As you undoubtedly know I think LeBron is this years MVP and its not even close. After watching last nights game against the Nets (the score does not even begin to tell the game. It was not close at all the whole game. The Cavs were obviously not even trying until the 4th quarter where they turned it on for about 5 min and put them away.), the announcers were comparing the King to Oscar Robertson and his amazing '62 season where he avged a trip dub for a season and debated whether or not James could do so as well in his career.
So the '62 season was an amazing year of basketball in the NBA, it contained Oscar's triple double season avg, and Wilt Chamberlain avged 54 pts a game and even scored 100 pts in a game. In a year of such gaudy stats I began to wonder why players are still not doing this. Seems to me that athletes are becoming bigger and badder than ever and thus stats should only increase not decrease.
Well the answer is fairly simple folks, the pace of the game has significantly decreased over time as the emphasis on defense winning championships has taken hold. The Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, and the New York Knicks would be like the '85 bears of basketball in 1962. I also find it funny that the 3 worst defenses in the NBA do not have a "D" in any of their names, coincidence? I think not.
Ok so lets break it down and get to the point shall we. In '62, the average team took 107.7 shots per game. By comparison, this year the average team takes 80.2 FGA/G. Crunching the numbers after a long day at the office makes the NBA pace factor for 1962 was 125.5 possessions/48 minutes. This season it is currently 91.7 possessions/48 minutes. The 2009 Cavs are averaging a mere 89.2 poss/48. This equates to a much faster paced game of yester year than today giving them more opportunities to produce the ridiculous stats.
So lets say that Lebron was able to switch paces with Oscar from 2009 season to the 1962 season and play in the uptempo game. By multiplying Oscar's numbers from the '62 season by .715 you get a more down to earth avg of 22.0 PPG, 8.9 RPG, & 8.1 APG, which is still VERY solid. By contrast the King's stats in the mega paced NBA, multiplying his stats by a factor of 1.4 you get the staggering 40.1 PPG, 10.3 RPG, & 10.0 APG! As you can see the extra 35 possessions a game make a big difference.
Now for Jared's sake I also took the liberty of multiplying D.Wades stats by the same factor. In doing so my calculator produced this result: Season Ending Injury. Sorry Jared, even in the break neck speed, D.Wade can't win the MVP this year.
So what does this all mean you ask? It means that LBJ is actually avging a triple double this season and Dwade is a bitch. LBJ4MVP!!!!
-Chandler Bomb
Reference:
http://www.basketball-reference.com
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