The truth about Wilt's 100 point game, and why it isn't as impressive as 81

[MastaKilla]

The playoff-bound Warriors were facing the lowly Knicks, who would finish with the league's second-worst record and were missing Phil Jordon, their starting center-forward. The official story was that he was suffering from the flu, though his teammates knew better.

'The inside scoop was he was hung over,' said Darrall Imhoff, the 6-10 center who took Jordon's spot.

Imhoff started but played only 20 minutes because of foul trouble. That left Cleveland Buckner, a 6-9 rookie from Jackson State, and a host of other undersized defenders to contend with Chamberlain, the irrepressible giant who was then in his third NBA season.

and before Wilts legion tries to claim Imhoff was an all star


A 6'10", 220-pound center, Imhoff made the All-Star team in 1967, but that was the only occasion on which he was honored. During the 1961-62 season, which contained his infamous matchup against the Philly standout, he was playing less than 20 minutes per contest and averaging just 5.9 points and 6.2 rebounds each game.

lets continue.. people these days talk about manufactured stars..how about manufactured games?

[QUOTE]Basketball-Reference shows that in the last three decades, only 22 games have been recorded in which a player lofted up at least 40 attempts from the field. No one has broken past 50, though Michael Jordan came close when he took 49 shots against the Orlando Magic in 1993.

When Kobe Bryant dropped an 81-spot against the Toronto Raptors, he shot 28-of-46 from the field. That's 17 shots fewer than Chamberlain took on his legendary night.

Why?

[B]Because the rest of the Warriors did everything they could do to manufacture such a ridiculous outing. Chamberlain admitted as much during the autobiographical Wilt. According to the big man himself, "But my teammates wanted me to do it, too. They started feeding me the ball even when they were wide open."

Two paragraphs later, he writes, "I really think I shot too often in that 100-point game

[SugarHill]

Kobe beasted on that incredible Raptors defense

[MastaKilla]

Kobe beasted on that incredible Raptors defense

what's your point?

[SugarHill]

You're good at regurgitating bleacherreport articles

[MastaKilla]

You're good at regurgitating bleacherreport articles

dude do you have a point to make? yes this is an article not written by me, which is why those parts are in quotes and my commentary is not,dumbass

[LAZERUSS]

Obviously you don't actually read anyone else's posts here, but just last night...

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10815885&postcount=86

Re: Imhoff

For your benefit...

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain


Darrall Imhoff, who as a 6-foot-10 rookie center for the New York Knicks had the misfortune of guarding Chamberlain during his 100-point game in 1962, said, "I spent 12 years in his armpits, and I always carried that 100-point game on my shoulders. "After I got my third foul, I said to one of the officials, Willy Smith, 'Why don't you just give him 100 points and we'll all go home?' Well, we did." Two nights later, at Madison Square Garden, Chamberlain tried to go for the century mark again. But Imhoff 'held' him to 54 points. The fans gave Imhoff a standing ovation. "He was an amazing, strong man," Imhoff said. "I always said the greatest record he ever held wasn't 100 points, but his 55 rebounds against Bill Russell. Those two players changed the whole game of basketball. The game just took an entire step up to the next level." Stewart, Larry (1999-10-13). "Giant Towered Over the Rest". The Los Angeles Times.



BTW, it was not 54 points, but rather 58 points.

In fact, just in that 61-62 season, alone, Chamberlain had NINE games of 50+ points against Imhoff, including games of 58, 59, 59, 67, and the 100 point explosion.


Fast forward to 69-70, when rookie Kareem faced off against Imhoff. KAJ (Alcindor) averaged 28.8 ppg against Imhoff in their six regular season H2H's.

And I have long maintained that Kareem hit his PEAK by the second half of his rookie season. From the second half of his rookie season, thru the playoffs, and then thru the entire 70-71 regular season and post-season, and then thru his entire 71-72 regular season, KAJ was at his absolute peak.

In the first round of the 69-70 playoffs, KAJ went H2H with Imhoff in five playoff games, and just plastered Darrell. He outscored Imhoff, 36.2 to 9.0 ppg, and on a .583 FG%. He also hung his career high game against Imhoff, of 46 points, on 18-36 from the field. BTW, KAJ went on to average a playoff career high of 35.2 ppg on a .567 FG% in that post-season.

Now, as a side-note, obviously the 46 point game was KAJ's high game against Imhoff, and in their 15 other career H2H games, Kareem's next highest scoring game against Imhoff, was 36 points, which he did twice.

As dominant as that was, here is some food for thought.

Again, that was in the 69-70 season.

Ah, the 69-70 season. Chamberlain's new coach, Joe Mullaney, after viewing the carnage left by his predecessor, the incompetent Butch "the Butcher" Van Breda Kolff, immediately went to Wilt before the start of the 69-70 season, and asked Chamberlain to become the focal point of the offense. And, as I have mentioned before, Wilt relished the role, and was leading the NBA in scoring in his first nine games, at 32.2 ppg (on a .579 FG%), when tragically, he shredded his knee, and was never the same offensive terror that he had been before.

However, in Wilt's very first game of that 69-70 season, he outscored Imhoff, 35-15 (while grabbing 24 rebounds.) So, a 33 year old Wilt, in his 11th season, was just as dominant against Imhoff, as a peak Kareem was.

But it gets even better.

In Wilt's 68-69 season, while we know that Van Breda Kolff put the shackles on Chamberlain, Wilt still had one game of 36 points, on 14-21 shooting, against Imhoff. That was in the midst of Wilt's "rebellion" when he went off on a 17 game scoring binge, in which he averaged 31.1 ppg (including games of 60, 66.)

Ok, now let's go back yet another season, to 67-68. IMHO, this was Wilt's last "prime" season.

In his seven H2H games with Imhoff, Chamberlain averaged 28.1 ppg, 26.9 rpg, 8.6 apg, and on a .638 FG%. Included were games of 31, 32, 35, and get this... a 53-32-14 game on 24-29 from the field.


Go back to Wilt's 66-67 season. I consider this Wilt's greatest all-around season. In his nine H2H's with Imhoff... 26.4 ppg, 24.0 rpg, 7.4 apg, and how about this... a .759 FG%! Of course, when Wilt wanted to, he just abused Imhoff and the Lakers that year. He had games of:
37-24-12 on 16-21 shooting; 39-28-6 on 16-23 shooting; 28-30-7 on 13-13 shooting; and a 32-30-9 game on 15-15 shooting.

Now, how about a prime "scoring" Wilt? I consider Chamberlain's 65-66 season as perhaps his greatest in terms of just pure domination over his peers. He just OVERWHELMED Bellamy, Thurmond, and Russell that season. And how did he do against Imhoff? In their 10 H2H's, Wilt outscored Imhoff, per game, by ... drum-roll please... a 40.8 to 3.0 ppg margin. Granted, not all of those points were poured in against Imhoff (Imhoff shared the center duties with 6-11 Leroy Ellis), but he certainly took his brunt of a "scoring" Chamberlain.

In those 10 H2H's in that 65-66 season, Chamberlain hung games of 42, 49, 53, and 65 points. And in Imhoff's best game against Wilt, he was "only" outscored 39-8, but fouled out trying to defend him.

I won't bother going back any further. We know that a peak scoring Chamberlain averaged 54.5 ppg against Imhoff and his Knicks in the 61-62 season.

So, again, this was just ONE example of how much more dominant a peak-to-prime Wilt was against the same centers that a peak Kareem would face a few years later.

Furthermore, remember that a peak Kareem averaged a 36.2 ppg against Imhoff in the 69-70 playoffs? Why is that important? Because a peak Wilt never had the same opportunity. Instead of pouring in 40-50 ppg games against Imhoff and the Lakers in his post-seasons in the 60's, Wilt was instead battling Reed, Bellamy, Thurmond, and Russell.

I don't think that there is a shred of doubt, that, had Chamberlain faced the Lakers even once in the playoffs in the 60's, that he would hold many of the post-season scoring records (and likely the FG% marks as well.)

Incidently, a peak Imhoff was a 14 ppg 10 rpg .540 player.

I'll deal with the rest of your trashy and one-sided post later, but I can tell you this much...the Knicks did everything in their power to prevent Chamberlain from reaching 100 points. They didn't defend anyone else (they WANTED anyone but WILT to shoot), and they HELD the ball (even though they were down by 20+ points.)

Continued...

[MastaKilla]

Obviously you don't actually anyone else's posts here, but just last night...

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10815885&postcount=86

Re: Imhoff

For your benefit...

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilt_Chamberlain



Incidently, a peak Imhoff was a 14 ppg 10 rpg .540 player.

I'll deal with the rest of your trashy and one-sided post later, but I can tell you this much...the Knicks did everything in their power to prevent Chamberlain from reaching 100 points. They didn't defend anyone else (they WANTED anyone but WILT to shoot), and they HELD the ball (even though they were down by 20+ points.)

Continued...

okay you literally just copied and pasted a story about a completely different game :facepalm :facepalm

more than likely in an attempt to distract from the facts i posted..

who cares about a god damn peak Imhoff, we are talking about a specific game during a specific season where he was a 5 & 6 player..

Wilt's team was intentionally trying to get Wilt to 100 during a blow out game, the game

[MastaKilla]

oh and about "Wilt vs everybody else"

I noticed you posted a bunch of regular season scoring records..

okay try this..

Wilt vs Everybody else..in the playoffs

30 pt games:

40 pt games:

50 pt games:


Finals

30 pt games:

40 pt games

50 pt games:

go ahead and fill that out lets see where Wilt ranks :roll: :roll:

and if you can't disprove the fact that Wilt scored his 100 points during a blow out game, took 21 shots in the 4th during a blow out, his team was intentionally fouling the other team so that wilt could score more, , and that Wilt's coach was putting bench players in to intentionally foul the other team so that Wilt could get the ball more..

then aren't shaking any arguments from the OP

Wilt himself even said this about the game..


"But my teammates wanted me to do it, too. They started feeding me the ball even when they were wide open."

Two paragraphs later, he writes, "I really think I shot too often in that 100-point game—particularly in the fourth quarter, when everyone was egging me on toward 100."

he admits to shooting too much in the 4th during a blowout game..

[LAZERUSS]

okay you literally just copied and pasted a story about a completely different game :facepalm :facepalm

more than likely in an attempt to distract from the facts i posted..

who cares about a god damn peak Imhoff, we are talking about a specific game during a specific season where he was a 5 & 6 player..

Wilt's team was intentionally trying to get Wilt to 100 during a blow out game, the game

How about these games then...

again, from last night's post...

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10816683&postcount=90


Arguably the greatest consecutive games in NBA history, and they occurred in two consecutive nights, as well.

On 1/13/62, and against 6-11 HOFer Walt Bellamy, Chamberlain put up a 73 point game, on 29-48 shooting (and 15-25 from the line), with 36 rebounds.

The very next night, on 1/14/62, Chamberlain went up against Russell, and poured in 62 points, on 27-45 shooting (and 8-10 from the line), with 28 rebounds.

Of course, how about a string of FOUR straight games with 60+ points (and nearly five...he had 58 points in the next game)...

67, 65, 61, and 100 points, on a combined .579 FG% ...and get this, an .802 FT% (73-91.)

He also added 97 rebounds in those four games (24.3 rpg.)

And again, in his fifth game of that streak, he scored 58 points on 24-41 shooting from the field, and 10-16 from the stripe, with 35 rebounds.

Overall, a five game streak of 351 points, or 70.2 ppg, on a .580 FG% and a .776 FT%, with 26.4 rpg. Oh, and the league eFG% was .426 that year.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Chamberlain hung a 78-43 game in an OT game in that same season. Obviously he was just "stats-padding" in that game, as well.


And, another point...

Wilt has FOUR the SIX highest FG% marks in 60+ point games, including THE highest, at .829 (29-35.)

[LAZERUSS]

Also the free throw rules were different back then, as I believe CAVSFTW explained when asked about Wilt's ridiculous 40 FGA & 17 FTA per game in the 62 season, saying that you got 3 FT"s to make 2.

BUT, in his 100 point game, Chamberlain shot 28-32 from the line.

[MastaKilla]

Why do you keep bringing up other games? :roll: :roll:

this isn't about any other game but that 100 point game and the manor in which it went down..

[La Frescobaldi]

71 points is more impressive than 81.

[LAZERUSS]

Can you imagine the modern-day reaction if players actually started turning their nose up at wide-open shots? We live in a society that crucifies players for manufacturing triple-doubles by taking shots in meaningless situations..

From accounts of how it went down, the Warriors spent almost the entire fourth quarter fouling to get the ball back and force-feeding Chamberlain the ball," writes CBS Sports' Royce Young. "New York coach Eddie Donovan said, 'The game was a farce. They would foul us and we would foul them.' Chamberlain's shot attempts by quarter: 14, 12, 16, 21. You think in a blowout in today's game that a team would keeping feeding their star like that?"

Nope, you would never catch Shaq playing 45 minutes in a game in which his 49-11 Lakers routed the hapless 12-47 Clippers by 20 points...and in which he scored 61 points. Oh, and the Clippers starting center was a complete bust in his NBA career. Michael Olowakandi. BUT, as bad he was, he only played 14 minutes. The Clippers then put the 6-9 235 lb. Anthony Avent on Shaq for another 16 minutes...before finally giving up and having NO ONE defend him.

Nope, you would never see a game like that in the modern era, would you?

Oh, and in Bird's only 60 point game of his career...the OPPOSING players were CHEERING him on.

BTW, Bryant's 81 point game...came in an 18 point win, and against a team that ranked 29th, out of 30 teams in ppg allowed, and dead last in FG% allowed.

Yeah...you can be proud of that game...

[LAZERUSS]

Some details that OP left out...

http://wiltfan.tripod.com/onehundred.html



Wilt Chamberlain: When I got into the 80s, I heard the fans yelling for 100. I thought, "Man, these people are tough. Eighty isn't good enough. I'm tired. I've got 80 points and no one has ever scored 80." At one point, I said to Al Attles, "I got 80, what' the difference between 80 and 100?" But the guys kept feeding me the ball.

Tom Meschery (teammate): By the fourth quarter, the Knicks were waiting until the 24-second shot clock was about to expire before they shot. When we had the ball, they were fouling everyone except Wilt so he wouldn't get 100. So we would take the ball out-of-bounds and throw high lobs directly to Wilt near the basket. When Wilt wanted the ball, he was big enough and strong enough to go get it. Guys were hanging on his back, and he was still catching the pass and scoring. I knew it was going to happen when with about five minutes left Wilt dunked one and nearly threw two New York players into the basket with the ball, and Dave Zinkoff yelled over the PA, "Dipper Dunk for 86!"

Richie Guerin (Knick): they can complain about us fouling people, but Frank McGuire sent some subs into the game and they were fouling us immediately to get the ball back and give Wilt some more chances.

Pete D'Ambrosio (official): The game was a real pain in the neck to call. The last three minutes of the game took about 20 minutes. The Knicks were jumping on guys just to keep the ball away from Wilt. Then New York would get the ball, and Philly would foul.

Al Attles (teammate): Frank McGuire told Wilt, "You bring the ball up the court." Wilt liked to think he could play guard, so he loved it. But Frank did that down the stretch so that if New York wanted to foul someone, it had to be Wilt.

Wilt Chamberlain: The 100-point game will never be as important to me as it is to some other people. That's because I'm embarrassed by it. After I got into the 80s, I pushed for 100 and it destroyed the game because I took shots that I normally never would. I was not real fluid. I mean, 63 shots? You take that many shots on the playground and no one ever wants you on their team again. I never considered myself a gunner. I led the league in scoring because I also led them in field goal percentage. I've had many better games than this one, games where I scored 50-60 and shot 75 percent.



It was not really WILT's idea to score 100. He had had enough at 80. But everyone ELSE was demanding that he do it.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7622578/nba-wilt-chamberlain-100-point-game-50-years-later


"I did all right, but Wilt had the big game," Attles said. "He was really dominant. Wilt had a tremendous game. It's been 50 years since that happened. It's the 50th anniversary of that game. It's truly stood the test of time. The thing I remembered about the game is Wilt didn't want to score 100. He wanted to come out of the game. Frank [McGuire, the Warriors' coach] kept him in the game. Wilt was very careful. He didn't want to rub it in. He was very conscious of that. We had some good players on both teams. Guy was a fantastic player. But Wilt was really special that game."