Laettner was never the GOAT college player. Mentioning him in the same breath as Alcindor is ridiculous. Attempting to equate a "success story" to GOAT level is only something people with agendas would do, as they're only interested in proving their "point" and thus don't have an issue with taking liberties with the truth.
If you look at the college GOATs, Alcindor, Walton, Russell and Robertson, they were all all-time greats in the NBA as well, with the only note being that Walton's greatness was limited to a couple of seasons due to injury, but during that brief period he was an all-time great. (On an aside, it's also a more compelling argument when a player's dominance extends to multiple levels of play. If you dominate in college and continue to dominate once you get to the pros, being a GOAT candidate on both levels, that's definitely a plus as it means their dominance is transcedent.)
That meshes with the limited research I've done. I've been meaning to look into some of the college legends for a while (I spent a little while looking into Mikan and Russell, but nothing in depth...I haven't touched the other guys you mentioned).
Are those four on a tier by themselves? Who fills out the next level of all-time greats?
That meshes with the limited research I've done. I've been meaning to look into some of the college legends for a while (I spent a little while looking into Mikan and Russell, but nothing in depth...I haven't touched the other guys you mentioned).
There's actually a really nice search engine in that website. Although the writing has drooped sadly in recent years, Sports Illustrated used to be one of the finest collections of sportswriters in the world.
We used to devour those magazines looking for articles about Lew and the excitement of all of us when he went to the NBA was which totally proved out. What a great career that man had!!
NOBODY is drafting a perimeter player
over SHAQ or any on the greatest centers of
all time.
A center,great big man is rarer and more dominating and
changes the game and opposing team defense than
a perimeter player.As great as Jordan was
Wilt was even more dominating and a far better offensive nightmare
for the opposing team.They made so many rules to curtail wilt,shaq dominance than anything else.Adding zone defense,widening the lane,off and def 3 sec,5 sec back to the basket,intentional fouling,doubles on the off ball fronting,Adding the 3 pt line,Having to shoot free throws from behind the line,no 3 for 2s,Changing the way shots can be blocked.
Wilt avg 50,25,2,and however many blocks,at 60+% fg FOR A SEASON.
He avg 35,25 his first 7 years,he got 30000 pts in only 499
games about 7 seasons,Shaq was avg 35,12,3,2 in the finals
Kareem avg 20,9 for 20 SEASONS,Russell avg 20 rebounds for HIS CAREER
The sheer dominance of any of these centers and the problems and struggles they created for the opposing team makes them num 1 picks over ANY perimeter player.
There's actually a really nice search engine in that website. Although the writing has drooped sadly in recent years, Sports Illustrated used to be one of the finest collections of sportswriters in the world.
We used to devour those magazines looking for articles about Lew and the excitement of all of us when he went to the NBA was which totally proved out. What a great career that man had!!
Good stuff! I'm too busy looking at covers right now to get to the articles though, these are some great photos. I'm looking forward to reading some articles later, thanks for the link.
Two questions -- when do you think SI was at its best, and when do you think it fell off as a legitimate sports periodical?
It would be a crazy pick in the 80's, or 90's. It was always common to go with a potentially great Big man over a potentially great perimeter player.
Things have changed over the past 10 years or so, and all because of Jordan. He made this league a perimeter superstar league. Nowadays, you have perimeter players hyped as much, or more than big's. In '03 alone, we got LeBron, Wade and Melo. Recent years, we got Durant, Rose and Wall.
Not him. Stern did. Stern wanted there to be next Jordans coming into the league.
Obviously you want the guys who can do the most for your team. So guys like MJ, Magic, Bird, Lebron and Oscar Robertson would be high on the list. Not only will they score for you but they will also playmake and make everyone around them better. Basically getting 2 for 1.
@ Lebron. Duncan or Kobe would be less of a Reach. Even if you knew how good MJ would be you wouldn't take him, Shaq had the talent to make a bad team good instantly and be a playoff lock every season. http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_...?v=A2ihMxi1H4M
Re: Who would you draft over Shaq?
@ Lebron. Duncan or Kobe would be less of a Reach. Even if you knew how good MJ would be you wouldn't take him, Shaq had the talent to make a bad team good instantly and be a playoff lock every season. 
