OT: Kareem

[KingSpeed]

I'll see your kareem and raise you a Chamberlain. Now here's some gaudy stats. Imagine if they had tallied blocks back then.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01.html

and he never fouled out!

 

[KingSpeed]

The high expectations from Oden was from his rebounding and defense. Hence the Bill Russell comparisons, who wasn't exactly an amazing scorer. But of course Oden is never going to average 20 rebounds a game like him. But yeah, 15 sounds like a good goal. What was Ben Wallance career highs?

in 02-03, Ben Wallace averaged 6.9 ppg, 15.4 rpg, & 3.2 bpg

 

[Nikolokolus]

I can't believe we're still being subjected to these asinine "I'm soooooooo disappointed in Greg because his per game numbers aren't like <fill-in-the-blank-HOFer>." The dude average something like 15/9 at Ohio State, it wasn't like he was expected to come in and dominate statistically from the jump even when he had two fully healthy knees. I just find it completely bogus that when he finally shows some signs that he's starting to put it together all you can think about is your obsession with how his numbers look compared to some of the all-time greats. If you are so worried about what he's doing at 21 or 22 then try to remember he'd still be in college back in Russell's, Wilt or Kareem's era; guys played for four years back then and their coaches who groomed them were much more cognizant of teaching fundamentals than most AAU, high school and college coaches are now -- especially with bigs.

Get over it, you're turning into a bore.

 

[magnifier661]

Kareem was the greatest center to ever play the game. He doesn't get enough credit, being shadowed by players like Wilt, Russell, Shaq and Hakeem. But if you look at him statistically and even when he was past his prime, the dude was a serious baller. There will never be a player like him again, with the way the NBA is now. Same with players like Russell and Wilt, averaging 25 rebounds a damn game.

 

[hasoos]

Actually the thing that blows my mind is that Bill Walton was actually better than him in his prime before he got hurt. Bill Walton absolutely owned Kareem.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Kareem was the greatest center to ever play the game. He doesn't get enough credit, being shadowed by players like Wilt, Russell, Shaq and Hakeem. But if you look at him statistically and even when he was past his prime, the dude was a serious baller. There will never be a player like him again, with the way the NBA is now. Same with players like Russell and Wilt, averaging 25 rebounds a damn game.

It's all kind of subjective, but he was certainly in the conversation for top 5.

 

[andalusian]

my rookie expectations of Oden, by the way, were 14/11/2.

Seems to me like you are damning the analyst, not the basketball player.

If the analyst can not understand that recovering from MF surgery, while being a rookie, on a team that is not going to feature you because it is trying to get to the playoffs instead of developing you as it's first priority requires an adjustment of expectations - the problem, unfortunately, is the analyst.

Learn the game, then analyze.

 

[jlprk]

Kareem was the greatest center to ever play the game. He doesn't get enough credit, being shadowed by players like Wilt, Russell, Shaq and Hakeem. But if you look at him statistically and even when he was past his prime, the dude was a serious baller.

The greatest part of his play wasn't in statistics or in his unimportant sky hook that they all talk about now. Wooden gave him a genius basketball IQ. He was very undervalued as soon as they added Magic. Magic got too much spotlight on that team. Kareem just quietly plugged on for a decade, the engine of the team's wins. As soon as he retired, the Lakers stopped winning championships.

 

[KingSpeed]

Seems to me like you are damning the analyst, not the basketball player.

If the analyst can not understand that recovering from MF surgery, while being a rookie, on a team that is not going to feature you because it is trying to get to the playoffs instead of developing you as it's first priority requires an adjustment of expectations - the problem, unfortunately, is the analyst.

Learn the game, then analyze.

Those were my rookie expectations, that is, for the 2007-08 season. And then he didn't even play a single game. After the surgery, I had no idea what to expect. This year, I expected 10/8/2.

 

[GoBlazersGo]

I'll see your kareem and raise you a Chamberlain. Now here's some gaudy stats. Imagine if they had tallied blocks back then.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01.html

You can say that again!