Can 2 big men lineups succeed in today's NBA?

[ClayDavis]

The Lakers won titles with pau as a center but once Bynum joined him Dallas killed them.
Memphis has struggled this year as teams just pack the paint against them.
The celtics only began to play well last year after kg moved to center
The finals teams had absolutely no inside presence. Neither did the spurs or the celtics.
The clippers routinely bench Jordan in the 4th last year and this year
Etc.
The last team to win with 2 true post presence was the spurs a decade ago
Is the league so fast and zone heavy having 2 big men is a curse but only 1 a blessing? Has no hand checking and pick and roll play elimated or negated a second post presence?

[bledredwine]

The rules have obviously F'd up post-game quite a bit and have made perimeter players more important for scoring.

But I think that having great down-low presence vital.... rebounds and defense. I just don't think they get enough credit most of the time. The Lakers struggles weren't the fault of Pau/Bynum's offense or boards as much as their defense.

I think that dual big men can still be effective, just not nearly as effective as it used to be.... and having skilled perimeter players has much more importance offensively speaking.

[cdubbz]

I think only really talented big men can make it successful because they can punish smaller teams in the post. Big men who aren't great offensively like Kendrick Perkins aren't going to be useful because they won't be able to guard the new type of big man who can step out and shoot and drive.

Fact is we have less talented post players then we did in the 90s and early 2000s so it's difficult to have non offensive big men in the game guarding 7foot wing players.

[DuckIII]

Of course it can work. If the NBA has taught us one thing, there is no special formula. It is about talent and execution. Not the positions where that talent plays.

For example, not only can a two big lineup go all the way, but I personally believe it is the key to create the needed mismatch against the current title favorite.

[HappyBrownie]

the Pistons hope so.

[koogiking]

Yes, of course they can. If anything you should be asking this about small ball lineups. The Miami Heat is the first team in decades to win a championship with a small ball lineup. Even the Dallas Mavericks from 2011 have to 7 foot 1 bigs.

[Choker]

Weird that you mention the Lakers when they won 2 championships because of it.

[StocktonShorts]

Weird that you mention the Lakers when they won 2 championships because of it.

Yeah, it is weird. OP has some splaining to do.

The Deron Williams/Carlos Boozer Jazz were eliminated from the 2009 and 2010 by the Lakers largely because the trio of Gasol/Odom/Bynum was too big for the Jazz's undersized frontcourt.

[Spurtatcus]

Tim Duncan/Tiago Splitter will put this question to rest at the end of the season

[mcfly1204]

Memphis could/should be the next to do it.

[JustAwesome]

Sports opinions are fickle. All it takes is for one team to win a championship with two traditional big men in the lineup, and this question goes out the door.

[Cklbmk]

Tim Duncan/Tiago Splitter will put this question to rest at the end of the season

[Han Solo]

Andre Drummond & Greg Monroe have barely seen the floor together this year. Guess, we'll see before the season ends at some point (more than likely)..

[kodo]

In the last 10 years, 7 out of the 10 championship teams have used a PF 6'11" or bigger in conjunction with a traditional center.

'11: Dallas (Dirk, Chandler)
'10: LA (Gasol, Bynum)
'09: LA (Gasol, Bynum)
'08: Boston (KG, Perkins)
'07: Spurs (Duncan, Oberto)
05: Spurs (Duncan, Nazr)
03: Spurs (Duncan, Admiral)

And the 06 Heat and 04 Pistons weren't exactly smallball either, with Haslem-Shaq-Zo and Rasheed-Big Ben.

Maybe the question you really want to ask is if 2 big men can succeed in the future NBA, but for this era having two bigs has been a successful formula.

[RutgersBJJ]

Memphis? SA? LAC? Utah? Denver to a lesser extent when McGee comes in off bench?

Lakers up until last season? Dallas with Dirk and Tyson?

For that 2 game stretch when Camby was healthy the Melo-Tyson-Camby front-court was pretty effective too.