Isaiah said:brother Omowale, Elvin was 6-foot-9... Willis Reed was 6-foot-9... Dave Cowes was 6-foot-8... Wes Unseld was 6-foot-7... These men played CENTER in the mid-to-late '60's and early '70's... Even Kareem was susceptible to being pushed around by Wilt, because he was slight of build, though measurements of his height vary from 7ft 2inches to 7ft 4inches... There were few comparable big men to make Wilton Norman Chamberlain sweat in those days, and that includes Bill Russell, who Wilt put up big numbers against, though his TEAMS usually lost to the Celtics...
As per the handle, you name a few MORE guys who could handle, so what??? Did these guys make up the majority of great players in that era??? In today's game, the handle is a prerequisite for most backcourt and wing players, particularly the superstars... Besides that, I stand by what I said about Dr. J and Gervin... They came out of the ABA in the mid-1970's, along with a number of other wonderful players, but we were talking NBA players in Wilt's era... Wilt's era was not no mid-1970's, brother...
As per my comments about Elgin Baylor being "out da door" IN the '69 series, he was injured(as you pointed out), and Keith Ericksson logged most of the minutes at small forward for the Lakers in that, and subsequent seasons, until Jimmy Mack came on board about 1971... Again, I said he was out da door meaning that he was finished as an effective player in that series, and subsequent seasons...
As per Willis Reed's career rebounding totals, he averaged 13.6 rpg over an 11 season career shortened by his injuries... BTW, brother, Willis Reed and the Knicks started this whole trend toward strong defensive play, and a Phil Jackson, who was a member of those teams, would support that assertion - history itself would support that assertion...and your stats machine would support that assertion... They THE FIRST National Basketball Association team in the 24-second shot clock era to hold teams below 100 points for a season... The Chants of DEE-FENCE you hear around NBA arenas today started at MSG, brotherman... Aint no homer stuff...
Astute analysis!