Almost finished with a George Mikan reel.

[CavaliersFTW]

*EDIT* - Finished: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiH9ed48e2U

Should I present it like how I presented Bob Pettit/Elgin Baylor a-la just assorted highlights of no particular grouping?

Or should I break it down into a (very brief) "scouting" vid a-la Wilt Chamberlain so you see b2b repetition of his right block, left block, transition, etc abilities?

[BasedTom]

Forget these old geezers. Start working on a jordan flop compilation to see if you can finish it before pauk

[CavaliersFTW]

Forget these old geezers. Start working on a jordan flop compilation to see if you can finish it before pauk
It's finished! Yes I beat pauk to the punch. Here's literally every single flop of Jordan's career. Made into over 10 hours mix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm8idQ1WHNo

[outbreak]

I like the scouting format. Good work on all your vids :applause: :bowdown: :applause:

[CavaliersFTW]

I like the scouting format. Good work on all your vids :applause: :bowdown: :applause:
Okay will do.

[CavaliersFTW]

Found out his height without shoes is 6 feet 9 inches not the 6 feet 10 he was listed, so his height was "inflated" by an inch in the NBA just like modern players. Wingspan unknown but described as having "exceptionally long arms". Playing weight 230 at DePaul to 249-260 as a Laker with no weight training so about the playing weight of Olajuwon. 270 or 280 off-seasons/retired might give an idea what he might have been able to weigh with strength training of later era's.

Most interesting information I've found is there seems to be a revisionist history that happened with him after he retired. He's described by so many basketball journalists who wrote about him years after he played as being "the first big man" and that he was simply bigger than everyone else but clumsy and lumbering. However during the actual years he was playing he was actually not noted as simply being taller than all his opponents (many were taller, be it NIT college or Pro) and was instead described during his time as gifted due to being remarkably athletic for that size. Fast, coordinated, agile, it is often repeated that he moves with speed like a "lightweight" or like players much much smaller than him. I've got footage of him stealing the ball and running the break with it on his own. It's nothing super sensational, but he makes it look easy. Being that he's a center, it'd be like a play of the night/week clip.

[CavaliersFTW]

Does anyone know of any good sources of George Mikan-related interviews/testimony audio/video? Buried inside documentaries or something?

I'm short on audio. I've got enough video clips of him playing the game to do a brief scouting type vid broken down just like Wilt's but I just can't seem to find enough audio of people talking about him, his career, how he played, etc to cover the duration of the video clips. There's some would-be-good clips in his Vintage NBA doc but it's all ruined by 90's music overlayed on top so I can't use it.

[KevinNYC]

You do know the about the Mikan drill right? The whole point of the Mikan drill is left and right coordination with footwork. So he is known as the first agile big man and thus became the first dominant big man. Not the first big man.

[WillC]

Should I present it like how I presented Bob Pettit/Elgin Baylor a-la just assorted highlights of no particular grouping?

Or should I break it down into a (very brief) "scouting" vid a-la Wilt Chamberlain so you see b2b repetition of his right block, left block, transition, etc abilities?

I prefer your videos when you don't group the highlights together by skills. Much better to just mix it up.

I prefer the videos to tell a story of the player's career, e.g. footage linked to audio clips and interviews.

I can't wait to see what you've got in store for us! Mikan is one of the 10 or so most significant players in NBA history.

[WillC]

Does anyone know of any good sources of George Mikan-related interviews/testimony audio/video? Buried inside documentaries or something?

1:48 and 5:50 onwards (excellent audio clips from John Kundla throughout this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMBvGQn3__Y

2:35 nice audio clip about plays being run for Mikan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2JQ60nfQD8

[CavaliersFTW]

1:48 and 5:50 onwards (excellent audio clips from John Kundla throughout this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMBvGQn3__Y

2:35 nice audio clip about plays being run for Mikan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2JQ60nfQD8
Thanks I'd put some of the first video already in there but had not seen the 2nd video you posted before so that helps.

Currently it's being organized by play. Might do a different more exciting version in assorted highlights since it wouldn't take much time. I think both formats serve a purpose, one is probably more interesting/helpful to an X's and O's fan really trying to get a handle on how a player played, the other probably appeals to the majority of fans, and just people in general a lot better as it's just assorted action.

[SamuraiSWISH]

DePaul

:pimp:

[CavaliersFTW]

You do know the about the Mikan drill right? The whole point of the Mikan drill is left and right coordination with footwork. So he is known as the first agile big man and thus became the first dominant big man. Not the first big man.
Yeah I do know about the Mikan drill, Kareem even credits it as the source of his sky hook.

If you considered Mikan the first "agile" big man than maybe other fans out there categorized him as such too. But most things I've read by journalists/fans who mention him after he retired - yet never saw him play - tend to conjecture him as a lumbering and uncoordinated big guy and their logic conjecture tends to be that he just dominated because he was big and his competition was small. So when I browsed through all the news archives etc I found the opposite was how he used to be described and many of his opponents through DePaul to the Lakers were taller. I just find it interesting how his description did a complete 180 starting not long after he retired.

Look at this in the 1970's:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9SQQJ94XPoI/VYcI8i5ootI/AAAAAAAAGek/q5nXJceAGgs/s800/A%252520on%252520Mikan%2525202.jpg

Already panned as lumbering with people doubting his abilities barely 20 years after he retired.

[Psileas]

It's up and it's evident that the talent is there. For a 250-270 guy, playing with 40's-50's tools (plus the ones he invented obviously), what he's doing is remarkable. What I also like about him is that Mikan, despite his talent, wasn't a "gentle" giant. He was a fighter, he destroyed opponents, including his brother in front of his family, although this certainly had its long term toll on his health and was reflected on his premature retirement (again, combined with the limited medical means of the time).

PS. Who does the 1st quote belong to and what situation does it describe? It's a disgrace, it's a good reason why the NBA can't keep a numerous enough fanbase in its own country compared to the other 2-3 rival sports - it doesn't give a crap for its older fans, it only targets youngsters. When these youngsters become 30-35, they'll already start being thrown into the garbage bin themselves, only to be replaced by more teens and early 20'ers.

PS2. Notice again the pass to Mikan at 3:45.

[CavaliersFTW]

It's up and it's evident that the talent is there. For a 250-270 guy, playing with 40's-50's tools (plus the ones he invented obviously), what he's doing is remarkable. What I also like about him is that Mikan, despite his talent, wasn't a "gentle" giant. He was a fighter, he destroyed opponents, including his brother in front of his family, although this certainly had its long term toll on his health and was reflected on his premature retirement (again, combined with the limited medical means of the time).

PS. Who does the 1st quote belong to and what situation does it describe? It's a disgrace, it's a good reason why the NBA can't keep a numerous enough fanbase in its own country compared to the other 2-3 rival sports - it doesn't give a crap for its older fans, it only targets youngsters. When these youngsters become 30-35, they'll already start being thrown into the garbage bin themselves, only to be replaced by more teens and early 20'ers.

PS2. Notice again the pass to Mikan at 3:45.
Julius Erving said it

[CavaliersFTW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiH9ed48e2U

[WillC]

He's definitely more skilled, agile and graceful than I'd remembered from the limited footage I'd seen before. He isn't quite the lumbering stereotype you hear lazily bandied about. He had a soft touch and you can really see how his style influenced future generations.

Thanks for the video, it's amazing.

[CavaliersFTW]

He's definitely more skilled, agile and graceful than I'd remembered from the limited footage I'd seen before. He isn't quite the lumbering stereotype you hear lazily bandied about. He had a soft touch and you can really see how his style influenced future generations.

Thanks for the video, it's amazing.
I honestly believe due to the nature of the era he played (no film) and the immediate era/decade/rising fanbase that followed a revisionist history happened. The 1960's decade we consider also an era of no film and with other remarkable athletes in Wilt/Russ that perhaps one-upped Mikan's hype as they were track and field athletes. Watching "old tape" of Mikan for those "new" 60's fans would have probably been impossible, you might see a playing card of a guy with glasses and hear your old man talk about him but that'd be all you ever "see" about George Mikan. Plus a guy named Wilt would be shattering any records he may have once had with seeming impunity. But while Chamberlain and Russell were remarkable athletes themselves, that was also an attribute Mikan was described with. In the 1970's when a 25th anniversary team was created that's when I notice Mikan's ability start to get "questioned" by critical journalists based on News articles I've browsed. I'm not sure whether the journalists calling him lumbering actually saw him play, to me it is sort of implied they are just conjecturing. I think the lumbering accusations and question marks about his abilities stuck ever since.

This is how Mikans physical size+athleticism was actually perceived in his day:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zfyD9I9nP7g/VYkdI8ty9KI/AAAAAAAAGf8/nC_DW3AXIRA/s800/Mikan%252520DePaul.jpghttps://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V78hcG-Ot2U/VYkdGW4tw0I/AAAAAAAAGf0/80wCNxVcBfo/s800/Mikan%252520Lapchick.jpg

To me, he does look pretty comfortable doing things like running the break, he seems to have soft hands, he seems well balanced etc. For a guy 250-270, that's good big man athleticism. It's not vertical athleticism, like Wilt or Russell, but his horizontal movements for a player that size look good still.

[1manfastbreak]

Awesome video, not enough people know about players from the early days. I grew up doing mikens.

this guy would get absolutely destroyed in today's NBA though.

[CavaliersFTW]

Awesome video, not enough people know about players from the early days. I grew up doing mikens.

this guy would get absolutely destroyed in today's NBA though.
Physicality and turn-ins remind me of Boogie Cousins albeit his finishing is less vertical.

Looks a markedly better/more talented player than Tyler Zeller, or even Enes Kanter.

Aurbach thought his traits would enable him to fit in any era of basketball past present or future

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e07OSzX7emg/VYcI8gzViQI/AAAAAAAAGec/t5_HcgrNmis/s800/A%252520on%252520Mikan%2525201.jpg

[MavsSuperFan]

Guy wouldnt make a euroleague team today. GOAT of his era though. Each generation gets better. Looking at that highlight, it would be hard to slip a piece of paper under the verticals of those players.

I feel bad for a guy like Kevin Love, having to play against modern athletes, he would have won like 10 championships in that era.

[CavaliersFTW]

Guy wouldnt make a euroleague team today. GOAT of his era though. Each generation gets better. Looking at that highlight, it would be hard to slip a piece of paper under the verticals of those players.

I feel bad for a guy like Kevin Love, having to play against modern athletes, he would have won like 10 championships in that era.
Kevin Love looks, and plays, like the guys of that era.

[Dbrog]

Mikan was clearly one of the best offensive bigs in NBA history. I don't understand people saying he couldn't play today. His aggressiveness on the boards and his size alone would make him a role player at worst. Combine this with his post hooks with either hand, you have a player that is like Prime Al Jeff with better rebounding. This is an all-star at least and you are just trolling if you don't think so (especially in this watered down big man league). Mikan based on his skills would trash Howard..come on. Now I do think context needs to be added here because highlight reels don't tell the full story (nor do newspaper clippings).

I personally don't rank him on my lists because I don't know enough about him and haven't seen full-games of him (do they exist?) whereas I've seen many of Wilt and Russell. Also I think people leave Mikan out cause he was in the league before blacks were allowed. This diminishes the competition IMO. Still you see what a buy like Pettit does and it makes you wonder...