For All the Marbles

The only Negro head coach of a major professional team would have a hard time staying out of the spotlight--even if he did not stand 6 ft. 10 in., sport a beard, and wear an opera cape instead of an overcoat. The glare is especially bright for Bill Russell, 33, because he is in his first season as player-coach of the Boston Celtics, whose eight straight National Basketball Association championships make them the most successful team in U.S. pro sport. The only change he can make in the Celtics is a change for the worse. So when people ask why he took the job, Bill answers with a parable. "There was this fellow who wanted to be a coach and, realizing he'd have to talk a lot, decided to take voice lessons.'Put these twelve marbles in your mouth,' the instructor told him, 'and keep talking. Remove them one at a time. When you've lost all your marbles, you'll be ready to coach.' "

Hard Breather. True, Russell's Celtics trail the Philadelphia 76ers by 7 1/2 games in the race for the regular season Eastern Division championship. But last week they beat the 76ers for the fourth time in seven games this season, 113-112 --and there is no reason to suspect that they can't do it again in next month's postseason playoffs. True, Russell makes mistakes: in one game, he was fined for forgetting to call a required time out (thereby costing the TV sponsor a commercial); in another, he sent in a substitute without removing the player he was supposed to substitute for --giving Boston six men on court instead of the regulation five. But to a man the Celtics agree that Bill is a more than capable coach. "He's doing a great job," says Guard K. C. Jones. "He breathes hard, just like a player."

Russell is, in fact, his own best player --a defensive genius who is averaging 21.9 rebounds and 14.2 points per game, despite the fact that he has been playing with two sprained fingers and a torn hamstring muscle in his thigh. If anything, says former Celtics Coach Red Auerbach, now the club's general manager, coaching has improved the quality of Bill's play. "He never had to consider the feelings of other players before," explains Auerbach. "Now that he does have to think of others, he has grown as a person and gained added motivation as a player."

Busy Thinkers. Under Russell, the Celtics are basically the same ball club they were under Auerbach. They use the same seven set plays (plus about 25 options), depend as always on a tight, pressing defense and a run-and-shoot offense to win their games. But now they are more of a thinking team--because Russell encourages them to be. "We're all invited to participate," says Guard Jones. "We help him keep track of team fouls and individual fouls. We keep our eyes open for switches the other team might make." Not that Russell necessarily accepts the advice. "I absorb the intelligence," he says, "but the decisions are made by the man in charge."

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