This NBA Center Position is so overrated! No wonder Horford is can play center!

[JTB]

I dont mean to rant on and on but damn I have watched Roy Hibbert in many games this year including yesterday against the Bucks and that just summed it up for me! Hibbert is terrible! and so are many other Centers in this League. The bucks have no real post players and Hibbert couldnt even get it done! and to think he actually made an all star game last year!

Im going to end, saying this:

If you dont have NBA League Pass you should get it and watch these other centers in the NBA. When you do you will realize just how much BETTER horford is than the rest of these NBA Centers!

My goodness people if it was up to me I wouldnt even be looking for a true Center for this team cause it is not the problem!

Im just saying I really appreciate Horford more than ever now! If anything we need more productive BIG bodies on the Bench besides pachulia and Ivan and we would be good to go!

Our center position just isnt an issue is what Im saying....in other words it really isnt an good excuse anymore.

[hawkrule152]

Not hating, but I think this is something that we have known for a while. There may be only 2-3 REAL centers in the NBA. D12, Bynum, Maybe Brooke Lopez? even though he cant rebound for shit. Tyson Chandler? Maybe, but only for defensive purposes. Your going to see more undersized centers around the league, and IMO we have one of the best.

[AHF]

It is amazing how far we are from the 1980's and 1990's. Where would centers today rank against the 1992-93 group of centers?

Hakeem Olajuwon

David Robinson

Shaquille O'Neal

Patrick Ewing

Brad Daughtery

Alonzo Mourning

Robert Parish

Dikembe Mutombo

Vlade Divac

Rik Smits

Today's best center in the league (Howard) probably lines up with Alonzo Mourning, right?

You can even keep going down the list for guys who are comparable to the #2 center in the league today.

Are Brook Lopez and Tyson Chandler big jumps over Bill Lambier, Rony Seikaly, etc.?

It is really sad.

[tbhawksfan]

Sort of right. If you have the best players you can win. If you don't, you better not get out-muscled. The Center position historically hasn't been where you find the best players. Look at the history of the best teams and you'll much more often than not, find the best players. Unfortunately, the Hawks don't have the best players and they can't out-muscle...first or second round exit.What has Dwight Howard won? Nothing.The Pistons were the exception because they had very good players, good coaching and muscle.The real question is...what is the Hawks path to a championship team? The best players or maybe the possibility of putting together a balaced team of very good players, well coached and not out-muscled.

[Admin]

I don't think Howard is even remotely in Mourning's class as that article the other day is right, he's the most unskilled "elite" center in the game. And damn try and compare Howard to the admiral or the dream and it's laughable. Hell he's not even half the player Shaq was and they're similar types of center. But yeah Al would be close to last on that list, maybe ahead of an aging Parish. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

[thecampster]

It is amazing how far we are from the 1980's and 1990's. Where would centers today rank against the 1992-93 group of centers?

Hakeem Olajuwon

David Robinson

Shaquille O'Neal

Patrick Ewing

Brad Daughtery

Alonzo Mourning

Robert Parish

Dikembe Mutombo

Vlade Divac

Rik Smits

Today's best center in the league (Howard) probably lines up with Alonzo Mourning, right?

You can even keep going down the list for guys who are comparable to the #2 center in the league today.

Are Brook Lopez and Tyson Chandler big jumps over Bill Lambier, Rony Seikaly, etc.?

It is really sad.

Ewing was probably the best example of a complete center although Hakeem was a better / more impact player.

[Guest Walter]

It is amazing how far we are from the 1980's and 1990's. Where would centers today rank against the 1992-93 group of centers?

Hakeem Olajuwon

David Robinson

Shaquille O'Neal

Patrick Ewing

Brad Daughtery

Alonzo Mourning

Robert Parish

Dikembe Mutombo

Vlade Divac

Rik Smits

Today's best center in the league (Howard) probably lines up with Alonzo Mourning, right?

You can even keep going down the list for guys who are comparable to the #2 center in the league today.

Are Brook Lopez and Tyson Chandler big jumps over Bill Lambier, Rony Seikaly, etc.?

It is really sad.

What can we blame this on? Just bad luck (lesser prospects), the AAU circuit ruining players, or players leaving college basketball several years too early? I can't seem to find a good reason for this precipitous decline.

W

[HawkItus]

What can we blame this on? Just bad luck (lesser prospects), the AAU circuit ruining players, or players leaving college basketball several years too early? I can't seem to find a good reason for this precipitous decline.

W

Guys that used to be Centers are power forwards now. KG, Duncan, P Gasol, Aldrige etc. They are told to face up and put the ball on the floor. They don't want to be called centers. The centers are there they just don't want people to know they are centers.

[coachx]

It is amazing how far we are from the 1980's and 1990's. Where would centers today rank against the 1992-93 group of centers?

Hakeem Olajuwon

David Robinson

Shaquille O'Neal

Patrick Ewing

Brad Daughtery

Alonzo Mourning

Robert Parish

Dikembe Mutombo

Vlade Divac

Rik Smits

With HOF greats Kareem and Moses just retiring.

[coachx]

Guys that used to be Centers are power forwards now. KG, Duncan, P Gasol, Aldrige etc. They are told to face up and put the ball on the floor. They don't want to be called centers. The centers are there they just don't want people to know they are centers.

In my opinion, Duncan is the only who would have been a center in that era. He was drafted in a very unique situation with former MVP David Robinson coming off injury allowing the Spurs to get the #1 pick. Duncan would have been a franchise center for most any other team had the ping pong balls bounced a different way.

The others (KG, Aldridge, Gasol) are way too thin to play C until they reach their 30's.........and Gasol has trouble doing it now much less against those beast who were in the leage in 92-93. KG does OK at C vs. most teams but he is 35 pounds heavier then he used to be.....granted I don't see any of them having much success defending Hakeem, Robinson, Ewing, O'Neil, Mourning, Smits, Parish, Moses, Kareem, etc in the post.

Gasol is much like McHale...............just not as good or as tough. Kevin Willis was bad man and 7' while playing PF throughout his 20's before moving to center into his 30's.

[Randy]

So how much does League Pass cost?

Also, what is wrong with the American diet these days - aren't people growing tall anymore? The centers from back in the day - Wilt, Nate, Walt Bellamy, Artis Gilmore, Bob Lanier, Kareerm, Walton, etc -weren't they all taller than today crowd as well?

[coachx]

Our center position just isnt an issue is what Im saying....in other words it really isnt an good excuse anymore.

I want a more athletic version of ZaZa who can protect the rim and finish at the rim.

If we really want a to be a defensive oriented team who can compete for the Easter Conference Finals without a superstar then I believe that is a must.

[coachx]

So how much does League Pass cost?

Also, what is wrong with the American diet these days - aren't people growing tall anymore? The centers from back in the day - Wilt, Nate, Walt Bellamy, Artis Gilmore, Bob Lanier, Kareerm, Walton, etc -weren't they all taller than today crowd as well?

Read an article a few months ago that the average heights of Americans is down and the average weight is up. It blamed diet - fast food. I wish I had the link b/c it was an interesting read.

Edited December 20, 2012 by coachx

[coachx]

So how much does League Pass cost?

Looks like you can get it online for $149.99

http://www.nba.com/leaguepass/

I think its closer to $250 - $300 on TV though. I have DISH TV and they were doing a free preview last weekend. Lucky for me since the Hawks / Warriors games was not televised by the Atlanta version of Fox Sports. The free league pass preview let me watch the Warriors announcers on the San Fran version on Fox Sports.

If I remember right the cut the rate in half (pro-rata) once the season reaches the half way mark.

[Jody23]

I have league pass mobile and it only cost me $54.99. If I ever want to watch it on my t.v., I just connect my phone to the t.v. using an hdmi cable.

[MaceCase]

Looks like you can get it online for $149.99

http://www.nba.com/leaguepass/

I think its closer to $250 - $300 on TV though. I have DISH TV and they were doing a free preview last weekend. Lucky for me since the Hawks / Warriors games was not televised by the Atlanta version of Fox Sports. The free league pass preview let me watch the Warriors announcers on the San Fran version on Fox Sports.

If I remember right the cut the rate in half (pro-rata) once the season reaches the half way mark.

Woa woa! The $150 is for TV and includes Broadband and Mobile "free".

[coachx]

I have league pass mobile and it only cost me $54.99. If I ever want to watch it on my t.v., I just connect my phone to the t.v. using an hdmi cable.

How is the reception ? Can you watch a full game without interruption ?

I know the unlimited data plans can be less then unlimited.

Interested in this b/c I use a Dish Tailgater for tailgating UGA football games to catch the early games while having my attitude adjusted ........a ..............I've researched Slingbox and simply hooking up a phone to a TV but hear many issues. The reason I worry is b/c when 100,000 UGA fans are in Athens and using their I-Phones the internet speed slows way down.

Edited December 20, 2012 by coachx

[Jody23]

How is the reception ? Can you watch a full game without interruption ?

I know the unlimited data plans can be less then unlimited.

Interested in this b/c I use a Dish Tailgater for tailgating UGA football games to catch the early games while having my attitude adjusted ........a ..............I've researched Slingbox and simply hooking up a phone to a TV but hear many issues. The reason I worry is b/c when 100,000 UGA fans are in Athens and using their I-Phones the internet speed slows way down.

It works just fine and the reception is great. No interruptions. I have an Android phone (Droid Bionic) with unlimited data plan. Edited December 21, 2012 by Jody23

[DJlaysitup]

Read an article a few months ago that the average heights of Americans is down and the average weight is up. It blamed diet - fast food. I wish I had the link b/c it was an interesting read.

That's interesting. I have always been a bit of a history buff and recently have been reading more about "pre-history" (before writing-more evidence based). Apparently humans were taller in the time when they were hunter/gatherers-early farmers...according to Anthropologists...because they lived in smaller groups and had not fully conquered their predators. Distance vision was very important.

When the Europeans became more city (or at least settlement) based - and all the bad - human eaters were safely at bay - they shortened in stature to where the average man was 5'4" and the average woman was 5'0".

More recently - look at old pictures of Abe Lincoln when he was visiting the Union Generals in their camps in the civil war. Abe was 6'4" by all accounts - but he looks like he is a foot taller than nearly all around him.

I dunno...maybe human height patterns adjust faster to requirements (of life) than one would expect.

Maybe if we raised the height of the basket the guys would grow taller ...it could be that 6 foot 9 is the optimum height for a human if the hoop is 10 feet high.

(sorry if this is a tad O.T.)

Edited December 21, 2012 by DJlaysitup

[tbhawksfan]

I think the cause is a "sexy" thing. Since Jordan, everyone wants to be like Mike. A very effective BIG who plays inside and physically dominates while giving his team an inside advantage is just not as sexy as the athletic, versitale player that can shoot, cut, dish and regularly put up 25-30 while doing it.All these young big guys want to emulate that instead of developing an effective but unsexy post game. The result is; no more true Centers.Durant is the best of the bigs at this and he's one of the best players in the game, he's also 1 in billion or so. Maybe everyone who isn't Durant or Dirk should stick to what they should be working on; dominating with an effective, physical post game, instead of trying to be like Mike