Rick Barry on Wilt Chamberlain:

[CavaliersFTW]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSTt_TxoFVo



BTW, my Wilt video from his scoring years (before he retired his outside shots and lost his shooting touch (1960-1966)) is coming along. Expect about 10 minutes of footage - much of it rarely seen/new-to-you.

[Alan Ogg]

Lazeruss = Rick Barry??

[Nuff Said]

I'd have to agree with him..when evaluating an individual, how one even comes to bring in TEAM stats is just beyond me..a player can score 60 points in a game but if his teammates don't make up the rest of the deficit then they will lose hands down..and **** all that empty stats bullshit too while we're at it

[Psileas]

When an outspoken individual like Rick Barry admits having been wrong, this tells something. Love the last part of the interview and I'm looking forward to the rare footage.

[K Xerxes]

Do you have a job?

[Psileas]

I'd have to agree with him..when evaluating an individual, how one even comes to bring in TEAM stats is just beyond me..a player can score 60 points in a game but if his teammates don't make up the rest of the deficit then they will lose hands down..and **** all that empty stats bullshit too while we're at it

The irony is, the ring excuse seems to be used more when comparing players and less when comparing teams...Although comparing players is, for some reason, way more popular than comparing teams.

[Marchesk]

The irony is, the ring excuse seems to be used more when comparing players and less when comparing teams...Although comparing players is, for some reason, way more popular than comparing teams.

Thing is that Wilt also played on two of the greatest teams ever. He just happened to play during an era of the greatest dynasty ever. But he did prove that he could take on a Bill Russell-like role.

We'll never know how Russell would have done if he had to carry a team like Wilt did, or if Wilt spent his entire career for a HOF coach surrounded by HOF players.

Situations aren't created equal. And we can't play God and put every great player in every possible situation to see who the real, true actual GOAT is across all scenarios, if there would be such a thing. But I wish we could. It would be utterly fascinating. We'll never know how many titles MJ has without Pippen and Phil, or what the Celtics would have done if Len Bias hadn't died, or if Bill Russell's pick hadn't been traded from the Hawks (would Auerback have done everything in his power to acquire Wilt a couple years later?).

[LAZERUSS]

Obviously there was resentment of Chamberlain by some players during his career. And we have seen several of them apologize as the years have gone by. Jerry West, in the heat of the moment, once claimed that he would have taken Russell over Wilt, but has backed off of that since. In fact, around 2000, he even claimed that Wilt was the greatest player ever...and that was shortly after MJ's second retirement.

And even some of the Boston players have admitted that Chamberlain was just unstoppable, even for Russell. However, of all of them, the one that makes the least sense is supposedly a comment from Havlicek, in which he claimed that Wilt was so concerned with fouls that he would basically shut down when he approached foul trouble. Now, I have long admired Hondo, but this is just so ridiculous on so many levels. One, Wilt was seldom even remotely in foul trouble throughout his entire regular season, and post-season career.

I took the time a while back to provide the PFs of both Wilt and Russell in their 143 H2H games, and Chamberlain only had a dozen, or so, games in which he even reached four fouls, and about a handful in which he got to five. And in the vast majority, he had two or less. On the flip-side, Russell had a TON of games with five fouls, and even fouled out several times in their career matchups.

Furthermore, there is footage of game seven of the '69 Finals, and late in the 3rd quarter, Wilt picked up his fifth foul. He continued to play, albeit, intelligently. Well, early in the 4th quarter, Russell was nailed for his 5th foul. The very next play the Lakers went into Chamberlain, and Russell just stepped aside and let Wilt lay it in. As a sidenote, the idiotic coach of the Lakers did not have his players continue with that plan.

In any case, any great player has to play smart with foul trouble. Only a moron would play recklessly when saddled with fouls. But, once again, Wilt averaged 2.0 PFs in his 1045 regular season games (and playing 45.8 mpg in them), and 2.5 PFs in his 160 post-season games (and playing 47.2 mpg in them.) So, what percentage of his games was he even sniffing foul problems?

And while the Wilt-detractors will quote Hondo, I have yet to read, or see, any evidence which suggested that in the few games that Chamberlain was in foul trouble, in which he just blatantly "hid" to avoid fouling out. On the contrary, there was a game in the '72 Finals, in which Chamberlain, playing with five fouls (and a broken hand), blocked two shots in OT to preserve the close win.

And, as I mentioned earlier, there was an obvious resentment of Wilt by at least some players in the league (and probably almost all of the Celtics.) It was evident in the MVP voting throughout the 60's. I suspect some of it was based on the fact that Chamberlain was just plain humiliating his peers. I always found it fascinating that Wilt was a runaway MVP in his rookie season, but two years later, after scoring 50 ppg (and even hitting 100 in a game), that he finished a distant second to Russell...despite the fact that Russell's numbers were nearly identical to his '60 stats, and both teams' records were nearly identical to their '60 marks. The only thing that changed was that Chamberlain was even more dominant.

And BTW, Chamberlain's teammates almost universally praised Wilt...even in that '62 season, when he was basically asked to be a one-man team. In fact, those that knew and dealt with both Chamberlain and Russell, almost to a man (and including the media) much preferred Wilt as a human being.

In any case, it appears that Simmons lost another "source" in his anti-Wilt campaign. Perhaps some other's, like Hondo and Jerry Lucas, will follow suit.

[La Frescobaldi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSTt_TxoFVo



BTW, my Wilt video from his scoring years (before he retired his outside shots and lost his shooting touch (1960-1966)) is coming along. Expect about 10 minutes of footage - much of it rarely seen/new-to-you.

I predict you will not be hearing from millwad moe9.2 or odinn on this thread.

[CavaliersFTW]

bump

[LAZERUSS]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZIGTVa_ack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZIGTVa_ack

I could go on...