I don't see what's stupid about recognizing one player was measured without shoes and the other was measured with shoes, if you are comparing heights. Shoes obviously make a difference. The term "in socks" means exactly what it says, not barefoot. As far as your other remark to CavaliersFTW, they rounded up for Robertson's listed height. That makes sense. No one is going to be listed at 6-4 and 3/4. You will just put 6-5. That's a far cry from someone like Wallace measuring in at 6-7 and being listed at his height in shoes, 6-9.
bmd I would prefer you didn't troll me at all but if you must, keep it isolated to the other message board where the atmosphere encourages it. This is a genuine discussion and I've really got no history here so attempting to smear me with a caution flag and an accusation that is nothing more than a running joke from another board is pretty low. And for the record, you don't "know" me, your a stranger on the internet who has a history of trolling me on another message board. There's a difference.
SamFisher is pulling straws trying to discredit the old timers. Robertson's socks must have been two inches thick according to Sam's argument. Anyway, each player's greatness or the lack of it should be measured against his own era. That's why there is no such thing as GOAT. I've said it many times. It's like arguing whether Einstein was smarter than Aristotle, or Bill Gates is richer than John Rockefeller, or Michael Phelps is better than Mark Spitz. Later eras are built on earlier ones. Progress should be expected. Doesn't mean those old folks were trash compared to the newer ones. We would never know what Steve Jobs could have done if he were born 1000 years earlier.
I admit it. I was TRULY ignorant about Wilt. I'm blown away when I actually recognize his feats. Just wow. Jordan GOAT? NO WAY! I like this video though, interview with Wilt & asking him for "Greatest Center of All Time" & him taking Dream: http://youtu.be/r2X4Hal88Y8?t=13m12s
He would have a lot more issue if he played in the 90's against equal competition. He would murder everyone he faced in today's game.
This is good too, Olajuwon getting props from Russell & Wilt! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdd2biHVlyA
The stupidity of claiming that there was a universal barefoot measurement standard- when in fact there wasn't, and where Oscar himself wasn't as tall as listed is self evident. The really stupid part is where cavaliers and his various user ids then claims that this pretend one inch pretend deficit is material to fact that wilt and Russell and the rest ran up jokey numbers against 6-3 white PFs and 6-6 C's where Chuck Hayes wouldn't be an anomaly (as part of a segregated league...). It is not.
Michael Phelps is better than Mark Spitz. He swims faster. That's better in a sport where the objective is to swim test. Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan are way better than Vern Mikkelsen or Dolph Schayes. They're bigger,faster, stronger and better at basketball.
I'm not saying I know you personally, clearly. I'm saying I know of you as a user who posts videos on the Internet. Just stop speeding your videos up. Thanks.
Do you have the original videos? I'd like to see them. I don't think he speeds them up, by the way, and I'd like for you to support your argument that he does.
There's an origin of truth in his accusation, but for all the wrong reasons. In most of the 1960's and 70's documentaries about the NBA which is a source for a lot of clips in my NBA mixes from that period of time, the source material is in slow motion. I try to correct the slow-motion to bring it back to real-time speed for various reasons (shorter videos, flow etc). When I first started doing this I wasn't the best at it, the documentary stock used pretty simple ratios so i'd get a lot of clips to look correct however some clips would still look too slow (like If stepped up the stock 150% when actually it should have been 175), while some would look a bit too fast (visa versa). Of course, he treated this as if it was a deliberate attempt to "decieve" people. Speeding up footage beyond real-time speed was never my aim because it looks CORNY and I cringed any time I rendered a video and later noticed it had a clip in it that I didn't adjust properly. It doesn't even apply anymore. I unlisted the original video where he pounced on me for it (was an old Lakers Wilt mix).
I like the one where he drew a line in the video indicating how bill Russell could jump 15 feet into the air. Also he ride to the arena on a giant blue ox called Babe. I understand schooling youngins but many times folks backlash it too far. Sure Oscar Robertson was a great player. But the fact is he played in a terrible era where cars weren't as fast, computers were giant and slow - and pro basketball wasn't as good. It's simply true. And his magical triple double season becomes something like 20-6-7 today. Still very good. And something few humans are capable of - there's just exponentially note people capable of doing it now than 50 years ago.
So you are saying players from that time were not measured without shoes? I've already explained why Oscar was given a taller height. No listing is going to put 6-4 and 3/4. An inch or two can make a difference if one is claiming a dude is not the size of C's today when they were actually measured to be. I've seen the same argument used against Bill Russell in other threads, claiming he was undersized, when he was as big as the average C today. As far as the last part of your post, here is the season where Wilt avg 50 a night. There were 9 teams in the league and 2 of them had a pivot under 6'9. The he went off on midgets angle is more of a myth than folks being measured in socks. He was also in the same division as Russell. The league also wasn't segregated. How could it be with Wilt playing in it? http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1962.html
I'm saying exactly what I said before - there is no evidence of a universal barefoot measurement adjustment and there is no evidence that this remotely explains the vast differences in size between players back then and today (who are on average, 2-3 inches taller and 20+ lbs heavier If you don't want to believe the reality that Wilt played in a league where there were only 2-3 fellow seven footers (all of whom were horrible stiffs not good enough to make it to the Dleauge today), or that his "double teams" consisted of a willowy 6-7 195 lb white power forward fluttering a pasty arm in his direction - fair enough, you seem to enjoy being an ignorant buffoon when it suits you and refuse to admit defeat no matter the cost. It's crazy that anybody would consider this to be the equivalent of today's NBA where guys like Kevin Garnett understate their height so that they can play next to a true 7 foot center. But....that's the line you've drawn. So yeah! What's more crazy is that a self-proclaimed Morehouse college grad/early 60's NBA buff would be so ignorant of the NBA's quota system for black players in the late 50's/ early 60's. Or maybe you think it was just coincidence that only 10-15% of the best basketball players in the world in 1962 were black? (and that this rapidly changed after Russel/Chamberlain became famous later in the decade).
I think that poster gave some info in another thread that broke height comparisons down across era's and they height differentials weren't that big. Just going off memory though. As far as the heavier size, players back then didn't lift weights like they do today or have any of the advancements to "become bigger". I'm sure you will admit that is universally understood. A league with only 2-3 seven footers is quite different from a league full of 6-6 C's. If you want to change your stance now that is fine, but you initially said the latter, which is a popular myth. Wilt did not play in a league full of 6-6 C's. As far as your name calling, it's not necessary. If you can't dialogue without resorting to it then feel free to no longer dialogue with me. That may be popular amongst some of the more recent members of this forum but I'm not that guy. I am fully aware of the NBA's old quota system. However, a quota and "segregation" are two completely different things. The NBA was segregated until Sweetwater Clifton integrated it in 1950. Wilt, who was drafted in 1959, did not play in a segregated NBA.
Don't need to judge height based on measurements. Look at Wilt's head about six to ten inches above everyone else in those videos. That's not high shoulders and thick socks bull****.
