Sonny Hill (Bball Guru / Philly HOFer: "Wilt would toss Shaq around like a rag doll"

[ShaqAttack3234]

I seem to recall Sonny Hill being one of Wilt's very good friends, so take it for what it's worth. You have to disregard the 70+ ppg nonsense, not even worth discussing. Any reasonable adult knows that nobody could do that, and only the best of the best could even get half of that in the late 90's, and not on a good team either. This is keeping in mind that no team today is going to design an offense for the purpose of seeing how much their star can score, not to be confused with a star carrying a team which is different.

Back to the point, you can speculate hpw the match up would go, but I feel comfortable saying that nobody in NBA history could toss Shaq around like a ragdoll or even overpower him. A select few might be able to match his strength, maybe late 60's/early 70's Wilt was one of them, maybe he wasn't.

I have said that Wilt in his Laker days especially when he focused on defense may have been one of the better individual defenders to throw at Shaq. I could see that, but nothing like shutting him down with single coverage.

Though lets keep in mind that Nate Thurmond who has to be in the discussion for best post defender and the best defensive players in NBA history has said that he didn't think he could guard Shaq and Yao while he has had success limiting Wilt and especially Kareem. I actually have thought Nate may have done a credible job vs Shaq defensively, so maybe he's being modest, but it's important to note that the rare guys like Shaq, and Yao for the rare stretches he was healthy had such great physical advantages that it's almost impossible to stop them from getting their shots.

[shaq2000]

Twig-gy. Shaq would tear that ass up.

[CavaliersFTW]

Twig-gy. Shaq would tear that ass up.

Could obese Shaq even jump that high?

[Deuce Bigalow]

.

ragdoll yo, ragdoll

[shaq2000]

The white guy would be Wilt, except skinnier and easier to brush out of the way.

[CavaliersFTW]

.

ragdoll yo, ragdoll

Wilt is chiseled like Lebron where as Shaq is fat like Marshmelow anthony. Too easy.

[jlip]

So whose new gimmick account is shaq2000?

[CavaliersFTW]

So whose new gimmick account is shaq2000?

Deuce

[CavaliersFTW]

twiggy

[eliteballer]

He couldn't even toss Kareem around like a rag doll, in fact Kareem use to posterize him something nasty.

[CavaliersFTW]

He couldn't even toss Kareem around like a rag doll, in fact Kareem use to posterize him something nasty.

lol Kareem (and Shaq) would obviously inevitably get points and a few dunks on Wilt but Wilt definitely tossed Kareem around like a ragdoll in the process and held Kareem to atrocious fg%'s - he'd do the same to Shaq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVDzzxVE34k&t=3m53s

[PHILA]

Twig-gy.

In '63 he reported to camp at roughly 315 lbs, while another article reported that his was 320 lbs.


Meriden Journal - Sep 6, 1963
















As a skinny rookie in '59, he could clean & jerk 265 lbs & military press 210 lbs. By the mid 60's those numbers (reportedly) increased to 435 lbs & 400 lbs. According to esteemed author Gary M. Pomerantz in Wilt, 1962: The Night of 100 Points And the Dawn of a New Era, Chamberlain could deadlift 625 lbs.





Sports Illustrated - October 26, 1959

Consider the following: he has run the quarter mile in 49 seconds flat, bettered 6 feet 7 in the high jump, put the shot 51 feet, can lift 265 pounds in the clean-and-jerk and 210 in the military press. For none of these feats did Chamberlain prepare himself through normal training; they were casual, offhand achievements by an athlete who has always devoted his free time and effort to basketball.



November 29, 1965

NEW YORK (NEA)—The cop guarding the door to the Philadelphia dressing room in Madison Square Garden spryly ducked aside when Wilt Chamberlain charged in at halftime.

"Whew! Don't ever want to get in that man's way," said the special policeman, who stood a foot shorter and weighed 80 pounds less than Chamberlain. 'He may look tall and skinny, but let me tell you he's one big, strong man."

Chamberlain reminds me of the story of the guy who mated a wild bull with a tiger," the cop went on. "The guy didn't know' what to call it, but when it growled, he listened.

"It's much the same in the National Basketball Association. When the goateed 76ers' superstar so much as moves a muscle, somebody else twitches. "Wilt can make it as easy or as tough on you as he wants," said Ray Scott, the Detroit Pistons' burly 6-10 center-forward. Sure, he expects guys playing against him to play as hard as he does, and he respects you for it.

"But any guy who wants to play, 'who's boss?' with Wilt had better forget it," Scott laughed.

"He's so strong, so tough and so basketball-wise that he can bruise you up under the boards and make it look easy."

Chamberlain, it must be noted,has never fouled out of an NBA game.

Scott recalled a time he outmaneuvered Chamberlain beneath the bucket to snatch a rebound. Or so he thought.

"I was holding that ball just as tightly as I could, and Wilt reached over me and grabbed it away with one hand—just like that!" Scott said.

Did Scott learn anything from that experience?

"Yeah, I learned not to be surprised if it happens again."

The New York Knicks' 6-11 center, Walt Bellamy, no weakling himself, says Chamberlain's physical strength is his greatest asset in basketball, not his height, which is 7-1, nor his reach, which is way up there.

"There are a few players who can jump with Wilt," Bellamy said. "There's no one, though, who can outmuscle him for the ball, or consistently out-position him under the boards, or impede his dunk shot and his driving for the basket."

Bellamy claims that on "pure physical strength," Chamberlain is in a class by himself in the NBA. "The gap between Wilt and the next strongest player is a big one."

Jimmy Brown, the great and powerful Cleveland Browns fullback, one of Chamberlain's close friends, calls Wilt "the strongest athlete in the world, bar none."

Massive Wayne Embry of the Cincinnati Royals has said of Wilt: "He has muscles he doesn't even know about."

And so on.

Granted Chamberlain is strong, but, just how strong is he? Is it true he can clean and jerk 435 pounds; does he workout regularly with weights; does he agree with Brown that he's the strongest athlete in the world; has he ever met a man whose strength compares with his?

"Compare, compare," Chamberlain snapped back at the questions. "Man, why does somebody always want to compare me with something or someone?"

Wilt has said those questions come under what he calls the"goon bit" and made it quite clear once again he's tired of answering them.

"You see me on the court. You know I can play ball. Everybody knows what I can do," he said. "As far as my strength goes, let's just say I'm strong and let it go at that."

Fine, Wilt, Anything you say, fella.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyz-FhP2ONk#t=3m49s


Nov 28, 1956

'It seems Wilt has an unorthodox method of shooting free throws. The big guy takes aim at the basket from several feet behind the line. Then he takes about three giant steps, leaves his feet before reaching the line, and stuffs the ball through the hoop.

Under the old rule, it was perfectly legal as Wilt never touched the floor before letting go of the ball. In addition his percentage was fantastic.

"Why, he would have had a free throw percentage of 100," said [Tex] Winter. "He never missed."

Incidentally the rules committee did not mention Chamberlain by name as a reason for the change. The rule change was made, according to the committee, "to prevent freak activity."'



The Miami News - Nov 7, 1962

'He can clean and jerk a 375-lb. weight, run the quarter mile in 47s, and high-jump over 6-11.'



Sports Illustrated - March 2, 1964

'The St. Louis Hawks' 6-foot-9, 240-pound Zelmo Beaty, for example, found out recently that he can no longer take Chamberlain's great strength for granted. Unable to slow Wilt down with conventional maltreatment, Beaty tried to yank his shorts off. Chamberlain, who can press 400 pounds without breathing hard, makes it a point to control his temper, primarily because he is genuinely afraid he might kill somebody. Beaty's unethical yank, however, was too much. Wilt flicked an arm, and Beaty flew across the floor like a man shot out of a cannon. Referee Mendy Rudolph rushed over to him and said: "For God's sake, stay down, man. Don't even twitch a muscle." Beaty didn't twitch, and he is still active in the NBA.'




http://articles.philly.com/2012-01-10/s ... preciation

January 10, 2012

I will be 55 in a few months, the age he was when I interviewed him. This gives me a whole new appreciation for that interview. It is natural at this age to reflect on one's decisions in life, to contemplate making the most of the good years that remain.

Wilt seemed in far better shape then than I am now, absolutely no gut, sculpted in his tight T-shirt. The world never fully appreciated what an athlete he was. During the filming of Conan the Destroyer, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Wilt said he put five 50-pound weights on his rib cage, elevated his feet on an incline board, and did 30 sit-ups.

"Arnold couldn't believe it," Wilt said. "He wouldn't even try it."

When I met him that day in 1991, the Sixers had just retired his number, and he told me that was "the most moving day of my life." So many fans thanking him. "I should have been the one saying 'Thank you,' " he said.

Wilt died in 1999.

He would have loved the video homage to him the Sixers showed Monday night and will again many times this season to reconnect the team with its legacy.

The man was undeniably Philadelphia's greatest homegrown athlete. He was large, and he was larger than life. And thanks, Wilt, for sharing one day with me.

[eliteballer]

lol Kareem (and Shaq) would obviously inevitably get points and a few dunks on Wilt but Wilt definitely tossed Kareem around like a ragdoll in the process and held Kareem to atrocious fg%'s - he'd do the same to Shaq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVDzzxVE34k&t=3m53s

I like how you say he used to toss kareem around like a ragdoll then post a clip with Kareem swatting a DUNK attempt at point blank range and numerous posters on Wilt...and we're talking young Kareem vs peak strength Wilt.

[CavaliersFTW]

[QUOTE=PHILA]

In '63 he reported to camp at roughly 315 lbs, while another article reported that his was 320 lbs.


Meriden Journal - Sep 6, 1963
















As a skinny rookie in '59, he could clean & jerk 265 lbs & military press 210 lbs. By the mid 60's those numbers (reportedly) increased to 435 lbs & 400 lbs. According to esteemed author Gary M. Pomerantz in Wilt, 1962: The Night of 100 Points And the Dawn of a New Era, Chamberlain could deadlift 625 lbs.





Sports Illustrated - October 26, 1959

Consider the following: he has run the quarter mile in 49 seconds flat, bettered 6 feet 7 in the high jump, put the shot 51 feet, can lift 265 pounds in the clean-and-jerk and 210 in the military press. For none of these feats did Chamberlain prepare himself through normal training; they were casual, offhand achievements by an athlete who has always devoted his free time and effort to basketball.



[I]November 29, 1965

NEW YORK (NEA)

[CavaliersFTW]

I like how you say he used to toss kareem around like a ragdoll then post a clip with Kareem swatting a DUNK attempt at point blank range and numerous posters on Wilt

Yes, kareem dunks on Wilt... then Wilt proceeds to dismantle the dude entirely and make him look like a fool with nothing but 1 on 1 D (no weakside help). How many centers guarded kareem 1 on 1 in his prime? (none). Except Wilt.