St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1962-02-16
BelIomY Looms As
4fh Straight Tan
Rookie-Of-YedF


this season will be no exception.
Destined to follow the footsteps
Of Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain
and Oscar Robertson, respectively, |
Is a Gil rookie on the neophyte |
entry, the Chicago Packers. He is
Walt Bellamy, former Indiana
University star. !
With the season near the three
quarter mark, Bellamy's credent-
ials are impressive, and he's i'm
proving. The towering Bellamy was
among the top scorers (sixth) with
1922 points in 40 games for a 81
average; leader in field goal per-
centage with a .51S mark, and
fourth in rebounding, with GIG
for an 1877 average.
I'm a little surprised Bellamy's
doing so we'll extensively" said Jim
Pollard, coach of the Packers,
when he was appraising his teams
standout recently.
Our guards work well with him.
Walt used to run little too much
at first but now we're teaching
him to pace himself"
OF course, comparisons between
Bellamy and other big men, not
ably Chamberlain and Bill Russell,
while natural, are somewhat pre-
mature now.
Walt Learning Fast
II think it will be a little while
before he battles Chamberlain be-
cause of his size and experience"
said Red Auerbach, coach of the
Boston Celtics, but if anybody
should be able to do it, he has the
physical assets"
Pollard noted that the first time
Bellamy encountered the Big Dip
per, Wilt blocked Waits first nine
shots.
"Bellamy was getting so frus-
trated that he didn't know what to
do. But he learned what to do
against Chamberlain the second
time around Walt scored As points
and Wilt made So"
Veteran 81 Green, the Packers
guard, explained what happened:
walt took Chamberlain outside
more and he got his shots out
there"
Russell, of course, is the games
premier defensive player. The diff
ference between his style and Bel
lamy's, according to Pollard, is
this:
After rebounding, Russell i'm
mediately looks for his man and
sizes up the situation so he figures
whether he should fit into a par
ticular scoring situation. IF he
doesn't he lags back.
Bellamy went to Indiana from
New Bern, NC, convinced to en-
roll there bythis high school coach,
Simon Coates. Coates had attended
two summer sessions at the Hoo
sier institution and was impressed
with the coaching techniques of
Branch McCracken, longtime IU's
cage headmaster.
The North Carolina boy was shy,
and despite his strapping 6-S, was
far from a polished basketball
player when he entered Big Ten
competition in his sophomore sea-
son. But he was surprisingly agile
and extremely conscientious.
Outstanding College Star
I've never seen boy work so
hard" said McCracken
In his first year of varsity COM
petition, Bellamy tailed 1872 points
and set an Indiana mark for field
goal accuracy with SIP. His .525
in Big Ten games was the confer
ences best. He grabbed 335 re-
bounds, more than 100 ahead of his
next teammate.
In his junior year, he scored 537
points, averaging 22.4 a game, with
a shooting percentage from the
field of .535, and hauled down 324
rebounds. Unanimous Big Ten sell
ection and named to several ALL
American teams, Bellamy won a
place on the us. Olympic team in
1860, along with Robertson and
Bob Boozer, the former Kansas
State ace, now a teammate Of the
Big o with the Cincinnati Royals.
Walt closed out his college car
eer with 522 points, averaging 21.8
for "a games. He clutched 52S re-
bounds for a new one-season III
record.
When the MIA and the new
American Basketball League made
their college selections last spring,
Bellamy was the No. 1 target and
he went to the Packers, then in the
blueprint state. He has established
himself, playing for a new team, in
his first campaign in the toughest
Of all basketball competitions.