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Lonnie entering the draft

OriginalGatorHater said:
I am sure he wanted to win badly, but that doesnt make you a good teammate. I am sure Marburry also wanted to win bad. Yes it was because he was tall. Put Shaq in that league and he would lead the league in blocks. Shaq is WAY stronger then Wilt. And playing tight end for the chiefs in the 60s is not impressive either. If you think the NBA players back the where scrubs don't even talk about the NFL. They where just as bad.
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Shaq was not way stronger than Wilt. It was rumored that Wilt could bench 500+. Dude was a freak.
 
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ThomasM said:
Shaq was not way stronger than Wilt. It was rumored that Wilt could bench 500+. Dude was a freak.
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Well it was rumored that shaq could bench 700 lbs. Rumors dont mean anything. Use common sense of course shaq is stronger then Wilt. Bench also doesnt mean **** in basketball Squat and Deadlift are much more important for backing someone down and boxing out. It is common sense that the newer gen guys are more talented. Back in the 60s and 70s a lot of the most talented guys had no access to a basketball gym or a basketball team to try out for besides maybe their local high school basketball team. Now we have AAU and 247 scouting to make sure no top tier kid slips through the cracks. Kids play other top stars from the age of 8 instead of not meeting another top guy until they hit the league. NBA pays way more the ever back in Wilts days you had guys turning down the NBA for other jobs like Peewee kirkland. Now even if you don't make it to the NBA you still are going to a top school Duke or michigan or Villanova, Notre dame, etc. for free. Even rich kids parents have them try out basketball because its safe and you could get a scholorship to a top school. Plus now kids would rather be NBA players then Football or Boxers which stole alot of top talent back in the day because of concussions and no one cares about baseball anymore. Literally the best high school athletes that are tall all play basketball now. The talent pool is the largest it has ever been so it is common sense that the guys now would be the most talented.
 
OriginalGatorHater said:
Interesting read. I agree that Wilt was more dominant in his day, but I think that has to do with the lack of talent he played against though. I disagree that the writer thinks Shaq would have not done well in the 60s I think he is biased.
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It's just that defenders were allowed to play rougher in the 60s, while offensive players wouldn't have gotten away with what Shaq got away with. I think Wilt would be dominant now as well because of this. He'd face some taller players, but the league hasn't been a short, unathletic league since before Wilt came into the league. I did find the one line interesting about Nate "Tiny" Archibald being 6'1". Think about that. Why would he be called Tiny at 6'1" if the league was full of guys 6' tall? There were a lot of tall guys back then.
 
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ThomasM said:
It's just that defenders were allowed to play rougher in the 60s, while offensive players wouldn't have gotten away with what Shaq got away with. I think Wilt would be dominant now as well because of this. He'd face some taller players, but the league hasn't been a short, unathletic league since before Wilt came into the league. I did find the one line interesting about Nate "Tiny" Archibald being 6'1". Think about that. Why would he be called Tiny at 6'1" if the league was full of guys 6' tall? There were a lot of tall guys back then.
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Because compared to a bunch of 6'5 guys he was tiny. Even today you don't have many guys who are 6'1 and the guys that are, are way faster then Nate. They could be as rough as they want they aren't going to be able to stop the Shaq attack. He is to big and strong to be stopped. Wilts finger roll doesn't work against people his size.
 
OriginalGatorHater said:
Because compared to a bunch of 6'5 guys he was tiny. Even today you don't have many guys who are 6'1 and the guys that are, are way faster then Nate. They could be as rough as they want they aren't going to be able to stop the Shaq attack. He is to big and strong to be stopped. Wilts finger roll doesn't work against people his size.
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You are simply wrong. There were not a lot of 6’5” centres back then. There were also no high schoolers playing, nor were there any players under 6’.
 
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ThomasM said:
You are simply wrong. There were not a lot of 6’5” centres back then. There were also no high schoolers playing, nor were there any players under 6’.
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Was Nate Archibald a center? No. I was saying the average height in 50s/60s was 6'5. That is a fact. The average now is 6'8. Another fact. I can't believe you are actually trying to argue this. No one that actually was alive during Wilts time(that actually follows basketball) actually thinks he would have been able to even start in the modern NBA. There are 2 people that think Wilt is the greatest. The old guys who never actually watched basketball and just thinks everything from back in the day was better and if he scored 100 points he must be the greatest. The other are the 15 year old high school kids that hear stories of Wilt, but never actually seen him play so they think of him as some sort of legendary beast who is the greatest of all time. Have you ever even seen a game from the 50s/60s. The high school All American team would destroy the NBA teams of that era.

http://www.tothemean.com/2014/08/26/height-distributions-in-nba.html
 
OriginalGatorHater said:
Was Nate Archibald a center? No. I was saying the average height in 50s/60s was 6'5. That is a fact. The average now is 6'8. Another fact. I can't believe you are actually trying to argue this. No one that actually was alive during Wilts time(that actually follows basketball) actually thinks he would have been able to even start in the modern NBA. There are 2 people that think Wilt is the greatest. The old guys who never actually watched basketball and just thinks everything from back in the day was better and if he scored 100 points he must be the greatest. The other are the 15 year old high school kids that hear stories of Wilt, but never actually seen him play so they think of him as some sort of legendary beast who is the greatest of all time. Have you ever even seen a game from the 50s/60s. The high school All American team would destroy the NBA teams of that era.

http://www.tothemean.com/2014/08/26/height-distributions-in-nba.html
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You think 3 inches is going to make that kind of difference? The only people who think Wilt couldn't play in the NBA today is people too young to have a **** clue what the man could do. 7'2" Wilt would dominate the crappy centers of today. Name one big man in the NBA today that could run as fast as Wilt. Name one as strong. Name one that can pass like Wilt. Name one that could block a shot 13 feet in the air. Name one strong enough to dislocate a man's shoulder by blocking his shot. Name one that can average 48 minutes a game over an entire season. Would he score 100? Probably not. I guarantee you he'd still go for 50 on any given night. He'd lead the league in rebounds and blocks.

And no, the high school all star teams would get destroyed if they played a game in the 60s if they used 60s rules. For one, they'd get called for travelling every **** time they did their best Jordan impression.
 
ThomasM said:
You think 3 inches is going to make that kind of difference? The only people who think Wilt couldn't play in the NBA today is people too young to have a **** clue what the man could do. 7'2" Wilt would dominate the crappy centers of today. Name one big man in the NBA today that could run as fast as Wilt. Name one as strong. Name one that can pass like Wilt. Name one that could block a shot 13 feet in the air. Name one strong enough to dislocate a man's shoulder by blocking his shot. Name one that can average 48 minutes a game over an entire season. Would he score 100? Probably not. I guarantee you he'd still go for 50 on any given night. He'd lead the league in rebounds and blocks.

And no, the high school all star teams would get destroyed if they played a game in the 60s if they used 60s rules. For one, they'd get called for travelling every **** time they did their best Jordan impression.
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3 inches on AVERAGE is a huge difference. Especially when we are talking from 6'5 which is a regular tall person vs 6'8 which is a giant. If you see a 6'5 person walking you are like thats a tall guy. You see a 6'8 guy and your like that guy probably plays d1 basketball. Name one as fast as Wilt... All of them. Name one as strong as Wilt... All of them. One that can Pass like Wilt... All of them. They can all block shot 13 feet in the air because they block shots against people who are also 6'11 plus instead of a 6'8 center that can't jump to save his life. I am sure they are all strong enough to dislocate a 1960s players arm. I will give Wilt the cardio part he could probably out last all of those other players since he averaged 48 min a game, but its also alot easier to play that long when you are going against a bunch of scrubs. I bet Cousins and a bunch of other guys could play a full 48 minutes if they are going against a bunch of 1960s level NBA players that wouldn't even make d1 teams today. The high school all star team would DESTROY the 60s team with todays rules. You are unbelievably ignorant. Since you clearly forgot what the "legends" looked like when they played. Skim through this video. That is 2 NBA teams. They look like a D3 team.
Are you one of those guys that thinks Otto Graham is a better QB then Tom Brady? Or George Gipp and Frank Gifford were better Running Backs then Marshawn lynch? Or that the 1898 Harvard football team would beat the 2001 Miami Hurricanes? Or Steve Williams would out run Usain Bolt? Or do you just for some strange reason think Basketball is the only sport where the scrubs from the old school days could beat the new guys?

 
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Wilt and Bill Russell we’re both 2 of the best big men of all time. They were elite athletes, and if they had modern day sports training and nutrition and weight training that today’s modern athletes have they would’ve been dominant too.
 
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gacaneaddict said:
Wilt and Bill Russell we’re both 2 of the best big men of all time. They were elite athletes, and if they had modern day sports training and nutrition and weight training that today’s modern athletes have they would’ve been dominant too.
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Considering the fact they didn't we will never know. Back in the 60s the NBA took a backseat to numerous other sports like Baseball, Football, Boxing, etc. The NBA got second tier athletes. Now every kid in America plays basketball and tons of kids parents wont even let their kids play football or boxing. The talent pool is at an all time high for basketball.
 
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OriginalGatorHater said:
Interesting read. I agree that Wilt was more dominant in his day, but I think that has to do with the lack of talent he played against though. I disagree that the writer thinks Shaq would have not done well in the 60s I think he is biased.
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Total BS. Center was a position where the skill level in the 60s was VERY strong and, with fewer teams, the talent wasn't watered down. Wilt faced guys like Bill Russell, Nate Thurmond, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Willis Reed, Walt Bellamy, and Clyde Lovellette.
 
hotshot said:
Total BS. Center was a position where the skill level in the 60s was VERY strong and, with fewer teams, the talent wasn't watered down. Wilt faced guys like Bill Russell, Nate Thurmond, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Willis Reed, Walt Bellamy, and Clyde Lovellette.
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Shaq went against Olajuwon, Ewing, Mourning, Mutumbo, Duncan, Moses Malone, and Ben Wallace. Just to name a few. The talent in the 90s and 00s was alot greater than the 60s. The players where a lot taller as well.
 
native said:
They also lie a ton about height today, measuring with shoes on which adds 1-2 inches on average.
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Exaggerating height is hardly a new phenomenon in the NBA. Of all the current and former NBA players, I've met or seen in person, the only one who was as big as advertised was Shaq. That is a mammoth human. Dr. J and Brian Grant are both reasonably tall guys but nowhere near as tall as their listed heights during their playing days. Charles Barkley is so short, the first time I saw him in person, I thought he was just a guy who looked like Barkley. Not that he's a little guy but I'd say he's maybe 6' 3".
 
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