Playoffs: Wilt Chamberlain vs. Karl Malone vs. David Robinson

[Deuce Bigalow]

Who was the best playoff performer of the three?

[Legends66NBA7]

Best to Worst

Wilt > Malone > Robinson

[TheMagicMan]

Since Wilt played in a weak era, it's best to use his modern NBA comparison Javale McGee to get an accurate picture:

Javale McGee playoff stats in a much more superior era to Wilt's: 7ppg, 5 rpg, 0.0 apg on 58% FG, 38% FT.


So statistically, Wilt would be the worst performer out of the 3 :lol :lol :lol

[Deuce Bigalow]

Wilt's playoff career (13 playoffs):
47.2 mpg, 22.5 ppg, 52.4 TS%, 21.9 TRB%*, 12.9 AST%
Per 36: 17.2 ppg

Karl's playoffs with Utah (18 playoffs):
41.3 mpg, 26.3 ppg, 52.8 TS%, 15.8 TRB%, 15.6 AST%
Per 36: 22.9 ppg

D-Rob's playoffs thru 2001 (10 playoffs):
38.5 mpg, 21.1 ppg, 54.5 TS%, 17.8 TRB%, 13.1 AST%
Per 36: 20.2 ppg

*According to this http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=305971

[Rake2204]

My Robinson Fan bias is that his career was a little unique. He came into the league at 24 years old, so that kind of limited his prime before injuries began setting in. He averaged over 23ppg in the playoffs in five of his first six seasons (averaged only 20 in a first round loss to the Jazz in '94). He was also good for a solid 12 or so rebounds and at least 3 blocks per in those runs.

My apologist excuse for his '94 slip up against Utah comes from the gameplan with which the Jazz were able to employ. David was kind of on an offensive island that year (led his team in points and assists) and I think Utah opted to have anyone on San Antonio's roster beat them except for David himself. Robinson could have played better, but they had no chance (and Utah had no reason to worry about anyone but David) with the way Dale Ellis, Vinny Del Negro, and Willie Anderson played (aka David's help).

The funny thing is, after those six years, he went down with the season ending injury in '97 and then by the time '98 rolled around, he was a post-injury 32 year old opting to defer to a young prodigy named Tim Duncan. I'd be interested in seeing Robinson's composite playoff statistics from his prime stretch ('90-'96).

All that said, I know very little about Wilt Chamberlain's playoff career so it's tough for me to comment. Meanwhile, I don't remember Karl Malone dipping too much come post-season, aside from that "Mailman Don't Deliver" situation with Scottie Pippen. Between Robinson and Malone, playoffs wise, I think Malone would probably be the better pick.

[Deuce Bigalow]

My Robinson Fan bias is that his career was a little unique. He came into the league at 24 years old, so that kind of limited his prime before injuries began setting in. He averaged over 23ppg in the playoffs in five of his first six seasons (averaged only 20 in a first round loss to the Jazz in '94). He was also good for a solid 12 or so rebounds and at least 3 blocks per in those runs.

My apologist excuse for his '94 slip up against Utah comes from the gameplan with which the Jazz were able to employ. David was kind of on an offensive island that year (led his team in points and assists) and I think Utah opted to have anyone on San Antonio's roster beat them except for David himself. Robinson could have played better, but they had no chance (and Utah had no reason to worry about anyone but David) with the way Dale Ellis, Vinny Del Negro, and Willie Anderson played (aka David's help).

The funny thing is, after those six years, he went down with the season ending injury in '97 and then by the time '98 rolled around, he was a post-injury 32 year old opting to defer to a young prodigy named Tim Duncan. I'd be interested in seeing Robinson's composite playoff statistics from his prime stretch ('90-'96).
'90-'96 playoffs:
39.3 mpg, 24 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 48.8 fg%, 72.8 ft%, 55.7 ts%, 17.1 trb%, 13.1 ast%

[Rake2204]

'90-'96 playoffs:
39.3 mpg, 24 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 48.8 fg%, 72.8 ft%, 55.7 ts%, 17.1 trb%, 13.1 ast%Thank you. It's one of my lifelong crusades to fight the extreme manner with which Robinson is often torn down. I feel it's become a little too easy for folks to just say, "Hakeem doe!", post his Dream Shake gif, declare Robinson soft, choker, & weak as a result, then call it a wrap. I found Robinson to be a worthy playoff competitor through his prime, save for that "we played like garbage" year in '94.

[Big#50]

Robinson>Malone
Robinson didn't lack game. He lacked being dirty. He didn't want to lead.
Malone was dirty and wasn't shit without Stockton.

[JellyBean]

I gotta say Karl "The Mailman" Malone.

[Prometheus]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/Obsessed_2009_film.jpg

[Deuce Bigalow]

Thank you. It's one of my lifelong crusades to fight the extreme manner with which Robinson is often torn down. I feel it's become a little too easy for folks to just say, "Hakeem doe!", post his Dream Shake gif, declare Robinson soft, choker, & weak as a result, then call it a wrap. I found Robinson to be a worthy playoff competitor through his prime, save for that "we played like garbage" year in '94.
IDK man he lost 6 playoff series with HCA and his stats dropping off come playoff time is Chamberlainesque.

[5 rings fan]

Wilt is barely top 20 of all time but he played most of his finals late in his career
so the number is a little bit off

Keep in mind , if we compare Kobe to Jordan's stats we also need to adjust as well.
NO WAY JORDAN would have been able to take 30 - 40 shots in today's league
thats why the 63 points game was overrated as hell.

Kobe playoff avg . 25pts
Jordan playoff avg . 33.4 pts

but in reality kobe's should be 31 to 32 something
The league is just too immature in 1980s to 1990s
As bad as bull's 80 roster is , no one would be able to take 40 shots in today's anti ball hog culture

[Rake2204]

IDK man he lost 6 playoff series with HCA and his stats dropping off come playoff time is Chamberlainesque.I have a little bit of a different approach on this kind of stuff. I'm not so big on placing team accomplishments or failures on the shoulders of one person (which is why I do not particularly enjoy ranking a player's skill level by how many championship teams he played on).

For instance, the Spurs were upset by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 1991 NBA Playoffs. Robinson averaged 26 ppg, 14 rpg, and 4 bpg... on 69% shooting from the field. I feel it would be misguided to punish The Admiral alone for his team's loss. There's not a lot else that could have been done there, aside from averaging 29 ppg on 76% shooting.

Also, Robinson's prime statistics (first seven years in the league, the only ones he had before his bad injury and Tim Duncan's arrival) didn't seem to drop off too bad from regular season to playoffs. In some seasons they actually jumped. I'm eyeballing it, but outside of the Utah upset in '94 where Robinson and company all struggled, his season and playoff stats look pretty comparable during the '90-'96 span.

There's surely some things that Robinson wasn't. He wasn't O'Neal or Olajuwon-level dominant. He didn't have the overpowering strength of Shaq and didn't have the post savvy of Hakeem. So surely, he was a little limited there and as a result didn't turn in mega explosion series' where he'd averaged 35 and 20. But for what he was, I never really felt his stats dropped off too much. Can I ask where you see the statistical discrepancy?

[ArbitraryWater]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fe/Mariah_Carey_Obsessed_cover.jpg

[BlkMambaGOAT]

Why Wilt doe?

The only thing he'll win is the choking contest.:lol

[Deuce Bigalow]

I have a little bit of a different approach on this kind of stuff. I'm not so big on replacing team accomplishments or failures on the shoulders of one person (which is why I do not particularly enjoy ranking a player's skill level by how many championship teams he played on).

For instance, the Spurs were upset by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 1991 NBA Playoffs. Robinson averaged 26 ppg, 14 rpg, and 4 bpg... on 69% shooting from the field. I feel it would be misguided to punish The Admiral alone for his team's loss. There's not a lot else that could have been done there, aside from averaging 29 ppg on 76% shooting.

Also, Robinson's prime statistics (first seven years in the league, the only ones he had before his bad injury and Tim Duncan's arrival) didn't seem to drop off too bad from regular season to playoffs. In some seasons they actually jumped. I'm eyeballing it, but outside of the Utah upset in '94 where Robinson and company all struggled, his season and playoff stats look pretty comparable during the '90-'96 span.

There's surely some things that Robinson wasn't. He wasn't O'Neal or Olajuwon-level dominant. He didn't have the overpowering strength of Shaq and didn't have the post savvy of Hakeem. So surely, he was a little limited there and as a result didn't turn in mega explosion series' where he'd averaged 35 and 20. But for what he was, I never really felt his stats dropped off too much. Can I ask where you see the statistical discrepancy?
His prime in '90-'96 in the RS is 26/12/3 on 59ts down to 24/12/3 on 56ts in the PO, so actually not that big of a drop-off as I originally thought. A rather large drop in efficiency career wise though. I guess I was mistaken on how dominant Robinson was, like you said he wasn't on the level of O'Neal and Hakeem, but he does have some dominant regular seasons.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Wilt is barely top 20 of all time but he played most of his finals late in his career
so the number is a little bit off

Keep in mind , if we compare Kobe to Jordan's stats we also need to adjust as well.
NO WAY JORDAN would have been able to take 30 - 40 shots in today's league
thats why the 63 points game was overrated as hell.

Kobe playoff avg . 25pts
Jordan playoff avg . 33.4 pts

but in reality kobe's should be 31 to 32 something
The league is just too immature in 1980s to 1990s
As bad as bull's 80 roster is , no one would be able to take 40 shots in today's anti ball hog culture
:biggums:

[5 rings fan]

:biggums:
you are aware that jordan scored only 19 points and fouled out in game 3 in 1986? thats choking, not kobe 2004 with poor team atmosphere and vs a super defense team

[Deuce Bigalow]

Lazeruss needs to give us an in-depth analysis.

[Marchesk]

Lazeruss needs to give us an in-depth analysis.

Until Laz shows up:

Wilt anchored two of the greatest teams ever, one of which dominated the Celtics and stopped their reign of terror at 8.

Now let's break it down. During Wilt's scoring prime, he averaged the following in the playoffs:

34.6/25.8/2.6 on 49.9 FG% for 36 games

During his 76er days:

24.9/27.5/6.4 on 54.2 FG% for 44 games

Lakers:

15.8/22.3/3.6 on 53.1 FG% for 80 games


So you see that only 36 of those games where in his scoring prime. After that, he took on different roles as the coach asked him to. His 76er days look like his best playoff performances, though.

[LAZERUSS]

Lazeruss needs to give us an in-depth analysis.

Of course, while Robinson and Malone were playing in leagues that shot eFG%'s as high as .500, in Chamberlain's 14 seasons in the league, the collective average was .440. And in his "scoring seasons" it was around .425.

Even with his poor FT shooting (BTW, Wilt's EFFECTIVE FT% was higher than his ACTUAL FT%), Chamberlain's overall TS% was WELL AHEAD of the league average in his 13 playoff seasons. Using his EFFECTIVE TS%'s...it was likely around 6-7% over the league average TS%, and he had post-seasons of 10+.

Furthermore...find me Robinson's FG% AGAINST in his post-season play...and see if comes close to this...


Wilt's post-season FG% allowed:

59-60:

Kerr regular season FG% against the league: .392
Kerr against Wilt in the playoffs: .294

Dierking regular season FG%: .365
Dierking vs Wilt in the post-season: .333

Russell regular season: .467
Russell vs. Wilt in the post-season: .446


60-61:

Kerr regular season: .397
Kerr vs Wilt: .321

Halbrook regular season: .335
Halbrook vs Wilt: .387


61-62:

Kerr regular season: .443
Kerr vs. Wilt: .376

Russell regular season: .457
Russell vs Wilt: .399


63-64:

Beaty regular season: .444
Beaty vs. Wilt: .520

Russell regular season: .433
Russell vs. Wilt: .386


64-65:

Embry regular season: .456
Embry vs Wilt: .438

Russell regular season: .438
Russell vs. Wilt: .446


65-66:

Russell regular season: .415
Russell vs. Wilt: .424


66-67:

Dierking regular season: .399
Dierking vs Wilt: .427

Russell regular season: .454
Russell vs. Wilt: .358

Thurmond regular season: .437
Thurmond vs. Wilt: .343


67-68:

Bellamy regular season: .541
Bellamy vs. Wilt: .421

Russell regular season: .425
Russell vs. Wilt: .440


68-69:

Thurmond regular season: .410
Thurmond vs Wilt: .392

Beaty regular season: .470
Beaty vs. Wilt: .383

Russell regular season: .433
Russell vs. Wilt: .397


69-70:

Walk regular season: .470
Walk vs Wilt: .395

Fox regular season: .524
Fox vs Wilt: .362

Bellamy regular season: .523
Bellamy vs Wilt: .456

Reed regular season: .507
Reed vs Wilt: .483


70-71:

Boerwinkle regular season: .485
Boerwinkle vs Wilt: .463

Fox regular season: .458
Fox vs Wilt: .434

Kareem regular season: .577
Kareem vs Wilt: .481


71-72:

Ray regular season: .499
Ray vs Wilt: .529

Kareem regular season: .574
Kareem vs Wilt: .457

Lucas regular season: .512
Lucas vs Wilt: .500


72-73:

Awtry regular season: .480
Awtry vs Wilt: .542

Thurmond regular season: .446
Thurmond vs Wilt: .373

Reed regular season: .474
Reed vs Wilt: .493

And finally...how about REBOUNDING. You and I BOTH KNOW that Wilt was in the 24% TRB% range in his post-season career. BUT, not only that, Chamberlain played in 29 post-season series, and was NEVER outrebounded by an opposing center in ANY of them. He was, however, outrebounded in ONE, by PF Jerry Lucas, in a four game series, and by a 21.0 rpg to 20.0 rpg margin. BUT, the two would meet a few years later, and with Lucas now a CENTER. In that series, a 35 year old Wilt, playing 47 mpg, outrebounded a 31 year old Lucas, playing 46 mpg...by a 23.2 rpg to 9.8 rpg margin!

Wilt not only outrebounded his peers, he SLAUGHTERED them.

Again, go ahead and post me Robinson's and Malone's post-season TRB%'s. Wilt's WORST post-season, and playing FAR more minutes, just blows those guys away.

Wilt >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Robinson>Malone.

LIGHT YEARS difference.

[LAZERUSS]

Until Laz shows up:

Wilt anchored two of the greatest teams ever, one of which dominated the Celtics and stopped their reign of terror at 8.

Now let's break it down. During Wilt's scoring prime, he averaged the following in the playoffs:

34.6/25.8/2.6 on 49.9 FG% for 36 games

During his 76er days:

24.9/27.5/6.4 on 54.2 FG% for 44 games

Lakers:

15.8/22.3/3.6 on 53.1 FG% for 80 games


So you see that only 36 of those games where in his scoring prime. After that, he took on different roles as the coach asked him to. His 76er days look like his best playoff performances, though.

Well done.

:applause: :applause: :applause:

A "scoring" Wilt not only was hanging 34 ppg and on FG%'s FAR higher than the post-season league average...he was doing so with 60% of his playoff games against RUSSELL.