Wilt sacrificed Stats as he got Older and Focused 100% on Defense!

[Big164]

And Won Finals MVP at age 35! Lebron does not have the Balls to do this





https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DownrightUnitedGelada-size_restricted.gif

[Mr.GOAT2408]

Still cared a ton about field goal%, but I'll give him props for being more of a team player later on :applause:

[Kblaze8855]

He was apparently wrong to do it though. He went from the greatest scoring machine ever known to passing, playing D, and having teams with incredible chemistry...won rings...had the two best records ever till 1996...and 50 years later people talk about finals PPG as if he didnt do all his playoff winning when he was being unselfish to foster chemistry and help the D.

People post that he has 18ppg in a finals in his prime and ignore that he wasnt shooting and had back to back to back triple doubles in that finals...one of them a quadruple double...while anchoring a great D.

Some of the same people that complain about stat padding...hate on wilt for not stat padding his points in games his team won by 40 points and he played all 48 minutes. In Philly and at times on the Lakers they were blowing team out by record margins and he would play 35-45 minutes....and not shoot at all. They beat the Warriors by 63. He took 5 shots. Beat the Hawks by 44. He played 39 minutes...7 shots. Think he couldnt demand the ball up 40 to stat pad? Sure he could. But he didnt. Playoffs vs Kareems Bucks...he played 45 minutes. Win by 25. Took 3 shots.

Think he couldnt add a few late in the blowout to make his numbers look better to idiots 50 years later talking about his playoff and finals PPG?

But why? What good does it do?

People talk being unselfish...but many are full of shit.

Actually try it. Try to let your teammates thrive and lock down the paint and win record numbers of games and have rings....when you used to score 50 and win 35-40 games and go home early.

Try that shit. You would get hated on and called a role player. Fans are stupid. Then and now.

[ImKobe]

He was apparently wrong to do it though. He went from the greatest scoring machine ever known to passing, playing D, and having teams with incredible chemistry...won rings...had the two best records ever till 1996...and 50 years later people talk about finals PPG as if he didnt do all his playoff winning when he was being unselfish to foster chemistry and help the D.

People post that he has 18ppg in a finals in his prime and ignore that he wasnt shooting and had back to back to back triple doubles in that finals...one of them a quadruple double...while anchoring a great D.

Some of the same people that complain about stat padding...hate on wilt for not stat padding his points in games his team won by 40 points and he played all 48 minutes. In Philly and at times on the Lakers they were blowing team out by record margins and he would play 35-45 minutes....and not shoot at all. They beat the Warriors by 63. He took 5 shots. Beat the Hawks by 44. He played 39 minutes...7 shots. Think he couldnt demand the ball up 40 to stat pad? Sure he could. But he didnt. Playoffs vs Kareems Bucks...he played 45 minutes. Win by 25. Took 3 shots.

Think he couldnt add a few late in the blowout to make his numbers look better to idiots 50 years later talking about his playoff and finals PPG?

But why? What good does it do?

People talk being unselfish...but many are full of shit.

Actually try it. Try to let your teammates thrive and lock down the paint and win record numbers of games and have rings....when you used to score 50 and win 35-40 games and go home early.

Try that shit. You would get hated on and called a role player. Fans are stupid. Then and now.

I don't think it's just the ppg that people have an issue with, it's the fact that he choked so many times in the biggest moments.

Sure, him focusing more on being an all-around player helped the Lakers win a championship against the Knicks in '72 and they had some great RS records, but we're talking about him choking a 3 - 1 lead with HCA and missing 10s of FTs in close losses. That's the biggest issue people have with him IMO.

I've always held him in high regard. Ok so he didn't score as much in the POs when he won, but he damn near averaged 20/30/10 for a championship run that had 7 triple-doubles that we know of in those games.

His last year in Philly though, he's up 3 - 1 on the Celtics in the Finals and drops 3 straight with two at home and only scores 14 in a Game 7, where they lose by 4 pts and he goes 6/15 from the line. Also, it's worth noting that he didn't just not shoot to score so little, he was 6/21 in Game 6 with 8/22 from the FT line and 4/9 FG with 6/15 FT in Game 7.. He obviously came up short in certain moments.

[Marchesk]

He obviously came up short in certain moments.

That's true. I can't help but wondering if Wilt didn't wear down a little by playoff time, particularly earlier in his career when he was playing every minute and scoring as much as possible.

I also wonder if he didn't get distracted sometimes. I remember a Jerry West quote about how Wilt would come in game day covered in sand form being on the beach all day.

Maybe Wilt liked other things during the season. He was more like Shaq in that regard, while Russell was all about the winning all the time.

But I'm guessing since i wasn't around then. And I still don't know why Lebron did so poorly in the 2011 finals.

[Kblaze8855]

Of course he came up short at times. Bill Russell and Magic are the only players who didnt spend the extreme vast majority of their career losing in the playoffs. We only choose to point it out for 3-4 of them though.

And of course he missed FTs. He missed FTs win or lose. They won games he went 5-24 from the line. He was gonna be hated on no matter what.

I read an old article on how he didnt do enough after a close loss when he had 22/27/19 and I think 8 blocks....because he should have scored more with the rest of the team struggling. He nearly had the only double triple double in history(Other than his other one from the same season) and they were mad he wasnt scoring anymore. They knew he could...he had 53/32/14 one day before....as part of a string of 9 straight triple doubles(before the term was even coined so its not like anyone cared). But they lose one close one....why isnt he scoring?

He had arguably the most impressive playoff performance in history beating an 8 time defending champ in a series he had 2 quadruple doubles, I believe set a rebound record, and had monster games to close it out. But we get people posting regular season, playoffs, then finals scoring with no context at all.

Id say Wilts two biggest issues were that he decided in advance how he would play....and didnt change for the moment....and that he didnt like to be too physical with people.

Nobody was fast or strong enough to keep him from the basket but hed take fadeaways hed make at like 50%.

He might decide this is a passing game because such and such were hot....but hed keep giving them looks after they cooled off. He might get an offensive rebound and drop it off to an open shooter 5-6 times instead of just dunking it.

I think he took the role he was asked to take and stuck with it for better or worse.

You tell him to score he scores. He has a coach that wants him to let guards run...he wont even cross halfcourt at times. He gets hated for not scoring more when he coach actually said "You give it to him and he will score....but its not pretty and it slows us down". He listens to his coach...win more....but we want PPG. We wonder why he didnt score more in whatever big game...when not scoring got them there.

He didnt in my opinion just play loose and free. He had a mission. Score...defend...rebound....get guys open shots. You cant play that way. Well he could because he was a freak...but its not ideal. And it makes him look bad to people who dont get that he was following orders.

He was an ego maniac but also the most coachable guy of his status. This is a guy who can just decide to drop 66 on 29/35 shooting because a reporter said hed lost it. But he plays 46 minutes a night and only shoots 10-11 times. Wilts numbers were always whatever he decided they would be......whatever his coach told him to focus on.

Far as I can tell Russell and Nate thurmond were the only people who ever made him work for shots if he wanted them. So hed occasionally have an off game vs them. But they are 2 of the what....5-6 best defensive bigmen ever?

Nobody thinks he never had an off night...but fact is an off night for him is still pretty insane. People act like if he played this way or that....it goes differently. Like its a simple matter. One year he has 15 points and doesnt force the issue...doesnt get to the line at all(only took 4 fts). Lost by 6. Hears shit. Hes gotta attack. Next game? 46/34. Gets a bunch of FTs but shoots like shit. Lose by 8 and get knocks out. Of course Ft shooting is why they lost say his haters....but why did they lose the game before? They beat Boston when he went 12/25 from the line. Lost when he did 7/12. Its never that simple.

But one thing was inevitable....when they lost it was his fault. And when they won they didnt wanna credit him either because hed stopped scoring.

He had his issues....but he also had the most irrational expectations in history.

Dont beat a team with 7 hall of famers when you have only a final season former star who shot 33% that series....you personally are the reason they lost. Took them to 7....its not impressive you took the GOAT team with the best record in history to that point to 7....you are a loser because you lost the game 7. Vs 7 hall of famers.

Its like if you give Giannis a 2017 Wade and make him play the current Warriors plus Kwahi and he gets them to a close game 7 loss. Yes its still an L...and the Bucks plus 2017 Wade would be very good...but....you know?

That was such a shitty era for anyone else. You have a team in the way which is not only all time elite talent wise....but it has a GOAT coach...and the most driven winner ever(or a guy in a tie for #1 at least...). Celtics stopped Wilt like 5 times...West and Baylor a gang of times.

They all still lost to others but.....the extra 5-6 shots change your whole career.

[Ben Simmons 25]

The same people that knock Wilt for playing a more team conducive winning style of basketball to get rings and knock him for not putting up major stats for those rings are the same exact people that knock and dismiss Bill Russell's entire career as a "nothing other than his era and having HOF teammates!" blip on the radar... you said it best when you said they're stupid. Because they are.

People can't see beyond what they want to see. They're dumb.

They don't understand what they're watching. As a result, they argue their beliefs about players and shape the arguments around said beliefs. They don't shape their beliefs around arguments. They do it backwards. Mental gymnastics, if you will. It's rampant on this board and the entire sports fandom world.

[Psileas]

The same people that knock Wilt for playing a more team conducive winning style of basketball to get rings and knock him for not putting up major stats for those rings are the same exact people that knock and dismiss Bill Russell's entire career as a "nothing other than his era and having HOF teammates!" blip on the radar... you said it best when you said they're stupid. Because they are.

People can't see beyond what they want to see. They're dumb.

They don't understand what they're watching. As a result, they argue their beliefs about players and shape the arguments around said beliefs. They don't shape their beliefs around arguments. They do it backwards. Mental gymnastics, if you will. It's rampant on this board and the entire sports fandom world.

Even more hypocritically, sometimes, the same people who knock Wilt for plainly not winning enough titles and for being a star padder are also the same people who knock Russell for having HOF teammates and for not posting overwhelming stats. You'd expect such people to rank Russell at #1, but, hypocritically, they don't, because, it seems, with 5 titles more than Jordan (8 more, if we consider that Jordan had been called the GOAT by the majority way earlier than title #6), but with Jordan putting up better scoring stats, suddenly makes Jordan's career a better deal. Even worse, LeBron's, since many will also rank LeBron's career higher, as well. Apparently, there is such a thing as "too many titles to be taken seriously".

[tpols]

Whose the milkman he blocked in that gif?

[elementally morale]

Whose the milkman he blocked in that gif?


Alcin D'or

6'2 peasant

[dankok8]

KBlaze's post is on point and I don't disagree with much. I don't blame Wilt for not winning before 1967. Those series weren't reasonably winnable because the talent disparity was clearly against his teams. I blame him for not winning in 1968 and especially 1969 and 1970 when he had enough talent to win (probably more talent than the other team in 1969 and 1970) and flopped. He had three consecutive subpar Game 7's against the Celtics(2x) and Knicks in those years. That's what I hold against Wilt when I look at his career. I mean not even one dominant Game 7 in that situation is bad...

[Psileas]

Whose the milkman he blocked in that gif?

Allah's, according to the "milkman's" faith.

[superduper]

As soon as Bran can no longer pad his empty 25/7/7 he will retire. LeGOAT aint about that sacrificing for a winning culture life.

[Mask the Embiid]

Fitting name...Wilt


cause he always wilted in the playoffs



huge fan by the way...I have him #2 all-time

[Marchesk]

Those series weren't reasonably winnable because the talent disparity was clearly against his teams.

Well, not that it was Wilt's fault, but the Warriors did lose a game 7 by two points in the 62 playoffs, which sounds winnable. The teams traded victories the entire series. Boston did have bigger blowout wins.

In that game 7, Wilt only had 22, but he only took 15 shots. I think I've seen the last few minutes of that game on YT, and Wilt's teammates were just looking to chuck (taking bad rushed shots) instead of getting him the ball. So I don't know what was going on there. This was his 50.4 ppg regular season, where he almost averaged 40 FGA.

Why you wouldn't feed Wilt all game long in a game 7, I don't know. But they came close to winning anyway.