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Then I assume you're no fan of Van Arsdale, Rod Strickland, Magic Johnson, Willie Green, and Wang Zhizhi.
Agreed.
I guess after all these years it becoming ever so evident just how dominant Shaq really was. And to answer somebody's hypothetical regarding a prime Dwight vs. a prime Shaq? Are you freaking kidding me? Shaq would post on him like posting on a guard (okay maybe a stretch here) but no contest. Dwight is cut and all and has some good strength on that body but Shaq's mere girth and gargantuan built would make putty out of Dwight....easily
Then I assume you're no fan of Van Arsdale, Rod Strickland, Magic Johnson, Willie Green, and Wang Zhizhi.
Prime shaq vs big baby? LMAO big baby would be on the sidelines crying after one of those elbows.
Shaq is definitely one of the best centers all time. In his prime, he was a force on offense and defense. Can't ask for much more than that.
And is there anyone here who thinks ANY center in the league right now would be a challenge for Shaq, excepting Duncan?
Pau would get crushed.
Perkins? Shaq might got scared of that vintage Perk mugshot look
No. Shows how weak bigmen are today. Back in the 90s, Shaq was often behind Robinson and Hakeem when discussing who the best centers in the league were. Shaq lost his first 5 games to Robinson (both players had comparable teams) and got swept by Hakeem. Then you had good second tier bigs like Ewing, Smits, and Mourning, along with tough interior defenders like Dikembe and Rodman. Pau would be a 2nd or even 3rd tier big back then. Howard would just be regarded as a specialist and not "omg, Superman! The best center in the league."
Who doesnt...Yup, I remember "that" elbow...
It is a shame that the game is dominated by small ball rotations. The one thing you got to give the Lakers and Cetics credit for is they stick to the bigs and rotate the players the way it was meant to be.
The game evolves and its hard to say what players would be like if magically transported era to era.
One of the things that always strikes me about watching early 80s games is how stick-thin all the players are now. They all have the builds of marathon runners unlike todays players who are often built like brick outhouses. At times I've thought that today's athletes would outmuscle those relatively waiflike dudes of yore.
But I think that's not a fair comparison... those players were especially suited to the early 80s game. Then the game evolved to a more defensive-type game and big men had their heyday. Now that we seem to be in more of a finesse era with scoring increasing, skilled, versatile, finesse big men are thriving (offensively, this definitely includes KG).
Maybe its more environmental than anything... players adapting to the current game or at least being weeded out by natural selection based on what's winning ballgames these days.
At any other point in the past 50 years, would Howard be considered the NBA's premier big man? I don't think so.
Gasol isn't the "only" true big left. Sure, Duncan's getting further and further away from his prime, but he's still a very good player, which he inexplicably receives no credit for, because he's not the player he once was.
I don't necessarily agree with this. Even with the slew of rule changes and bigs adapting to a more finesse, perimeter oriented game, the team with the best frontline and low-post threat usually wins the le or at the very least goes deep.
There's a reason you guys smashed the out of Utah and are up 2-0 on Phoenix. Those teams are finesse based with bigs who shoot jumpers, while the Lakers have the best post-player in the game and a decent post threat in Bynum.
Duncan's my fave player of all time. But his decline is very troubling. I've seen it the past three years from him in the playoffs. He looks like the Duncan of old in the first two games of the first round then simply drops off. He just doesn't have the health anymore to sustain high level play for a deep playoff run.
Troubling? Go back and look at great big men and their drop off at Duncan's age/mileage and you'll realize he's holding up a lot better than a lot of them. This is the problem I have with people, it's like their criticizing Duncan for declining. Like he wasn't supposed to or isn't allowed to. As if he was going to hold up forever.
The guy played four years in college, then jumped right into playing 38-40 mpg (playoffs, he was playing almost full games regularly) and deep run after deep run. He never really had any sort of a break and in the early 00s, he had very limited help. Much less so than many realize now.
Of course he can't sustain now. Look what the Spurs unreasonably asked out of him the past few seasons. Just look at the first half of last season, where he had to carry the team and did. He doesn't have a young front court partner to take the load off of him. We all like Blair, but he's an undersized rookie. Garnett has Perkins, Gasol has Bynum/Odom, who does Duncan have? He get's a 6-9 - 6-10 mostly immobile, past his prime veteran, who can't help him protect the rim. If the Spurs sign Splitter, he should finally have that young front court partner next to him that he's needed for a while.
A lot of it is nutrition and training advances. The size/athleticism differences from the past to now aren't limited to just basketball.
Prime Shaq vs. Howard is no contest. Sure, Dwight makes Greek sculptures look scrawny. But is he any stronger than Shaq was? Probably not.
Yes I know it doesn't matter if he's not on the court
Howard has a big upper body, but his legs and pelvis aren't nearly as big. That's one of the reasons he has trouble posting up. He get there one day, but until then he won't ever lead a team to a championship.
Lebron could easily be a good post player if he worked on his game. He has the physical tools to be a dominate post player. Instead he tries to be like MJ and Kobe despite being 2-3 inches taller and 30-40 pounds heavier. IMO, Lebron should either play PG or PF in this league.
he needs a healthy A. Bynum to look great
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