Am I crazy to have Bill Walton on my All-Time Starting 5?

[La Frescobaldi]

If that's who you like.

I don't think he gives you the best chance to win.

Arvydas Sabonis in his prime was a better player than Bill Walton.

Not from what I've seen, even in Russia (admittedly I haven't seen a ton of film but highlights shouldn't show weak play... right?) where he was at his best, he wasn't in the correct spot a whole lot of the time whereas a guy could almost never drag Walton completely out of a play, even by leaving the paint altogether. Walton knew how to sag to an exceptional degree, and he excelled at switching.

AS was great in the paint tho

[DatAsh]

Curious about this, OP (and others): When you started thinking about your all-time team, who was the first and last player of this list you thought about? It seems interesting to me that lots of people, when asked to create an elite "functional" team (=not their GOAT from each position), routinely pick the very highest SG and SF scorers they can think, then add a non-high scoring center who would just be willing enough to "play defense and mesh with the team". Curiously enough, I don't see many starting their teams with a high scoring center (Kareem, Wilt, Shaq, Hakeem) who would be complemented with a somewhat lesser scoring SG or SF (Havlicek, Moncrief, Pippen, Drexler, prime Grant Hill) who will do the analogous thing with a "complementary" (so to speak) center.

I can't speak for the OP or others, but I've personally tried building both ways to see what I can come up with, and it was seems to work out better when I build the offense from the outside in and the defense from the inside out. Usually if I'm going for an inside out offense I'll start with Shaq.

My research has led me to believe that the greatest guards/forwards(Magic, Bird, Oscar, Jordan, Kobe, Lebron) were generally having a greater impact on offense than the greatest centers(Wilt, Russell, Kareem, Malone, Hakeem, Robinson, Duncan). I believe the opposite to be true of defense.

With only one ball to go around, the need to space the floor with three point shooters, and my belief that it's better to have your guards focus more energy on offense and let your bigs focus more of their energy on defense, I look for a center who will be comfortable and effective in a 8-15ppg/defensive anchor type roll.

Top 3 for me would be

1. Russell(best defender ever, great passer, goat level rebounder, played this roll his entire career)
2. Walton(amazing defender, goat passer, played this roll his entire career)
3. Wilt(amazing defender, great passer, goat level rebounder, played this roll the last half of his career).

That's assuming we're in a world where Walton doesn't have injury problems.

[LAZERUSS]

I can't speak for the OP or others, but I've personally tried building both ways to see what I can come up with, and it was seems to work out better when I build the offense from the outside in and the defense from the inside out. Usually if I'm going for an inside out offense I'll start with Shaq.

My research has led me to believe that the greatest guards/forwards(Magic, Bird, Oscar, Jordan, Kobe, Lebron) were generally having a greater impact on offense than the greatest centers(Wilt, Russell, Kareem, Malone, Hakeem, Robinson, Duncan). I believe the opposite to be true of defense.

With only one ball to go around, the need to space the floor with three point shooters, and my belief that it's better to have your guards focus more energy on offense and let your bigs focus more of their energy on defense, I look for a center who will be comfortable and effective in a 8-15ppg/defensive anchor type roll.

Top 3 for me would be

1. Russell(best defender ever, great passer, goat level rebounder, played this roll his entire career)
2. Walton(amazing defender, goat passer, played this roll his entire career)
3. Wilt(amazing defender, great passer, goat level rebounder, played this roll the last half of his career).

That's assuming we're in a world where Walton doesn't have injury problems.

The last GOAT level offensive center was a Shaq in the early 00's. The real problem has been that there are simply no dominating offensive centers playing any more.

Chamberlain was capable of scoring 60+ points even in his "last half of his career." And his entire offense was on a level of efficiency that has not been duplicated since.

[LAZERUSS]

I can't speak for the OP or others, but I've personally tried building both ways to see what I can come up with, and it was seems to work out better when I build the offense from the outside in and the defense from the inside out. Usually if I'm going for an inside out offense I'll start with Shaq.

My research has led me to believe that the greatest guards/forwards(Magic, Bird, Oscar, Jordan, Kobe, Lebron) were generally having a greater impact on offense than the greatest centers(Wilt, Russell, Kareem, Malone, Hakeem, Robinson, Duncan). I believe the opposite to be true of defense.

With only one ball to go around, the need to space the floor with three point shooters, and my belief that it's better to have your guards focus more energy on offense and let your bigs focus more of their energy on defense, I look for a center who will be comfortable and effective in a 8-15ppg/defensive anchor type roll.

Top 3 for me would be

1. Russell(best defender ever, great passer, goat level rebounder, played this roll his entire career)
2. Walton(amazing defender, goat passer, played this roll his entire career)
3. Wilt(amazing defender, great passer, goat level rebounder, played this roll the last half of his career).

That's assuming we're in a world where Walton doesn't have injury problems.

Walton never played even ONE entire season. And he only had ONE post-season run. And a peak Walton was playing 35 mpg.

And again, he was nowhere the offensive force that KAJ, Moses, Shaq, and most certainly, Wilt, were.

Fans forget that Moses adapted to better teammates. And to a certain extent, Shaq deferred to Kobe. Clearly KAJ could carry a team, or he could blend in with better teammates. And no one was asked to change their game more than Wilt was.

[1987_Lakers]

jlauber? Who the hell is jlauber?

I would say that Walton's 71-72 team was the greatest college team of all-time, going 30-0 and with a ppg differential of 94.6 to 64.3, or +30.3 (which is the all-time record.) And Walton's championship game in '73 was the greatest single game ever, by anyone. 44 points, on 21-22 shooting, with 13 rebounds.

I still remember Walton's soph year at UCLA. Coming into that season he was highly touted, but most pre-season mags had other players ranked ahead of him (like Tom Riker and Tom McMillen.) That 71-72 UCLA team became, IMHO, the greatest team in college basketball history. They not only went 30-0, they destroyed their opponents by an average margin of 98-64.

[NotBillWalton]

PG - '87 Magic
SG - '91 Jordan
SF - '13 LeBron
PF - '86 Bird
C - '77 Walton

I think this is a perfect team. Inane passers in Magic, LeBron, & Walton. Magic & Jordan are not great 3 point shooters, but LeBron can hit that shot, & I have Bird as a stretch 4, Bird can also rebound at a great level which is why I am comfortable with him at the 4. I know people like having dominant scoring centers on their teams, but I already have insane scorers and Walton is a perfect center who can rim protect, rebound, & play in a team concept at an elite level.

Throw it DOWN young man THROW IT DOWN!

However, you are out of your mind. The one true center, the holy grail of centers is Kareem. I love Kareem and you should too.

[LAZERUSS]

A peak Walton, with a vastly superior supporting cast, and against a prime KAJ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coHMK...os=YqP06ya0k4w

[1987_Lakers]

Jlauber again getting exposed/schooled

Whatever happened to Jlauber?

[Axe]

Nice thread bump

[Bronbron23]

PG - '87 Magic
SG - '91 Jordan
SF - '13 LeBron
PF - '86 Bird
C - '77 Walton

I think this is a perfect team. Inane passers in Magic, LeBron, & Walton. Magic & Jordan are not great 3 point shooters, but LeBron can hit that shot, & I have Bird as a stretch 4, Bird can also rebound at a great level which is why I am comfortable with him at the 4. I know people like having dominant scoring centers on their teams, but I already have insane scorers and Walton is a perfect center who can rim protect, rebound, & play in a team concept at an elite level.

Your not crazy just wrong or maybe your drunk or something. I know ive been on the sauce hard since this whole covid shit. Nothing else to do.