SWEDD523 wrote:captaincrunk wrote:The older ones I meant. Not Shaq or Moses Malone or even Hakeem.
bballref has 185 guys listed as 6'8" or taller who played Center from the beginning of the league until 1979. That's a lot considering there were only a fraction of the teams in today's league.
6'8" is still undersized. I'd say anything under 6'10" is for Center. And even if the number is high, I don't really have much reference to give to that mentally. How many centers were there? Minutes? Etc. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying I can't know from that stat.
SWEDD523 wrote:I think Dwight's scoring numbers speak for themselves.
Doesn't change the fact that he has 0 post or counter moves.
That's not true anymore, and it was an exaggeration before.
SWEDD523 wrote:And most the big guys won't pan out :/
For reasons that I've mentioned
Eh?
SWEDD523 wrote:The big guys who overpower the others get the attention. If you end up 6'7" (small forward size) you were probably one of the tallest kids through grade school and HS and all that.
1. You're confusing attention with development
2. With the way people are growing so much at younger ages, 6'7 doesn't make you a Center anymore. Just go look at the college recruiting numbers over the last few years
Attention from the coaching staff is how you develop.
Mostly because height and skill don't correlate.
*Not anymore. You can name many more big men from the past generation who were supremely skilled in the post. Nowadays you have.... Al Jefferson? Zbo? Scola? Fact of the matter is we're living in an era where any big man with a baby hook is lauded for his post moves while guys like McHale would laugh them off the court[/quote]
Pau. Dirk. More than you'd expect. But less than there used to be. I posit that it's because they weren't so huge before, and post defense has improved. Though if you look at the percentages, they were low. Many reasons why though.
SWEDD523 wrote:Very unskilled little guys are just as common, they just don't get on television.
I'm glad you agree that unskilled big men are still a commodity while small guys are forced to work on skills for fear of not having a chance. Size and athleticism trumps skill in today's league.
Which is why bigs are still more valuable.
I'll just reiterate what I originally said: The bigs seem bigger and less skilled now than they did in the black and white days.
