Friday, July 13, 2007
Big Men Playing the Way We Like It
When James Naismith invented basketball, the most important maneuver on the court was not the shot or the dribble.
It was the pass.
The game was not designed for guards to pound the ball onto the court; it was not made for big men to use their sheer strength to back their way into the basket; or for anyone to take 30 shots a game — half of them contested.
Naismith was smarter than that. In fact, basketball was supposed to be much more like what soccer is today. Misdirection, sneaky passing, quick cuts to the basket, creativity — all things that have been lost in the NBA.
Nowadays, the only players who can really pass — or ever really learn the rhythm and timing of the pass — are point guards. But to differentiate those who can and can't give up the rock, scouts coined the term "true point guard."
But what about the other four guys on the court? In theory, every player is in a unique position to create scoring opportunities for their team by passing the ball correctly, and moving without the ball accordingly. It's an understanding of the game that every soccer player has mastered, yet somehow, the majority of NBA players just don't understand. We have been enamored by height, quickness, size, potential — all these trite words — that we forgot that a basketball player, not any athletic large man, plays basketball.
But this year's NBA draft was special. It gives us a glimmer of hope.
This year's draft featured four lottery big-men — Jeff Green, Joakim Noah, Spencer Hawes, and Julian Wright — who are praised for their excellent passing ability.
They aren't quite at the level of Magic, Bird, or even LeBron — those guys have a sixth sense for the game — but they have the potential to make this game more fun to watch.
Remember Vlade Divac? Just look him up on YouTube if you don't remember.
Other great passers include Jack Sikma, Bill Walton, Karl Malone, and Brad Daugherty. Never mind what they did for their team — they made the game more fun to watch for us fans.
We've got a few big men nowadays who can dish the rock and pick up their share of dimes in post: Chris Webber, Tim Duncan, and Boris Diaw. But others around the league would rather force a left-handed hook shot than dump it off to the cutting guard for two easy points.
I'd like to say the return of the passing big man is a trend. But it isn't.
Looking into the near future, there aren't any more big men coming who can dish the rock. There aren't many big men who you can run your offense through. Sure, you'll have the uber-athletic Kevin Durants and Michael Beasleys, but there are plenty of scorers. Passers — not so much.
Green, Noah, Hawes, and Wright are special. After you take Hawes out of this group — he compares too much to the likes of Brad Miller for my taste — the other three guys are real basketball players. They play the game the way it's supposed to be played.
Granted, these guys haven't exactly been dominating in the assist category in the summer league, but that's not the point here. A few years ago, there weren't too many players we could call "too unselfish." These guys are unselfish to a fault.
In addition, they rebound well, they see the court, they understand how an offense works, they play tough defense, and they pass the ball the way it was supposed to be passed. They got to this level by doing the little things it takes for their team to win, not chucking up 20 shots a game.
They play the way James Naismith would have liked.
But more importantly, the way we, the fans, like it.