Era of Dominant Centers is over

[Indazone]

With the retirement of Shaq and Yao, I cannot see anyone including Dwight Howard who is a force in the low post. TBH, Dwight cannot light a candle to a prime Duncan, Olajuwan, Kareem, Robinson, Malone, Russell, Chamberlin, Shaq or even Bill Walton. Who we got now? Bynum? Dalambert? Okafor? Horford? Hibbert? Jefferson? Not one of these guys can even come close. A shame really because watching the great centers perform was a joy to watch.

Is there even an heir apparent coming up in future drafts that can even come close to being the dominant post player that the Centers of past years were? Who is the next Duncan? The next Shaq? Olajuwan? I looked at the upcoming draft classes and it looked dismal. :depressed

[Leetonidas]

That era has been over for awhile now. When Howard is considered "dominant" and far and away the best center in the NBA...yeah...

[Indazone]

haha...take your broke down Bynum and go hang out at your local In-Out stuffing your face animal style. You're trolling is laughable.

[Jodelo]

When Greg Oden is healthy (:lol) he will dominate... :lmao:lmao

[djohn2oo8]

LOL at Yao being dominant :lmao

Indazone with the turribles

[djohn2oo8]

Homie, Yao was far from dominant. Stop with the foolery, asshole. I got more use out of a pair of chop sticks at this chink joint last week than Houston got out of Yao's broke down ass. Just keep the noodles coming and be happy.

Was Naruto more dominant?

[baseline bum]

LOL @ Shaq and Yao mentioned in the same sentence. 4 rings vs 1 trip to the second round? :lol

[Axe Murderer]

Homie, Yao was far from dominant. Stop with the foolery, asshole. I got more use out of a pair of chop sticks at this chink joint last week than Houston got out of Yao's broke down ass. Just keep the noodles coming and be happy.

:lol good to see luva back imho

[Mark in Austin]

Darko is still around...

[cheguevara]

timvp with the goods here. for a change

[dirk4mvp]

:wow what an astute observation by the op!

[lefty]

With the retirement of Shaq and Yao, I cannot see anyone including Dwight Howard who is a force in the low post. TBH, Dwight cannot light a candle to a prime Duncan, Olajuwan, Kareem, Robinson, Malone, Russell, Chamberlin, Shaq or even Bill Walton. Who we got now? Bynum? Dalambert? Okafor? Horford? Hibbert? Jefferson? Not one of these guys can even come close. A shame really because watching the great centers perform was a joy to watch.

Is there even an heir apparent coming up in future drafts that can even come close to being the dominant post player that the Centers of past years were? Who is the next Duncan? The next Shaq? Olajuwan? I looked at the upcoming draft classes and it looked dismal. :depressed
No shit

[BlackSwordsMan]

No fuckin' shit.

[Killakobe81]

It will only be worse when we lose duncan ...and yes, he is a center as much as Alonzo and Hakeem were.

Though bynum shows promise it's sad that Howard (by far the best), Bynum, Nene, Bogut and Kaman are the only decent to very good centers we have right now ...

Duncan should of considered himself a center once shaq petered out duncan by all rights was the best center and power forward of the past 10 years TBH ...

[Phillip]

tbqh, its a lot harder for big men to dominate offensively in the post (or period) like they used to. the game has changed so much, players are so much more athletic, and strategy has evolved. a lot of the effectiveness that centers used to be able to provide, has been overshadowed with guards and forwards constantly changing and improving skillsets.

[Axe Murderer]

tbqh, its a lot harder for big men to dominate offensively in the post (or period) like they used to. the game has changed so much, players are so much more athletic, and strategy has evolved. a lot of the effectiveness that centers used to be able to provide, has been overshadowed with guards and forwards constantly changing and improving skillsets.

tbh guys are just trying to be more versatile nowadays so they don't focus on their low post game as much. it all starts with AAU imho.

[baseline bum]

The rule changes that seriously favor guards now has to be a big part of it too. In the time of Olajuwon, O'Neal, Robinson, Ewing, Mourning, etc., you could have Derek Harper throwing forearms into guys kidneys on the perimeter, but the popularity of Iverson, Bryant, McGrady, etc. changed all that.

[LnGrrrR]

To be honest, where the fuck did all the centers go? Are they playing linemen in the NFL?

[Cane]

The best center in the league today isn't even 7 feet tall :wow But even beyond centers there aren't many dominant players tbh

[Phillip]

The best center in the league today isn't even 7 feet tall :wow But even beyond centers there aren't many dominant players tbh

Kobe
Dirk
Wade
Lebron
Howard
Durant
CP3
Rose
Amare
Carmello

And there are plenty of others that are capable of being very dominant but are either stuck on bad teams, or are a bit inconsistent (due to youth, or being overshadowed), such as:

Nash
D-Will
Bosh
Aldridge
Griffin
Granger
Joe Johnson
Love
Randolph


I'd say there are plenty of damn good players in the league, very dominant players, arguably as many or more than in any other era.

[Cane]

Tbh depends how you define dominant, I agree with the OP about Dwight's game being not even on the same tier as previous HOF centers. A lot of those players are pretty one-dimensional in the first list. But there is a lot of quality talent in the league nonetheless.

[frodo]

just feel sad for DH tbh :depressed:

[John Basedow]

just feel sad for DH tbh :depressed:

Don't be, brah...he'll be winning multiple titles as a Laker soon enough :tu

[frodo]

SHITE never be dominant and the Centers time be far from over imho. dem big niggas just can't dominate da game the way they used to do which doesn't mean they are useless on the court now. we all witnessed dem mavs winning da championship this year and we saw TC's positive impact which was so huge. SHITE just be an average talent and he never dominated the game, just a stat whore and a jinx to his teammates

[Indazone]

That Spurs team when they basically had two All-Star quality centers in Robinson and Duncan was a very special team. When Duncan retires it will be the true end of an era. Even though Duncan calls himself a Power Forward. We all know he's a 5. That was a true twin towers team that gave all the other teams fits.

[tlongII]

O d e n !

[redzero]

O d e n !

will retire next.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Andre Drummond will bring back the dominant center tbh

[Isitjustme?]

Andre Drummond will bring back the dominant center tbh

tbh if you gave Dwight Howard a supporting cast that wasn't hot dog shit I think he could win multiple titles.

[Isitjustme?]

Andre Drummond will bring back the dominant center tbh

tbh if you gave Dwight Howard a supporting cast that wasn't hot dog shit I think he could win multiple titles.

[jimo2305]

The rule changes that seriously favor guards now has to be a big part of it too. In the time of Olajuwon, O'Neal, Robinson, Ewing, Mourning, etc., you could have Derek Harper throwing forearms into guys kidneys on the perimeter, but the popularity of Iverson, Bryant, McGrady, etc. changed all that.

agreed too.. and this is part of what i was trying to spark up convo with in my other thread..

where has the dominant NBA C truly gone to?
rule changes definitely do favor the guards and that has to be why we're seeing more successful G's in the game than C's.. they're nearly becoming irrelevant nowadays..

[dirk4mvp]

tbh if you gave Dwight Howard a supporting cast that wasn't hot dog shit I think he could win multiple titles.

Learning a post move or two wouldn't hurt his chances either, tbh.

[jimo2305]

ill reiterate that it's not so much rule changes that made the big C disappear.. but rather made the game more attractive to up and coming G's..

the rules today compared to the past lets the smaller man get away more stuff while the big man gets punished.. i mean c'mon.. body contact is almsot frowned upon lol.. there are more defensive fouls than offensive fouls in the post.. defense is even sorta disappearing.. with the exception of dwight, there really isn't another C that's remotely in the discussion for DPOY.. etc..

everything put together just makes the game more attractive to the smaller guys.. and like someone said earlier.. maybe the good C's went to go play Oline lol

[ambchang]

These things come in cycles.

In the mid/late 80's, Moses and Kareem were old, Hakeem was stuck on a crap team, and Ewing was stuck on a mediocre team.

Then Robinson came, Shaq came, Mourning came, Houston got good, Knicks got good, and people start to pull in above average/mediocre centres such as Mutombo and Daughterty into the fold and try to make it a era of the centers.

Then Robinson got hurt, Mourning lost a kidney, Hakeem got old, Ewing got old, Shaq got fat, Duncan got old, and we are back to where we were in the late 80s.

With the way the rules of the game has changed, it would be tougher to get a dominant big (zone D, laxing of perimeter D, etc ...), but athletes evolve, and then one day, there would be another dominant big who is faster, bigger, stronger than anyone before him.

[Indazone]

Rules changes don't make up for the ability to dominate the post, clog up the lane and play with your back to the basket and put the ball in the hole. Today's physical specimen's are a shadow of the past. Rik Smits would dominate with today's centers. I mean aside from Dwight Howard who doesn't have a huge offensive arsenal there are no other great centers. Seems like all the highly drafted Centers today are Euroballers. Enes Kanter? Who thinks this guy will be an All-Star?

[Phillip]

defense is even sorta disappearing.. with the exception of dwight, there really isn't another C that's remotely in the discussion for DPOY.. etc..

the only reason for that is simply because his name is "Dwight Howard"

there are other centers in the league that do a damn good job of anchoring defenses, clogging the lane, and rebounding effectively, such as Bynum, Chandler, Bogut. Dwight just does it in a more flashy, fun manner.

[Axe Murderer]

the only reason for that is simply because his name is "Dwight Howard"

there are other centers in the league that do a damn good job of anchoring defenses, clogging the lane, and rebounding effectively, such as Bynum, Chandler, Bogut. Dwight just does it in a more flashy, fun manner.

http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/belchonock/belchonock1103/belchonock110300391/9053144-someone-fill-glass-with-beer-on-blue-background.jpg

http://uamodels.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/lips11.jpg

[Indazone]

Dwight has the athleticism to be mentioned with all the other Centers. But everytime he played against Shaq or Yao he got owned. Not saying he wasn't good but the current crop of Centers is so weak that they make Dwight look like well...Superman.

Dwight's low post moves could use improvement and developing a nice mid range shot would be good too. He can't be even thought of in the same breathe as Russell, Chamberlin, Shaq, or even Walton. But he'll be an All-Star for years to come.

[Ace]

Learning a post move or two wouldn't hurt his chances either, tbh.

His post game improved last year imo...

[Pelicans78]

American centers don't work hard enough to be dominant and Euro centers are pussified into shooting jumpers. That's the problem.

Also, college basketball isn't what it was 20 years ago so its harder for centers to develop because they go pro right away instead of staying in college for a few years and improving their game.

[spursncowboys]

The rule changes that seriously favor guards now has to be a big part of it too. In the time of Olajuwon, O'Neal, Robinson, Ewing, Mourning, etc., you could have Derek Harper throwing forearms into guys kidneys on the perimeter, but the popularity of Iverson, Bryant, McGrady, etc. changed all that.
Good point. Plus NBA's wanting to increase tv viewership. For either reason, defense was pushed to the side. However I think it also has alot to do with the lack of talent at that position.

[TDMVPDPOY]

yao ming and dominant in the same sentence? gtfo

d12 can not hold a finger to the great centers of the 90s

his basically playing against scrubs posting up big numbers, where defense is not on their CV

[Indazone]

This!
American centers don't work hard enough to be dominant and Euro centers are pussified into shooting jumpers. That's the problem.

Also, college basketball isn't what it was 20 years ago so its harder for centers to develop because they go pro right away instead of staying in college for a few years and improving their game.

[Roxsfan]

There was no player that could stop a healthy, prime Yao. End of story.

[DMC]

There was no player that could stop a healthy, prime Yao. End of story.
That's why he went on to win countless rings...

[jimo2305]

i wouldn't be so fast to discredit dwight.. i mean.. put dwight in a time machine and warp him back 15 years ago.. he'd still hold his own..

tbh.. when your'e a 7'1 center.. you dont even need as many post moves lol.. you're 7'1.. theres a point where it stops being finesse and starts being power..while i agree dwight isn't as skilled as hakeem and robinson were, he'd still be a force to be reckoned with down low.. they wouldn't call the bitch fouls on him back then as they do now..

do the same with hakeem by having him play today's game.. hakeem wouldn't get the type of numbers he got back then..

[redzero]

Dwight is 6'11".

Anyway, he could definitely use more moves. His running hook is ugly.

[KidCongo]

Andre Drummond will bring back the dominant center tbh

The Cavs need to get that top pick the year he comes out, most likely 2012 I've read and he can pass college.