Thanks for the details. No question that Red labeled Ramsey "the Sixth Man" and Cousy and Sharmen started ahead of Sam and KC. Whether the Celtics and Red were light years ahead of the rest of the league I don't know--I seem to recall Philly being pretty freakin Black during the same era.
For what it's worth, I thought that the Celtics were MUCH better with Sam and KC on the court than with Cousy and Sharmen. Maybe Red thought it was best to bring his strength off the bench instead of starting them, or maybe he thought it best to surround the best player on the planet who happened to be black in a city that was not exactly hospitable to blacks with four White players and to feature Ramsey, a good ole boy just like Bailey Howel, rather than start Sam and KC.
That Sam was playing behind Sharmen was a travisty.
Sam was 6'4", was a phenomenal scorer of the sort who could compete with the best ever, could guard the Oscars of the world, scored outside and inside, ran the floor like a deer, and was tremendously entertaining what with that bank shot. I was a kid and thought to myself, "This guy is amazing." My recollection is that when the Celtics needed a score in tight games, Sam was on the floor and more often than not got the shot and made it. He was lights out better than Sharmen.
Sam was great, probably the second best player on every Celtic team he played on, except when Havilechek really came into his own. Then Sam was the third best. Sam was the second or third best two guard in the league; second only to Oscar. He was better than Hudson and might well have been better than West.
As for Ramsey playing forward, and Sam playing guard--come on. There is nothing that Ramsey could do at the forward position that Sam did not do better. Nothing.
KC and Cousy. Cousy had flash, gave the team some character. I suppose that that justified him starting over KC. However, when Red needed to create separation, KC and Sam were in the game, not Cousy and Sam, KC and Sam. I think that tells you something.