Not along ago, basketball fans and writers alike were lamenting the donut phenomena, where every team except the one with Shaquille O'Neal had a large hole in the center. Bill Russell/Wilt Chamberlain? Willis Reed/Wes Unseld? We weren't even talking Brad Daugherty/Robert Parrish — there was not one post player who could contend with O'Neal when he was at his best.
Even hobbled, the Diesel dominated. Oh, there was plenty of tall talent, but all of it at the "four" position: Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Webber, and the then-svelte Shawn Kemp. In the 1970's they'd have been centers, but the game had changed (some say evolved).
When one watched an NBA game two seasons ago, unless Miami was playing, not one player on either team posted himself in the paint at the beginning of a half-court possession. Neither did a post player on the defensive end. Every play started, and ran through, the wing players. Collegiate ball, with a few exceptions (notably Andrew Bogut's Utah squad) was worse. But nothing bad can last forever.
Today, 20-year-old Dwight Howard not only challenges inside shots, he averages 16.4 points and 13.5 rebounds a night. 13.5 rebounds a game leads the league a lot of years. Emeka Okafor goes for 19 points and 12 rebounds a contest, and blocks 3.4 shots to boot. Young Raptor Chris Bosh is scoring 21 points with 12 boards a game, and the Long Awaited One, Yao Ming, has averages of 26.4 ppg, 12.4 rebs, and 2 blocks. This was worth the wait. And these guys are so young, Joakim Noah and Greg Oden may be giving them company soon. Things are literally looking up.
How did we get here? Coaching, scouting, and a little common sense. There is obviously no place for Yao Ming except the low post, despite his nice shooting touch. Given the state of the league, and the dearth of talented pivots when they joined it, Okafor and Howard's defensive gifts would have been wasted on the wing. Ditto Bosh. After all, if no one else has a big man who can guard yours, why make him a power forward where he'd be matched nightly against the likes of Stoudemire and Garnett?
With the tutelage of one Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers' Andrew Bynum is also coming around. One night, he led the purple-and-gold to a win over the T-Wolves by tallying 20 points and 14 rebounds. The team is atop the Pacific Division, who knew?
Where will we go from here? First of all, Howard, Okafor, Ming, and Bosh will only improve as they mature, barring injury. Some will be better than the basketball world thought Ralph Sampson would turn out to be. Others will become giant media darlings — a rare commodity only recently achieved by the engaging Shaq. That 6'10" high school phenom will aspire to become Dwight Howard, not an outgrown Allen Iverson. After all, the teenage Lew Alcindor idolized New York resident Wilt Chamberlain, not Bob Cousy.
The game will also change (I say, "evolve"), and become about inside power. So NBA GMs will be forced to scout bigs as bigs, and not as tall jump shooters. There will be a foreign influx of weighty centers to stem the flow of damage from the aforementioned fabs. Commissioner David Stern, aspiring players, and league fans will see the pivot position as the glamour spot. Howard/Okafor wars will draw fans, as will other worthy matchups.
Most interesting, superstars such as Garnett and Stoudemire will be assigned to guard these guys more often. Those will be battles to look forward to. When it becomes a question of winning or losing, coaches will use their best big to guard the opponent's best big, regardless of what position the defender plays "on paper." As the gifted power forwards age, the Baby Bigs will begin getting the better of them. Of such stuff (or stuffs), legends are made.
Let's face it, this league has always been about matchups. Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettit, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West, Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe, Larry Bird Magic Johnson. It will take great post duels, not crossover dribbles and three-point bombs, to maintain the interest of rooters in the And 1 and Madden generation. We can see blind passes in the Rucker League — let's see someone other than father time stop a 315-pound Diesel.
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