Olajuwon: Post play isn't dead — if you're good

Yep. The rules changes were impactful enough, but the officiating is basically dictating who is great and who is not. The NBA has transformed the on court product immensely.

The power game is mostly dead, so actual skill is required.

 

Good points. DMo has a strong post game. But he is a pretty poor finisher and his game really stands out because he has what is sadly a rare skill set.

Anyway, if DMo can be so effective with his T-Rex arms and falling, then an athlete like Howard would dominate provided he had the skill set. And that is how The Dream would have been effective. Duncan is still effective here and there in the high and low post. Hell, Harden wrecks shop in the post!! The current rules and officiating won't negatively impact a finesse post game too badly, I think.

I am watching to see how Okafor and Towns develop. They are a couple of guys who could bring post skills back into the picture. Of course, these days, bigs need to have perimeter/mid-range shot, too. But there is some hope, I think.

 

Today's big men are soft they want to shoot 3's instead of developing a post game.

 

Not really. It is a move toward positionless basketball. Today's big men try to be more versatile. And they are enabled by the fact that wrestling is not really being consistently allowed under the basket.

Any post skills have to be legit skill moves and not bump n' grinding or Shaq-charging.

 

So . . you saying physical ability is being limited . . .. 'as it should be'

Part of the skill is playing with skill and physicality
otherwise just have them shoot free throws all game

The FLOP is worse than the 'bump-n-grind'
The moving pick is as atrocious as the Shaq charge

Rocket River

 

DMo already made more hook shots than miss, but two of them was after whistle, team not accustomed give pass to DMo in post on time.

 

No. I am saying that using strength to bull through an opponent is being or had been excised from the game. But that this limitation can be overcome by footwork, post moves, and post skill. I meant exactly the words I wrote.

Strength to hold position and rebound and to maintain balance when incidental contact occurs or to power through a hard foul. Speed and agility to maneuver around opponents is still there to be used. Those physical abilities I don't see as being limited. And given that we a re talking about athletes, physical ability is necessary to execute any of these skills at a high level. And Dream levels require legendary physical skill and ability.

I didn't endorse flops. I didn't endorse moving screens. And I didn't rank them related to ramming ones butt into an opponent or dipping the shoulder to bowl over the defender. They all suck in my book.

I also have a post history of disliking the current rules changes that try to manufacture star players by making perimeter defense damn near impossible against certain players.

 

Major blowout lost. Kobe turns back time and goes 20-31

 

Guys like Shaq and Barkley used their strength to get position down low but they did it differently than what players today do.

When Howard tries to overpower a defender he does it by bumping him. Those bumps are when the defender flops and its convincing because theres an obvious collision.

Shaq and Barkley were much more subtle. They would just lean on their defender and they were so strong it made it almost impossible for them to hold their position. They would just walk their man backwards without the violent collisions. That approach didn't allow for the obvious opportunities to flop.

Robert Parish described Barkley leaning on you as "being crushed in a trash compactor". That's a pretty apt description. Just a slow and steady force.
http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Barkley_Charles.html

Of course, occasionally both Shaq and Barkley would decide to send a message or they wanted to intimidate their opponent and they would deliver a blow by crashing into their defender but that wasn't their norm.

I guess the main difference in the two techniques is that Howard uses his upper body to generate the force and he delivers it in short violent bursts. Shaq and Barkley generated their power with their lower body and it was a consistent force applied on the defender.

A guy like Draymont Green would never be able to hold his position against the likes of Shaq or Barkley. He certainly could flop, but he wouldn't be getting too many calls because there's no obvious blow that he's receiving. Falling down when a guy leans on you doesn't get too many whistles.

 

Great points. Shaq demonstrates this a lot on the little segments in which he demonstrates how to get position my running right down the middle of the lane. he complains a lot that it is a simple thing Howard doesn't do.

 

Those chase down blocks were also something to see. He destroyed so many fast breaks from behind and covered the switches on the pick and roll as no other could. That's a great call on the pivots and the pump fakes, too. When all else failed, his turn around jumper was unstoppable. The only team he often struggled against was Seattle. He really did struggle with Kemp as much as he could ever be expected to struggle. For sure, The Dream was my reason for falling in love with this franchise. Once in a life time.

 

I've been wondering this too. I have to wonder if it's not because of the leg injury he had a while back.

 

Hakeem says the pick and roll allows you to be more creative on the post? Then that's good as gold and true. Now to find that center that believes in creativity....



Schwing!

 

This guy is going to have to play more than 25mpg before you can convince me post play isn't DEAD.