louisiana’s sixth-highest in Mound City, Hannum speak:
“He’s the greatest. Yes, I said the greatest. They simply couldn’t be better at all-round and long-range play.”
The same appreciation for Pettit’s uncanny bounce and tally is also shared by another well-versed expert on hard shots, Chuck Share, the seven-foot-high wall of the Hawks. Sharing is also very frugal with his bouquets to others, but he doesn’t hesitate when Peltit’s name is mentioned.
“Bob is the type who can’t play the whole game because he’s not quite as rugged as some of the rest of us,” explained Share, but later gave him the compliment: “Maybe we I might just use him on some occasions, but he’ll always give you those 20. Who could ask for more? He’s on top.”
All of that was to showcase the National Basketball Association’s “Rookie of the Year” last season, and the voted chapter most likely will usurp professional basketball glory that previously seemed to rest only on doubles. The huge role played by George Mikan, a lone man, retired last year, with Pettit conceding Pettit’s best chance of dethroning Philadelphia’s Neil Johnston as the current scoring and recovery champion. in.
“I’m just a beginner”
All of this glory and pressure, however, has come lightly for Pettit, who remains a polite, smiling lad at just 22 years old (He’ll be 23 in December.) America’s stature at LSU , it’s reasonable to believe he won’t be broken now. He was simply a fine, outstanding young man who was unfazed by it all – he loved to play basketball and he just did what he liked. Why all the fuss?
“Please remember,” he commented quietly in his drawing of Baton Rouge, “I am still learning. We get new hints every game. When I look back on last season, I can see where I made a lot of mistakes. Our team is young and we are just starting to work together. We have a long way to go and I am just a beginner. “
This humility has been part of the Pettit Story ever since he failed to make it to his high school team the first year he tried. Determined that this wouldn’t happen again in his junior year, he asked his father if he could set up a practice goal in his backyard. Bob Pettit, Sr., also absorbed his idea, he also played basketball while attending Westminster College in Denver.
“I was delighted to see that he was interested in sports, although I don’t think he necessarily went that far,” the six-and-four-year-old recounts. “But I guess I was wrong, because he made a career out of the game.”
Night light for basket
Not only did Bob set that goal, but he drilled day and night. When darkness fell, he returned to his room, opened the window just above the basket, and turned on the two study lights on the table. They serve as night lights for his baskets. He then entered a church tournament at his Baton Rouge YMCA and quickly returned home with a handful of titles – his team won the title.
When he returned to Baton Rouge High School and played basketball in his senior year, it was a completely different Pettit. Not only did he form the team, but he was also the star. During his senior year, Baton Rouge went on to win the state crown and Bob was selected to the Men’s team of the annual all-star high school game in Murray, Ky. Curiously, the Baton Rouge team that year only lost nine games – All in a row. You see, Pettit was hospitalized with mumps during that siege. When he returned, they won 17 in a row.
At this point, college scouts were focusing on Baton Rouge and the Pettit family’s sense of fairness was immediately evident, Bob, Sr., agreeing with Bob, Jr., that LSU was in the hometown. home was best for him and they quickly signed up with Coach Harry Rabenhorst, the Southeast Conference head coach. This took place before Bob went to Murray, Ky.
The tournament meant more to Pettit than being named for All America High, as it was there that he learned of the boys’ camp in Three Lakes, Wis., which was run by Ray Meyer, then the coach. DePaul and who developed Mikan. Bob jumped at the opportunity to be a counselor at the camp and during the summer he practiced every day and looked at pictures of Mikan in action every night.
Hoping to imitate Mikan
“Mikan has become the man I admire,” Pettit admits sheepishly. “I hope one day I can reach his potential. Another man who means a lot to me is Frank Brian of Fort Wayne, a cousin of mine. He’s a great former LSU. great and I always hope I can follow in his footsteps.”
During his freshman year at LSU, Petit worked under John Chaney, a former professional soccer player, who helped him perform routines like jumping rope and daily under-basket exercises to complete his goals. improve bounces and dribbles, two properties that have delighted NBA fans.
“He’s particularly good at tipping,” Red Holzman, his current coach, points out. “He’s got fluid movement, adept timing and great wrist action. He’s got control of his fingertips. He just has to touch the ball when he’s on it and it’s in. “
Grady Lewis, a one-time professional cage coach and now near the national cage field as a roving representative of Converse Rubber Co. “Actually, he reminds me of Macauley a lot, but he’s even better. He can do so much more.”
Pettit wasted little time breaking college records, as in his sophomore year he averaged 25.5 points across 24 games, setting an all-time LSU scoring record. , set the 50-point convention mark in a single game against Georgia and hit a new high of 359 points in 14 conference games. He continued to be a huge hit throughout his middle and high school years, making people across America. He exceeded his 50th total by beating 57 games against Georgia in his senior year and 60 games against Louisiana College.
With Kentucky ineligible for his junior term, LSU won the league championship with a 14-9 record, going on to beat St. Louis U. in the classic Sugar Bowl final, winning the NCAA regional championship in Raleigh, NC, by defeating Holy Pass in the final and then losing to Washington in Washington in the first round of the championship. nation.
25 points against Kentucky
One of the best performances he ever had was against Kentucky in his sophomore season, when he scored 25 points, but LSU lost in the final seconds, 44 to 43. This fight was to win the SEC championship and although he was brilliant, Pettit noted this as his number 1 disappointment. He’d rather score half the points than his whole team just win.
Owner Ben Kerner’s first draft pick last season, Pettit did remarkably well. He is 4th in scoring with 1,166 points in 73 games at a rate of 20.4. He averages 40.7 goals and ranks third in the league in bounces with 994. There is little doubt that he won the title of “Rookie of the Year” and he was also picked. into the NBA’s first all-star roster, only the second such rookie. honor.
Personally, Pettit is one of the most polite and caring guys one can meet. He also has a good sales manager and off-season helps his father with insurance and real estate in Baton Rouge.
Although he says he loves Hillbilly dance and music, he confesses that he has no love preferences at the moment. “I don’t like that,” he replied seriously.
Owner Kerner sums up the greatness in Pettit better than anyone else:
“He is simply a gentleman – a gentleman indeed – and a brother, a player. How could he break me at the time of the contract if he is not such a nice kid.”
