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It being on film is a non-starter as far as this is concerned.
I also didn't say Kobe's 81 was less impressive. I'm making the argument that Kobe pushed the total to 81, after the Lakers had the game in hand.
Check out this youtube clip:
Kobe had 64 points with 6 minutes left to go, and the Lakers up by 11. It was then a conscientious effort on Kobe's part to shoot the ball every time down, and on his teammates continuing to feed him the rock. Hell, Kobe had 72 points with the Lakers up by 17 with just over 4 minutes left. There was actually ZERO reason for him to be in the game at that point. It was an incredible offensive display, but let's not act like some of it wasn't forced near the end.
I wished he had been more aggressive and went for the 101 so we wouldn't have to hear about Wilt ever again. I mean why get that close and not even try and go for it when he knew he would never be in the 80 range again?
I wished he had been more aggressive and went for the 101 so we wouldn't have to hear about Wilt ever again. I mean why get that close and not even try and go for it when he knew he would never be in the 80 range again?
Which would be an even bigger example of 'forcing the action'. Whatever floats your boat. Personally I was far more impressed with Kobe's 62 points in 3 quarters against the Mavs, than this particular performance.
Kobe was down 17 or so points and basically took the game over in the 2nd half by himself. Wilt was taller than everyone and his team was fouling the other team to stop the clock and then dumped him the ball so he could score layups.
Not even a close contest. We saw Kobes 81 too
This whole comment is completely worthless to debate, randywatson is by far the biggest Kobe homer in the history of homers!
Yes, but rules have been loosened since 1962 to allow for more scoring. Now, you can take 6 steps to the basket and not get a call. You couldnt do that in Wilt's day.
RjRobb2 is right. Today's NBA is about windmill dunks. What does NOT get called is palming the ball, double dribble, even backcourt. I wish I had a dollar for every time I saw Michael Jordon drive to the hoop and take four steps to do it, and sometimes more.
Official rules of the NBA, rule 10(violations and penalties) section XIV on "Traveling"
"A player who receives the ball while he is progressing of upon completion of a dribble, may use a two count rhythm in coming to a stop, passing, or shooting the ball."
It also states:
"A player who receives the ball while standing may pivot, using either foot as the pivot foot. Which means that you are allowed to make only one step from a standing position without lifting second leg, which is called pivot."
Although it hasn't been brought up on this thread, I've heard other criticisms regarding Chamberlain basically "camping out" underneath the basket and simply dropping it in. Nope.
The three second rule actually was put into play even before Chamberlain played professionally. It was made a rule during the days of George Mikan, probably the biggest NBA star of the 40's and 50's before Bob Cousy, Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell came along. In college basketball that rule was in place years before the NBA was even known as a professional sports league. Also, the three second lane was widened from six feet to twelve feet around Chamberlain's time, perhaps a little bit before. And yes, Wilt had to move out of the lane just like any other player.
I just want to see any game of Wilt when he played so I can judge for myself how good he was back during that time. It's amazing that there is never a old NBA game on NBATV with Wilt playing center. So none of Wilt's game were on national TV in the 60's or 70's? I could never understand why there is no old game footage of this supposedly great player of all time.
I know why. The NBA was a distant third in regards to popularity among all professional sports. They didn't promote. I'm going to stop short of saying they COULDN'T promote, but here is an example of where the NBA was at popularity wise.
In the mid to late 1970's it was common practice for the NBA to show games on tape delay after the 10 o'clock news. And I'm not talking regular season games, I'm talking playoff games. I don't have a link but google in "NBA playoff games in the late 1970's run on tape delay." You'll be surprised at some of those articles. And the NBA that Chamberlain, Russell, Cousy, Pettit, etc. played in? It was Sunday afternoon at one in the afternoon. And that's it.
Thankfully cable television changed that. There was another factor here. Bird and Magic. Now this is JMO, but after Chamberlain retired in 1973 the NBA went into several years of being stagnant. Not all years, just some years. When the ABA merged with the NBA that opinion changed somewhat when the eight clubs brought in playmakers like David Thompson and Julius Erving, among others. But what kicked the NBA into high gear was the arrival of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in 1979.
Then came cable, and ESPN, and then the sport really took off.
In Wilts time that's where the NBA was at regarding promoting their history, their relevance in professional sports. FINALLY in 1997 the NBA came out with the dvd "NBA at 50", celebrating their 50 year history. I remember when that ceremony was televised, I loved it. The dvd is great too.
TVSG, if you want to keep on carping about Wilt and the 100 point night he had, fine. But I remember the games Wilt played on the tube. If the networks weren't showing the Celtics on the tube every Sunday, they would show the Lakers or the Warrior's (Philadelphia Warriors, that is) exclusively and then they would get around to showing home games with the St. Louis Hawks, Cincinnati Royals, etc., etc. The NBA was a 12 team league for a long, long time.
"Stand under the rim and put the ball in the basket."
If I'm not mistaken, Wilt led the league twice in assists. In the 100 point game he had, he didn't come out of the game. At all. If the NBA had kept a record of blocked shots on Chamberlain and Russell, they would be three times higher than anyone else, with the possible exception of San Francisco's Nate Thurmond.He would occasionally lead out on a fast break, his fundamentals were sound, his fadeaway jumper was good, his 10 foot hook shots were good, and though he wasn't quite the defensive center Bill Russell was, he got his share of rebounds, thank you. I could go and on, instead a better barometer of his career can be seen by the records he had made in his career that still stands nearly 40 years after his retirement. 40 years. Google it sometime.
He was diagnosed with arrhythmia in his early 20's. And played 42 to 45 minutes a game every game for 15 plus years. Amazing.
Last edited by DOUBLE H; 03-18-2012 at 10:00 PM..
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