First blog: Wilt or Russell? Who's Better?

    Before I start, let me clarify that I mean who's the better overall player. If we were going by who's the greatest winner, then Bill Russell would probably be the G.O.A.T. (Greatest of all time). With that said I will separate each individual category: Scoring, Defense, Passing, Rebounding, and the Finale. Feel free to comment all you want by email (my email is basketballbloggers@yahoo.com), in a proper manner. Thank you and enjoy. 

          Scoring: This one is a landslide. Bill Russell averaged only 15.1 PPG for his career. Wilt Chamberlain averaged twice as much for his career. Bill Russell never averaged   above 20 PPG in his career. Wilt Chamberlain averaged above 20 PPG 14 out of his 16 seasons. Bill Russell however didn't need to score. Russell had John Havlicek, Sam Jones, and Bob Cousy who is an underrated scorer. If the Celtics needed him to score I'm sure he would score at least 20 PPG. You can't deny the facts though. Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game! He averaged 50.1 PPG once! This obviously has to go to Wilt.

Advantage: Wilt

 Defense: This one isn't very difficult either. Most people believe Bill Russell is the greatest defensive force ever. It's a shame that the NBA didn't keep track of blocks during their time. Teammates claim that Russell averaged 8-10 blocks per game though. Referees claim that Wilt and Russell averaged 6-8 blocks per game. Who's a better source than someone who watched almost every game of their career? Anybody who saw him play can claim that he was a great defender. How else could a man who averaged only 15.1 PPG for his career win 5 MVP's? Now, I'm not saying Wilt wasn't a good defender; He was actually a very good defender. Some of his teammates say he averaged 8 blocks per game. Actually fans and referees say he blocked more shots than Russell because Wilt went for everything while Russell tried to only block shots to teammates. However, nobody can deny that Bill Russell was in the top 5, if not number 1, in the greatest defenders of all time.

Advantage: Russell

Passing: This one is the second closest one to decide. Wilt Chamberlain averaged 4.4 APG for his career while Russell averaged 4.3 APG for his career. Russell averaged more APG 6 times compared to Wilts 4 times. Bill Russell's teammates, fans, reporters, and sometimes opponents say that Russell was a good passer because he blocked the ball to his own teammates so the Celtics got the ball back. Technically that's passing and blocking the ball. People who watched Wilt said he tried to block the ball into the stands for intimidation. That does slim good for your team. There is one story that goes for Wilt though. Before the first game of the 1967-68 season Wilt told reporters he would lead the league in total assists. At the end of the season, he had more assists than Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and any other player! A center having more assists than a point guard! That might never be repeated again. However, Wilt was a scorer not a passer. Russell was a shot blocker and one of the greatest outlet passers of all time.

Advantage: Russell

Rebounding: This one is the most difficult. These centers are probably the greatest rebounders of all time. From 1956-1973 they lead league in RPG 16 out of the 17 seasons! The lowest RPG one of them ever had was 18.2 RPG by Wilt in the 1970-71 season! With that said I will show you which one I believe is the greatest rebounder. Wilt Chamberlain beat out Russell 8 times out of 10 in the seasons they played together. Showing that Wilt was the greater rebounder. Another case for Wilt is he out rebounded Russell 28.7 RPG to 23.7 RPG for the times they faced each other. Wilt also has 14, 40 rebound games compared to Russell who only had 8. The only thing Russell out did Wilt in was  RPG in the playoffs: Chamberlain had 24.5 while Russell had 24.9. In this case I believe Wilt is the better rebounder.

Advantage: Wilt

Finale: As you can see the score is tied between Wilt and Russell. For the finale I will use the smaller categories. First is Minutes per game. Wilt led the league in MPG 9 times while Russell only did it once. Wilt also averages more minutes per game for his career: 45.8 to 42.3. Now Wilt has the lead. Next is shooting efficiency. Wilt lead the league in field goal percentage 9 times while Russell never did. There's no need in comparing free throws because they both were awful. Wilt now leads 4-2. Lastly I will separate each major category by how largely they beat each other. Wilt won in a landslide for scoring, Russell won in a big margin for defense, Russell won slightly in passing, and Wilt won slightly in rebounding. So in my opinion Wilt's scoring out does Russell's defense giving him one point. Now the final score is: 5-2, Wilt winning. For the people who claim Russell is better, I know what you will say: You play to win the game! Yes, that is true. Russell won 11 compared to Wilt's 2. But if you put Wilt on the Celtics and put Russell on Wilt's teams them I'm sure the Celtics would still have won 11 if not more. Another thing Russell once had 7 H.O.F. on one team! That can't compare to Wilt's teams.

Winner: Wilt the Stilt Chamberlain