Best Big Men to Ever Play the Game

[mo42nyy]

Im not gonna argue Russel vs Wilt etc as Im 24- but there is no way Robinson is in Hakeems league. Shaq isnt better than Hakeem either.

[sandycove]

Wilt.

And he could have, and should have, been better; he rejected vigorous advice to put the ball in his fingertips on the free-throw line. Later, it was too late; he had the yips. Sadly, he never had a team that could integrate all his skills and win championships. It would be a delicate proposition with a player so individually dominant.

The rules started to change thanks to Wilt -- inbounds plays, wider lanes -- eventually, no dunks (briefly) in college, no zones in the pros. Phog Allen advocated a 12-foot basket, which would hardly have stopped Wilt.

He was brutally strong and shockingly fast -- he'd shuffle-drill the length of the court in the blink of an eye and had enough pure speed to run the 440 for Kansas, a national track power then with three Olympians on the squad.

I saw his first college game against Northwestern -- 3 December 1956. Scored 52. 31 rebounds.

And his next-to-last in the NCAA semi-final -- just before the triple-overtime loss to Carolina and a Globetrotter paycheck.

Saw him high jump, too. Just under 6' 7" employing the western roll. He was 7 feet, one-sixteenth inch, in bare feet.

Sports Illustrated judged him the 11th best college athlete ever, ahead of all men whose primary sport was basketball, even though he played only two seasons (the second sandwiched between four defenders).

[Pudge714]

Assani,
You are arguing Duncan's supporting cast is bad because when the Spurs become a really bad team when they lose there best player. No [censored]. How would Cleveland be without LeBron, Heat without Wade, etc. etc.

[ QUOTE ]

Trying to rank player we never saw and going by stats is just silly imo. You simply have to go by the wisdom of the people that did see them play- obviously you won't get as good of an analysis of them as you would a modern day player that you personally saw, but its the only thing you can do. I've never heard from a hardcore NBA fan from teh 60s that doesn't think Russell is one of, if not the, best ever. That should tell you something.

[/ QUOTE ]
The main argument for Russell is purely statistical. ZOMG 11 RINGS NO WAI.