Starting center for the Portland Trailblazers: J.J. Hickson Starting center for the Miami Heat: Chris Bosh
I don't care what you call them. Neither of them are centers. Is Patrick Patterson a center just because McHale decided to throw him out there at the 5 during the 4th quarter of every game last season???
The world doesn't revolve around the Rockets, try watching some other NBA games. Both Hickson and Bosh starts at center for their team all year.
Wow. Just because their teams have been forced to throw them out there in a position that isn't natural for them, doesn't mean they are true centers. You are aware that both of these guys have played PF for most of their careers...?? And I personally don't give a **** about other NBA teams. My team is the Rockets. Deal with it.
I hope he turns into Emeka Okafor type player at 1/2 the cost. I really wanted to pick up Robin Lopez over the summer,too. Now R. Lopez is just killing it with NOH for 4M a year. One of the better contracts for a center in the league.
Also, what if we factor in his age? I mean, would anyone trade Asik for an aging Duncan now? If all the factors are added, like contract, age, and overall impact on a team, I think Asik easily climbs over many of these names mentioned. I guess the question may be how many centers would we trade for Asik?
PER (14.9) wise he is ranked about 20, considering he is a young 7fter, reasonable contract, play good defense... More importantly, didn't come with a pack of PEACE disturbing LOF, so basically everybody is happy with him.
Defensively: top 5 Offensively: bottom 5. He is top 15. Vujevic for example is a monster. Leadinge league in rebounding or bound to. He scores 15+ points.
I don't think he gets enough credit for his defense and rebounding when comparing him to centers around the league. In general I think to much weight is put on the centers offense. I was say that he is easily in the top 10. We would have a lot more losses if we didn't have Asik on the team.
I don't know where he fits in a list, but he impresses the heck out of me. He is big, really big. He is mobile, elevates well. He may appear to have stone hands, but not always. He sucks down rebounds from above the rim. The thing I like the most is that he has a "motor." He plays hard.
Dwight Howard- no Tim Duncan- no Marc Gasol- no Andrew Bogut- yes Joachim Noah- equal Al Jefferson- equal Tyson Chandler- equal Roy Hibbert- yes Nene- yes Nikola Pekovic- equal Nikola Vučević- yes Brook Lopez- no Anderson Varejao- yes DeAndre Jordan
Asik is good at what he does but he is not a focal point of an offense. Top 10 Centers can do something with the basketball in the post.
That reminds me of a reporter asking Jerry Sloan whether he, in his prime, would have been able to take Michael Jordan. Sloan said, "Oh yeah, without a doubt, but he would have been 6-years-old at the time."
very nice summary, agree. Tough to compare guys like this Not saying Asik is on Rodman's level by any means. But it was always tough to say "where does Rodman land on a list of PFs?" At what point did his reb/def excellence exceed an all-around solid player? or an all-around decent player?
Maybe this is the relevant question: If you are given $8.4M in cap room (i.e. Asik's cap hit), who is the best center out there that you can possibly sign in free agency in 2013 or even 2014?
I agree, that's what's important. Asik is a very good young center who allows the Rockets to go out and get another star player at a weak spot like PF.
