For much of the NBA’s history, the league has been dominated by big men. From the likes of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to The Dream and Shaq, a force in the middle has been the centerpiece to a multitude of championship teams and dynasties. But after Shaq came into the league in the early ’90s, there seemed to be a drought of dominant big men in the NBA. With the emergence of Yao Ming, the league had another true center to promote, but just a couple of years ago, he and an aging Shaq looked like the last of a dying breed.
The game of basketball has changed. With the fast tempo of the league and the basketball world’s infatuation with the three-point shot, as well as the current rules for perimeter defense, the NBA has become a more guard-oriented league. Now, the likes of Chris Paul and Derrick Rose are more valuable than ever and are players that can dominate games on a similar level to the way centers once did. Highlight reels of slick passes and long-range jumpers sell NBA tickets these days, not post moves. Just when it seemed like the idea of a true center was all but dead, the 2004 draft brought a 6-11 kid out of Atlanta by the name of Dwight Howard. The following year the Lakers took a chance on a 17-year-old Andrew Bynum. Last year the Blazers lucked out and won the lottery for the right to take the next big thing in Greg Oden.
So here we are, with Shaq all but gone and Yao struggling to play even 60 games per season, but we’re not starving for centers thanks to the three aforementioned youngsters. These three centers could keep the tradition of the dominant big man alive. Howard is already a force, the unquestioned beast of the Eastern Conference. He has played in all 82 games in the first four years of his young career and has averaged a double-double each season. In the 2007-08 campaign, Howard averaged 21 points and 14 rebounds at just 22 years of age.
Bynum struggled to earn playing time during his first two seasons in the league, but broke out in his third. Though he only played in 35 games thanks to a knee injury, the seven-footer averaged a double-double in 2007-08 and racked up nearly three blocks per game. He looks like the real deal and has filled out considerably physically, to the point where his mere presence is imposing.
Oden missed all of his rookie campaign after undergoing the dreaded micro-fracture knee surgery, but he’s considered an elite center prospect nonetheless. Though he will be followed around by injury concerns, Oden should recover from the surgery thanks to his age, as we saw with Amare Stoudemire. Oden has the physical tools to become a dominant defender and rebounder and any offensive development will be icing on the cake. With these three guys all under the age of 23, and Ohio State center B.J. Mullens on the NBA horizon, it’s safe to say that the age of the big man in basketball is not completely dead.
The post NBA Tickets – the Return of the Big Man appeared first on Sports Insider.
http://ift.tt/2fNJZMT
No comments:
Post a Comment