[VIDEO] Nate Thurmond - would he be the best bigman in this current era?

[CavaliersFTW]

http://youtu.be/Xh90_lXqh5o

So in his prime we've got perhaps an even longer version of Dwight Howard, with a jumpshot (with surprising range), a hook shot, and terrorizing defense that still keeps the ball in play - minus the Prima donna-ism and constant smiling. Only downside is that Nates fg% throughout his career has a lot of room for improvement by bigman standards but I think it is as low as it was because he is not a natural scorer (neither is Dwight, or Chandler, or any other center in the modern era) and he took shots in volumes that would be considered unnecessary today because his aim was his high school coaches philosophy of "keep your opponents score down, but also try outscoring them" (and in his era there were a lot more offensively gifted big men that would score in volume that he would have been trying to outpace in the scoring column).

[Deuce Bigalow]

He would be a great energy guy off the bench. Like a Jordan Hill type player. Maybe a chance at being a starter one day when he hits his prime. Something like 8-10 rebounds a night if he gets enough minutes.

[CavaliersFTW]

He would be a great energy guy off the bench. Like a Jordan Hill type player. Maybe a chance at being a starter one day when he hits his prime. Something like 8-10 rebounds a night if he gets enough minutes.

lol you try too hard

[RoundMoundOfReb]

I think he would be dwight level.

[Deuce Bigalow]

lol you try too hard

I'm trying too hard? You asked if he would be the BEST BIGMAN OF THIS ERA.

[CavaliersFTW]

I'm trying too hard? You asked if he would be the BEST BIGMAN OF THIS ERA.

He's a 50 greatest player that routinely held Wilt and Kareem to their lowest #'s head to head and played in one of the strongest center eras in history (going up against Reed, Cowens, Unseld, Hayes, Bellamy etc)... and he's the first player to officially record a quadruple double. Is there really a problem with discussing whether or not he'd be considered the best center of this era - one of the weakest center era's in NBA history?

[bdreason]

He would be the best defensive Center in the NBA today.

[senelcoolidge]

It's too bad that he missed out on a ring. He was traded to the Bulls for Clifford Ray before the warriors would go on to win that Championship in 74-75. You can put him or practically any of those great centers from his era or the eras that had good big men and they would be the best in today's league.

[CavaliersFTW]

[jongib369]

He would be a great energy guy off the bench. Like a Jordan Hill type player. Maybe a chance at being a starter one day when he hits his prime. Something like 8-10 rebounds a night if he gets enough minutes.

Thurmond, Wilt and Bellamy VS Bynum, Dwight and Pekovic ???

[Round Mound]

Yes...Especially After the Fact that Shaq and Yao Ming are Gone...The League is Suffering from the Low Level of Centers Around.

[L.Kizzle]

2nd and 3rd tier centers from back then would be the best centers in the game today.

Bellamy, Beaty, Sikma, ect.

[jongib369]

I looked through some their H2H data and Nate was not just defending Wilt well but outrebounded him many times. From 68-69 onwards, Nate also outscored him in virtually every game even though their regular season averages were very much on par the first few years.

1964-1965 (3 games)

Wilt averaged 26.7 ppg on exactly 50% shooting. He had individual games of 34 points on 63% shooting, 24 points on 33% shooting, and 22 points on 53% shooting. Wilt won 1-0 in the rebounding battle where we have the numbers.

1965-1966 (9 games)

Wilt averaged 28.6 ppg in his H2H's against Nate. He had a game of 45 points on 53% shooting and another of 38, 33 and 30 points but he also had games of 26, 25 (on 36% shooting), 23, 22, and even 15 points. It's likely he shot below 50%.

In 6 games where we have Nate's rebounds, the battle on the boards was 4-2 Wilt.

1966-1967 (6 games)

Wilt averaged 20.8 ppg with just one game of 30 points (albeit a triple double with 26 rebounds and 13 assists!). In 3 games that we have FG% Wilt shot a cumulative 51.1%. He shot 68.3% for the season.

In 5 games where we Nate's rebounds, 2-2 and the the fifth game was tied.

1967 Finals (6 games)

Wilt averaged 17.7 ppg on 56.0% shooting but just 30.6% from the line. Nate outrebounded Wilt in just one game but he was close throughout. Wilt took it by a paper-thin 28.5 to 26.6 rpg margin over the whole series.

1967-1968 (4 games)

Nate completely outplayed Chamberlain in what was Wilt's MVP season.

In four games Wilt averaged 13.3 ppg, 23.8 rpg, and 7.0 apg on 37.9% shooting. A far cry from his season average of 24.3 ppg on 59.5% shooting. Nate averaged 15.0 ppg and 26.8 rpg as the Warriors won the season series 3-1. The rebounding battle was 2-2 but Nate won one game by a 33-17 margin!

1968-1969 (6 games)

Wilt averaged 13.7 ppg and 23.7 rpg on 54.7% shooting. The rebounding battle was 3-3. Nate averaged 17.3 ppg and 23.8 rpg.

1969 WD Round 1 (6 games)

Wilt averaged 12.0 ppg and 23.5 rpg on 50.0% shooting. The rebounding battle was 4-2 for Wilt. Nate averaged 16.7 ppg and 19.5 rpg.

1970-1971 (6 games)

Wilt averaged 10.2 ppg and 18.0 rpg on 55.3% shooting. The rebounding battle was 3-2 Thurmond with one tie. Thurmond averaged 22.7 ppg and 17.3 rpg against Chamberlain as well.

1971-1972 (6 games)

Wilt averaged 6.8 ppg and 18.0 rpg on 67.8% shooting. The rebounding battle was 3-2 Wilt with one tie. Nate averaged 18.3 ppg and 16.7 rpg.

1972-1973 (7 games)

Wilt averaged 5.3 ppg and 16.6 rpg on 68.4% shooting. Thurmond won the rebounding battles 7-0 and averaged 12.6 ppg and 21.6 rpg.

1973 WCF (5 games)

Wilt averaged 7.0 ppg and 23.6 rpg on 61.1% shooting. Wilt won the rebounding battle 3-2. Nate averaged 15.8 ppg and 17.2 rpg.


Overall out of their 47 regular season H2H's:

- Nate outscored Wilt 26 times, Wilt outscored Nate 20 times, and one game was a tie

- for the 41 games we have Nate's rebounds he won the battle 21 times, lost 17 times, and three games were a tie :bow:

- Nate held Wilt far below his averages; you can look up every single season and in most cases he was 6-7 ppg and 5+% below his averages


Overall out of their 17 playoff H2H's:

- each man outscored the other 8 times and one game was a tie

- Wilt won the rebounding battle 12 times and Nate won 5 times but the margins were thin

- Wilt's scoring volume and efficiency were drastically reduced

- Nate shot a very poor FG% against Wilt around 37% overall in their H2H's

If someone can look at his numbers VS arguably the best 2 centers to play the game and doubt he'd be the best in the league is out of their mind

[SHAQisGOAT]

Definitely.

Imho he's the GOAT m2m post-defender. Also really good help D, great rebounder, capable scorer, really athletic, built as a beast, could pass the ball.

[jongib369]

Definitely.

Imho he's the GOAT m2m post-defender. Also really good help D, great rebounder, capable scorer, really athletic, built as a beast, could pass the ball.

Would love to see how he'd do against Shaq. But I think Chamberlain is better suited to guard him