It's no secret quality Centers have been lacking in recent years. The days of the 90s where Alonzo Mourning, Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutumbo, Shaquille O'Neal, David Robinson, and Hakeem Olajuwan ruled the league seems to be a distant memory. Is it possible that QUALITY centers are actually making a return? It seems we've been in somewhat of a dry spell as of late, but young centers are making an impact and more are NBA bound. Mix those in with the current crop of established centers, and I think in a couple of years the 5 spot will be alot more competitive. Samuel Dalembert (76ers) Mehmet Okur (Pistons) Darko Milicic (Pistons) Yao Ming (Rockets) Brad Miller (Kings) Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cavs) Shaquille O'Neal (Lakers) Brendan Haywood (Wizards) Chris Mihm (Celtics) Guys like Mihm, Haywood, and Dalembert show great potential in very limited minutes. I believe with more playing time they could become solid centers. There's also a great crop of young bigmen expected to enter the league this draft. Emeka Okafor (UConn) Dwight Howard (High School) Kosta Perovic (Serbia) Pavel Podkolzine (Italy) Predrag Samardziski (Serbia) All these guys are expected to be lottery picks if they do infact declare themselves eligible for the NBA draft this year. With that being said, is it possible with the NBA's current crop of centers and the addition of the increasing number of rookie centers, that this postion is infact making a comeback?
Don't forget Dampier.. he has been playing nice this year. I really can't see a return to the great centers that were back in the 90's... Will some of these guys be quality centers? Yes. Will they be GREAT centers? I don't think so. They only center on your list that I think will really dominate is Yao Ming. Shaq is passed his prime, and the others on the list havent shown much (in terms of taking over a game).
I think the league is moving towards a different direction: versatility. You look at the top guys in the league at the moment, and most of them can do so many different things. Garentt, Duncan, Bryant, McGrady etc, can hurt you in so many ways. In the 90s, it was more about feeding the ball inside and letting your big guys go to work (the exception of course being Chicago), nowadays it's more about using different weapons to beat different teams. The best teams can beat you in so many different ways, which is why I don't see the game being primarily dominated by centers anytime soon. Guys like Okafor and Howard, I don't see them being traditional centers in the NBA. Okafor to me will be a PF, while Howard's big asset is his versatility.
I think in a year span of 3-6 years the east will have the dominance of centers rather than the west..... but my biggest concern is where okafor goes.... if the season ended today and by any chance okafor was a top 3 pick then he does no good for me... T-mac has the talent around him in Orlando but doesnt seem to know what to do with it... chicago has still a project in the works with Curry.... and Chandler has the pontiential to be on the leagues top 5 centers... Phoenix needs a center buthas Amare already... and with the possible addation of kobe whod be getting the ball? thus leaves us with numbers 4/5 Okafor would be a great franchise player in Charlotte.... im sure theres many 1-2 coachs who would consider elsewhere but the man does it all... cept the 3's... and if all else fails there he'll be the first player in "cant remember the years" to be atalantas all star... but on with the point the centers of the 90's will remain as a thing of the past... we wont be seeing a group of guys like that anytime soon
Well other than Shaq, Yao, & maybe Brad Miller(who are all-star main stays), I dont see any of those cats really becoming dominate go to players on their teams.But if guys like Sam Dalembert & Brendan Haywood can at least develope a few go to moves on the post it would help to improve the overall play of center spot in the league. Those two are good defenders & solid rebounder. But their skills are limited on the offensive end. I think the main thing with centers in NBA now is none of them with the exeception of Shaq & a few others can score with their back to the basket. Todays bigmen have no post up games. And it hurts scoring in the NBA, and the overall play. Things are much easier when you have a bigman you can throw the ball into down low, who can either score or create double teams. Most teams in the NBA dont have that. I agree with Sir Dez, the NBa has turned into the PF league. Alot of teams have either young pf who are still developing like a Amare Stoudmire, a kenyon Martin or a Zach Randolph. Or they already have a dominate pf like a KG, Duncan, C-webb. The Power forward spot will continue to dominate the league for the next 10 plus years. But it would be nice if some of the legitimate centers could develope. The list of legetimate centers are very slim. Most teams have PF playing the center spot.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Spaz:</div><div class="quote_post">but my biggest concern is where okafor goes.... if the season ended today and by any chance okafor was a top 3 pick then he does no good for me...</div> Okafor will end up in one of four places, Orlando, Chicago, Charlotte, or Washington because they're likely to have the Top 4 picks in this year's draft. I doubt Chicago picks Okafor, they already have Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler in their frontcourt, last I heard they were still trying to develop them. Orlando MIGHT draft Okafor, they already have Drew Gooden, but if they feel confident that Okafor can play center on this level than they might bite the bullet. Same case in Washington, they have two young guys at Power Foward (Kwame Brown) and Center (Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood) so they might pass up on him as well. My best guess, Emeka Okafor ends up as the 2nd overall selection and goes to Orlando, or Emeka slids to 4th overall and heads to Charlotte.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James X3:</div><div class="quote_post">I doubt Chicago picks Okafor, they already have Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler in their frontcourt, last I heard they were still trying to develop them.</div> C- Eddy Curry PF- Emeka Okafor SF- Tyson Chandler SG- Jamal Crawford PG- Kirk Hinrich It might work
Just about any big man these days with any sort of physical skills is coming out of college (or not going) way too early and then getting buried on benches in the NBA. The NBA has become a game dominated by guards and PFs. Back in the 80s and early 90s you had Ewing, Daugherty, Olajuwon, Robinson, Mourning, etc. who were all great low post players who could do it all. I really don't see centers having a resurgence anytime soon. Especially when guys who are 6'10'' and above are growing up being perimeter players (Nowitzki, Peja).
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James X3:</div><div class="quote_post">Okafor will end up in one of four places, Orlando, Chicago, Charlotte, or Washington because they're likely to have the Top 4 picks in this year's draft. I doubt Chicago picks Okafor, they already have Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler in their frontcourt, last I heard they were still trying to develop them. Orlando MIGHT draft Okafor, they already have Drew Gooden, but if they feel confident that Okafor can play center on this level than they might bite the bullet. Same case in Washington, they have two young guys at Power Foward (Kwame Brown) and Center (Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood) so they might pass up on him as well. My best guess, Emeka Okafor ends up as the 2nd overall selection and goes to Orlando, or Emeka slids to 4th overall and heads to Charlotte.</div> Make no mistake, Emeka Okafor will be the #1 pick in this year's draft, other than in the scenario where Atlanta get the pick, where they'll likely take Dwight Howard. All those guys you listed - Curry, Chandler, Gooden, Brown, Thomas, Haywood - Okafor is better than all of them, right now, and is a solid citizen. I could see Paxson trading Chandler for a starting SF if he were to land Okafor, and the Magic would probably just send Gooden to the bench, if he's not there already. Washington would play Okafor at center. He won't slip to Charlotte.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James X3:</div><div class="quote_post">Okafor will end up in one of four places, Orlando, Chicago, Charlotte, or Washington because they're likely to have the Top 4 picks in this year's draft. I doubt Chicago picks Okafor, they already have Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler in their frontcourt, last I heard they were still trying to develop them. Orlando MIGHT draft Okafor, they already have Drew Gooden, but if they feel confident that Okafor can play center on this level than they might bite the bullet. Same case in Washington, they have two young guys at Power Foward (Kwame Brown) and Center (Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood) so they might pass up on him as well. </div> It doesn't really matter who a team has playing PF/C, because if the talent pool in the draft is great enough then you'll see teams take the best player available regaurdless of position. Sometimes players are just too good to pass up, like Drew Gooden being picked by the Grizzlies despite having Pau Gasol or Mikael Pietrus recently being picked by the Warriors despite having Jason Richardson. I bet if the Magic drafted Okafor they'd either bring one of the two (Gooden and Okafor) off the bench or they could try to play one of them at Center or Wing. I know that Gooden played Wing for the Grizzlies for a good thirty games his rookie season. I bet they could both hold their own against the Eastern Centers as well. Okafor is a future franchise player. You want to center your team around him anyway. Passing him up because you have Drew Gooden is like passing up Kobe Bryant because you have Keith Bogans.
^^^^^^^^ First off, Memphis drafted Drew Gooden because Jerry West was confident that he could be a solid Small Foward. At that time West was desperately searching for a small foward and he felt that Gooden was the best propsect that could fit that postion. Secondly, why would you want to draft a prospect at the same postion you already have another prospect? It would make alot more sense to draft in postions your lacking, making your team more solid from 1-5. What's the point of have two good players at the same postion when one is going to get VERY limited minutes? Doesn't it make more sense to have your good players in the starting lineup rather than on the bench? Orlando will likely select Okafor if he believe he can play center. Drew Gooden is still a young prospect with unlimited potential, who knows he's likely capable of being a future allstar. Besides, there are plenty of good prospects in this draft, infact there are two centers (Dwight Howard & Kosta Perovic) who are enterting the NBA this season and both are expected to also go in the top 1-5 selections.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James X3:</div><div class="quote_post">^^^^^^^^ First off, Memphis drafted Drew Gooden because Jerry West was confident that he could be a solid Small Foward. At that time West was desperately searching for a small foward and he felt that Gooden was the best propsect that could fit that postion.</div> Believe me, if he wanted a Small Forward he would have taken Caron Butler. The Grizzlies had Shane Battier at the Wing and young Gordan Giricek coming in to play the wing as well. If you don't take my word for it, read this article - <font size="4">Q and A with Jerry West</font> <font size="3">"Q: When you evaluate the talent in the draft and what you have done in the past, do you look at a specific need of the team or do you look at the best available player even if there is someone at that position and plays admirably A: No. The worst mistake made in the draft is involved when you are drafting for position. You take the best darn player. If you have two players that are equal, then you probably take the biggest one and hopefully you learn to speak Chinese (crowd laughs)."</font> Link <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Secondly, why would you want to draft a prospect at the same postion you already have another prospect? It would make alot more sense to draft in postions your lacking, making your team more solid from 1-5. What's the point of have two good players at the same postion when one is going to get VERY limited minutes? Doesn't it make more sense to have your good players in the starting lineup rather than on the bench? Orlando will likely select Okafor if he believe he can play center. Drew Gooden is still a young prospect with unlimited potential, who knows he's likely capable of being a future allstar. Besides, there are plenty of good prospects in this draft, infact there are two centers (Dwight Howard & Kosta Perovic) who are enterting the NBA this season and both are expected to also go in the top 1-5 selections.</div> No, you don't try to just fill out your roster. No team honestly tries to do that in the lottery. Perchance a team will do that in the late half of the first round, but the top three players are taken with the top three picks 99% of the time. It doesn't matter who has the number one pick. If Okafor is the best player available, he will be picked first. It IS possible to have two or more great players that play the same position on one team. Battier, Miller, and Wells all share time at Wing; Abdur-Rahim comes off the bench behind Randolph; Troy Hudson, Bobby Jackson, and Antwain Jamison all bench. As far as two prospects go, how about Richardson starting over Pietrus? How about Bogans starting over Giricek? It happens. Some teams favor depth more than a complete starting lineup.
I think the centers of today are quality big men, but nowhere near the greatness of the position in the 90s...most big men today are specialists, with the exception of a few such as Yao, Brad Miller, J. O'Neal, etc...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tha Franksta:</div><div class="quote_post">C- Eddy Curry PF- Emeka Okafor SF- Tyson Chandler SG- Jamal Crawford PG- Kirk Hinrich It might work </div> that's a huge lineup... but I doubt there's any way that Chandler can play SF. IF he did though, Chicago would have the best young frontline in the league, and one of the best defenses.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting King James X3:</div><div class="quote_post"> Samuel Dalembert (76ers) Mehmet Okur (Pistons) Darko Milicic (Pistons) Yao Ming (Rockets) Brad Miller (Kings) Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Cavs) Shaquille O'Neal (Lakers) Brendan Haywood (Wizards) Chris Mihm (Celtics) </div> Don't forget Dampier and Magloire, both of them right now are playing excellent traditional center games. And of course Ben Wallace. To me the worst part of centers not developing like they used to, is that many quality PFs are forced to play center, often undersized (Grant, Kurt Thomas) and the traditional PF now plays more like a SF. Ppl may say is better now when the Nowitskis have the skills to take the ball outside, but if you remember Olajuwon, that was just as exciting to watch.
I can't wait to see Samuel Dalembart's future he is a promising center, and he is quick once he devlops some post moves and a 15 foot jumper he could be a dominant center in the future.
you all are sleeping on big Z. don't let the lebron hype overshadow what this big man is doing now that he is FINALLY healthy. remember, he's only 28, and that ain't that old for a big man. he's already slow so don't worry about that. he's an offensive machine with a whole portfolio of go-to moves (although many are on the weak side, but so were the moves of the leading scorer of all time). since the all-star break, where he admitted he was able to get himself into better shape than he's ever been in, he's been dropping like 19/9 and 3.5 blocks a night. more importantly the cavs are 9-2 since the break, playing great ball, and continually pound the ball into Z because there are so few teams with an answer for him. he just abused bosh last night, flat out abused him. i don't paint Z as anything more than he is. 20 years ago he'd be an average, maybe better than average center. but it's 2004, he's 7'3" WITH REAL INSIDE AND OUT OFFENSIVE SKILL and now, with silas and battie's help, can play a tiny bit of defense. he's a real big part of the cavs surge. plus he matches up well with yao. not shaq though.
