http://www.billwalton.com

trivial pursuit:
Bill and i went to san diego public high schools less than 10miles apart, graduating a few years before/after each other. My nick for him is Cousin Bill.

As told more than once on cyberbears.org, the two of us faced off across a pickup jungle rules volleyball net on the north side of campus (bill's sister roomed in Euclid co-op). Spiking over him dint work out, but team stebbin-ites forced him to breath once or twice. Bill also came away with the win in Harmon. Nobody remembers how.

Bill Walton, when healthy, was one of the greatest ever to play the game. If you wanted a center that played winning basketball, he was your guy.

Like Wes Unseld, he whipped that outlet pass to get the fast break break'in.

I was in DaNang, Vietnam when Walton played what I believe was the greatest individual performance I've ever seen in the 1973 NCAA Championship game....He went 21-22 from the floor and he had 4 more made shots called illegal dunks which were not allowed....44 pts, 13 rbs, 2 assists and a block......I was lucky to be able to see that live....I will never, ever, forget it.....BTW, he was playing against Larry Kenon who was a hell of a player in his own right....Dr. K had 20 and 8 which isn't bad....The first half was a tie if I remember correctly....

I remember that game, also.

By far the greatest NCAA Finals performance I have seen.

If only his body had held up, he would be up there all time with any center.

south bender said:

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I remember that game, also.

By far the greatest NCAA Finals performance I have seen.

If only his body had held up, he would be up there all time with any center.

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Great player, clown commentator!

59bear said:

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south bender said:

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I remember that game, also.

By far the greatest NCAA Finals performance I have seen.

If only his body had held up, he would be up there all time with any center.

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Great player, clown commentator!

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He's human. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.

59bear said:

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south bender said:

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I remember that game, also.

By far the greatest NCAA Finals performance I have seen.

If only his body had held up, he would be up there all time with any center.

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Great player, clown commentator!

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I ride my bike.

HoopDreams said:

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Pretty fair take on Walton, who was one of the best to ever play the game. He was truly dominant when he was healthy and able to play. Unfortunately, when it comes to naming the greats of all time, the more durability a great player has, the more it enables him to play the 10-15 years at a high level necessary to accumulate the accomplishments necessary to be in the conversation of who was the best all-time. And a player needs to play in an era when the particular statistics the judges are using are a matter of record. So to say Walton was one of only three players to ever have had a year where he averaged double figures in rebounds, averaged multiple shot blocks, and averaged 5 assists per game, is probably not correct, or at least deserves an asterisk, because it leaves out two players who also likely accomplished this feat, Bill Russell, and Wilt Chamberlain, who both had retired shortly before the NBA began recording shot blocks as a statistic in the 1974 season.

Both Russell and Chamberlain averaged double digit rebounds just about every night, and there are observers who have spoken of Russell and Chamberlain each averaging 6-8 blocked shots per game. There is some shot-block data for 112 games of Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA, where he averaged 8.8 shot blocks per game, and he has spoken of having blocked 25 shots in a number of games. Russell blocked fewer shots than Wilt, largely because Russ was very selective on which shots to block. If he saw an opportunity to get the ball, either grabbing it himself or tapping it to a teammate, then he would go for the block. Wilt, on the other hand would go for swatting every ball he could into the stands, as a crowd-pleaser, even though it went for nothing, as the shooter's team retained possession of the ball. Here are their other stats which when combined with their blocks, would place them on the list with Lacey, Kareem, and Walton:

Wilt, 1964: 22.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists (est. 6-8 blocks)
Russell, 1965: 24.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists (est. 6-8 blocks)
Wilt, 1966: 24.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists (est. 6-8 blocks)
Russell, 1967: 21.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists
Wilt, 1967: 24.2 rebounds, 7.8 assists (est. 6-8 blocks)
Wilt, 1968: 24.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists (est. 6-8 blocks)
Lacey, 1975: 14,2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.1 blocks
Kareem, 1976: 16.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 4.1 blocks
Walton, 1978: 13.2 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.5 blocks
Kareem, 1979: 12.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 4.0 blocks