http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eNdapKU494 Here's every single one of his NBA career baskets captured on film that I've found to date, and sorted into a few basic categories. Keep in mind I counted that only about 2.3% of his career field goals exists on film (a random ~335 NBA baskets, out of his 14,178 regular season, playoff, and all star field goals). Physical Tools and Athleticism intro (starts at 0:20) Left block scoring ~87 NBA FGM on film (starts at 5:23) Right block scoring ~67 NBA FGM on film (starts at 11:27) Lobs - Deep catches - Transition ~59 NBA FGM on film (starts at 17:58) Two Person Game ~52 NBA FGM on film (starts at 22:28) Offensive Rebound Scoring ~70 NBA FGM on film (starts at 27:08) Another way of looking at it is that approximately 28 random games-worth of Wilt's baskets exists on film. Many random baskets he made came from documentaries and short film reels rather than actual broadcasts of that time. As such not all of the plays contain enough footage to reveal the entire play unfold but I've done my best to reveal as much of the plays as possible and sort them accordingly. If you guys have questions ask away, I spent a good deal of time finding all the footage and putting this together.
Basketball wise I would still say he isn't top 3-4 center in NBA history but athletically and in terms of strength he might be the best athlete ever. That's 7'1 290 and he looks so smooth and agile not mention being a track star in high jump and triple jump at that height and weight. I would say he's a top 10 center all-time in terms of fundamentals and skill but there's been no one better athletically. Not to say he was raw, a lot of the moves he does in the post in that video are very similar to the Dream. The fadeaway he's got going around the 10 minute mark looks unstoppable as well. He would dominate the sad field of centers in the nba today as well, in the 90's I bet he would've been a 25-30 and 15 guy.
That's tough, every all time great center brings something slightly different to the table... strictly out of favoritism I'd "pick" Wilt most days to say, start a franchise. But Bill Russell and Kareem, Shaq, Hakeem, Duncan... there's a lot of great centers that other people could pick #1 and be happy about. Some of it depends on what you want and how you plan to structure a team, but Wilt could and did do everything you could want out of a center at a high level short of making free throws. I think he's the most dominant center of all time offensively and defensively he's one of the most dominant rim protectors and the most dominant rebounder of all time. He does have that free throw weakness though which is exploitable to a certain extent. I think he makes up for it with his dominance. Others may disagree, but that's just my opinion.
Keep in mind for anyone thinking to compare him or his moves to Hakeem or McHale, Hakeem was a 6-10 240-255 pounder, and McHale a 6-10 220-235 pounder IE both are much smaller players than Wilt or some of the other bigger centers they are sometimes compared too in terms of 'skill'. The name of the game is to use the tools you've got to maximize your advantage over your opponent. Hakeem and McHale were naturally quicker than their opponents, both in mind and body, so they developed the appropriate array of moves and counter moves that all revolved around this 'quickness' edge over opponents. I bring this up because I often hear people compare moves of bigger guys like Wilt, Shaq, Yao, or even Dwight (he's heavier/bulkier than Hakeem, even though he is technically just as 'short') to Hakeem, or McHale... Hakeem's moves are just that, his, he developed them because of his physical tools. Big strong guys especially ones exceeding 270lbs shouldn't be expected to score with the the same quickness and particularly the face-up moves that the smaller and quicker masters of the post developed. When your Wilt and Shaq's size, you use a lot more brute strength to back guys down, and more methodical direct moves to the middle like crab dribbles and drop steps and you can get to the basket much more safely and easily than had they attempted say, one of Hakeem's crossovers from triple threat. I truly think guys like Shaq and Wilt maximized their potential offensively from the field given their tools, from studying footage there is little no improvement to be made to their games by picking up on smaller players moves as it takes them away from their strengths which by their primes they'd already clearly figured out.
Yep, basically. It is not anywhere close to 28 random games; it is a lengthy highlight reel. I commend you for all the work, it is truly good stuff, and it is clear you spent a lot of time, and I respect that you have done so much research. However, at least from my perspective, all this does is confirm that: 1) Wilt was just abnormally large - would he be large in today's world? Yes, but not Shaq size. It doesn't matter what he weighed at for a movie. 2) Defence sucked. The rotations were awful, spacing awful, and they would just let him catch it on the left/right block without a fight? Really? 3) General lack of athleticism and size in the NBA at that time. Nobody ever has had their "potential" maximized. Everybody can always be better. The man couldn't shoot worth a lick from the outside, stunk at ft's, and had horrible rotations (moreso because of the time period). To be a devil's advocate, you could even argue that he did not have much quickness at all, and could be a stiff like Hasheem Thabeet. Before putting on the flame suit, I am not saying that he would bust. His moves looked like he was going through the motions. He was a worse ft shooter than Dwight. His lack of touch was incredibly horrible.
335 field goals is about 28 games for Wilt based on his career fgm average per game. Those figures came about from doing the math, not a wild guess.
By saying its like 28 random games, you're assuming the field goals in these videos are a representative sample of his entire career. It could be more representative of a certain portion of his career, or of "marquee matchup" games, or of games where he was particularly dominant, or whatever. I do enjoy looking at old footage of basketball greats, though, so thanks for the video.
I don't get the "players in his era were smaller and less athletic" notion to dismiss Wilt's accomplishments. It's like saying Isaac Newton was not a genius compared to contemporary scientists because people in his era had less scientific knowledge than our high school kids today.
Wilt is one of the top 5-6 greats of all time. Ppl that put him down because he was in a very totally different era are just ignorant. His numbers at his peak years were so far superior to other players at the time. In basketball or any other competition, you should only be judged on being able to beat your opponent or previous marks set. To bring other factors into the equation on how great someone is not right. It's like someone saying in 20 years time that Michael Phelps was not that great in swimming because in that time his swimming event time records have already been surpassed by man and just ignore his accomplishments and his dominance (i.e. record olympic medal etc..). Well guess what, Michael Phelps could only beat the times that were set at his time and only go so far as to where the opponents could take him. If he was actually born 20 years after with the same determination and physical gifts, do you think he won't have the same dominance beat the record marks set in that time??
Btw, in swimming, they don't give the title "the greatest ever" everytime someone breaks a record in an event. You only get that title depending on your dominance in your career against your opponent at the time. For some reason for some basketball fans, its the other way around
swimming, you are basically racing against yourself and your opponents doesn't really have to do anything with what you accomplish. Basketball on the other hand is different. Anywho I can see the argument from both sides. He did play with crappy players and crappy defense. However his accomplishments are still unreal. To be named the greatest of all the time though, I think you do have to take everything into account, and to be honest, there will never be a correct answer. It's all opinions anyway.
Really? You don't look at your opponents best times and try to beat it? So just aim to beat your best time? Ok you got me
Wilt's competition >>> today's competition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKp7U7PeeyM What centers today are better than Willis Reed or Lew Alcindor? How about Unseld, Lanier, Russell, Cowens, or Thurmond?
