In the last edition of Ladder Challenge it was a battle of Celtics legends, with Paul Pierce beating Robert Parish surprisingly easily with 87% of the vote. The victory improved Pierce's challenge record to 4-0-1 and moved him into the Ladder's Top 20 at #13. This week Boston sports legends from different sports and eras due battle in a difficult challenge to handicap. Celtic great John Havlicek (#9) tries to hold off the challenge of Patriots coach Bill Belichick (#11) in a battle between American men who share a Croatian heritage. My vote this week goes to Havlicek, the leading scorer in Celtics history who played his entire career in Boston and played a pivotal role in helping to raise 8 of the Celtics 17 banners. Although Belichick is among the greatest coaches in the history of any sport and brought 3 titles to Boston himself, I'm going with player over coach as the deciding factor in a very close challenge. So who has your support in this week's battle? (and remember, the most votes in the comments section is the tie-breaker, so be sure to share your thoughts!)
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JOHN HAVLICEK
Ranked : 9
Started: 9
Challenge Record: 1-1-0
Beat: Rocky Marciano
Lost: Larry Bird
Tied: None
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*Played entire 16-year career (1962-78) with Celtics.
*Helped Celtics win 8 NBA Championships (1963-69, 1974, 1976).
*1974 NBA Finals MVP.
*Named to NBA All-Rookie 1st Team (1963).
*1st Team All-NBA 4 times (1971-74).
*2nd Team All-NBA 7 times (1964-70, 1975-76).
*Member of NBA All-Defensive Team 8 times (5 1st Team, 3 2nd Team).
*Regular season totals: 20.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, .439 FG%, .815 FT%.
*Playoff totals: 22.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, .436 FG%, .836 FT%.
*Holds franchise all-time records for: Games (1,270), Minutes (46,471), Field Goals (10,513), Field Goal Attempts (23,930), Free Throws (5,369), Free Throw Attempts (6,589), Fouls (3,281) and Points (26,395).
*Also ranks among Celtics all-time Top 10 in: Assists (2nd), Points per Game (3rd), Rebounds (5th) and Minutes per Game (8th).
*Holds franchise single season records for: Minutes (3698, 1972), Field Goal Attempts (1982, 1971), Points (2338, 1971) and Minutes per Game (45.4, 1971).
*Holds franchise record for most points in a playoff game (54, 1973 vs Atlanta).
*Led league in Games, Minutes and Minutes per Game twice each.
*His famous steal vs Philly helped the Celtics advance to the 1965 NBA Finals.
*Named to NBA 35th & 50th Anniversary Teams.
*Elected to Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984.
*His #17 is retired by the Boston Celtics.
BILL BELICHICK
Current Rank: 12
Challenge Record: 1-1-0
Beat: Ray Bourque
Lost: Red Auerbach
Tied: None
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*Patriots head coach for 12 seasons (2000-present).
*Was the Patriots assistant head coach in 1996.
*Won 3 Super Bowls as head coach of Pats (2001, 2003-04).
*Won 4 AFC Championships as head coach of Pats (2001, 2003-04, 2007).
*In his one season as assistant head coach he helped the Pats win the AFC Championship.
*Has won 8 AFC East titles (2001, 2003-07, 2009-10) as head coach.
*Coaching record with New England of 126-50 (.716) in the regular season and 14-5 (.737) in the playoffs.
*Has been named NFL Coach of the Year 3 times (2003, 2007, 2010).
*In 2007 he guided the Patriots to the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history.
*His Pats teams have the 2 longest regular season win streaks in NFL history.
*Most wins of any coach in Patriots franchise history.
I think this is a rare case where both of these men are just about where they belong on the Ladder. Havlicek is behind only Russell, Bird and Auerbach among Celtics. Belichick is behind only Brady for Patriots. Havlicek's combo of loyalty, individual production and rings is simply too much to ignore here.
I know who Randy Miss would vote for! Clearly BB
See his quote today?
""I think that just the success as a wide receiver and everything that the New England Patriots stand for, you know, I'm a big fan of Bill Belichick's," Moss said. "I really am, and not just on the field. I'm a fan of his off the field because, you know, the little grouchy man that you see on-camera is not what you see off-camera."
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