To hear the main steam talk about the center position, you’d think the position was riding the fast train to extinction. As if little kids, in 50 years, were going to find Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Bill Russell, and Shaquille O’Neal on the walls of museums”¦.up among the fossils of the pterodactyl or the stegosaurus.
It has been said that the game has changed in such a way that big is out and fast is in; that power is out and skill is in. To support their claim they may tell you to look around the league at teams like Phoenix and Golden State. It’s all poppycock!
The fact of the matter really is not that the true-center is a dying breed”¦.it’s simply that we are in a positional lull. You can call it, if you must, the Kevin Garnett effect. Plainly stated, it’s the phenomenon that arose because every big man thought they could take their game outside to add another layer of offense to their repertoire. The problem, however, is that most of these players ended up sucking for the same reason why guys like Kevin Garnett are unique: Because it’s really God damn hard to play like he plays.
It’s my view that just as people have begun to believe that the position will change forever, I see a series of players that might make people change their mind”¦.if given the time. No doubt people are waiting for the prodigy-in-waiting, Greg Oden, to arrive. He’s the next “can’t-miss” true center. The thing is, he could be joined by several other old-school big men that put the center, well, back in center.
This may be the year that Eddy Curry sheds enough pounds to not only be a low-post force for 24 minutes, but maybe be able to be an offensive force for 32 minutes a game and 82 games a year. It also might be the year that Andrew Bynum reaches out and grasps his potential to be a Shaq-like force. Yao Ming, while gifted enough to shoot from the elbow, may finally be putting the touches on an intimidating post-up game that features a series of drop steps and hooks.
Following Greg Oden into the NBA next year might be legit big men: Spencer Hawes and Hasheem Theabet. Though Hawes is versatile he will not shy away from a battering low-post game if the opportunity presents itself.
Even in the “golden ages” of basketball there never really were a whole bunch of dominant centers that played the game in a traditional way; true talent at the position is rare. However, in the next few years there is very good possibility that there are enough talented true centers that we can finally dispel this myth that the game has forever changed the dynamics of how the center position is played. At the end of the day, while the team isn’t quite here yet, the main factor is the talent available to teams”¦.not the rules or style of play.
1) Yao Ming-
One always has to worry about a really tall tree like him developing bone/joint problems. Yao’s problems to this point have revolved around his feet. Whether it’s an infected toe or a broken foot, Yao just can’t get his dogs to cooperate with the rest of his body. When he DOES play though he’s a real force and his game has improved immeasurably since he first got into the league.
With a newfound assertiveness Yao put up some very good numbers as last season wound down. He averaged 27 points and 11 rebounds on a team in which he was really the only player that the other team had to guard.
The Rockets hope that Ming can put his foot problems behind him and maintain the kind of aggression that he showed last year. If he can do that then there should be no question who the most dominant big man around will be.
2) Jermaine O’Neal-
It was a very difficult decision here between Messrs. O’neal. Shaq and Jermaine both have a history of missing games even though they are both pretty dominant in the games that they do get around to playing. My view is that Jermaine is probably still in his prime (though nearing the tail end) while Shaq is clearly way past his prime AND has much longer history of missing ball games due to a variety of reasons.
Unfortunately for Jermaine he’s going to be stuck at the center position this season because the Pacers have never seemed to find a suitable player to take the big-man role. O’Neal is quite honestly a PF and would probably prefer that be his position. What he does do though is pose all sorts of matchup problems for the men guarding him because he’s extremely quick and has just enough shooting ability to be a scoring threat from all over the 18 foot area.
For Jermaine to solidify his ranking he will need to improve on his turnover rate and improve on his ability to finish around the basket. A man with his skill should be hovering closer to a FG% of 50 as opposed to one of 45.
3) Shaquille O’Neal-
Hall-of-fame credentials a mile long and still a very effective low post player. It’s amazing to think what he could do if the refs called all the fouls against him that they should. The man gets mugged almost every time down the court.
Clearly Shaq is not what he used to be. While O’Neal is no longer the dominant force on his own team, what he does now that still impresses is draw harm and to hit the shots he does take. The key to his effectiveness is going to be his own will to care about the regular season, and his ability to stay in the kind of shape that prevents him from missing games due to minor injury. He doesn’t need to be Richard Simmons; he just can’t turn into Jabba the Hut.
4) Troy Murphy-
Normally a PF, Murphy moves to center in Don Nelson’s wild-and-crazy-guy type offense. Because the pace at which the team plans on running I expect some pretty big numbers from Murphy. He’s already a decent defensive player, so the big bounce in numbers should vault him to that next level of center. Considering so few centers can score at rates that give them tons of value, this should be interesting to see.
Murphy has always been a sort of underrated player. He doesn’t demand the ball enough considering how diversified his game is, and he’s really been a good rebounded since he was made the starter years ago. He’s an emotion leader of sorts on the team and I expect that to increase as the years go by.
If Murphy, for whatever reason, gets bumped back down to PF I would expect his numbers to stay the same. That would drop his ranking way down the list because the depth at PF is much greater, but either way there are many teams that would be better if they had more guys like Murphy on it.
5) Chris Kaman-
Slowly but surely Chris Kaman is making himself into a very serviceable player. His scoring and rebounding have improved every year since his rookie season”¦which is no small feat considering the rest of the team around him is improving at a similar rate. Last season, the most impressive aspect of his game was that his FG% improved even as his shot totals increased. He’s doing a solid job of becoming more efficient the more he touches the ball. Now if he could only do something about his inversely devolving hair styles!!
The Clippers have recently locked Kaman into a long-term deal, so Clipper fans don’t have to worry about his improvement going on to help other teams. In a similar vein he’s still young enough that I would expect a few more years of improvement before he reaches the player that he’ll probably end up being. I sense some all-star coming as well.
6) Eddy Curry-
Yes you’re reading that correctly: I’m putting a typically out-of-shape heart-attack-waiting-to-happen on my top 10 list. The simple fact of the matter is that Eddy Curry is very very good at doing something that few centers are really good at: he scores the ball at a very high rate.
Curry has a true knack for scoring and if he can increase his rebounding enough to be a legitimate option, he’s going to take a huge step forward in his very slow evolution. Last season was a tough year for Curry as it was for all Knicks who had to suffer under the Larry Brown fascist regime. He did come in out of shape, but was then so poorly used by Brown that he wasn’t able to be as effective as I think he will be under Isiah Thomas. This season I expect some bigger numbers from Curry as Thomas is not going to want to make the move to get him look any worse than it already does. Both men have a lot at stake by Curry being a very good player.
7) Mehmet Okur-
Tops the list of big men that Joe Dumars let get away simply because he overrated Ben Wallace. Okur had a fantastic season for the Jazz last year (18pts 9reb), but that was without much production from Carlos Boozer. With Boozer back and primed for a solid season, it’s very possible that Okur could improve as player while still putting up inferior numbers.
He is, however, a smart player who works hard and understands the offensive side of the ball. He works great with Boozer and AK-47 (the man, not the gun), which I think will really help the Jazz improve on last yea’s record.
8) Marcus Camby-
Camby is the poster boy for the “if he could only keep healthy” types. A fantastic rebounder who has developed into a monster interior defensive presence, Camby turns a pretty soft Denver team into something a bit less soft”¦.from tissue paper to maybe moist toweletts.
If you’re a fantasy basketball human then drafting Camby is much like dating a crazy chick. She’s hot and just looking at her you’re friends are impressed. However, all the bj’s in the world isn’t gonna make this end pretty and you just have to hope you get what you’re looking for before she costs you your mind.
9) Nenad Krstic-
See Andrew Bogut
10) Andrew Bogut-
See Nenad Krstic
Seriously though, both players are from the versatile offense family of centers. Both men are still very young and improving rapidly on teams in which they aren’t the key player but might develop into one over time. Bogut is the tougher player of the two because he doesn’t mind taking a pounding (do not insert gay joke here). Krstic is the more offensive minded center, while Bogut is more of an all-around presence.
Thank you again for joining IP as we preview the upcoming season. I’ll be back soon with one last preview for the season. I’ll predict the final NBA standing and you’ll find out who’s going to win the NBA Championship. I expect, and approve, immediately taking the information to a bookie and placing wholly irresponsible bets.
