VanWest82 wrote:70sFan wrote:VanWest82 wrote:Yes
To what degree do you think it'd hurt them? Would they still be MVP candidates?
Hard to say. Probably no. It's so much easier now to slow down post guys. Embiid has issues and he's a much more skilled version of them even though less physically imposing.
Giannis is similar to young Wilt in a lot of ways. Imagine how much less effective he'd be if he only shot 45% from the line instead of 68%. It'd probably change the way he plays.
On Wilt's free throw costing his team championships...
Wilt shot .465 from the line in the playoffs, overall. We all know that.
What is not ever mentioned is that all centers, collectively, shot only .626 from the line in the playoffs during that period.
So, Wilt- shooting 10.1 FTG, only cost him teams about ONLY 2 points per game due to atrocious free throw shooting. If he was an average free throw shooter, he would have made 6.7 a game. Instead he made 4.7.
But, ask yourself, is someone going 22.5/24.5/4.2 (career) on .522 shooting (in a league that shot .438 those years) a liability late in key games?
He also averaged 8 or so blocks a game and held opposing HOF Centers to about a .430 FG%, overall, in the playoffs.