Of course, the game is much different now than it was then. Players are bigger, faster, and as a whole more athletic. Also, shooting has become more of a refined art — so it's totally understandable that Nash is a much better shooter. Also contributing to the vast difference in their career shooting percentages — 37.5% for Cousy to 48.7% for Nash — is that the confrontational, hands-on defensive tactics that Cousy faced have been outlawed.

Excluding his first four years in the league when he was a backup with Phoenix and Dallas, Nash's points-per-game average is 14.8, appreciably less than Cousy's 18.4 ppg. However, Cousy attempted 17.8 shots per game, while Nash only puts up 10.7 shots.

Contrary to your remembrances, however, Nash has a trickier handle and can therefore score in a wider variety of self-created situations.

All things considered, Nash is a superior scorer.

Assists are awarded more liberally these days, so Cousy's 7.5 lifetime assists per game is roughly equivalent to the 9.5 assists that Nash averaged in his peak seasons. Cousy did lead the NBA in assists for eight consecutive seasons (1953-60), while Nash led in only three seasons (2005-07). However, Cousy's primary competitors were the likes of Dick McGuire, Andy Phillip and Bob Davies — great players, yet not in the same class as Jason Kidd and Chris Paul.

Also, as far as pure passing ability is concerned, Nash has a very slight edge only because his left hand is more developed than was Cousy's in this category.

Neither was an adequate defender in man-to-man situations. For most of his career, Cousy had Bill Russell prowling the lane to erase all of his own defensive mistakes. But Nash is more on his own, so his defensive lapses are more evident and more damaging. Overall, neither player has an advantage here.

It says here that Nash's advantages in speed, quickness, athleticism and shooting make him the superior player.

In fact, Cousy's inadequacies in these departments would disqualify him from even making a modern-day NBA roster.

Travels with Charley

Speaking of coaches' halftime tantrums:

Unless they can scream and yell at their kids, their spouses, their dogs or whatever during the offseason, coaches usually suffer some degree of throat soreness once training camp begins. And that's exactly what happened to Phil Jackson early in my first season as his assistant with the Albany Patroons in the CBA.

During the training camp and the first two or three games, I had never addressed the entire team. Instead, during the games and the practice sessions, I spoke only to individual players — mostly the big men — and to Phil.