LOL the only reason the "traditional big men" died is because they all got injured in the previous generation: 1. Yao Ming 2. Greg Oden 3. Andrew Bynum (injured both in body and head) 4. Andrew Bogut (injured almost every year prior to heading to GSW) 5. Javale Mcgee and Andray Blatche (same with Bynum) All of these guys would've filled the void left by Shaq, it wasn't that there were all gone for example there just wasn't enough of them for example Tyson Chandler, Dwight, Tim Duncan, the Gasol bros, Omer Asik and De Andre Jordan were here all this time. Now we can see a resurgence in the C's again with guys like Cousins, Drummond, Noel, Embiid and Porzingis and even with underrated prospects like Capela and that Ibak dude the Lakers have. The thing is there's now been a shift in perimeter play due to everyone noticing shooting 30% from 3 is better than shooting 40% from 2. It's also important to note that freaks like Lebron and KD are becoming more common place in the NBA, these guys can both score in the post like a traditional big man AND score in the perimeter like a traditional guard. As a result you can only focus on traditional big man development if you have the build of a traditional center, guys like Faried and Greg Monroe who would've joined the traditional big man cadre previously now find themselves marginalized as other players can do what they do and more.
I mean, when you cant even correctly interpret basic percentages, and then tell everyone else they are wrong because #NBAMath, you are going to have to defend yourself from anyone with a 5th grade education. Which even on this site, is the vast majority.
I'll disagree here for the reason that the shift of perimeter play has much more to do with the lack of big men play who can truly affect the game. This new generation of big men do not develop their bigs with back to the basket play as much as they did years ago. You see it in all the kids growing up now as is. They're not in the gym working on post plays. These kids are shooting perimeter shots and just trying to use their athleticism to there advantage as much as possible. The only true bigs at the moment with true skills around the basket are KAT and Embiid/okafor. And maybe cousins but he spends way too much time on the perimeter these days.
That's basically the same thing though, not sure why you're disagreeing with me. People go with what works, the trainers want the kids they're training to succeed in the NBA, and nowadays people have realized that perimeter oriented play is superior to post oriented play because like what I said 30% from 3 is better than 40% from 2 so a kid working on his 3s will have a better shot in the NBA than a guy working on his post play all things remaining equal. People make the argument that players who play in the post tend to have higher FG%, but if you look at it a lot of that increase in % really is due to dunks and drives to the rim which all players need to learn how to do anyway, if you isolate pure post plays like Jump Hooks and other back to the basket plays and then get the % from versus the 30% average of open 3 pointers the 3 pointers will likely result in higher production. There's also beneficial effects with long 3s in that misses from 3 tend to be rebounded as offensive rebounds due to the ball bouncing away from the paint where all the defenders are. OTH misses in the post tend to be picked up by the defending team, because the guy who made the shot is further from the basket than the defender and a missed jump hook will bounce close to the basket. And then there's the inherent risk the kid you're teaching won't grow as tall as you want him to be, if he grew to 6'6 at a young age and you taught him post moves but then he stopped growing, then he's screwed. OTH, if he grew to 6'6 and you taught him perimeter moves, whether he stopped growing at that height or grew into 7 ft the perimeter skills will help him just fine, guys like Dirk, KD, Porzingis, Ryan Anderson are like 6'8 and up players who still worked really well with perimeter skills. Finally, and possibly the most important thing is its way easier to hit 3s than score in the post, you need a lot of requirements for post play like strength, speed, stamina, durability etc. but for 3 pt shooting you just need 3 pt shooting. Guys like Anderson and Kyle Wiltjer would've been screwed if they were born in the 80's as they're too unathletic, thin and wimpy to bang in the post, but since they can shoot 3's at a high clip they have spot in the league nowadays.
http://www.thedreamshake.com/2016/5/18/11704734/hakeem-olajuwon-discusses-the-small-ball-phenomenon "The Sonics always gave us trouble. It was Gary... How was this little guard doing so much damage in the paint? I always thought of myself as a guard in a big man's body. Maybe that's why I respected Gary's game so much. He never wanted to be just a guard. And I never wanted to just be a traditional center." "I developed my outside game. I didn't just do big man drills. I worked on my dribbling and my mid-range jumper. I worked on my passing and my footwork. If I had a slower guy guarding me, I'd draw him outside of his element. I could get an easy jumper or I could cross him over and beat him to the rim. If he was smaller, I'd get position inside and post him up." "People ask me, 'Is the era of the dominant big man over?' They wonder if small ball will make the NBA a shooting guard's league. But if you only look at sharp shooters like Steph Curry and Klay, you miss what's going on. These guys are special, but they're not the norm. Small ball has made stars out of traditional guards, but in my mind, the biggest thing it has done is to liberate big men from their traditional duties. They're no longer stuck in the paint. Small ball won't eliminate big men, but it might eliminate our old ideas of positions."
Yeah...well in this case for Drummond it doesn't matter because he has no skills. Traditional or otherwise. But nice link. I enjoyed rereading this.
Well..the season is almost over and Drummond has been one of the most dissapointing players. His team is out of the playoffs looking in, he has failed to improve his game in any aspect , the wasted possesions with him trying to post up continue and his coach has been even benching him to send him a message. But instead he prefers to make rap videos. I can't say that I'm surprised. When a player sees the game as only a mean to make money and doesn't love it or care much about it then why should he sacrifice his summer to improve his skillset or care to become a great player?
LOL. Atrocious defender. Atrocious free throw shooter. Max contract. Worst contract in the Association. Just like I told you. Come on all you Drummond fans that blasted me repeatedly for telling you he stinks. Bring it. What you gonna say now?
Won't change anything. This is Jerome James/Benoit Benjamin/Eric Dampier all over again. Can't win with him. But some r****ded front office will keep trying while Drummond cashes their checks. He's simply not a winner.
There was a point in time when he was the best big man in the league. I think he's overweight. He needs to get in shape and hire a shooting coach
Only in your dreams. He was never even a top ten big man in the league. And he never will be. Andre Drummond is a bust. He did just enough to fool SVG into giving him a max contract. And now SVG has to eat it. Whoever would trade for that monster contract is silly stupid.
Considering the way his game is constructed and the players they put around him, I don't even really see how he could possibly help them win. Y'alls boy SVG really put a bunch trash together in Detroit.
Will Drummond have the motivation to work on his game, which has at the very least has stagnated, once he gets paid? He seems like one of those guys who were made to play basketball in high school because he was freakishly tall and athletic.
It was a worth a shot with SVG considering the similarities to Dwight and the success down in Orlando but Drummond just hasn't turned into the unstoppable two way player that Dwight was in Orlando.
Good night dude. He's already got paid. He's only going to get worse. No he's not going to put the work in. He's already proven that. And that's why SVG is now trying to move him.
I didn't look at his stats game per game and i will not lol, but i remember him making at least two times this season 1-10 from the free throw line in a game, this stat alone is absolutely pathetic. I think a regular person can make 1 ft out of 10 shooting with his bad hand and with his eyes closed ffs... Aside for that, i agree with who says he's overrated, on both ends, overall...feels like a lot of people had high expectations on him just because they talked about him during the draft about how he had the chance to be some sort of next Dwight Howard and similar arguments. Personally, i'd still refuse to call him a bust just because he's still young and imo you have always to consider that aging and/or a change of enviroment sometimes does help, but yeah, as today he's definitely way overrated.
