Why didn't Gus Johnson dominate the 60s?

[LAZERUSS]

Just a SMALL sampling of Wilt's domination...

Career 30-30 games:

Aside from Chamberlain, there have been 36 30-30 games in NBA history, and Russell is the leader of that group, with 7 (Bellamy and Thurmond are next with 3 each.)

How about Wilt? 132.


40-30 (or 30-40) games: Other than Wilt, the NBA has had 9 40-30 games, with Baylor being the only player to have 2.

Chamberlain? 73


50-30 games: Pettit and Baylor each with 1

Wilt? 32


60-20 games: Aside from Wilt, there have been four (Baylor with 3 and Shaq with 1)

Chamberlain? 28


60-30 games: Baylor with 1

Wilt? 8


40-40 games: There have been 8 in the history of the NBA, and Chamberlain had all of them.


50-40 games: Obviously, Wilt would be the only player to have ever have accomplsihed that feat, which he did 5 times.


70-30 games: Chamberlain has the only 2, 78-43 and 73-36 (against Bellamy.)

Oh, and IN the Wilt era there were a TOTAL of FIVE 60+ point games recorded (by anyone not named Wilt)...and how about Wilt, himself? 32!

So, in the "inflated 60's"...how come it was ONLY Wilt who was putting up historic numbers?

[LAZERUSS]

Kareem average 34.8 ppg in his third year. Transplant him into 61 or 62 and I think he could hit 40 ppg if he really wanted to. Put 37 ppg Jordan in 61 or 62 and I think he goes above 40 ppg.

I think you kinda have to give a player a year to adjust to the league too I'm never a big fan of looking too deep into a player's rookie season.

Those were his CAREER highs against Dierking and Fox.

BTW, KAJ averaged 28.8 ppg in his rookie season.

In the first nine games of that season, Wilt was leading the league, at 32.2 ppg, and on a .579 FG% (to go along with 20 rpg.) And it was consistent scoring, too. Wilt had games of 33, 35, 37, 38, 42, and 43 points. Oh, and he had a game against KAJ in which he outscored him, 25-23; outrebounded him, 25-20; outassistd him, 5-2; outblocked him, 3-2; and outshot him from the floor by a 9-14 to 9-21 margin.

Unfortunately, in that ninth game, and in which he had played 28 minutes, and scored 33 points on 13-14 shooting, he shredded his knee, and was never the same offensive force again.

Who knows, but Wilt's new coach that year, Joe Mullaney, had asked Wilt to become the focal point of the offense, (and he responded with a flurry), but Chamberlain might very well have been on his way to his 8th scoring crown (as well as his 10th FG% title, and his 12th rebounding title.)

[Soundwave]

Is there any footage of Wilt scoring 60+ in a game? I mean like the actual single game (not spliced highlights from like 10 different games/different seasons)?

I'd like to see how he played over the course of a game ... what types of defenses he faced, what post moves he used, etc.

[stanlove1111]

Those were his CAREER highs against Dierking and Fox.

BTW, KAJ averaged 28.8 ppg in his rookie season.

In the first nine games of that season, Wilt was leading the league, at 32.2 ppg, and on a .579 FG% (to go along with 20 rpg.) And it was consistent scoring, too. Wilt had games of 33, 35, 37, 38, 42, and 43 points. Oh, and he had a game against KAJ in which he outscored him, 25-23; outrebounded him, 25-20; outassistd him, 5-2; outblocked him, 3-2; and outshot him from the floor by a 9-14 to 9-21 margin.

Unfortunately, in that ninth game, and in which he had played 28 minutes, and scored 33 points on 13-14 shooting, he shredded his knee, and was never the same offensive force again.

Who knows, but Wilt's new coach that year, Joe Mullaney, had asked Wilt to become the focal point of the offense, (and he responded with a flurry), but Chamberlain might very well have been on his way to his 8th scoring crown (as well as his 10th FG% title, and his 12th rebounding title.)

Now he is so desperate to make a point he is actually comparing how a rookie did against how a 32 year old veteran did..

[MiseryCityTexas]

You still don't get basketball and its starting to look like you never will.

There is no sense talking about Wilt's scoring totals without bringing up the fact that it was his goal to get those totals. It was his goal to score 50 a game so its goofy to compare it to other players who never made that goal. You will never understand that this is not baseball where everyone has basically the same amount of at bats with the same goal. You can compare stats in baseball.

If you took the Lebron of today and dropped him into 1962 and his goal was to score 50 a game ( it wouldn't be, too much of a team guy ) then he would score 50 a game without doubt. Just like a primed Jabbar would or a Durant or Kobe among others..


Gus Johnson while athletic for his time did not have the moves at all like players today. he looks like an amateur compared to todays players when he drives to the basket..Do you have any clips of his head at the rim? Haven't see any yet..I watched Gus at the time and while good for the time would be nothing today with the same skills he had..My Son had a high school teammate last year who did everything Gus did I those clips.

Prime Gus Johnson would thrive easily in today's league. Especially since he's a great rebounder also. People aren't talking about Gus Johnson as a rebounder either in this thread, yet his rebounding is one of his biggest strengths. Gus Johnson had a nice turn around fallaway jumper in the 60s also. How many other players of that era were shooting jumpers like that? Gus Johnson is pretty much the original Lebron since they both from Akron Ohio.

[LAZERUSS]

Now he is so desperate to make a point he is actually comparing how a rookie did against how a 32 year old veteran did..

First of all, KAJ averaged 35.2 ppg in his ROOKIE post-season, which was his post-season career HIGH. IMHO, from the last half of his ROOKIE season, thru his entire '71 regular season and post-season, and thru his '72 regular season, KAJ was at his PEAK. He started a slow decline after that, albeit, he was still the best player in the league up until the last season of the '70's, and a top-5 player for much of the 80's.

Secondly, my point was NOT to disparage Kareem, but to merely point out that he never came close to the domination that a prime Wilt leveled against the NBA, including several of the same centers that both would face in their primes. For someone to simply ASSume that Kareem could score 40-50 ppg is not based in reality. Yes, he could occasionally hang 40-50 point games, but he never had the pure stamina, and more importantly, the drive, to do it for entire seasons. He was burned out by his '72 regular season, and in fact, had one of his worst playoff's because of it (not to mention he faced two of the top three defensive centers of all-time in that run.)

As for a rookie pounding a veteran...a ROOKIE Wilt was just TRASHING a PEAK Russell in their H2H's...as he would do his entire career. Take away their very first game, and Wilt averaged 40 ppg in his 10 other H2H's that season, and on a .481 FG%, in a league that shot .410 overall. Then, in his six H2H's in the EDF's, Wilt averaged 30.5 ppg on a .500 FG%, in a post-season that shot .402. And had he not badly injured his hand at the end of game two, he likely would have been considerably more dominant. As it was, in a must-win game five, Chamberlain hung a 50 point game, to go along with 35 rebounds, and on 22-42 from the field, in a WIN.


Again, NO ONE else in the Wilt-era was putting up the records that Wilt was. And it wasn't just the records, either, but the massive differentials against his peers. How about 60+ point games in the 14 seasons Wilt was in the league? Surely in that "inflated" era, there were many of them, right? Dead wrong. Aside from Wilt, who had 32 on his own, there were a TOTAL of FIVE. Which is pretty consistent with other decades. Take Wilt out of the equation, and the scoring records would look similar to any other period after Wilt retired. The highest full time "non-Wilt" season IN the Wilt-era? Rick Barry in 66-67, and at 35.6 ppg. Bob McAdoo averaged 34.5 ppg in 74-75 (two years after Wilt retired), MJ would hit his peak of 37.1 ppg in 86-87, and Kobe Bryant would average 35.4 ppg in '05-06. BTW, Barry took 28.7 FGA in his 40.7 mpg, MJ took 27.8 FGA in his 40 mpg, and Bryant took 27.2 FGA in his 41.0 mpg. Even Baylor, in his highest full time season, was "only" at 34.8 ppg on 29.7 FGAs. THAT seems to be the barrier for everyone not named Wilt.

And of course, NO ONE else had Wilt's incredible stamina, either. I get a kick out of those that bash Wilt's records, claiming that they were aided by his 48 mpg seasons. Well, anyone else would have been lying on the floor in the 4th quarters of those games...especially at the pace that Wilt drove his team's. Here again, had Wilt "only" played 40-42 mpg in his era, and over the course of 80+ game seasons, and his EFFICIENCY's would have risen considerably. But the anti-Wilt faction will never bring that up.

Not to mention that fact that Wilt was also crushing his peers on the glass, playing elite-level defense, and even handing out 3-4-5 apg in his scoring seasons. He was virtually..."doing it all."

I will say this, though. A MOTIVATED Kareem would have been the ONE player in NBA history that had the potential to score 40 ppg. But there was simply no way he could hang 50+ every night.

[Marchesk]

But if you built a team around Durant/LeBron/Carmelo where they had to drop 40-50 a game... doesn't seem like it'd be out of the question.

But could they play 48 minutes a game at a higher pace? Could they rebound as well as Baylor did? There's no 3 pt shot, the spacing isn't the same, and you have superior rim protectors waiting for you.

[Marchesk]

Name another player in history who average 24.2/24/8.2/63.9% over two seasons.

[LAZERUSS]

Name another player in history who average 24.2/24/8.2/63.9% over two seasons.

AND, who had the highest scoring games in each season, as well. In those two years he had games of 52, 53, 53, 58, and 68 points. He also had multiple 40+ point games, including one of 42 on 18-18 FG/FGAs.

In his last 12 regular season games of the '68 season, he had 11 triple doubles, and in the one game he didn't he had nine assists. And over the span of those 12 games he averaged 27-24-12 .694.

[Marchesk]

Also, his team averaged 65 wins over those two seasons, and likely would have won two titles instead of one if not for injuries.

[LAZERUSS]

Also, his team averaged 65 wins over those two seasons, and likely would have won two titles instead of one if not for injuries.

SURELY would have won two titles.

Thanks to PHILA....

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...1&postcount=14

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/sho...6&postcount=13

As it was, with SEVEN of their EIGHT key players suffering injuries, or not playing at all, including Wilt, himself, ....they lost a game seven to the Celtics by FOUR points.

[LAZERUSS]

Is there any footage of Wilt scoring 60+ in a game? I mean like the actual single game (not spliced highlights from like 10 different games/different seasons)?

I'd like to see how he played over the course of a game ... what types of defenses he faced, what post moves he used, etc.

Unfortunately, Chamberlain had 271 40+ NBA games in his career...and the only 40+ point games that exist, are a college game in which he scored 40 points, and highlights from the '62 NBA ASG, in which he scored 42 points on 17-23 from the field.

[CavaliersFTW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKSALqkzy-I

more gus footage for the up coming vid

[L.Kizzle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKSALqkzy-I

more gus footage for the up coming vid

Shawn Marion meets LeBron James.

[fpliii]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKSALqkzy-I

more gus footage for the up coming vid