Is Duncan going to finish out his career as a Center?

Positions are blurred in the NBA. People get too enamored with labels and titles on positions. Is LeBron really a small forward when he initiates the offense 98% of the time and has much of the ball handling and play making responsibilities? Before the Shaq Trade, was Amare Stoudemire really a center shooting midrange jumpers and playing pick-and-pop with little to no low post, back-to-the-basket game on offense and far from a defensive anchor on defense?

In many ways, Tim Duncan has been a center for much of his career. He's a low post scorer the offense is built around and he's the defensive anchor that protects the paint. He's played with both centers and power forwards up front, but if you look at his game, his skill set, and how he plays, he's essentially a center. It's just a position title. He can be called a power forward. I don't think it's a big deal either way. But, for most of his career, I view him as a center. Even with David Robinson, Duncan played the center position on offense with D-Rob as the high man (traditionally the PF) in the high-low action. And, he shared center duties on defense pretty equally.

Call Duncan a power forward, that way he can be known as the "best power forward" in the history of the game. He certainly deserves a title like that, no matter what his real position is.

Edit add: I'd rather Duncan be known as the best PF ever than that douchebag Karl Malone.

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Positions are blurred in the NBA. People get too enamored with labels and titles on positions

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i thought anyone who knew jackstuff about basketball knew that, but there have been like 50,000 posts on spurstalk debating this non issue

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Originally Posted by SenorSpur

I've never heard the reasons why TD doesn't like to be referenced to as a center?

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Because he wants to start in All Star games and the chinese won't let that happen if he's a center in the west.

He might not care this year I guess, cuz he'd be a sure-fire with Yao injured.

It's the new NBA, most big men don't like to be referred to as centers, because they feel like it implies that they are limited in mobility and such..KG has said the same thing as Duncan, as have others IIRC..

well not that new kgs been in the league for 15 years

Ya, I didn't really mean it like that..the "newer" big men would never be considered Cs..

The Spurs don't have a PF and a C, they have a high post and low post.

I'm still very interested to know how MANY Sequ's it would take to get to 6 foot 10.

33 post and next to no answers. Way to stay on topic people. Some of you are so hell-bent on correcting others mistakes that you have forgotten to answer the question.

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Originally Posted by sigz

i'm still very interested to know how many sequ's it would take to get to 6 foot 10.

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7?

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Originally Posted by Nathan Explosion

You might want to check with spurs.com before speaking. If you type this in www.spurs.com, it transfers you to this http://www.nba.com/spurs/. Follow the roster link and it takes you to this http://www.nba.com/spurs/roster/.

Now look at his positon.

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Hmm. Damn. Me and my buddy at work were both talking about how he was listed as Center now. Guess it was before coffee.:yield

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Originally Posted by Bob Lanier

Josh Smith has jumped the opening tip for the Hawks on numerous occasions. That doesn't make him a center.

Admiral was a great defensive presence, but positions are largely defined in terms of their offense, and he was a KG/Dirk type with a small forward's game. Duncan is a pivot.

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As we've discussed many times before, the 4 and 5 are basically interchangeable in the motion offense the Spurs so often use. I am old school so I use Center in the original sense in this lark of a thread. Center is short for Jump Center, which is what they called it early-on.

http://sports.espn.go.com/media/nba/.../a_spurs_i.jpg

On your point about Duncan being a pivot...of course he is and so was David. Duncan frequently plays like a classic pivot and he's built like it moreso than Robinson was, but that doesn't mean David was not a pivot. David played the 5 at 7'1" and was the primary pivot player for the Spurs for years. When Duncan entered the league and was part of SA's "Twin Towers", you had 2 pivots on the floor at the same time. With Perdue, they had the Triple Towers. Just because Robinson was more effective when he faced-up, doesn't mean he wasn't a pivot or Center. He was. He just had a lighter base than Ewing or Duckworth or Duncan or, later with Shaq in the league.

If you are a Spurs' fan, you can normally deduce who's playing the 5 by who inbounds the ball from the baseline after a made basket. The 4 normally inbounds the ball.

http://sports.espn.go.com/photo/2009...ncan01_576.jpg

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Originally Posted by SenorSpur

I've never heard the reasons why TD doesn't like to be referenced to as a center?

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http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/mult...yao_jersey.jpg

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Originally Posted by Solid D

As we've discussed many times before, the 4 and 5 are basically interchangeable in the motion offense the Spurs so often use. I am old school so I use Center in the original sense in this lark of a thread. Center is short for Jump Center, which is what they called it early-on.

http://sports.espn.go.com/media/nba/.../a_spurs_i.jpg

On your point about Duncan being a pivot...of course he is and so was David. Duncan frequently plays like a classic pivot and he's built like it moreso than Robinson was, but that doesn't mean David was not a pivot. David played the 5 at 7'1" and was the primary pivot player for the Spurs for years. When Duncan entered the league and was part of SA's "Twin Towers", you had 2 pivots on the floor at the same time. With Perdue, they had the Triple Towers. Just because Robinson was more effective when he faced-up, doesn't mean he wasn't a pivot or Center. He was. He just had a lighter base than Ewing or Duckworth or Duncan or, later with Shaq in the league.

If you are a Spurs' fan, you can normally deduce who's playing the 5 by who inbounds the ball from the baseline after a made basket. The 4 normally inbounds the ball.

http://sports.espn.go.com/photo/2009...ncan01_576.jpg

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Money in the bank... it can't be explained better than this...

What's a center? In today's NBA there are only 3 positions:

1) Big man
2) Perimeter Player
3) Point Guard

This happens all the time guys. Duncan started as a PF (due to D-Rob) and of course was listed as a PF. He will always be a PF.

Even though the last couple years he has been forced to play a "center" role. This year with McDyess/Blair to bang inside Duncan will play a more regular PF role.

He will still be the anchor on D.

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Originally Posted by hsxvvd

http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/mult...yao_jersey.jpg

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Partially correct. You'd need a picture of Shaq up there too, but then it did all start with David Robinson.

Can we stop this stupid assumption that centers need to be 6'10 or taller

HOFs listed as C or C/PF under 6'10

Ed Macauley (6'8)
Jerry Lucas (6'8)
Willis Reed (6'9)
Tom Heinsohn (6'7)
Bob Houbregs (6'8)
Neil Hohnston (6'8)
Dave Cowens (6'9)
Dan Issel (6'9)
Wes Unseld (6'7)
Arnie Risen (6'9)
Bob McAdoo (6'9)
Maurice Stocke (6'7)

Yes some of these guys played when the game was smaller and less athletic but it still proves that guys can be below 6'10 and play center. In fact if they are below 6'9 and play center chances are they are pretty good sense many tall guys are drafted because they are TALL. How many 7ft busts do we need to see before we realize that height is not everything. Seriously if you want a talented guy over 7ft tall then go out and acquire Darko or Kwame as they are 2 of the most talented 7fts in the league. I, on the other hand, am thrilled we got McDyess who has shown he can take his talent and bring it on the court with heart and get production, the two things those talented 7ft busts have never done.

prob. i do see blair filling in as pf but i dont ever see us landing another david robinson type

that man was one of a kind

Yup.