In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scores an NBA-record 100 points

In 1962, Wilt Chamberlain scores an NBA-record 100 points Mar 3, 2021 16:46:20 GMT

Quote

Post by Rey Kahuka on Mar 3, 2021 16:46:20 GMT

Mar 3, 2021 16:10:27 GMT Mulder and Scully said:

Mar 3, 2021 13:31:38 GMT Rey Kahuka said:

Nobody said the 60s was the era of physical defense-- but you had more leeway in terms of physicality in those days than you do today. The Celtics routinely averaged in the 120s back in those days, and they had the best defensive center ever. The game was more up tempo overall compared to what it became in the late 80s/90s. The bully ball style made popular by the Bad Boy Pistons made basketball a slog at times in the 90s. If you go back and watch games from even ten years ago you'll see an enormous difference in style of play compared to today. Terms like 'no layups' or 'playoff foul' didn't come from nowhere. You sent messages back then, today you might get tossed if your arm hits the guy in the head after you block his shot.

Things only got uglier when they moved the 3 point line closer, in 94-95 through 96-97. The idea was to open up the game with more threes, but it backfired. Shooting percentages plummeted because now every backup center thought he should shoot threes; and with the line being closer, it was actually easier for the defense to rotate out to 3 point shooters.

Look at the final scores from the 1998 Finals. These were the best two teams in the league featuring multiple Hall of Fame players on both sides. Bully ball, and then collecting big men to hack defenders became the trend once Shaq came into the league. It was almost like hockey, you had guys who were there to score and guys who were there to collect fouls and slow down the other team's offensive flow.

There isn't any exaggeration about the physicality of those eras. Go back and watch the games. The Pistons were insane. Watch the Pistons/Bulls in their heyday. Hell, watch McHale clothesline Rambis in the 84 Finals and not get thrown out. Watch Parish literally punch Bill Laimbeer multiple times in the middle of the game, and they didn't even call a foul. This was revenge for this, by the way. You can easily fall down a rabbit hole on youtube of hard fouls and brawls that erupted in those days. Still think the physicality is exaggerated? Can't wait to see Steph Curry mixing it up like this.

I'm saying the physical defense didn't affect the scoring that much during those eras. Teams still scored regardless. The highest scoring game of all time took place in the 80s between Nuggets and Pistons. The final score was 186-184 with three overtimes.

Again, the league average during the 80s was 109, the so called "tough" defense didn't slow down the scoring. The scoring in the 90s was actually similar to the 2010s with the exception of last two seasons. Just look at the scoring averages till the 2017-18 season.

There were more free throws and fouls compared to this era. Saying that this era has too many fouls is totally false.

And, yes the physical defense was exaggerated as it didn't deter teams from scoring a lot, especially in the 60s and 80s.

This is the point, you had to earn it. Everyone plays matador defense today because everything is a foul. Replay after replay after replay to see if a guy followed through too much on a blocked shot, so it can be determined a flagrant 1 or 2. It's impossible to say the defensive intensity was exaggerated when the video evidence proves otherwise. It was a much more physical league back then. Looking at scoring averages alone doesn't explain the differences in style of play. Go back and actually watch the games instead of basing your opinion on numbers you found. Watch the games. The leagues in the late 80s-90s was much more physical than it is today, and points were earned, as your free throws anecdote points out. Like I said earlier, the term 'playoff foul' didn't come from nowhere. You aren't allowed to do that stuff anymore. The physicality of past eras made the game harder and shortened careers, this is indisputable.

The physical defense didn't affect the scoring average because those players grew up with that style of play. Put an 80s-90s superstar in todays league and they wouldn't believe how easy it is to score. Put today's superstars in the late 80s-90s (post McHale clothesline, prime Bad Boys and Ewing Knicks era, so stop using a lone game from 1983 as the quintessential '80s-90s era' NBA) and they'd start crying after their first hard foul. I'm not mellowmoviereview so you don't need to defend LeBron to me. LeBron predates the soft league we have on our hands now. I take more issue with the pure shooters that don't do much else, like Curry and Klay, or flop artists like Harden. These guys wouldn't have thrived in those days (again 'those days' being the latter half of the 80s and the entire decade of the 90s), they would've been serviceable at best. Harden I could see being a quality player, but Klay and Steph would've been role players. Never mind hard fouls, some good ol' hand checking would've made their life miserable.

Learn more about those eras. Read about the style of play, not just statistics. Jim Loscutoff had his number retired by the Celtics and he averaged 6 points a game for his career. His nickname was 'Jungle Jim' because he was built like a beast and his job was to come into the game and throw people around if they got out of line. That role doesn't exist in today's NBA. See? Even when the league was putting up tons of points in an up tempo style of play, the game was still rough in a way it just isn't today.

The athletes today are as talented as they've ever been in this league, that isn't a question. I don't love the three point crazy format (which is highly ironic if you had grown up playing basketball with me), but today's NBA requires a level of skill from more of its players overall than it did in the past. They aren't a bunch of bums out there. But there is an enormous difference in physicality from the old days to today, and that should be taken into consideration when comparing legacies and the overall impact on a player's accomplishments.