Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anthony Davis playoff start pts comparison:

[plowking]

Let me put it to you this way...

In KAJ's first playoff series, and playing 42.6 mpg, he averaged 36.2 ppg on a .583 FG%, in a post-season NBA that averaged 111.6 ppg on a .455 FG%.

All you had to say was, "I can't".

[DonDadda59]

Not really fair to compare him to those guys. But for a 22 year old in his first playoff game against arguably the best team in the league... it was very good. Rough start and padded a bit at the end though.

I'm looking forward to watching his progression as a basketball player. I hope the Pelicans front office gets him better quality, higher IQ teammates in the near future.

[LAZERUSS]

All you had to say was, "I can't".

Per 100 is absolutely meaningless.

In Hakeem's '95 Finals, he averaged 32.8 ppg on 29 FGA per game, on a team that averaged 86 FGAs per game. He also only shot an eFG% of .488, in a post-season NBA that shot an eFG% of .504.

In Wilt's '64 Finals, he averaged 29.2 ppg on 24 FGAs per game, on a team that averaged 96 FGAs per game. He shot .517 from the field, in a post-season that shot .420 overall (and the Celts and Warriors combined to collectively shoot .399 in that Finals...so Wilt was LIGHT YEARS above that figure.)

Give that Wilt 29 FGAs, raise his FG% to '95 levels, and he would have averaged 40 ppg on a .620 FG%.

[warriorfan]

Per 100 is absolutely meaningless.

In Hakeem's '95 Finals, he averaged 32.8 ppg on 29 FGA per game, on a team that averaged 86 FGAs per game. He also only shot an eFG% of .488, in a post-season NBA that shot an eFG% of .504.

In Wilt's '64 Finals, he averaged 29.2 ppg on 24 FGAs per game, on a team that averaged 96 FGAs per game. He shot .517 from the field, in a post-season that shot .420 overall (and the Celts and Warriors combined to collectively shoot .399 in that Finals...so Wilt was LIGHT YEARS above that figure.)

Give that Wilt 29 FGAs, raise his FG% to '95 levels, and he would have averaged 40 ppg on a .620 FG%.

[CavaliersFTW]

Kareem had 36/20/4. Sat for 9 minutes, as well.
Wilt had 35/27/3.

Really great debuts for both.

Awesome, have you or anyone else got full statlines for each of their first playoff series games?

[SourSamCassell]

Wilt is good and all

But he's no Air Jordan! Ha ha!

[Psileas]

Awesome, have you or anyone else got full statlines for each of their first playoff series games?

Kareem's series went like this:

36/20/4 (in 39')
33/13/5
33/17/3 (in 33', on 12-16 FG)
33/7/3 (on 14-21 FG)
46/25/2 (playoff scoring career high - too bad he wasn't often drawing a lot of FT's, which kept his scoring highs somewhat low for his scoring level)

Wilt's series:

35/27/3 (probably most rebounds in playoff debut - Russell had 24)
28/18/2
53/22/2 (highest ppg avg for a rookie in a series + most points scored by a rookie in a playoff game + most FG's made in a playoff game in general, a record that has been tied, but remains unbroken)

These 2 have the 2 most prolific "debut series" of all time.

[upside24]

BTW, in Alcindor's THIRD playoff game of his long post-season career...

he played 33 minutes, and scored 33 points, with 17 rebounds and three assists, and on 13-16 FG/FGA, and 7-8 FT/FTA....in a 156-120 win.

Dear God.

What year did coaches come up with the idea to not only score, but try to actually stop the other team from scoring?

[COLOR="White"]JK. I know pace pace. [/COLOR]

[CavaliersFTW]

Kareem's series went like this:

36/20/4 (in 39')
33/13/5
33/17/3 (in 33', on 12-16 FG)
33/7/3 (on 14-21 FG)
46/25/2 (playoff scoring career high - too bad he wasn't often drawing a lot of FT's, which kept his scoring highs somewhat low for his scoring level)

Wilt's series:

35/27/3 (probably most rebounds in playoff debut - Russell had 24)
28/18/2
53/22/2 (highest ppg avg for a rookie in a series + most points scored by a rookie in a playoff game + most FG's made in a playoff game in general, a record that has been tied, but remains unbroken)

These 2 have the 2 most prolific "debut series" of all time.

Thanks, so in their first three playoff games the Davis/Chamberlain/Jabbar comparison/averages looks like this:

38.7ppg/22.3rpg/2.3apg - Chamberlain
34ppg/16.7rpg/4apg - KAJ
30ppg/11rpg/2.3apg - Davis

[CavaliersFTW]

Dear God.

What year did coaches come up with the idea to not only score, but try to actually stop the other team from scoring?

[COLOR="White"]JK. I know pace pace. [/COLOR]

Teams drain the shot clock in this era. Watching the few games that exist I don't really see that in that era. I'm not convinced it's about defense, I'm more inclined to believe it's about how they ran their offenses back then. Lots of transition basketball, and half court sets that weren't designed just to drain 20 seconds.

[upside24]

Teams drain the shot clock in this era. Watching the few games that exist I don't really see that in that era. I'm not convinced it's about defense, I'm more inclined to believe it's about how they ran their offenses back then. Lots of transition basketball, and half court sets that weren't designed just to drain 20 seconds.

I'm just messing around. I think you are right in your analysis of the difference in styles of play. Today's league spends a lot of time running sets and screens so the stats are going to be different.

[CavaliersFTW]

I'm just messing around. I think you are right in your analysis of the difference in styles of play. Today's league spends a lot of time running sets and screens so the stats are going to be different.

Yeah I see the white text now

[upside24]

Yeah I see the white text now

Your reply was a very good post. Most would have responded to that comment quite differently.

[G-Funk]

I have long maintained that Kareem's PEAK came between the second half of his ROOKIE season, thru his entire '71 regular and post-season, and into his entire regular season in his THIRD year.

Here is some evidence...

In his very FIRST post-season series, he averaged...

36.2 ppg, 15.8 rpg, 3.4 apg, .583 FG%, and a .774 FT%...for a true TS% of .618.

Kareem is the true GOAT

[warriorfan]

Thanks, so in their first three playoff games the Davis/Chamberlain/Jabbar comparison/averages looks like this:

38.7ppg/22.3rpg/2.3apg - Chamberlain
34ppg/16.7rpg/4apg - KAJ
30ppg/11rpg/2.3apg - Davis

The speed at which the game is played impacts just about every other statistic. A quicker tempo means more possessions. More possessions means more shots. More shots means more points, more misses, more rebounds... you get the picture. Without an understanding of that tempo, many of the other statistics become meaningless.