Wilt's defense at 34 years old

[It's A VC3!!!]

The Best Peek Player Ever

Most Dominant Player Ever

Best Center of All Time

There was only 2 other 7 footers in the league during his time I read. He's overrated to me. Others think he's a gift to Earth though. With his claimed strength and agility, having to go up against only 2 7 footers is not impressive. Most of the people who guarded him were like 6'9 or 6'10.

[mentallooser]

His hand movement and reflexes are what really does it for me. He reacts correctly so consistently. That is the sort of thing that tells me height isn't the issue. It might be, I don't know. His defensive skill and instinct was absolutely insane.

[CavaliersFTW]

There was only 2 other 7 footers in the league during his time I read. He's overrated to me. Others think he's a gift to Earth though. With his claimed strength and agility, having to go up against only 2 7 footers is not impressive. Most of the people who guarded him were like 6'9 or 6'10.

Are you Trolling?

Because if you must troll least make some effort to be a little more clever and check your bases before posting. Wilt is facing a 7 foot guy Tom Boerwinkle in the video... just a few comments down I posted news clips of him dominating the prime MVP Kareem Abdul Jabbar at Milwaukee just 1 week later... Sooooooo there's 2 7 footers within a week of each other in the playoffs... soo what are the odds are that those two guys are the only "two 7 footers" he battled throughout that entire 14 year career?... Not good. He faced quite a few more, even from the very start and during the prime of his career.

P.S. Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alonzo Mourning, Ben Wallace, Emeka Okafur, Bismack Biyombo and Dwight Howard are all 6'10 and under in real life. And out of 1,499 draft candidates since 1989 that have been measured in their bare feet, only about ~20-30 people have ever been truly over 7 feet tall. And only about 1/3rd of them made it into the NBA... and only about a 1/3rd of those who made it are even worth remembering. There aren't a lot of true 7 footers in the NBA at any given time - The NBA today inflates list heights. The NBA of his era didn't, so this is an "on paper" error to assume he faced competition any shorter than today - the centers he faced are all the size of modern centers. Plus, I can assure you in a 9 team and 12 team league, having just a hand full of true 7 footers on some teams means he's facing them more often than having that equal sized hand full of 7 footers Dwight Howard faces in today's 30 team league. Being 7 foot doesn't make you a good center. Very few real-life 7 footers can be called "dominant" - the majority of top tier centers throughout NBA history have been under 7 foot in their bare feet, because being 7 feet tall and athletic is a rare combination. Who's better, Ewing and Olajuwon?, or Manute Bol and George Muresan?

[CavaliersFTW]

I don't know if anyone has done so yet, but if you enable annotations when watching the video. There is great text commentary scattered throughout the video that explains who is who, and what to look for throughout the entire video. It helps to have some perspective on how tall each player is, who the superstars are, etc. Especially in that older era. I recommend watching it with annotations enabled.

[CavaliersFTW]

wilt was so incredible.. so strong, so athletic..so caring and soft.. let me tell you... His unit matched his height... but he liked to give alot more than recieved.. amazing person.. Unbelievable lover.

[Eric Cartman]

He likes it like that.

[CavaliersFTW]

Oh no CavaliersFTW

You're now on the bandwagon too?

Guess it was just a matter of time, Old Man. The kids are finally overwhelming us.

I've been to Wilt since my very first post on IH, the video I posted is from my youtube channel!

http://www.youtube.com/user/dantheman9758?feature=mhee

[CavaliersFTW]

Oh god. This man really is unbelievable... I'm starting to believe the shit of him dominating in todays league, this is just too good.

You know what's really unbelievable? That's the same guy who did this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4WZXiaDzyc&t=12m43s

[jlauber]

The clinching game five of the '72 Finals is on YouTube (nearly all of it anyway), in 11 parts.


BTW, in that game, Chamberlain was playing with one badly sprained wrist, and the other, FRACTURED (in game four, and in a game in which Chamberlain played 53 minutes)...oh, and he was 35 years old, too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J0ZbUk4fXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHskN2mt-Y0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW-GE...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckZZ8...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcjwA...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8stST...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT6Wz...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyOnw...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoOD8...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBCo84u8tKs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbFcAYrco18


Chamberlain's line...

24 points, 10-14 from the floor, 4-9 from the line, ? assists (I have read anywhere from 4 to 8), 9 blocks, and 29 rebounds (the entire Knick team had 39 BTW.)

[jlauber]

How about this comment from Dantheman...

http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?...XjVKehI&page=1

What a steaming pile of hot garbage. Wilt blocked Kareem's skyhook 23 times in one playoff series, and 7 of those were in ONE game. He's blocks a left and right handed release twice in 10 seconds and you think Kareem let him!?!? Chamberlain was special, we barely have any footage of him yet somehow a clip of him doing this twice in a row surfaces? It's because he did it OFTEN. He was the ONLY player to ever make the skyhook look as weak as a normal hook shot, he was an anti-skyhook
dantheman9758 in reply to imamfollower (Show the comment) 4 months ago

BTW, we do have a number of recorded Wilt blocks on Kareem in that series (some 21), but as a followup, I actually WATCHED EVERY game in that series, and Wilt did indeed block the "unblockable" sky hook OFTEN in that series. He would routinely overplay Kareem to Abdul-Jabbar's right, and was able to get to spinning right-handed hook shot many times in that series. And, the 35 year old, and on a surgically repaired knee, was quick enough to get back to the other side, if Kareem faked and went left.

Of course, holding a Kareem, in his greatest statistical season (34.8 ppg on .574 shooting) to .457 shooting in that series was amazing enough...BUT, in the last FOUR games of that series, Wilt shut down Kareem to the tune of .414 shooting.

In fact, including those last four games of the '72 WCF's, and their six regular season H2H's in the very next season, Chamberlain held Kareem to .434 shooting in their LAST TEN STRAIGHT H2H meetings! BTWE, in his LAST season, and in those six H2H games with Kareem, Chamberlain outshot Kareem by a staggering .737 to .450 margin (which included one game in which he even outscored Kareem, 24-21, and outshot him, 10-14 to 10-27.)

[PTB Fan]

Wilt's defensive excellence during his LA years, gives him a decent case for the honor of greatest defender of all time.

[Bigsmoke]

Shaq, Hakeem, Ewing, Kareem and Mutombo were all still good when they were 34

[rodman91]

He could be good backup to Noah. In this highlight he seems as good as Omer Asik.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3My4MHr51c

[Helix]

Wilt's defensive excellence during his LA years, gives him a decent case for the honor of greatest defender of all time.

Although he wasn't concentrating solely on defense in 67 and 68, his defense those years was just about as good. He was a few years younger and hadn't yet torn up his knee.

[jlauber]

Although he wasn't concentrating solely on defense in 67 and 68, his defense those years was just about as good. He was a few years younger and hadn't yet torn up his knee.

He was at his defensive peak in the mid-60's. I have posted the numbers many times, but in almost every one of his 29 playoff series, he DRAMATICALLY reduced his opposing center's FG%'s. In fact, in those 29 playoff series, he only surrendered a 50% or better FG% in TWO.

One of them was against multiple all-star Zelmo Beaty in the '64 playoffs. Beaty shot .521 against Wilt, while scoring 14.3 ppg along with 9.5 rpg. Meanwhile, Chamberlain averaged 38.6 ppg, 23.0 rpg, and shot .559 against him.

The other came against Jerry Lucas in the '72 Finals. Granted, Lucas was a PF playing out of position, but many here are probably not aware of the fact that Lucas had tremendous range. The term "Lucas Layup" was coined after his 25+ ft range. In the '72 Finals, Lucas shot an even .500 against Wilt. However, in the first half of the first game, he was hitting shots from the Santa Monica Freeway, and at halftime, he had gone 9-11. A 35 year old Wilt managed to defend Lucas, and STILL cover the paint, the remainder of that series. Lucas went 37-81 the rest of the series, or .456.

You can go right down the list. In one series against Red Kerr, Chamberlain held him down from his season average of .443 shooting down to .376, and in the other it went from .392 to .296 against Wilt. Russell shot .457 in the '62 regular season, and in the ECF's against Wilt, .420. In the '67 regular season, Russell shot .454. In the '67 ECF's, and against Wilt... .358. Thurmond shot .437 in the '67 regular season, and in the Finals, and against Wilt... .343. Bellamy shot .541 in the '68 regular season, and only .421 against Wilt in the playoffs.

And there were other's in which we don't have verifiable FG%'s, but in which we could take an solid educated guess. For instance, Russell shot .433 in the '64 regular season, but only .356 in his ten post-season games, five of which were against Wilt.

And I have read some here who claim that Wilt was not a good defensive player early in his career. Well, in his ROOKIE season, in 59-60, he faced Russell in 11 regular season H2H's. And we have an article which covered their first ten H2H's. Keep in mind that Russell shot his career high that season, going .467 overall (and in a league that shot .410). In those ten H2H games, Wilt held Russell to .398 shooting.

And, how about Wilt's first encounter against 6-11 HOFer Walt Bellamy? Bellamy came into that came averaging over 30 ppg. At the opening center jump, Chamberlain told Bellamy that he would he )Bellamy) would not score a point in the game. Sure enough, in the first half, Wilt held Bellamy scoreless, and blocked numerous shots. As they were getting ready for the seond half tip-off, a shell-shocked Bellamy was relieved to hear Wilt tell him that he would "let him play" the rest of the game. BTW, Chamberlain outscored Bellamy in that first encounter, 52-14.

Back to a PRIME Wilt, and his defense. Take a look at the single season rankings in terms of Defensive Win Shares...aside from Russell, the highest achieved were by Chamberlain, and they came in the mid-60's...

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...ws_season.html

And to be honest, Wilt was probably at his peak in '67, even though in that season, it was well down the list from his '68 and '64 seasons, in which he had the 7th and 8th best seasons of all-time. Once again, in the playoffs in '67, he completely shut down Russell (.358), and Thurmond (.343.)