RIP Dikembe Mutumbo, 58, dies from brain cancer

[laughedatbytime]

Dikembe Mutombo, NBA Hall of Famer, dies of brain cancer at 58 (msn.com)

[treeduck]

RIP

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

RIP to probably the best shot blocker ever. His timing was just silly.

 

 

 

 

[TheAccountant]

7 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

RIP to probably the best shot blocker ever. His timing was just silly.

 

 

 

 

That we have extended film footage of.  There were 2 guys (Russell and Chamberlain) who were wayyy better (IMO at least).  But yes an amazing shot blocker.  Pitty the one time he got to the finals (that I remember) was with Philly against the lakers with Shaq.  If that series had been called the way they called games back from the 60's and early 70's (when Wilt and Bill played) Shaq would have fouled out by half time in most of the games.  Wilt put it best when he said "I happen to think if one guy has position and another guy bangs into him and he winds up on his back a foul should be called and almost certainly it should be on the guy who is not on his back".  Shaq got away with so many offensive fouls in that series that its not funny (and even more the next year when the NBA rigged the western conference finals so LA could beat the Kings).

 

RIP to a great player though.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

10 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

RIP to probably the best shot blocker ever. His timing was just silly.

 

 

2 hours ago, TheAccountant said:

That we have extended film footage of.  There were 2 guys (Russell and Chamberlain) who were wayyy better (IMO at least).  But yes an amazing shot blocker.  Pitty the one time he got to the finals (that I remember) was with Philly against the lakers with Shaq.  If that series had been called the way they called games back from the 60's and early 70's (when Wilt and Bill played) Shaq would have fouled out by half time in most of the games.  Wilt put it best when he said "I happen to think if one guy has position and another guy bangs into him and he winds up on his back a foul should be called and almost certainly it should be on the guy who is not on his back".  Shaq got away with so many offensive fouls in that series that its not funny (and even more the next year when the NBA rigged the western conference finals so LA could beat the Kings).

 

RIP to a great player though.

 

I may have been a little biased there -- I was able to watch Mutumbo but Russell and Chamberlain were before my time so all I've seen of them were a few highlights.

[TheAccountant]

21 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

 

I may have been a little biased there -- I was able to watch Mutumbo but Russell and Chamberlain were before my time so all I've seen of them were a few highlights.

Same here - b4 my time and honestly a big chunk of Mt. Mutumbo's career was in the NBA's dark ages (the late 1980's from the rise of the Pistons till the rise of Golden State - I find that era so boring).  But what I have always heard was that if they had kept stats on blocked shots & back in the day (they only started in 1973 - 74, the year after Wilt retired and 5 years after Bill retired) then Bill and Wilt would be 1 & 2.  Also Bill played in some summer league games after the 73-74 season and outplayed guys like Elvin Hayes and Bob McAdoo - 2 of the best in the league at the time.  But he said he knew he could outplay them in single games but was not up to a season long effort.  I will admit I am a Celtics fan so it might impact my thinking,  But I don't think so.

 

Wilt is another issue.  There was a guy affiliated with the NBA (well regarded) who kept unofficial stats starting in the early 1950's.  Late in life he started to lose it and was tossing stuff out and his daughter realized what he was tossing out.  She salvaged some of.  These game stats included block and steals (another thing that only became and official stat in 73-74) and in one game in 69 (well into Wilts career) he had not a triple double, not a quad double but the only recorded quintuple double.  Yes, double figures in points, rebounds, assists, block and steals.  Crazy.  He also played pick-up games in the mid 1980's in LA against Magic, Bernard King, James Worthy, A. C. Green, & Byron Scott and those guys have all said the Wilt of 1984 was one of the best players they ever played against.  This is 10+ years after he retired (and he lead the league in rebounding in his final year in the league).  He was still getting serious offers to sign with NBA teams as late as the 87-88 season.  Yes, it might have put fans in seats.  But franchises want to win.  That will really sell tickets and NBA teams knew he could still play.

 

Mutumbo was a great shot block and an even better human being but for shot blocking (like rebounding) its Wilt and Bill.  Then a long, long gap to whoever is next.  

[laughedatbytime]

6 minutes ago, TheAccountant said:

Same here - b4 my time and honestly a big chunk of Mt. Mutumbo's career was in the NBA's dark ages (the late 1980's from the rise of the Pistons till the rise of Golden State - I find that era so boring).  But what I have always heard was that if they had kept stats on blocked shots & back in the day (they only started in 1973 - 74, the year after Wilt retired and 5 years after Bill retired) then Bill and Wilt would be 1 & 2.  Also Bill played in some summer league games after the 73-74 season and outplayed guys like Elvin Hayes and Bob McAdoo - 2 of the best in the league at the time.  But he said he knew he could outplay them in single games but was not up to a season long effort.  I will admit I am a Celtics fan so it might impact my thinking,  But I don't think so.

 

Wilt is another issue.  There was a guy affiliated with the NBA (well regarded) who kept unofficial stats starting in the early 1950's.  Late in life he started to lose it and was tossing stuff out and his daughter realized what he was tossing out.  She salvaged some of.  These game stats included block and steals (another thing that only became and official stat in 73-74) and in one game in 69 (well into Wilts career) he had not a triple double, not a quad double but the only recorded quintuple double.  Yes, double figures in points, rebounds, assists, block and steals.  Crazy.  He also played pick-up games in the mid 1980's in LA against Magic, Bernard King, James Worthy, A. C. Green, & Byron Scott and those guys have all said the Wilt of 1984 was one of the best players they ever played against.  This is 10+ years after he retired (and he lead the league in rebounding in his final year in the league).  He was still getting serious offers to sign with NBA teams as late as the 87-88 season.  Yes, it might have put fans in seats.  But franchises want to win.  That will really sell tickets and NBA teams knew he could still play.

 

Mutumbo was a great shot block and an even better human being but for shot blocking (like rebounding) its Wilt and Bill.  Then a long, long gap to whoever is next.  

The pace of play must have been insane when you look at some of the stats in that era, like points scored per team (before 3 pointers) combined with very low shooting percentages. Russell had 51 rebounds in a game, for example.

 

Wilt was another story.  He was definitely concerned with his stats, and it's hard to see why he wasn't more individually successful.  For example, in 67-68 he decided to lead the league in assists, and he did.  And he had 55 rebounds in a game.

 

His greatest accomplishment though was having a body count that made Magic Johnson look celibate by comparison.

[laughedatbytime]

The 62-63 Celtics were league champions.  They averaged 118 ppg despite shooting 42.7%, and had 72.7 rebounds per game.  They took over 109 shots per game and attempted 35 FTs per game.  That's approximately 2.27 shots per minute.