Problem: Arnold Jacob Auerbach was one of the four children of Marie and Hyman Auerbach. Hyman was a Russian-Jewish immigrant from Minsk, Russia, and Marie Auerbach, nee Thompson, was American-born. Auerbach Sr. had left Russia when he was 13, and the couple owned a delicatessen store and later went into the dry-cleaning business. Little Arnold spent his whole childhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, playing basketball.

Prior to the 1950-51 NBA season, Walter Brown, owner of the Boston Celtics, was desperate to turn around his struggling and financially strapped franchise, which was reeling from a 22-46 record. Brown, in characteristic candor, said to a gathering of local Boston sportswriters, "Boys, I don't know anything about basketball. Who would you recommend I hire as coach?" The group vociferously answered that he get the recently available Auerbach, and Brown complied. In the 1950 NBA draft, Auerbach made some notable moves. First, he famously snubbed Hall-of-Fame New England point guard Bob Cousy in the 1950 NBA draft, infuriating the Boston crowd. He argued that the flashy Cousy lacked the poise necessary to make his team, taunting him as a "local yokel". Second, he drafted African-American Chuck Cooper, the first black player to be drafted by an NBA club. With that, Auerbach effectively broke down the color barrier in professional basketball.  In that year, the core of the Celtics consisted of Hall-of-Fame center Ed Macauley, Auerbach's old favorite McKinney, and an unlikely addition, Cousy. Cousy had refused to report to the club that had drafted him (ironically, the Blackhawks, Auerbach's old club), and because his next team (the Chicago Stags) folded, he ended up with the Celtics. With Auerbach's fast-break tactics, the Celtics achieved a 39-30 record but lost in the 1951 NBA Playoffs to the New York Knicks. However, the relationship between Auerbach and Cousy improved when the coach saw that the "Houdini of the Hardwood"--as the spectacular dribbler and flashy passer Cousy was lovingly called--became the first great playmaker of the fledgling NBA.  In the following 1951-52 NBA season, Auerbach made a remarkable draft pick of future Hall-of-Fame guard Bill Sharman. With the high-scoring Macauley, elite passer Cousy, and new prodigy Sharman, Auerbach had a core that provided high-octane fast-break basketball. Other notable players who joined the Celtics were forwards Frank Ramsey and Jim Loscutoff. In the next years until 1956, the Celtics would make the playoffs every year, but never won the title. In fact, the Celtics often choked in the playoffs, going a mere 10-17 in the postseason from 1951 through 1956. As Cousy put it: "We would get tired in the end and could not get the ball." As a result, Auerbach sought a defensive big man who could both get easy rebounds, initiate fast breaks, and close out games.

did he win any playoffs?

Answer with quotes: tactics, the Celtics achieved a 39-30 record but lost in the 1951 NBA Playoffs to the New York Knicks.


Problem: Herbert Sutcliffe (24 November 1894 - 22 January 1978) was an English professional cricketer who represented Yorkshire and England as an opening batsman. Apart from one match in 1945, his first-class career spanned the period between the two world wars. His first-class debut was delayed by the First World War until 1919 and his career was effectively terminated in August 1939 when he was called up for military service in the imminent Second World War. He was the first cricketer to score 16 centuries in Test match cricket.

Sutcliffe and Len Hutton opened the Yorkshire innings in one championship match in 1934 and then, with Sutcliffe's Test career ending the following year, became the regular Yorkshire pairing until 1939 when the outbreak of war effectively ended Sutcliffe's career.  Especially given that he was from Pudsey, Hutton was often portrayed as Sutcliffe's protege but Hutton maintained that it was the coaching of George Hirst that did most to develop his career. He said of Sutcliffe: "You do learn a lot from watching a player of Herbert's class. It was an enriching and invaluable experience to bat with him". Sutcliffe's view of Hutton was that he was "a marvel - the discovery of a generation". Hutton said that his shyness and the fact that he was twenty years younger than Sutcliffe made it difficult for him to approach his partner when he needed help, which he more readily got from Bill Bowes and Hedley Verity. About Sutcliffe he said: "I did not find it easy to talk to him".  The master-apprentice relationship changed after Hutton scored a world record 364 for England against Australia at The Oval in 1938. Future Yorkshire captain Ronnie Burnet reckoned that Sutcliffe had been the dominant partner until then and their scores would be something like 60 to 40 in Sutcliffe's favour. After Hutton made his record, his confidence increased and Burnet said the ratio was reversed "to 70:30 in Len's favour". Burnet said that Hutton was "tearing attacks apart in 1939 and Herbert was by then playing second fiddle".  Comparisons of the two Pudsey masters have been inevitable but there were essential differences in style. Bill Bowes said that Sutcliffe readily acknowledged the superior ability of Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond and Len Hutton but what Sutcliffe did have were the concentration and willpower to make the best of his abilities in any given situation. Hutton pinpointed the key difference by explaining that, when Sutcliffe was taking guard, "his weight was on the (front) left foot, enabling him to play the hook shot so well" whereas Hutton put his weight onto his (back) right foot. Hence Sutcliffe more easily moved back while Hutton developed a forward style. Another view, expressed by Sutcliffe's son Billy, who also played with Hutton for Yorkshire, was that Sutcliffe was "probably better in a crisis", as his numerous successes on bad or "sticky" wickets would suggest.  Sutcliffe and Hutton made 16 century opening partnerships together, 15 of them for Yorkshire. Their highest was 315, which they achieved twice.

What did Hutton think about Sutcliffe?

Answer with quotes:
You do learn a lot from watching a player of Herbert's class. It was an enriching and invaluable experience to bat with him