Retro NBA - Oscar Robertson

Oscar Robertson nicknamed "The Big O", is a former American NBA player with the Cincinnati Royals and the Milwaukee Bucks. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Robertson played the guard position, and was a twelve-time All-Star, eleven-time member of the All-NBA Team, and one-time winner of the MVP award in fourteen professional seasons. He is the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season, and he is regarded as one of the best and most versatile NBA players of all time.[3] He was a key player on the team which brought the Bucks their only NBA championship in the 1970-71 NBA season. However, his playing career, especially during high school and college, was plagued by racism.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• big
• oscar
• robertson

[ddf1943]

Dear gmn545. I don't know why you insist on the "Pace" of the game. There was still a 24 second clock and in the Pace of the Game, even though there was more "all around touches" as you put it he averaged 5 less shots per Game than Jordan in the early part of his career and 8 less in the later part. This makes your argument moot.

[gmn545]

@ddf1943 "They had a 24 second clock also" Yeah, but they didn't burn as much shot-clock time. Consider Loyola Marymount (1990). They averaged one shot attempt after just 10 seconds of ball possession, and ended up averaging a record 122.4 PPG! Bo Kimble went from averaging 16.8 pts, 4.2 rebs, 1.4 ast on 23.4 MPG (the previous year) to averaging 35.3 pts, 7.7 rebs, 1.9 ast on 32.9 MPG. See what more ball possessions and minutes per game can do to a player's stats?

[gmn545]

@ddf1943 The pacing of a game is determined by the number of team possessions per 48 min of playing time. In '62, the average team took 107.7 shots per game. By comparison, in '09 the average team took 80.2 FGA/G. Oscar's Royals avg. 124.7 poss/48, while the league pace factor in '09 was 91.7 poss/48. Think about that.

Oscar's stats are inflated because his team got WAY more possessions than any team in the modern league could ever get, and as "Point-Forward", he brought the ball up every time.

[ddf1943]

I don't understand what you mean by pace. They had a 24 second clock also. M.J. had more touches on the ball then anyone in the history of the game, so I am confused on your argument.

[gmn545]

@ddf1943 Yes he did, but his stats were inflated, due to his era's pace. If you get a significant amount of more touches, conjoined with high MPG, it is highly probable that each stat category's numbers will look high. Regarding MPG, the league's modern stars won't get a chance to match it. Wilt kept playing even when the game was a blowout (Oscar probably had games like that too).

Assists were stricter, indeed, but if he's given less MPG, it's doubtful his APG would have gone up much more.

[ddf1943]

@gmn545 apparently you don't understand the game as you should. Between assist, rebounds and scoring, Oscar contributed more points to the total team game than any other player,(51ppg) He also played 44 minutes per game second only to Wilt. Assists were stricter back in the 50' thru the 70's By todays standards he would have had over 20,000

[rhinohoppster]

is it just me or is this video softtttttt

[Ariamaluum]

Once Oscar can get the game into a saunter, where he is bouncing off guys, it was over. You really had to speed him up with traps and quickness from small guards.

[gmn545]

@emmettk He clearly is one of the best all-around players. But his triple-double season is inflated; nobody back then dominated ball possession like he did and noboy else can challenge it today due to pace. And Michael Jordan late in March of '89 season, when Doug Collins switched him to PG and he dominated the ball like Oscar, he got a triple double in 10 of 11 games (7 straight). Jordan continued to play PG until the end of the season. In those 24 games he averaged 29.3ppg, 8.9rpg, 10.6 apg.

[emmettk]

@gmn545 My point is, you seem to want to shoot down the opinion that Robertson was one of the great all-around players in NBA history. Many younger people have never even heard of him and place decidedly lesser players ahead of him. Even if a statistic can be proven to be somewhat inflated in the context of a different era, if NO ONE else was ever able to challenge that stat, it remains a worthy accomplishment and proof of greatness. No need to hate.