The all-time ranking lists. Every NBA fan’s got their opinions on the greatest player of all time. Some have Michael Jordan number one, some have LeBron number one, and some even have Wilt Chamberlain number one, but outside of the top 10 or so players of all time most lists get murkier, as most NBA fans weren’t alive to watch the Big O and others play. That’s why I’m here. I’m here to give you a detailed breakdown on the way Oscar Robertson plays and, at the end, tell you where I’d rank him after knowing this.

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Oscar Robertson

When talking about Oscar Robertson, what most people bring up first is his great playmaking. The Big O displayed great vision in the game making great reads off of the few pick-n-rolls they ran. He displayed a good IQ during the game that I watched. He had a good handle of the ball and was not prone to turnovers. However, he was very hesitant to cross over to his left hand. As you’d expect, no one was doing between the legs dribbles or behind the back dribbles in this game, I don’t think I saw one from anyone all game. The only way Oscar would cross from his right hand to his left hand was a simple crossover. But, he made it extremely obvious whenever he would decide to cross over to his left, and the crossover was slow. Back then, that was normal but now it would’ve gotten eaten up alive. He once got stripped off a trap because he crossed over right in front of his defender. Also, he only dribbled with his left hand when neccessary. His default was his right, but if he was planning to drive left he’d switch over to his left hand. At times he’d go left around the imaginary three point arc using his right hand (an automatic steal even in high school nowadays). However, he wasn’t losing the ball or turning it over so his handle was sufficient.

The Big O put up a quiet 32 when I watched the game, and that was mostly because his shot creation isn’t anything to envy. He had a good mid range and when he stepped into his shot it reminded me a bit of Michael Jordan’s pull up mid ranges (minus the exploding into them). He held his release in the air for a while and still had enough force to shoot it towards the basket. He doesn’t have three point range unless he shot it like his free throw (more on that in a bit). Oscar wasn’t scared to shoot and the fact that he was just a bit taller than whoever he was guarding made him able to get his shots off. He drew fouls more frequently than you’d think considering his agression seemed pretty minimal. However, his free throw form is exactly what you’d think a 1960’s basketball player’s form would be. Before he shot, he removed his off hand from the ball and just shot it. Miraculously, he made every free throw that game. Outside of Rick Barry’s free throw and Joel Embiid’s free throw, it’s the weirdest free throw that’s actually very productive. I looked it up after the game and it turns out he led the league in free throw percentage 2 times. He finished with a career free throw percentage of 83.8%.

Robertson had a very slow first step and drove through the lane very cautiously, waiting for the perfect opportunity to arise, whether to pass to an open teammate or finish himself. He didn’t display great athleticism or verticality. His rebounding is overrated currently, the numbers don’t really tell the whole story. He’s like Westbrook in the sense that he’s the only one who cares enough to grab it. He didn’t box out much which was understandable because a. It probably wasn’t even invented yet and b. He was guarding perimeter players, so boxing out at the imaginary 3 point line would be awkward. He followed every shot while most players just get to the other side of the court.

Now for the other side of the ball that no one ever talks about when talking about great players. I had no idea Oscar Robertson was this good of an on ball defender. When he was locked in on clamping up the ball HE WAS LOCKING DOWN THE BALL. He got into a good stance that looked so intimidating most players just immediately passed it to a teammate. I didn’t get to see much of his lateral quickness when he was locked in because of that. The only problem with his stance (and for this era this isn’t really a problem) is that he didn’t have a hand up. Both hands were directly at his side. He basically dared the other team to shoot it. He didn’t get any steals that game, mostly because the man with the ball passed it up whenever Oscar would get closer up to them. I haven’t heard one person talk about his lockdown defense so when I watched him play it was a pleasant surprise.

Now, I mentioned that WHEN he was locked in then he was a great on ball defender, but there were definitely times during the game that he wasn’t locked in. At the beginning of the game I wasn’t impressed at all with his defense. He was standing straight up, 10 feet off of the ball daring them to shoot. He must’ve just done that to a total non shooter because his man didn’t shoot it. He got beat off the dribble once when he wasn’t in stance so the next play he went straight into his menacing stance.

Off ball is where Oscar’s defense gets a bit murkier. Robertson just didn’t really try to keep track of his man at all, sometimes completely ditching his man to get read at for the rebound. He routinely lost his man through a series of off ball screens and he didn’t scramble to fight through them, he stayed under composure and jogged through them. A few times he came over to double the ball but didn’t fully commit and the offensive player hit a fadeaway with ease. He didn’t stand in optimal position off the ball. Traditionally, you’d want to be in help on the midline of the ball is on the other side of the court, but he was closer to his man. A quick back door cut would work every time if the floor was spaced properly.

Summary

Robertson wasn’t very athletic and didn’t have a good handle, but he made up for it with elite playmaking and lockdown on ball defense. His shot creation was adequate for his era, but wouldn’t translate at all to the current NBA.

I would rank Oscar Robertson around the 20-25 range, I don’t see any reason Chris Paul shouldn’t be ahead of him.

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