Dwight Howard can’t even dunk the ball with Dirk Nowitzki holding on to him

Ouch! Ooooover rrrrraaaated. OOOOOoooover RRRRrrrrated.

Dwight Howard? Come on, what are you talking about?

Fantasy Hoops, my young man. Not real hoops. Hey, who wouldn’t want Dwight in Real Hoops? You know, like the NBA. He is spectacular. No, he is Superman.

Superman, (or should we call him Ironman because he has never missed a game in his entire career) averaged a mind-boggling 14.2 rebounds, 20.7 points (on 60% shooting), and 2.2 blocks per game last season. As a point of comparison, Shaq never averaged 14 boards a contest in a given season, and Timmy Duncan never averaged 13. In fact, since 1980, there have been only three other players to average over 14 rebounds and 20 PPG in the same season: Charles Barkley, Moses Malone, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Not bad a sign when you are keeping Hall-of-Fame Company as a 22-years-old.

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He does all of this in spite of still having few moves around the basket. What is he going to do if someone teaches him some moves?

But you said Dwight Howard is overrated?

You are not listening. Fantasy Hoops, Not NBA hoops.

In Fantasy Hoops there is very little relation to winning basketball. In fact, one of my favorite Fantasy Hoop players was Chris Weber early in his career. He would amass enormous stats, but win few games. Partly because he played little defense and partly because he played on bad teams.

So what is wrong with Dwight’s Fantasy Hoop game?

Well, you have to take into account a couple of his glaring deficiencies. He can’t shoot free throws, much like Shaq or Wilt Chamberlain. And at times he has stone hands and makes bad ball decisions.

The despicable free-throw percentage (he actually shot a lower percentage from the line {59%} than he did from the field), combined with the league-leading 11 attempts per game, is an anchor than will sink your team in roto-leagues. In addition, the turnovers are a killer.

So don’t waste a high pick on Dwight in your Fantasy Hoop draft.

Of course, Dwight Howard is not totally worthless, so if you can get him cheap, go for it.

Photo source Newscom

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Shaq – the big guy smiles and says he is leaving

“My basketball career will be over in 735 days,” O’Neal told News 13 television in Orlando, Fla. “And being an educated man, I’ve always had things to fall back on. So one of my options is law enforcement.”

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In modern times there have been 3 dominating players, in terms of them having no equal in what they could do. The obvious one is Michael Jordan. All he did was win, win, and win again.

The next one is a bit further back. Wilt Chamberlain. Look up some of his statistics and they will boggle your mind. Wilt was a 7′ 350 pound man in the day of 6′ 9″ centers. He scored at will. Wilt did not always win, but scoring and rebounding put him in a class all by himself. By some accounts, scoring with the ladies also puts him in a class all by himself.

The third one has to be Shaq. No, not the Shaq of the last couple of years. That is an older less motivated often injured Shaq. No, you have to back up to when he played with the Lakers.

Try year after year of 27+ points per game and double digit rebounds. Even more dominating was to watch him play. He would get the ball and just start backing you down. There was nothing you could do and then he would wheel around and slam home a dunk. Thunderous. Coach, pull me now please, before they give Shaq the ball again.

The Shaq also displayed a personality that just draws people in. Shaq will be missed, bigtime.

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It is the Clippers.

It is the Clippers, still.

Yes, Baron Davis, one of my favorite players to watch has come to town, but it is still the Clippers.

Baron Davis shooting over Andrew Bynum of the Lakers

Image details: Golden State Warriors v Los Angeles Lakers served by picapp.com

Clippers fans have to be bumming. They lost Elton Brand to the 76ers, because the Clippers upset his manager, David Falk. They lost Corey Maggette to the Golden State Warriors, can’t remember why. Maybe money.

Anyway, even with the signing of Baron Davis the Clippers will suck. Baron cannot carry them on his back all by himself.

It sucks to be a Clippers fan when the Lakers are just across town. Just off the top of my head the Lakers in my lifetime have had Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant.

The Clippers in my lifetime have had…the Clippers have had…well, uhh..oh..Elgin Baylor! Not as a player, though, but it still counts doesn’t it? Elgin is vice-president of basketball operations and very good at his job.

NBA Elgin Baylor factoid – From the 1960-61 to the 1962-63 seasons, Baylor averaged 34.8, 38.3 and 34.0 points per game, respectively. His 38.3 point per game season average is the highest for any player other than Wilt Chamberlain. Baylor, a United States Army Reservist, was called to active duty during that season, and being stationed in Washington state, he could play for the Lakers only when on a weekend pass. However, despite playing only 48 games on the season, he still managed to score over 1,800 points.

The 71 points Baylor scored on November 15, 1960 was a record at the time. The 61 points he scored in game 5 of the NBA Finals in 1962 is still an NBA Finals record. An underrated rebounder, Baylor averaged 13.5 rebounds per game during his career, including a remarkable 19.8 rebounds per game during the 1960-61 season — a season average exceeded by only five other players in NBA history. Baylor was a 10-time All-NBA First Team selection and went to the NBA All-Star Game 11 times.source

Baron Davis

Baron is one of the great penetrating guards of today. Somehow he can muscle inside or move fluidly inside for easy baskets, but he will miss big Elton Brand.

“Before you ask, there was never an underground handshake with Baron Davis,” Brand said Wednesday, addressing speculation that he’d given Davis some kind of commitment to return to the Clippers.

Today, we’ll find out if Davis feels the same way.

Davis is a two-time NBA All-Star (2002 and 2004). He averaged 21.8 points (12th in the NBA), 7.6 assists (6th in the NBA), 4.7 rebounds and 2.33 steals (3rd in the NBA) while playing in all 82 games for the Golden State Warriors during the 2007-08 season. Davis was just one of four players in the league last season to average 20+ points and seven+ assists (Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Chris Paul) per game.

Entering his tenth NBA season, Davis brings career averages of 17.1 points, 7.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 1.95 steals and 35.5 minutes per game.

source

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There is a grass roots effort to get a Wilt Chamberlain stamp.

Gee, would that be the 100 cent stamp? After all, it is the 100 point game that they want to depict.

Anyway, the effort is on and you can join.

The cause was started by sports writer Donald Hunt of The Philadelphia Tribune, a 123-year-old newspaper that primarily targets the black community. Hunt, who recalled as a child watching in person Chamberlain play for the 76ers against Oscar Robertson and the Cincinnati Royals, believes “The Big Dipper” has the credentials to join Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Joe Louis and Jesse Owens among the sports legends with their own stamps.

“People should remember the great ones,” Hunt wrote for a Feb. 15 story. “They don’t come any bigger or better than Wilt Chamberlain.”

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Until you have seen Wilt play it is just hard to imagine. Right now, if Kobe or LeBron get 50 points it is the major story of the day. Wilt averaged 50 points for a season; an entire season!

So, how do you help the cause?

The best way for Chamberlain, who died in 1999, to earn a sticky square is for supporters to write letters to the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee. The committee reviews proposals four times a year and passes their recommendations on to the postmaster general. The earliest Chamberlain could appear on a stamp is 2010, said Roy Betts, a U.S. postal service spokesman.

Need some convincing? Check out this YouTube of Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain.

NBA Basketball comment Wilt tended to be larger than life in so many ways.

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Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain knocked down 100 points in a single game in 1962.

The Warriors won, 169-147, setting what was then a record for the most combined points in a game by both teams. But the game is most remembered for the 100 points scored by Warriors center Wilt Chamberlain, who demolished the NBA single-game scoring record. source

How good was Wilt?

In the following night, Chamberlain got the permission to travel back to New York with three Knicks players. According to Cherry, Chamberlain drifted in and out of sleep and got a kick overhearing the NY players talk about the “S.O.B. who scored 100 points on us”.[8] Another night later, the Warriors and the Knicks squared off again in Madison Square Garden. This time, Imhoff played all 48 minutes and got a standing ovation for holding Chamberlain to “only” 54 points.

Yeah, baby, only 54 points. Way to hold ‘em.

Kobe and the 81

In 2006, Kobe put up 81 on the Toronto Raptors.

Bryant scored all but 15 of the Lakers’ 42 points in the third quarter, shooting 11-of-15 including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Six of his points came during a 12-0 run to finish the period, giving Los Angeles a 91-85 lead. source

Is it possible to compare the two games? Kelly Dwyer at Ball Don’t Lie seems to think so.

First, number of possessions.

First, the context of the era: there were, way, way, way more possessions in an NBA game back then. This was a running league, much more than any NBA-style track meet you may have seen in any of the last 30 years. Not only did Wilt’s Philadelphia Warriors score 125.4 points per game, they gave up 122.7. A team featuring Wilt Chamberlain (50.6 on field goals) shoots 43.9 percent from the floor, and scored 125.4 points per game. Think about that.

Second, Wilt’s team tried to foul to set up the record.

I didn’t, but earlier this winter I read Gary M. Pomerantz’ Wilt, 1962. It’s a compelling account of Wilt’s life, that night, but it also details the ways in which a bemused Warrior squad tried to help Wilt pad his stats in blowout win: namely, they fouled the heck out of the Knicks in the game’s final quarter in order to get the ball back in Wilt’s hands.

Third, the defense.

They didn’t, but they had less of a chance than the Knicks team Wilt scored on. Starting center Phil Jordan missed the game suffering from equal parts cocktail and legitimate flu, and rookie Darrall Imhoff was forced into action against a player that was a good half-foot taller than and three times better than most centers in the NBA; Imhoff included.

It is always hard to compare era’s in any sport, but there is no denying that both of these accomplishments are unbelievable.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Will anyone ever score over a 100 in a game?

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LeBron became the youngest player to reach 10,000 points in the history of the National Basketball Association.

With LeBron coming out of High School scoring like crazy it is no surprise.

Kobe Bryant made 10,000 points at the age of 24 years and 193 days.

LeBron James made 10,000 points at the age of 23 years and 59 days.

Hey, we are getting a numberish here, but you get the idea. Both of these players are great star players and scoring machines.

James did it in 368 games, the ninth fastest in NBA history.

It should be mentioned that the Cavaliers lost this game to Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics. Oh well.

Kevin Garnett scored 18 points with 11 rebounds to help Boston win its third straight and improve to 2-2 for the season against the defending Eastern Conference champions. The Cavaliers were playing their third game with four new players, including Ben Wallace, acquired in an 11-player, three-team deal at the trading deadline. source

Unreal Records

Here are some other scoring records by the great Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain.

Most Points Per Game
50.4 by Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62

Most 50 Point Games
45 by Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62

Most 40 Point Games
63 by Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62

Most Field Goals Made
1,597 by Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62 (50.6 FG%)

Most Field Goals Attempted
3,159 by Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62

Highest Field Goal Percentage
72.7% by Wilt Chamberlain, 1972-73 (426 made in 586 attempts)

Most of these records will never be broken.

Maybe LeBron’s will not be broken with the current have to be a freshman in college rule.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Does scoring 10,000 points quickly impress you?

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