Best Rookie Year in Chicago's NBA history

[Crystallas]

Who has the best rookie year, while playing for a Chicago NBA team?

Multiple choice, because Jordan might be a little automatic for most people.

 

[BNB]

other than MJ.

Elton Brand... he won ROY and averaged 20/10

 

[Crystallas]

Of course I have Jordan, but I see an argument for Bellamy, strictly as a rookie.

Walt Bellamy NBA & ABA Statistics | Basketball-Reference.com

 

[BNB]

I don't like the era he played in. seems like all the big men that played before the 70's and in the early 70's have crazy inflated stats.

 

[Crystallas]

I don't like the era he played in. seems like all the big men that played before the 70's and in the early 70's have crazy inflated stats.

You're free to your opinion

Bellamy was legit. And he was in good company.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1962.html

 

[scottiepippen1994]

M I C H A E L J O R D A N...............period

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

are the percentages screwed up for anybody else?

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

I don't like the era he played in. seems like all the big men that played before the 70's and in the early 70's have crazy inflated stats.

This^. The pace back then was ridiculously fast. And it was inflated for all players- not only big men.

 

[Crystallas]

So being 2nd in scoring , lead the league in FG%, 3rd in rebounds, all-star starter and winning the ROTY is all inferior to being 7th in rebounds and 19th in scoring?

Yeah, I don't buy the whole different-eras deal to the full extent, because you still gotta measure up to your competition. If Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russel would make the cut in today's NBA, so would rookie Bellamy.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

So being 2nd in scoring , lead the league in FG%, 3rd in rebounds, all-star starter and winning the ROTY is all inferior to being 7th in rebounds and 19th in scoring?

Yeah, I don't buy the whole different-eras deal to the full extent, because you still gotta measure up to your competition. If Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russel would make the cut in today's NBA, so would rookie Bellamy.

Michael Jordan would have put up monstrous statistics in the early 60's... Bellamy would have been a very good NBA player in post-merger era but this guy is no Michael Jordan in his rookie year.

 

[Crystallas]

Michael Jordan would have put up monstrous statistics in the early 60's... Bellamy would have been a very good NBA player in post-merger era but this guy is no Michael Jordan in his rookie year.

I wasn't comparing him to Jordan LOL. No way in hell would I do that.

I thought you were saying that Brand had a better rookie year than Bellamy.

 

[Kush77]

If Elton Brand played his rookie year in 1962, he would have put up Bellamy's numbers.

I agree with Bulls N Bears, players stats from that era are inflated. I don't know what it is, not everybody was interested in rebounding, but the numbers are ridiculous. In 1962 a 6'9 205 lbs Bob Pettit (according to BBref.) grabbed 18.7 boards. 205 lbs?

In 1961 a 6'5 Elgin Baylor averaged 19.8 rebounds per game. If a 6'5 guy can put up almost 20 boards per game, rebounding back then wasn't all that hard. My god, what would happen if Dwight Howard played back then?

I think a rookie Brand could average 20 boards in that era and if he got the shot attempts (23 for Bellamy vs. 16 for Brand) he could average the points. Bellamy is listed at 225 and Brand at 275 - although I don't think he was 275 coming out of college, but I'm not sure.

Some big men from that era could play today, but they would be average. A guy like Wilt would be an all-star. I don't think Russell would be because he was such a mediocre offensive player and he wouldn't put up crazy rebounding numbers like he did in the 60s, today.

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

My guess is that Jordan would have averaged at least 45, 20, and 12 back in 1961.

 

[Kush77]

My guess is that Jordan would have averaged at least 45, 20, and 12 back in 1961.

I agree.

If he played the same minutes as those guys, yeah.

If a 6'5 Baylor can put up 20 boards, a 6'6 MJ could also grab 20 boards. He would average more than 50ppg, because unlike Wilt, he would make his free throws. And the assists, probably could.

The year Wilt averaged 50.4 (1962) he played 48.5 minutes per game. There's only 48 minutes in a game. This guy played every min of every game plus OT to average 48.5. Selfish?

If Jordan did that, taking 39.5 shots per game, he might put up close to 60ppg back then.

 

[brett05]

You can't take current guys and put them back in the 60's with the same athleticism. Remember it didn't exist back then.

 

[Crystallas]

I always love how some people think basketball was like the WNBA before Jordan came along. :facepalm: The style of the game was different, but the athleticism was there, and so were the skills.

Needless to say, this thread is about Chicago Rookie seasons, not Jordan/Wilt and different eras. We have that in enough derails LOL.

 

[nwfisch]

What about Scottie Pippen

 

[RamiTheBullsFan]

You can't take current guys and put them back in the 60's with the same athleticism. Remember it didn't exist back then.

Athleticism didn't exist back then? Wilt Chamberlain may be the most athletic guy to ever play in the league.

 

[Kush77]

I always love how some people think basketball was like the WNBA before Jordan came along.

No, I'm more than aware that basketball existed before Jordan played. But don't throw out skewed stats from the 60s and try to tell me they compare to what Jordan did, or even Elton Brand.

A 6'5 Elign Baylor averaged almost 20 rebounds a game in that era, sorry if I'm not wowed by 6'11 Walt Bellamy's 19 rebs per game from that same era. Or his 31 ppg taking 23 shots per game on the worst team in the league.

 

[Crystallas]

No, I'm more than aware that basketball existed before Jordan played. But don't throw out skewed stats from the 60s and try to tell me they compare to what Jordan did, or even Elton Brand.

A 6'5 Elign Baylor averaged almost 20 rebounds a game in that era, sorry if I'm not wowed by 6'11 Walt Bellamy's 19 rebs per game from that same era. Or his 31 ppg taking 23 shots per game on the worst team in the league.

Okay, so you don't know much about basketball from before you were alive. That's fine. But to generalize a whole statement, like stats are inflated, and just discredit everything, is terribly ignorant. There is a different gauge to match the different types of play style of different eras, but by no means is 31/19 a number that everyone just magically could get. Baylor wasn't just some 6'5" guy, he was freakishly athletic, some say more so than LeBron, and he had a 7' wingspan. That's nothing to shake a stick at.

Put Brand in that same era, and he'll go home crying, because Wilt and Bill embarrassed him out of the league. I never compared Jordan to Bellamy, so if that is what you were thinking, GTFO.