Wilt even talked about making a comeback at age 50 or so and he'd probably have been one of the top centers in the league even then.
There are plenty of people who don't like these old players to your degree. You also think Walton is better than DRob so there's not much point in me defending him in front of you.
I saw both Walton and DRob play, did you? UCLA won 88 consecutive games with Walton at C. Read that again. He won championships his 3rd NBA season with a so-so supporting cast and then again as super 6th man for the Celtics. While he was in college, people drooled over the Walton/Kareem match ups that were sure to come in the NBA for a decade or more. He was that good. If there's a knock on him, it's that he was injury prone and his sore feet ultimately killed his career. Doesn't change the fact he was as great as he was.
How is College relevant to this draft though? With him I don't even need to adjust for pace, his output is solid but not amazing.
His college career is indicative of how great a C he was by the time he started in the NBA. You are in love with misusing stats. Walton was excellent at all things - passing, rebounding, scoring, setting picks, and defense, as well as leading teams to championships at all levels. On most teams, the PG calls the plays but on Walton's teams HE called the plays. The Blazers were one of the best fast break teams in history (behind the Celtics) with him rebounding and making the outlet pass - the only better C I saw at doing that was Wes Unseld. You think he wasn't so good because: 1) you never saw him 2) his stats weren't gaudy because he was the consummate C in a team system 3) don't realize how well he fared in match ups against the other greats (Kareem for one)
Seems the experts at ESPN think Walton was better than Robinson and one of the top 10 of all time. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-GreatestCenters <table class="tablehead" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" width="100%"><tbody><tr class="colhead" valign="top"></tr><tr class="colhead" valign="top"><td> </td> <td>Years</td> <td>PPG</td> <td>RPG</td> <td>BPG</td> <td>PER</td> </tr> <tr class="oddrow" valign="top"> <td>Abdul-Jabbar</td> <td>20</td> <td>24.6</td> <td>11.2</td> <td>2.6</td> <td>24.6</td> </tr> <tr class="evenrow" valign="top"> <td>Chamberlain</td> <td>14</td> <td>30.1</td> <td>22.9</td> <td>N/A</td> <td>26.2</td> </tr> <tr class="oddrow" valign="top"> <td>Russell</td> <td>13</td> <td>15.1</td> <td>22.5</td> <td>N/A</td> <td>18.9</td> </tr> <tr class="evenrow" valign="top"> <td>O'Neal</td> <td>14</td> <td>26.3</td> <td>11.8</td> <td>2.5</td> <td>27.8</td> </tr> <tr class="oddrow" valign="top"> <td>Olajuwon</td> <td>18</td> <td>21.8</td> <td>11.1</td> <td>3.1</td> <td>23.6</td> </tr> <tr class="evenrow" valign="top"> <td>Malone</td> <td>21</td> <td>20.3</td> <td>12.3</td> <td>1.3</td> <td>22.0</td> </tr> <tr class="oddrow" valign="top"> <td>Walton</td> <td>10</td> <td>13.3</td> <td>10.5</td> <td>2.2</td> <td>20.0</td> </tr> <tr class="evenrow" valign="top"> <td>Robinson</td> <td>14</td> <td>21.1</td> <td>10.6</td> <td>3.0</td> <td>26.2</td> </tr> <tr class="oddrow" valign="top"> <td>Mikan</td> <td>7</td> <td>23.1</td> <td>13.4</td> <td>N/A</td> <td>27.1</td> </tr> <tr class="evenrow" valign="top"> <td>Ewing</td> <td>17</td> <td>21.0</td> <td>9.8</td> <td>2.4</td> <td>21.0</td></tr></tbody></table> BILL WALTON Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images Teams: Portland Trail Blazers (1974-1978), San Diego Clippers (1979-1980, 1982-1984), Los Angeles Clippers (1984-1985), Boston Celtics (1985-1987) Titles: 2 (1977, 1986) Honors: Two-time All-Star; Finals MVP (1977), MVP (1978), Sixth Man of the Year (1986), Hall of Fame The player: Still the greatest passing big man the game has seen. His combination of passing, passion and fundamentals elevated his teammates and the league. Injuries hampered his career, but when he was healthy he was fantastically deadly. He gave defenses every reason to double-team him, but punished them for doing so better than anyone. His selflessness helped the Blazers win their only title. There quite simply haven't been many better at making others better. <!-- end #7 --> http://www.nba.com/history/players/walton_bio.html Though remembered by many for a career plagued by injuries and a personal life spiced by controversy, Bill Walton won high praise from players and coaches alike during his checkered career. During his prime as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers in the mid-1970s -- a prime that lasted a mere three years -- Walton drew comparisons to such players as Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell. "Bill Russell was a great shotblocker. Wilt Chamberlain was a great offensive player," Dr. Jack Ramsay, Walton's coach in Portland, told Sport magazine. "But Walton can do it all." After achieving superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s and winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, Walton was destined to become an NBA legend. When he was healthy, Walton had few peers. He won the NBA Most Valuable Player award while playing for the defending NBA champion Trail Blazers in 1977-78. At the top of his form, Walton scored, passed, intimidated, hustled, and played the role of leader with the best centers of his day. He was a perfectionist whose range of skills and dedication never ceased to impress those who saw him play.
The NBA doesn't let players play D anymore like they use to, so Paul hasn't really hasn't faced a guy like Payton. He also hasn't shown he's Stockton by just putting up stats. Stockton was a hardnosed player that was physical, while Paul is a finesse, speed guy, so you going off stats here doesn't work. All Huevon is using is stats but not much knowledge to back this kind of stuff up. Numbers only go so far, so I'm starting to think Huevon is recruiting votes.....can we look into this lol
Lol what kind of Hitler Regime is this? Payton isn't nearly as complete offensively to me so I consider that a wash. I do think what gives me the edge is that I have complete big men, and better depth.
