With Bosh & no true backup center, the Rockets will compete for a championship. With no Bosh & true backup center, the Rockets will be a 1st or 2nd round exit. With Yao injured & true backup center, the Rockets will be a lottery team With Yao healthy & no true backup center, the Rockets will likely be a 1st or 2nd round exit. But I'm glad you think our biggest area of need isn't a major talent upgrade, but a hypothetical backup center that may or may not exist. And I won't even get into the whole "Morey said Jordan Hill is a PF/C" that people like to ignore.
Here are the Free Agent and Restricted Free Agent Centers available. Take your pick... Brendan Haywood Age: 30 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 9.1 ppg, 56.2% FG, 9.3 rpg, 2.0 bpg Status: Unrestricted Shaquille O'Neal Age: 38 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 12.0 ppg, 56.6% FG, 6.7 rpg, 1.2 bpg Status: Unrestricted Zydrunas Ilgauskas Age: 35 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 7.4 ppg, 44.3% FG, 5.4 rpg Status: Unrestricted Brad Miller Age: 34 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 8.8 ppg, 43.0% FG, 4.9 rpg Status: Unrestricted Jermaine O'Neal Age: 31 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 13.6 ppg, 52.9% FG, 6.9 rpg, 1.4 bpg Status: Unrestricted Channing Frye Age: 27 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 11.2 ppg, 45.1% FG, 43.9% 3PT, 5.3 rpg Status: Unrestricted Joel Anthony Age: 27 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 2.7 ppg, 47.8% FG, 3.1 rpg, 1.4 bpg Status: Restricted Tony Battie Age: 34 | Position: F-C '09-10 Stats: 2.4 ppg, 35.0% FG, 1.5 rpg Status: Unrestricted Josh Boone Age: 25 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 4.0 ppg, 52.5% FG, 5.0 rpg Status: Restricted Primoz Brezec Age: 30 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 0.9 ppg, 34.6% FG, 1.2 rpg Status: Unrestricted Kwame Brown Age: 28 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 3.3 ppg, 50.0% FG, 3.7 rpg Status: Unrestricted Jarron Collins Age: 31 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 1.0 ppg, 38.7% FG, 1.8 rpg Status: Unrestricted Jason Collins Age: 31 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 0.7 ppg, 34.8% FG, 0.6 rpg Status: Unrestricted Francisco Elson Age: 34 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 1.0 ppg, 33.3% FG, 1.2 rpg Status: Unrestricted Kyrylo Fesenko Age: 23 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 2.6 ppg, 54.7% FG, 1.8 rpg Status: Restricted Adonal Foyle Age: 35 | Position: C '08-09 Stats: 1.7 ppg, 63.6% FG, 2.6 rpg Status: Unrestricted Aaron Gray Age: 25 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 3.3 ppg, 51.2% FG, 3.3 rpg Status: Restricted Steven Hunter Age: 28 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 2.5 ppg, 39.5% FG, 2.0 rpg Status: Unrestricted Nathan Jawai Age: 23 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 3.2 ppg, 44.1% FG, 2.7 rpg Status: Restricted Jamaal Magloire Age: 32 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 2.1 ppg, 50.0% FG, 3.4 rpg Status: Unrestricted Sean Marks Age: 34 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 0.7 ppg, 50.0% FG, 1.6 rpg Status: Unrestricted D.J. Mbenga Age: 29 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 2.1 ppg, 46.6% FG, 1.8 rpg Status: Unrestricted Darko Milicic Age: 25 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 6.7 ppg, 49.0% FG, 4.7 rpg, 1.1 bpg Status: Unrestricted Fabricio Oberto Age: 35 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 1.5 ppg, 62.5% FG, 1.8 rpg Status: Unrestricted Patrick O'Bryant Age: 24 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 1.7 ppg, 53.3% FG, 1.0 rpg Status: Unrestricted Johan Petro Age: 24 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 3.4 ppg, 53.5% FG, 3.6 rpg Status: Unrestricted Josh Powell Age: 27 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 2.7 ppg, 36.6% FG, 1.8 rpg Status: Unrestricted Theo Ratliff Age: 37 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 3.6 ppg, 46.1% FG, 3.2 rpg, 1.2 bpg Status: Unrestricted Brian Skinner Age: 34 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 1.6 ppg, 40.0% FG, 1.7 rpg Status: Unrestricted Etan Thomas Age: 32 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 3.3 ppg, 45.6% FG, 2.8 rpg Status: Unrestricted Kurt Thomas Age: 37 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 3.0 ppg, 47.6% FG, 4.2 rpg Status: Unrestricted Anthony Tolliver Age: 25 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 11.7 ppg, 43.0% FG, 7.0 rpg Status: Unrestricted Ben Wallace Age: 35 | Position: C '09-10 Stats: 5.5 ppg, 54.1% FG, 8.7 rpg, 1.2 bpg Status: Unrestricted
That was precisely my point. And I'm not sure I want to trade one of our assets for a back up true Center.
For example: Jordan Hill would be a better PF than he would be a center because center is not his natural position, PF is. Same goes for Bosh, Amare and David Lee. All are PF who at some point played out of position at the 5.
The reason we have least depth at center is because the entire league lacks depth at center. If you take a look around, you'd see that you don't necessarily need a "true center" on the floor at all times in order to be successful in this league. Examples: True Centers, 2010 Champions - Andrew Bynum (injured and largely ineffective in the playoffs) - DJ Mbenga *Combined MPG during the playoffs: 28.8 True Centers, 2010 Runners Up - Kendrick Perkins *MPG during playoffs: 25.0 If the Rockets can get 25 MPG out of Yao, do we really need another "true center" to cover for him while he's on the bench? Our guys playing F/C will simply be matching up against other F/Cs. Of course, some teams may create match-up problems at this position, but it hardly seems to be our most glaring weakness.
You are obviously mistaken. Who needs Bosh or Lebron or Wade when you can have a "true backup center"? If you don't see the logic in that, then you obviously don't know basketball. Agreed, why people think of me as PF/C is beyond me. Thank god there's one person who understands that I can't do jack as a center. Because I'm a PF. Signed, "PF/I'm not really a C" Tim Duncan.
I cannot tell the difference between a center and a power forward. It seems like both play near the rim and there are cases where both shoot 3s. Guys who play in these positions are about the same height too. So what the heck is a true center? While I'm on the subject, it seems to me point guard is the only position with a definitive role of primarily distributing the ball.
People,don't make this harder than it should be. You all know what i mean. Get us another 7ft center as a backup, not another undersized 6'10 sometime center. Bosh even mentioned that his position is not the 5, its the 4. Meaning he doesn't like playing the 5, but thats wat we need.
I'm trying to figure out what world you live in. Or what you are smoking. Either way, I'm sure you must be having a great time.
Word. It's possible that people who are arguing for a backup center might be better suited in arguing for upgrading our interior defensive presence, in general, when Yao isn't on the floor. However, that does not necessarily mean we need a backup "true center." Houston is a top 5 defensive team over the past six seasons which we've had Yao*. (And yeah, Deke contributed to that.) Last season without him? 17. It's possible that the reason Morey is pursuing Bosh is because, of all of the elite, all-star guys available, he is the one who can allow us to keep a top defensive unit on the floor when Yao isn't in. Anybody remember Bosh's performance in the '08 Olympics? He seemed much more effective than future DPOY Dwight Howard, and I think the coaching staff agreed. Nobody knows how much PT with the Rockets Yao will get over the next few years, and Bosh is an interior defensive presence moving beyond the Yao years. While that makes sense intuitively, my JCDenton-style "advanced statistical analysis" doesn't back up my argument. A Bosh-led Toronto with an average rank of 21.5 over the past six seasons**. I'd love to see the Rockets' advanced stats on this. *DEF EFF, Past 6 seasons with Yao: 4, 2, 4, 9, 7, 5 *DEF EFF, Past 6 seasons with Bosh: 30, 22, 13, 13, 28, 23
