Author Topic: Wes Unseld Dead at 74  (Read 2660 times)

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Re: Wes Unseld Dead at 74
« Reply #15 on: June 04, 2020, 06:19:56 AM »

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Unseld was definitely one of those guys who's statistics didn't come close to showing the effect he had on winning and the game in general. Dave Cowens comes to mind as another guy from that era that was the same way.
Aaaaand peak Dave Cowens was amazing when it came to good old statistics :laugh:. The narrative that "statistics will never measure everything on the court" needs to change into "what statistics are being used and what are they measuring", peak Dave Cowens killed it even with the fuzzy data we have in the 60s and 70s - he was the defensive anchor of some strong Celtic defences in the early-mid 70s, was likely a big contributor to a sizeable SRS jump for his squad even as a rookie and caused his team to fall off a bit as his peak ended in the mid-late 70s (his early demise + the excellence of Hondo deflated his +/- numbers, but the wealth of team signals as well as his box stats that reflected his skillset as a floor spacing, high post passing big who played strong defence and dominated on the boards capture his value pretty well).
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Re: Wes Unseld Dead at 74
« Reply #16 on: June 04, 2020, 06:29:23 AM »

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You look at the stats, and wonder how he was MVP that rookie year.

13.8ppg and 18.2rpg while not shabby, don't look like MVP numbers.  And his 18.2 rpg was only good for 5th in the league!

Wilt and Nate Thurmond both had 20/20 seasons.  Elvin Hayes (also a rookie) had 28/17 (but they all played 45+ mpg, while Unseld was at only 36.2).

Voting wasn't even close.  Unseld got 53 first place votes for MVP, next closes (Willis Reed 21ppg, 15rpg) got 18.  Coincidentally, Unseld also got 53 votes for ROY, while Hayes got 25 there.

All about the winning and turnaround narrative though (some things never change).  Bullets went from 36-46, last in the East, 4th worst in league (of 12 teams), to 1st in the league at 57-25 when they added Unseld.  (Probably helps that they teamed him with the previous year's ROY winner Earl the Pearl, but Unseld/Monroe were still able to keep winning despite missing Hall of Famer Gus Johnson for 33 games).

Also wonder if (not unlike present times) there was resentment towards the super team that had formed in LA (Wilt was just added to West/Baylor combo), and if voters thought they under-performed and/or noticed the dysfunction (Baylor and Wilt supposedly hated each other, heard a story that Wilt would post up on Baylor's side just to p--- him off). A whole article from SI at the time on Lakers "struggles" (and if you read the whole thing, shows the enigma that was Wilt, seems Kyrie-ish):

Quote
When the Los Angeles Lakers got Wilt Chamberlain (see cover) in a trade last summer, the immediate popular supposition was that they had dealt themselves a wonder team. With Elgin Baylor and Jerry West playing, too, every game would be a thrilling All-Star show and every box office would do boffo, turnaway business. The only problem, it was suggested, was-that the big three superstars would be struggling with each other to see who could get the ball and shoot it the most.

Now, as the NBA season moves into its last two months, it has become apparent that the results are exactly the reverse of the assumptions. The Lakers are, first of all, only a pretty good team with about the same chance to win the championship as last year's Lakers—who did not. Moreover, far from providing raging effervescence, the Lakers are dull almost to the point of tedium, and the slow realization of that fact may soon be reflected in attendance at the Inglewood Forum.
Hm it looks pretty strange to me as well if we're looking at the stats. He seems to be a typical All-Star/fringe All-NBA defensive anchor (strangely enough in the mold of Draymond Green with elite defence and good passing, maybe a rung below Draymond but still great) just by looking at the impact metrics - his WOWY/GPM is pretty strong but not elite, he lifted an average defence to the upper echelon but not quite transcendence and point differential isn't head over heels for him (the Wizards were actually roughly average in point differential adjusted for schedule strength before his arrival). Surely behind the likes of Oscar/Russell/Wilt without even mentioning West imo, although Wilt and West likely received flack for underperforming due to portability issues with Baylor and Wilt on that Lakers squad as you mentioned.

I always believed Unseld's MVP had a lot to do with Bill Russell. That people saw what Unseld was doing and thought it was the same as what Bill Russell was doing. With Russell coming to the end of his career and with both Russell's and Celtics' dominance over the NBA ... that Unseld was next.

That that rookie performance reminded them so much of Bill Russell. Unseld was the next Russell. And in many ways Unseld was that type of player - just not as dynamic a defender as Russell was which is what separated Russell from being a high level player to GOAT level player.

And Unseld was probably more skilled than Russell on offense. Unseld had a nice midrange jump-shot which he didn't use enough.

Unseld was a terrific player. The type of player who by himself creates a sense of team. Of unity. Togetherness. Like KG did in 2008 when he came here. Unseld did that for his team throughout his career. Why Washington made 4 NBA Finals throughout the 70s (more than anyone else) and did so with different supporting casts.

In many ways Unseld was like Bill Russell.

Unseld was such a phenomenal team player. Always put the team first. Did everything possible to help his teammates. Always concentrated on helping his teammates. Whether it was his passing as a high post facilitator, setting monster screens to free up shooters or ball-handlers in the PnR, grabbing big contested boards, being the defensive anchor -- all team based actions that made people around him better. That took individuals and brought them together in way that made them a team.

And especially in those first few years before the knee injury. Unseld was an incredible rebounder before he got hurt. His mobility and quickness of leaping were not as good after that. Played stiffer. Still managed to be a very good player and lead his team to 3 more Finals appearances though.
Excellent points, Unseld's rookie run does seem similar to Russell's and it probably influenced people to vote him as the league MVP that year. 
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