(2013) Who are the best big men in the Nation?

I find Alex Len out of Maryland intriguing. He destroyed Nerlens Noel early in the season and caught my attention. He's really skinny, but he's got nice footwork, hands, and finishing ability.

 

Alex Len also destroyed Plumlee in the last Maryland Duke game.

My guess is that Plumlee will struggle to be a marginal NBA center.

 

Plumlee outplayed Len in their first meeting, also has Noel and McAdoo's number. I see Plumlee being a high energy bench guy that alot of NBA teams could use. He's a solid defender, runs the floor exceptionally well already has the NBA body not to mention the 18 and 11 he's putting up are the best for any big man since Blake Griffin.

 

Jeff Withey?

 

Any discussion of the best big men in college basketball should be a discussion between Cody Zeller and Alex Len only. Everybody else is a step or two below.

 

We are not getting Noel, and I like Len a lot. I'd be satisfied if we get Dieng or Muscala.

 

Someone is gonna get great value out of Erik Murphy (Florida). As of now, he's projected in the late 2nd round or possibly even undrafted. This guy is 6'10 and shoots the 3 well. He's basically Matt Bonner 2.0, without the ginger. He'll never be more than that, but any team could use a Matt Bonner off the bench. Especially in the Rockets offense.

 

Pretty sad group there.

It's been a while now since Dwight popped on the scene. And even then he's not on the Shaq/Duncan big man level. Maybe Anthony Davis improves.

Still, the days of that truly dominant big man who comes in right away and is uber successful I guess are just over for the time being. Nobody on the horizon like that. I mean check out Duncan's, Shaq's, Hakeem's, etc. stats right out of college. Immediate domination. I think Duncan was probably the last big in that mold, and that was 15 years ago.... sad

 

Diamond Stone will be the next great big men.

 

I almost never watch college basketball, but Johnny O'Bryant III seems exceptional.

 

Have not seen him play lately, but CJ Leslie would be a nice backup 4. He needs to add weight, strength, and a motor, but has potential to be a nice stretch 4. Granted the Rockets have a ton of undersized guys.

I love, hate guys like him. He should be a much better player than he is.

 

I wonder why. Is that more kids grow up wanting to play on the perimeter (hence why we have 6'9" small forwards) or is the skillset just not being taught?

 

Rule changes in last two decades makes the transition to NBA extremely difficult for bigmen. Speed, rather than size, is more important nowadays.