Sports

Dr. Apollo discusses the big man situation in the NBA!

Shaq ATTACK!

I think it’s time we all agree that the days of NBA big men dominating the game is over (and has been for a while)!  Gone are the days of Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Tim Duncan dictating the ebb and flow of the games and in particular the playoffs.

Shaq's playoff career numbers were 25.2 PPG, 12.1 RPG, and shot 56% from the floor.

Hakeem put up 25.9 PPG, 11.2 RPG, and 53% from the floor.

Duncan has averaged 23.3 PPG, 12.6 RPG, and has shot 50% during his playoff career and during this year’s playoffs Duncan is putting up 17.8 PPG and 11.2 RPG (with two sweeps) at the age of 37!

Take a look at the “bigs” from this year’s conference semifinals:

Roy Hibbert: 13.8 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 47% shooting

Tyson Chandler: 6.4 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 59% shooting

Joakim Noah: 10.8 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 44% shooting

Chris Bosh: 13.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 52% shooting

Andrew Bogut: 7.5 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 59% shooting

Serge Ibaka: 12.8 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 44% shooting

Marc Gasol 18.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 48% shooting

                                and his teammate

Zach Randolph: 19.7 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 51% shooting

Gasol/Randolph finished off the favored Thunder to advance to their 1st Western Conference Finals thanks to their 2 bruisers down low.  Duncan’s Spurs swept the Grizz and are now in the NBA Finals…so yeah, there’s that!

No matter how much the NBA changes, the goal is to still get the ball in the hoop in the most efficient way…which just happens to be really close to the basket.  Unless you employ the likes of LeBron James or Michael Jordan, acquiring a dominant big man is the key to rings.  Hence the reason the Spurs will be battling the Heat for the ship!

#jumphookem2death

Now finding said big man is another story in itself, especially when former Denver Nuggets Head coach  openly admits that his best post player was 6’ 2” Andre Miller!

Birdman DOWN!

Before you even jump and yell about Roy Hibbert torching the Heat, just know that everyone, including Roy, didn’t see this kind of play coming from him.  Roy only averaged 11.9 PPG and 8.3 RPG in the regular season and against the Heat those numbers ballooned to 21.4 PPG and 10.8 RPG, due in large part to the Heat throwing Chris Bosh, Chris “Birdman, Birdman” Anderson, and Udonis Haslem at him.  But watching Roy come of age was like watching a rose blossom in the desert…unexpected.

No matter how you swing it, big men dominating in the paint are turning into the days of yore.

George Mikan

Small ball has effectively changed the way teams view big men…essentially relegating the bigs to specialty roles.  Can you rebound? Can you spread the floor? Can you protect the rim? Can you switch on pick and rolls and play a smaller man?  If you’re able to do one of these roles, then you can find yourself employed by many of the small ball teams; however, if you’re able to do at least two of these then you’re looking at a pretty payday. 

The OKC Thunder rolled the dice and lost BIG time by deciding to keep Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins over James Hardin!  We know how this played out…Hardin goes to Houston (and gets PAID) and the Thunder lost their hold of the West (yes Westbrook’s knee injury hurt them as well)!

Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum, and Al Jefferson were the three highest paid big men in the NBA this year and only the Lakers made it into the playoffs and they were swept by the Spurs.  This isn’t to say that these guys are bad and not worth the money (Philly fans might disagree since Bynum never played a single game for them), but discovering the Ark was even difficult for Indiana Jones.

Many of the best teams in NBA don't have a traditional center becuase they've mastered the small ball mentality and would much rather take advantage of the corner 3's and slash and kick instead of the traditional back to the basket bruisers of yesteryear. 

NBA big men may not garner the same level of reverence as before, but their importance is seen in other variables on the court!

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LeBron James is the best player in the NBA currently, that’s a fact!  Anyone that wants to argue that can kick rocks…and I’m as far away from a LBJ fan there is. 

You can call it “old school,” but I don’t root for individual players but shockingly I root for teams.  I don’t have problems with fans that root for players and whatever team they play for, but I do hate those fans that pretend like they’ve been riding with that team since the outset!  The people I’m talking about know who there are, if not…then you used to be a “Bulls” (Jordan), “76ers” (Iverson), “Lakers” (Kobe), “Cavaliers” (LBJ) fan in some order.

There aren’t any specific written rules to fanhood, unless we count the Bill Simmons’ Laws, so I obviously can’t tell you how to be a fan. But being obnoxious about any of it is just douche-baggy. 

Throughout the NBA Finals, I’ve been seeing a huge swell in San Antonio fans, but they funny thing is these were the same people who were rooting on Golden State to pull off the upset!  Maybe I’m the one who’s being a douchebag about it all, but I can’t see myself flip-flopping with the wind. 

Hell, every time The Rock went heel in the WWF/WWE, I didn’t care b/c he was my favorite.

I find myself without rooting interest in these Finals because the Heat knocked out my Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, but there is no way that I turn my allegiances to San Antonio even if it is for 7 games!

Analytically, I believe the Spurs will win (I stated in 6 from the outset) because the have the better overall team.  Am I rooting for the Spurs to win...nope, I just want exciting games no matter the victor.

The NBA’s a players league, but I’ll I’m asking is that you stop playing “eenie meenie miney mo” with your “teams!”