Luka’s Corner

While watching the regular season and beginning of the Playoffs, it has become clear to me that the start of the 21st century is truly the age of the athletic forward, over the dominant center. Team management and coaches are, for some reason, finding it necessary to build their teams around a player who can shoot from downtown and get to the basket with ease, instead of a big man who will block shots and rattle the rim with intimidating dunks.

I think the reason for this is that players who work on their game in the early stages of their basketball careers want to focus more on mastering the crowd-pleasing three-point shot, over the monotonous pivot move down low. Kids across the country somehow find it more appealing to get to the rim creatively and finish in dramatic fashion. That is the same reason why the mid-range game is almost extinct in the NBA- young players either want the three or the lay-up. Also, for obvious reasons, it is much easier for a young boy to grow to about 6-6 or 6-7, rather than 6-11 or 7 feet. It is much more common to see a versatile wing player because of the rarity in people who actually grow to tremendous heights (like Yao).

The only pure centers I have seen in the NBA over the past seven or eight years are Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudemire, and Yao Ming. Shaq and Duncan (two amazing super-stars) are already past their prime and retirement is unfortunately on their mind with every move they make. This is definitely a shame because they have shaped the NBA over the past decade (the two combined won seven titles in ten years) and are at the center of three of the most dominant teams in the league in the 21st century (Duncan with the Spurs and Shaq with the Lakers and Heat). On the other hand, Yao and Amare are the two centers of the future and the NBA will only need to look to those two when deciding on who will be the premier all-star centers of the next five years or so.

I actually think that Amare has a great chance to surpass Ming as the best center in the next five years. Stoudemire is more physical down low, does not fold under pressure (made many clutch lay-ups and jumpers against San Antonio), and just brings more energy to the game overall. Yao is still being questioned defensively (witness how he was dominated by Carlos Boozer) and criticized by many for his far-from-dominant play in the final minutes of a close game. The other advantage STAT has over the Great Wall of China is that he can efficiently run the pick-and-roll (a skill all centers must have to be successful). Just watch Amare and Nash run the pick-and-roll game for Phoenix and you will simply stare in amazement at how smoothly the offense flows. Yao, on the other hand, plays a completely different game for his Rockets, simply catching the ball in the post and fading away from the hoop or shooting a quick jump-hook. That is why Amare is so much more dominant- it is much easier to stop a big man from shooting ten-footers than it is to stop a big man from running pick-and-rolls and exploding to the basket.

I am still surprised at how the focus of the game has changed away from a down-low game and more into an explosive wing game. I am very frustrated that that is the case, because the low post game is a thing of beauty and an exceptionally difficult skill to master. Fortunately, the league still has Amare and Yao to dominate the opposition with beautiful hook-shots, short jumpers, and powerful slams.

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