Wilt Chamberlain vs Bill Russell 1968 EDF stats

[julizaver]

Game 1 – Boston won by 9 pts
Chamberlain 14-24 FG, 5-11 FT, 25 rebs, 5 asts, 1 PF, 33 points
Russell 5-8 FG, 1-4 FT, 22 rebs, 4 asts, 4 PF, 11 points

Game 2 – Phila won by 9 pts
Chamberlain 6-14 FG, 3-6 FT, 19 rebs, 8 asts, 2 PF, 15 points
Russell 5-12 FG, 1-3 FT, 20 rebs, 5 asts, 1 PF, 11 points

Game 3 – Phila won by 8 pts
Chamberlain 10-19 FG, 3-12 FT, 25 rebs, 6 asts, 3 PF, 23 points
Russell 4-17 FG, 5-6 FT, 20 rebs, 3 asts, 5 PF, 13 points

Game 4 – Phila won by 5 pts
Chamberlain 7-11 FG, 8-13 FT, 16 rebs, 8 asts, 5 PF, 22 points
Russell 9-18 FG, 6-7 FT, 24 rebs, 3 asts, 3 PF, 24 points

Game 5 – Boston won by 18 pts
Chamberlain 11-21 FG, 6-11 FT, 30 rebs, 7 asts, 0 PF, 28 points
Russell 4-10 FG, 0-0 FT, 24 rebs, 4 asts, 4 PF, 8 points

Game 6 – Boston won by 8 pts
Chamberlain 6-21 FG, 8-23 FT, 27 rebs, 8 asts, 1 PF, 20 points
Russell 6-13 FG, 5-7 FT, 31 rebs, 5 asts, 5 PF, 17 points

Game 7 – Boston won by 4 pts
Chamberlain 4-9 FG, 6-15 FT, 34 rebs, 5 asts, 2 PF, 14 points
Russell 4-6 FG, 4-10 FT, 26 rebs, 5 asts, 5 PF, 12 points, 10 blocks

Averages for the series:

Chamberlain 22.14 ppg, 25.14 rpg, 6.71 apg, 0.487 FG, 0.429 FT
Russell 13.71 ppg, 23.86 rpg, 4.14 apg, 0.440 FG, 0.595 FT

[jlauber]

[QUOTE=julizaver][U]Game 1

[CavaliersFTW]

This is the thread that deserves a discussion on this series

[Psileas]

Game 5 – Boston won by 18 pts
Chamberlain 11-21 FG, 6-11 FT, 30 rebs, 7 asts, 0 PF, 28 points
Russell 4-10 FG, 0-0 FT, 24 rebs, 4 asts, 4 PF, 8 points

That's a 1967-like line for Wilt. The bolded parts are the ones in which Wilt outperformed Russell in that game.
Havlicek with 37 points, Sam Jones with 29. Chet Walker with 12, injured Jackson with 7.
Celtics: 10 players on the rotation, Sixers 8

If all of these facts don't indicate to you that Wilt had the better team, I don't know what to tell you...

[Iceman#44]

Great stuff! You guys are amazing!

[Pushxx]

F[COLOR="Black"]u[/COLOR]cking Hondo. So damn underrated.

[La Frescobaldi]

That's a 1967-like line for Wilt. The bolded parts are the ones in which Wilt outperformed Russell in that game.
Havlicek with 37 points, Sam Jones with 29. Chet Walker with 12, injured Jackson with 7.
Celtics: 10 players on the rotation, Sixers 8

If all of these facts don't indicate to you that Wilt had the better team, I don't know what to tell you...

That '68 season was the year Hondo John Havlicek rose to the top of the league. He ran wild from '68 right up to about '76 or '77 when that amazing athlete finally started to slow down. Havlicek carried the Celtics on his back a whole lot in '69 as Sam Jones faded and to this day there's no question in my mind he was the best player on the court in that Finals and should have got that first FMVP.

Jerry West was phenomenal and well-deserved in some ways. But Havlicek was just everywhere, all the time.

He had a funny running jumper in his arsenal, his whole body leaning forward at about a 40 degree angle, and that shot was just about unstoppable.... and pure money.
He had a great post game, spins, over and unders, and he could make some amazing assists too. If anything, his defense was even superior to his offense. He could really lock guys down - anybody.

I don't know who really invented the teardrop shot - I'm sure it was probably some guy in the 40s or something. But Havlicek is the guy who I remember using it first. He could get his shot off against guys like Willis Reed or Chamberlain and he was one of the VERY few that could do it. Did he get that ball jammed back in his face? You bet he did... but he made a lot of those fabulous high arcing shots, too.

Just a great, great player, one of the best to ever play, and probably the most underrated NBA player in the Land of Ish. OK, maybe Sam Jones.

[LAZERUSS]

That's a 1967-like line for Wilt. The bolded parts are the ones in which Wilt outperformed Russell in that game.
Havlicek with 37 points, Sam Jones with 29. Chet Walker with 12, injured Jackson with 7.
Celtics: 10 players on the rotation, Sixers 8

If all of these facts don't indicate to you that Wilt had the better team, I don't know what to tell you...

Yeah...that was the Wilt who lacked that "killer instinct" when his team was up 3-1. He just mailed it in that game five.

[dankok8]

Great stuff. Glad to have you back!

This was probably Russell's best effort against Chamberlain in their eight career H2H playoff series. I give Russell a solid edge in game six, and a split in game's four and seven (maybe even a slight edge in game seven.)

Having said that though, it was obvious that Wilt was hurting badly in that series. Even Russell himself acknowledged that. And, with a similar injury to what reduced Reed to a partial observer, or no show, in the last three games of the '70 Finals...Wilt PLAYED EVERY minute of that series. And according to the recaps, Chamberlain was noticeably limping from game two on. His last two games were clearly his worst, although his teammates' reluctance to pass him the ball in the second half of game seven was the main reason why he only scored 14 points in that game (and the key Sixers, aside from Wilt, collectively shot 25-74 in that game.)

Here again, though, the "Wilt-bashers" will rip Chamberlain for "choking" in this series, but very few will give Russell his due.

I think in '69 Finals Russell did even better and outplayed Wilt but that's a fair post. In the '68 EDF I would definitely give Russell an edge in Game 4, 6, and 7 though.

And Wilt did UNDERPERFORM in both Game 6 and Game 7. That much is not debatable. 33% from the field and 37% from the line.

[La Frescobaldi]

I think in '69 Finals Russell did even better and outplayed Wilt but that's a fair post. In the '68 EDF I would definitely give Russell an edge in Game 4, 6, and 7 though.

And Wilt did UNDERPERFORM in both Game 6 and Game 7. That much is not debatable. 33% from the field and 37% from the line.

Funny enough Embry guarded him off the bench & Wayne just wasn't any Russell. He was like a tree trunk, though, and had lots of experience guarding #13. That had to be a weird experience, suddenly finding that brick wall in the paint.

[dankok8]

Funny enough Embry guarded him off the bench & Wayne just wasn't any Russell. He was like a tree trunk, though, and had lots of experience guarding #13. That had to be a weird experience, suddenly finding that brick wall in the paint.

Wilt really stopped himself in Game 7 not demanding shots. His teammates to deserve a bit of the blame though. He barely even touched the ball... In Game 6 it may well have been Embry. I mean that was the game when they should have closed it out. Greer scored 40 and Walker/Goukas had strong performances as well.

Also apparently from the recaps then Wilt sprained his calf muscle in Game 3 (and limped for the rest of that game), the trainer Al Domanico said it's nothing serious. Wilt himself never used the injury as an excuse either even though he did lie about MLK's death as if it happened after Game 4. Truth is King was assassinated before the series and there was a major delay in play after Boston's Game 1 win so if anything that killed Boston's momentum, not Philly's as Wilt claimed...

[LAZERUSS]

Wilt really stopped himself in Game 7 not demanding shots. His teammates to deserve a bit of the blame though. He barely even touched the ball... In Game 6 it may well have been Embry. I mean that was the game when they should have closed it out. Greer scored 40 and Walker/Goukas had strong performances as well.

Also apparently from the recaps then Wilt sprained his calf muscle in Game 3 (and limped for the rest of that game), the trainer Al Domanico said it's nothing serious. Wilt himself never used the injury as an excuse either even though he did lie about MLK's death as if it happened after Game 4. Truth is King was assassinated before the series and there was a major delay in play after Boston's Game 1 win so if anything that killed Boston's momentum, not Philly's as Wilt claimed...

Chamberlain was LIMPING throughout the series, and had SEVERAL injuries. The calf muscle was torn. And no, Wilt never used ANY injury as an excuse.

And it was HANNUM's fault for allowing the Chamberlain's teammates to shoot a ghastly 33-96 from the field in that game seven, while Wilt touched the ball seven times in the second half.

And the series SHOULD have been closed out in game five when Chamberlain, the on you claimed had no killer instinct, again just slaughtered Russell in every aspect of the game.

And a healthy Wilt, and a healthy Sixer squad repeats the 4-1 series blowout in '67. Not even debatable.

Incidently, I wonder how many other players have posted a 22-25-7 series in post-season NBA history...all while badly outplaying their HOF counterpart at both of ends of the floor, and doing with injuries that would have shelved a KAJ or Reed? And, where were Russell's 33 point or 30 rebound games in that series...and again...against a Wilt was was just a shell?

[PHILA]

injuries

It was deemed remarkable that they even got to the Division Finals vs. Boston with all the injuries. Luke Jackson was playing with a badly pulled hamstring. When Lakers star Magic pulled his hamstring in '89 Finals, he could not even play the final game at all & much of the third game. While the 1989 Lakers get excused due to injury, the '68 Sixers do not. Back in the old days they were expected to gut it out under worse playing conditions, as Jackson did when he played the entire 1966 season on a broken leg, casually shrugging it off as shin splints.

There were times during the NY series when the hobbled Sixers were getting killed on the boards, as Bellamy & Reed were feasting on the offensive glass. They played Games 4, 5, and 6 consecutively. No days off in between.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwCmKvHJNoQ&t=16m20s



New York Times - Apr 18, 1968

But injuries have depleted the team that ended the Celtics' eight-year reign last season. Wally Jones, the jump-shooting Philadelphia guard with the game-breaking touch, is doubtful for Friday. He aggravated his right knee, first injured during the series with the New York Knickerbockers, early in the opening quarter and did not return.

Wilt Chamberlain, the 7-foot pillar of the 76ers, produced 20 points but was in obvious pain with an ailing right leg.




Williamson Daily News - Apr 10, 1968






DELAWARE COUNTY - April 13, 1968

Club Rated 'Most Courageous' By Hannum as Injuries Mount

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Philadelphia 76ers could be billed as the best touring troupe In basketball. All they need is a doctor to complete the cast.

Going into the fourth game Sunday of their National Basketball Association playoff series with the Boston Celtics, the 76ers are hurting from head to toe.

So what's new? Injuries have plagued the defending NBA champions since the opening of the season.

"Alex Hannum says this is the most courageous team he's ever coached," says Harvey Pollack, the 76ers' statistician. "The locker room looks like a hospital ward every time I walk in."

Pollack ticked off some of the cases, which read like a medical diary:

-Wilt Chamberlain (partial tear of the calf muscle in his right leg, a strain in his right thigh and an injured right toe):

-Wally Jones (injured knee cartilage):

-Luke Jackson (pulled hamstring muscle):

-Hal Greer (bursitus in his right knee):

-And, Billy Cunningham (broken right wrist).

"That's not mentioning (rookie) Jim Reid who had a knee operation after injuring it the first game of the season," said Pollack, "and Larry Costello," the veteran guard who tore an ankle tendon after one-third of the season was gone.

The most recent injury was to Chamberlain in Friday night's Eastern Division playoff contest with the Celtics. The dipper was given whirlpool treatments for the calf muscle tear, but Pollack wasn't sure how he'd respond.

The 76ers have nine men in uniform for the best-of-seven playoffs, which they lead, two games to one. But whether they'll have anybody left for the finals against the Western Division winner is anybody's guess.

The team's troubles multiplied in the Eastern Division semifinals against the New York Knickerbockers. Cunningham broke his wrist, knocking him out for the season, Jones and Jackson suffered their injuries and Chamberlain aggravated his perennial toe injury.

And when Boston thumped the 76ers in the opening game of their playoffs here last Friday, some predicted a quick knockout of the injury-riddled champs.

But Philadelphia whacked Boston two straight, including Thursday where an injury actually helped the 76ers cause, points out Pollack.

How so?

"Well, Chamberlain was hurt and he couldn't turn around to score-so he kept feeding Greer, and he scored 31," explained the statistician.

[PHILA]

[I]DELAWARE COUNTY - April 4, 1968

There they are

[LAZERUSS]

This should finally put to rest these RIDICULOUS claims that Wilt "choked" in the '68 EDF's (or that Philly "choked.")

As Russell said, a lessor man would not have played. Or in other words, NO ONE else would have played with what Chamberlain was playing EVERY minute of that series with. Oh, and he "choked" his way to a 22-25-7 series, as well. Here again, how many other "GOATS" have had series like that...and blown away their counterpart in the process...all at well below 100%?

My god, Kareem missed a Finals clinching game with a sprained ankle. He missed chunks of seasons with broken wrists. And Wilt? He gets ripped for taking himself out of a game for two minutes (and then wasn't allowed back in by an idiotic and bull-headed coach who essentially cost his team a ring.)

And where are those that should have PRAISED Chamberlain from coming back WAY AHEAD of schedule from major knee surgery in the '70 post-season? Nope, when a one-legged Chamberlain carries his under-dog team to a game seven against a heavily favored team, and in fact, is the only player on his team to play well in that game...well, it was WILT who "choked." And Reed, with his injured leg, and doing absolutely nothing in the last three pivotal games of that series...is the HERO. Here again, Wilt, with a similar injury that Reed had in the '70 Finals, put up a 22-25-7 series in '68, playing EVERY minute, and HE is the one who "choked."

Broken wrist? Hell, Chamberlain PLAYED with one badly sprained wrist, and the other FRACTURED in the clinching game five win in the '72 Finals. Played is an understatement. he absolutely DOMINATED that game (24 points, on 10-14 shooting, with 29 rebounds, and 8 blocks.) Does anyone in their right mind believe that Kareem would have played in that game (or series)?

Just more of the many ridiculous Wilt DOUBLE-STANDARDS.

Thanks again PHILA for this brilliant research!