Ok, so exams are done, meaning I'll be able to participate more right when the project is going to get interesting with a whole glut of high sing wings
Posting my thoughts from the previous thread, which I think was too late for anyone to notice:
I think I'm going to go with Baylor. Picking a year is a tough call now. That '61 year stands out for his absurd Playoff performances. Remember, this was a very bad Laker team, and he dragged them to within 2 points of the Finals. His box score numbers, from BBR:
Vs. the Bailey Howell and Gene Shue led Pistons
40 points, 6-7 FT, 17 field goals made.
49 points, 15-20 FT, 17 field goals made.
26 points, 8-9 FT, 9 field goals made
47 points, 13-14 FT, 17 field goals made.
35 points, 9-12 FT, 13 field goals made.
Vs. the Bob Pettit Hawks
44 points, 13 rebounds, 18-31 FG and 8-13 FT.
35 points, 9 rebounds, 13-28 FG and 9-10 FT.
25 points, 18 rebounds, 7-22 FG but 11-13 FT. (Probably his shooting worst game, but he still got to the line at will and crashed the boards)
31 points, 15 rebounds, 12-24 FG and 7-9 FT. One point loss.
47 points, 20 rebounds, 17-45 FG, 13-16 from the line. Forget the extra shots, considering the pace being played at. Series tied 2-2, you're coming off a devastating loss, and you respond with THIS? Major props right there in my book.
39 points, 21 rebounds, 14-30 FG, 11-12 from the line. One point loss. ZERO help from his team-mates, they shot 35% from the field.
39 points, 12 rebounds, 16-36 from the field, 7-7 from the line. Two point loss. Team-mates shoot 35% again.
So, against a 51-28 team that had the second best defense in the league after the Cs (there was a pretty big gap between 2nd and 3rd), Baylor averages 37-15 on 52% TS. With zero offensive help. I mean literally zero. Look at the roster that year, West was a rookie, the team should have been going nowhere.
'62 Baylor vs. '61 Baylor is like '64 Oscar vs. '63 Oscar, except Baylor had 30 odd games missed due to military duty.
Tough call, but the Playoffs in '61 sway me. That team should not have been as close to the Finals as they were. Period.
Vote: 1961 Elgin Baylor
I crunched some more numbers, and figured out Baylor's averages for the Detroit series, so brace yourselves.... 39.4 ppg, 15 rpg on 50% from the field, and
57% TS!!!! Now how's that for being inefficient
Baylor scored on ungodly volumes, and according to the method Positivity suggested for measuring efficiency, he was +14 TS% over the league average eFG% for the Playoffs, and
+17 for that series! Even against the Hawks, an 89.2 DRtg team, he managed 37-15 on +12% TS!
He had West playing decent (21-8-4 on 49% from the field, just 2% more efficient then Baylor himself), but other then that, every single one of his team-mates were sub-15 PER players.
Remind you of a situation? Impossible volume scoring, video game numbers, dragging a terrible team with little to no help to the Conference Finals and losing because an opposing big man explodes?
I'll give you a hint. It happened three years ago in Cleveland.
So, again.
Vote: 1961 Elgin Baylor
