Great work.
As to Kareem favoring the right block versus Wilt the left, KAJ's favorite move was going baseline for his righty skyhook, whereas Wilt's hook was primarily right-handed so, like Shaq, he preferred the left block so it left him going into the paint.
dautjazz wrote:WOW!
That's a lot of hook shots, and great accuracy. Was the hook shot a shot out of necessity if he couldn't get a clean look otherwise or was it simply his go to move?
It was definitely his go-to move. He could do it going baseline with the right hand, he could do it baseline with the left hand on the left block (not as accurately) and I've seen him do it in Milwaukee coming out of a face-up drive and moving into a spin. He milked that thing for all it was worth. Left block, he also did it moving into the paint with his right hand.
Meantime, when someone calls the skyhook "unblockable," it's not meant to be taken 100% literally. Wilt blocked a few, Hakeem could frustrate it, Thurmond did alright... but by and large if he got the ball, he was getting off the hook and he obviously shot very, very well.
As to mystic's comments about total RS and PS FG%, I have to support them. I wanted to disagree with him, but...
Kareem played 74 games in his final season at 47.5% FG (3.8% lower than his previous career-low), and he shot 46.3% over his last 39 playoff games, which was also atypical (though he shot quite poorly in the 72 and 73 playoffs).
Reasonably, we should be looking at Kareem's prime, right, to control for possible end-stage decline?
Over his first 11 seasons (e.g. during the time when he was winning MVPs):
RS: 55.5% FG
PS: 53.6% FG
So yeah, 58.7% isn't ultra accurate, even on a season-to-season basis. That's still really, really good, but there's something in there which doesn't totally represent his finishing ability. Probably on his more distant shots, maybe? A change in proportion?