Why did Wes Unseld get to be MVP in his rookie year

[dirkdiggler41]

He was like the 4th scorer on his team

[PHILA]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHzCRHxpW-Q#t=8m58s

[ShaqAttack3234]

1969 seems like it was a similar year to this recent one and a few others(2005, 2006) in that nobody seemed to have a near flawless case for MVP. With that being said, I still don't buy Unseld as an MVP-caliber player. He wasn't more than an average scorer, he wasn't a shot blocker and never made an all-defensive team, plus how many MVPs never make another all-nba team despite being healthy for the vast majority of his 13 year career?

[Miserio]

1969 seems like it was a similar year to this recent one and a few others(2005, 2006) in that nobody seemed to have a near flawless case for MVP. With that being said, I still don't buy Unseld as an MVP-caliber player. He wasn't more than an average scorer, he wasn't a shot blocker and never made an all-defensive team, plus how many MVPs never make another all-nba team despite being healthy for the vast majority of his 13 year career?

18.2 rebounds per game, he leads his team from last place to first place.

[The Macho Man]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHzCRHxpW-Q#t=8m58s

Big E just had a big E on the back of his jersey? That's balla as hell

[ShaqAttack3234]

18.2 rebounds per game, he leads his team from last place to first place.

Rodman was a better rebounder and a better defender(though not as good offensively), did he ever come close to winning MVP? Same goes for Ben Wallace who was leading his team to 50+ wins regularly.

[jlauber]

As remarkable as it was that Unseld won the award, it was even more incredible that Wilt did not finish in the top-5 (and I believe he around 9th.) Chamberlain was traded for three players, and the Lakers lost HOFer Gail Goodrich in the exapnsion draft, so essentially he replaced 42 ppg and 18 rpg. On top of that, West missed 20 games due to injuries, and LA had a boob for a coach, and they STILL put up a Laker team record (at the time, of 55-27.) All Wilt did was sacrifice his own shooting so that a declining Baylor (who somehow finished 5th in the voting) could fire blanks (.447 shooting during the regular season, and a horrible .385 in the post-season.) Still, Chamberlain averaged 20.5 ppg (and after SI ran an article claiming that he could no longer score, he went on a 17 game rampage in which he averaged 31 ppg...including games of 60 and 66 points.) He also LED the league in rebounding, at 21.1 rpg, and he LED the league in FG% at .583. And, on a nationally televised game, he blocked 23 shots.

Interesting, too, was that Wilt just crushed Unseld H2H that season, including one game in which he scored 25 points with 38 rebounds. Chamberlain also pounded Russell in two separate games, one in which he outrebounded him, 42-18, and another in which he hung 35 points on him. Chamberlain also led LA to a nationally televised beat-down of Russell's Celtics, 108-73.

So, all-in-all, Wilt outscored Unseld, per game, 20.5 to 13.8; outrebounded him, per game, 21.1 to 18.2; outassisted him, per game, 4.5 to 2.6; and outshot Unseld, per game, .583 to .476...in addition to outplaying him H2H. And somehow, Wilt was nowhere to be found in the MVP balloting.

Just another of many seasons in which there was an anti-Wilt sentiment among the voters (players.)

[stephanieg]

Did they understand basketball better in the 1960s?

[PHILA]

Did they understand basketball better in the 1960s?

[G.O.A.T]

Did they understand basketball better in the 1960s?

Very cool article, and yes they did understand it better back then because there wasn't so many factors to confuse them.

Bob Ryan told me once at a leadership seminar that he believes what has happened today is that we are over-saturated with coverage and information and now everyone (in the media) feels compelled to trust their own opinion instead of just reporting on the opinions of the people who actually know the game.

He was like the 4th scorer on his team

Scoring makes up less than 3% of what goes on in a basketball game. I'm not sure your point matters at all.

[KevinNYC]

Scoring makes up less than 3% of what goes on in a basketball game. I'm not sure your point matters at all.

Um, bit misleading no? Considering this is the only thing they count towards a win.

Also if scoring is only 3% than the other 97% percent is either preparing to score or preventing a score. Minus a few percent to whine about the officiating.

[Rose]

I thought he got injured after his rookie year?

http://www.umm.edu/orthopaedic/wes_unseld.htm this is actually a really cool article i just found about it.

[greensmoke21]

I did that shit on nba 2k11 my player

[G.O.A.T]

Um, bit misleading no? Considering this is the only thing they count towards a win.

Also if scoring is only 3% than the other 97% percent is either preparing to score or preventing a score. Minus a few percent to whine about the officiating.

Nothing wrong with that. However the only thing ppg reflects is who scored the basket. Not who called the play, who set the screen, who delivered the pass, who missed a defensive assignment or rotation, who the defense was more focused on that allowed that player to get a quality shot etc.

That was my point. Saying that a player is fourth on his team in ppg and that precludes him from bneing MVP is foolish for those reasons.

[jlip]

Did they understand basketball better in the 1960s?