How good was Wilt Chamberlain defensively?

[PTB Fan]

He was known as a great defensive player.

How focused was on he on defense? He was known as a good to great defender up until his peak in Sixers, where IMO he stepped up on this side of the floor, gave it more effort and was willing to play. I have him in the discussion for the honor of top defender in each of since those seasons.

I have him as the best defensive player in few seasons during the same time in a league with Nate Thurmond (candidate for GOAT defender), Kareem Abdul Jabbar (top 15 defender of all time at worst), Dave Cowens (another great stopper), Willis Reed and so on.

His impact was off the charts. His D bothered young, skinny and dominant Lew Alcindor in most of their match ups, as he had a share of their battles in which he won ('71 is a good example, Cavaliers fan got this covered).

And he pretty much shut down any opposing offensive player. Only Kareem and sometimes Reed gave him trouble. There were no DPOYs back in the day, no block stats.. but had they existed, IMO, he'd have been even a more dominant force on this side of the court.

What's your opinion? Where do you rank him on the list for GOAT defenders of all time? I have him at #5.. where do you rank him at the list of greatest shot blockers ever too?

[millwad]

Kareem averaged 40 points on 50% on prime defensive Wilt in '72.

[iDefend5]

Reported

[Sarcastic]

How many players in the history of the planet do you think could have done this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYq4CWeWaKg

[ThaRegul8r]

*looks at watch*

[CavaliersFTW]

PTB - watch this complete-game highlight showcasing Wilt's defensive "intangibles" from a 1971 playoff game against the Chicago Bulls.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaXHYlPECcc

This is actually the series immediately preceding his battle with Kareem - West and Baylor DNP. This game is a losing effort though, and he doesn't score a lot of points, but you can get a good idea of what his defensive impact was like at least in his Laker years. Jerry West is color commentating and describes him as "The Big Eraser" making up for a lot of defensive mistakes of other players.

Watch the video with "annotations enabled" for information that will pop up to add insight on things like who he's guarding and what to look for in the game etc.

You can just tell by the footage, he is the undisputed glue of that team. He's assisting his players, altering countless opponent shots, blocking shots, setting screens, facilitating offensive plays, split-second full-court outlet passes off his rebounds, startling fast-break presses, and he plays all 48 minutes against 2 young centers and he never fouls out (in fact, he never fouled out in his entire career). People assume he played soft because of that but you tell me if it looks like he's defensively soft because of foul fear... he impacts the entire flow of the opponents offense.

[Owl]

Kareem averaged 40 points on 50% on prime defensive Wilt in '72.

And because one of the greatest players ever had a few good games in one season against him, that of course proves that he is useless.

We might as well just close this thread. I'm so glad that tiny samples can conclusively prove points.

[WillC]

This article uses the Defensive Win Shares Per Game statistic to rank the best defensive centers of all-time.

http://basketballjournalist.blogspot...-all-time.html

Using that methodology, Wilt is the 2nd best defensive center of all-time.

[Pushxx]

Second or third best center defensively.

[Odinn]

This article uses the Defensive Win Shares Per Game statistic to rank the best defensive centers of all-time.

http://basketballjournalist.blogspot...-all-time.html

Using that methodology, Wilt is the 2nd best defensive center of all-time.

A methodology based on WS?

Wilt can be named "the 2nd best defensive center of all-time" but using WS to say that?

[Asukal]

Wilt can guard all five opponents by himself, there's no need for his teammates. My gawd, he can stop a raging bull with his barehands, grab it by the tail and flung it several hundred feet away. True story, my grandpa saw it live.

[CavaliersFTW]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GcwSU7q2cQ&t=27s

Wilt did nothing but choke slam helpless 6 foot white guys right? - Look I even have proof is based on this 3 second in-game footage of Wilt in the low post.

[Rnbizzle]

Javale McGee.

[CavaliersFTW]

Javale McGee.

JaFail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQiInX37oys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27-jM2NvBIc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR6TnQSgxO8

[Deuce Bigalow]

Javale McGee.

this