Power forwards of the past
- Thread starter Makaveli
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Big men of today are so much more skilled than in of the era of the PF. (~2000 C.E.) By the standard of that era, Alex Len would be a finesse guy. PFs made sense as a position in an era where teams needed to play 2 bigs (to soak up fouls guarding Shaq)
In a 1 big man era, if your C can create while facing the basket, PFs are kind of useless. Better to fill that spot with a shooter
In a 1 big man era, if your C can create while facing the basket, PFs are kind of useless. Better to fill that spot with a shooter
I’m talking about guys like Bam, Jokic, Embiid, and Domas. Guys that make Slim’s BMoTN thread
Most centers from the 80s, 90s and 00s were just there to crash the boards and stand in front of Shaq. It’s why Duncan rejected the center label, it wasn’t a skill position. Now, centers are integrated into the offense and are expected to be able face the basket. And teams don’t need two big men to fill that role.
Most centers from the 80s, 90s and 00s were just there to crash the boards and stand in front of Shaq. It’s why Duncan rejected the center label, it wasn’t a skill position. Now, centers are integrated into the offense and are expected to be able face the basket. And teams don’t need two big men to fill that role.
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All those players mentioned would likely be C's in todays game. They all shared time there but that's what they would be. As for Keegan, I think we've already seen the benefits of him moving closer to the rim. His numbers from college are starting to translate. He needs to get that shooting efficiency up but that should come in time.
Dirk was certainly a harbinger of the future when he entered the league, but he became a fairly traditional power forward after his first few years. I think that NBA coaches of the time kinda broke him.
I think it's an interesting what-if, if the Mavericks decided to build around his perimeter game, and built their team around that, would we have seen the 3 point revolution a decade earlier?
I think it's an interesting what-if, if the Mavericks decided to build around his perimeter game, and built their team around that, would we have seen the 3 point revolution a decade earlier?
What is position though? In the end, it's always pretty much been a G skill league. Either you have G skills and essentially play like a guard, whether it be through passing, shooting, or whatever, or you don't. It doesn't matter what you call the position. Webber was really no different than Jokic which is more Magic Johnson than anything. Heck, first day in Don Nelson, being as a far ahead of his time as he was, tried to make Webber a center. Webber wasn't having it.
I mentioned him in my other post. The true revolutionary was likely Don Nelson. Junk ball as some have called has become the norm. What was already the norm though was unless you were Shaq, you better be able to face up a team and score, pass, or dribble and honestly, do all of them if you want to be a true star.