Where does Noah rank among Centers?

[Cliff Levingston]

I'm trying very hard to not be a homer, so I will be conservative and say top 10.

1. Howard
2. Yao (when healthy)
3. Bogut
4. Lopez (breaking out this season)
5. Bynum
6. Kaman
7. Noah

So, talking about when completely healthy huh? So, are we ignoring how Noah was fighting injury all year? If he was healthy all season, Cliff Levingston doesn't think it's unreasonable to say he would've put up similar numbers to his per 36 numbers this past year, which were:

13 points
13 boards
2.5 assists
0.6 steals
2 blocks

That would easily make him top 5 with Dwight, Yao, Bogut and Bynum.

[hammel123]

Noah ranked 13th in PER among centers last season per Hollinger's stats. All of the players ahead of him are starters/high minute guys, with the exception of the injured Oden and Nazr Mohammed.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinge ... sition%3dc

That doesn't tell the true story or the whole story, but perhaps it's worth reviewing before compiling one's list.

What good is PER, if as you said, it's tilted toward players who play more minutes. How is a useful metric (besides helping Hollinger keep his job)

[bulls4ever]

trying hard not to be a homer .. here is my rank

1. Howard - Id trade anybody in our team to have him
2. Noah - There are nobody out there other than Howard Id like more than Noah
3. Yao Ming - Normaly id preffer him over Noah but i think his foot issues will put an end on his career.
4. Bogut, Kaman, Bynum and Lopez - Id not trade Noah for none of those.

[sco]

Hard to say when health factors in.

I'd rather have Noah than guys like Bogut or Yao, but they are both definitely better if/when healthy. My "when healthy" rankings:

Yao *
Howard
Bogut *
Amare *(if C)
Bynum *
Lopez
Kaman
Noah
Perkins
Oden *

Noah's offensive game is definitely limited. He won't likely ever average 15ppg, but he is the ultimate intangible guy. The factor that makes him more valuable than many centers is that he has turned into a pretty good ft shooter, and can stay in games in the 4th quarter w/o being detrimental. Also his passing and vision are excellent which is going to really benefit Boozer.

[hammel123]

trying hard not to be a homer .. here is my rank

1. Howard - Id trade anybody in our team to have him
2. Noah - There are nobody out there other than Howard Id like more than Noah
3. Yao Ming - Normaly id preffer him over Noah but i think his foot issues will put an end on his career.
4. Bogut, Kaman, Bynum and Lopez - Id not trade Noah for none of those.

don't look at it as who's a better fit on the Bulls team (as currently constructed)

if you had to start a team from scratch, where center is your best player

I'd go Howard, Yao, Bogut, Bynum and Noah/Lopez (not sure in which order)

[WorthyBlitz42]

trying hard not to be a homer .. here is my rank

1. Howard - Id trade anybody in our team to have him
2. Noah - There are nobody out there other than Howard Id like more than Noah
3. Yao Ming - Normaly id preffer him over Noah but i think his foot issues will put an end on his career.
4. Bogut, Kaman, Bynum and Lopez - Id not trade Noah for none of those.

we are taking injuries out of the equation, would you still take noah over him or even dwight for that matter?

Yao>dwight guys.

[Scott May]

What good is PER, if as you said, it's tilted toward players who play more minutes. How is a useful metric (besides helping Hollinger keep his job)

It's the best thing we've got to compare the production of players who play in different systems at different paces.

The one major flaw, though, is when you compare a player who achieves a high PER while playing a relatively small (or non-starter's) amount of minutes. Michael Sweeney would be an excellent real-world example of this: when he did play, he produced, but fouls and conditioning made the notion of his playing 30-35 mpg laughable.

So that's what I was pointing out here -- apart from Mohammed and Oden, the players ahead of Noah were not subs or PER outliers. They are mostly full-time starters.

[DJhitek]

Yao is never healthy and for the most part Bynum isn't either. That said Noah is about 7th or 8th in the league.

[WorthyBlitz42]

Yao is never healthy and for the most part Bynum isn't either. That said Noah is about 7th or 8th in the league.

Yeah well Rockets and Lakers are my teams so we're taking that stuff out of the equation , so tell me where they rank now.

[mrlancers]

I'm trying very hard to not be a homer, so I will be conservative and say top 10.

1. Howard
2. Yao (when healthy)
3. Bogut
4. Lopez (breaking out this season)
5. Bynum
6. Kaman
7. Noah

So, talking about when completely healthy huh? So, are we ignoring how Noah was fighting injury all year? If he was healthy all season, Cliff Levingston doesn't think it's unreasonable to say he would've put up similar numbers to his per 36 numbers this past year, which were:

13 points
13 boards
2.5 assists
0.6 steals
2 blocks

That would easily make him top 5 with Dwight, Yao, Bogut and Bynum.

I think there's a big difference between banged-up Noah and a hairline fracture Yao. It's hard to say how Yao will play this season. If he comes back 100%, he's number two on my list. Noah's injuries could help his stats a bit, but I still couldn't put him ahead of Lopez.

[Captain_Caveman]

He's good, but center rankings are kinda useless, as the 5th best center is closer to 30th best than they are to 1st.

[Jvaughn]

He's top 5.

1. Howard
2. Gasol
3. Bogut
4. Lopez
5. Noah

Yao cannot be ranked since he hasn't sniffed the floor in what is going on 2 years. Bynum is hurt every friday, and even when he's on the floor he's not better.

[AKfanatic]

1. Yao Ming
2. Dwight Howard
3. Andrew Bynum
4. Andrew Bogut
5. Marc Gasol
6. Nene
7. Shaq
8. Joakim Noah
9. Brook Lopez
10. Kendrick Perkins

IF your not taking health into account Oden needs to be on the list somewhere. Shaq right now even when healthy (by his standards) is below Noah and Lopez.

Nene is nice, but he doesn't have the Balls of a Joakim Noah

[aaqubed]

1. Dwight
2. Yao
3. Bogut
4. Bynum
5. Gasol
6. Lopez
7. Horford
8. Perkins
9. Noah

Horford and Perkins are arguable. As are Nene and Kaman. I think Horford and Perkins are both being really underrated here.

[BigShaq]

1. Yao
2.Dwight
3. Noah
4. bogut
5. Lopez
6. Kaman
7. Shaq
8. Bynum
9. Haywood
10. Perkins

[Coldchi]

yao
howard
noah
lopez
bogut

[GMgoran]

Noah is far from being a finished article, so I will not compare him against established centers in the NBA ... However, if he puts on some muscle, and develops certain aspects of his offensive game, I would say that he could be a top 5 center in this league ...

[Showt1meMVP]

He's top 5.

1. Howard
2. Gasol
3. Bogut
4. Lopez
5. Noah

Yao cannot be ranked since he hasn't sniffed the floor in what is going on 2 years. Bynum is hurt every friday, and even when he's on the floor he's not better.

the op said to take away health out of the equation....

[illiance]

Tim Duncan and Amare (especially now in NY) are both centers BTW. So is Gasol most of the year. Noah is probably behind Howard, Yao, Duncan, Gasol, Amare and Bogut. So about 7th.

[7Evan]

Howard
Yao
Bogut
Bynum
Duncan (he can only play C now)
Lopez
Noah
Nene
Kaman
M.Gasol