NBA = "No Bigs Allowed"

[Built Ford Tough]

A fairly interesting piece from Isiah Thomas on NBA.com about how he feels the NBA is changing and the big man is starting to become more and more obsolete.

 

Today we might say that the NBA is an acronym for "No Bigs Allowed." There is a belief among some experts that the big man has no place in the game. In fact, the center position is not even on the NBA All-Star ballot! The point guard has evolved into the most dominant position on the floor, and high and side pick-and-roll basketball is the way the game is most commonly played.

 

Gone are the days when the 6-foot-9 "point forward" would throw inside to the 7-foot-2 center, quickly scamper to the other side of the floor and wait for a skip pass cross-court while the big fella maneuvered and scored: Two points for the center and an assist for the "point forward." In contrast, most teams today start two guards that can play pick-and-roll and shoot from the 3-point line. If need be they can post up. The small man plays inside and out.

 

The offensive style of play today goes against the traditional thinking that height equals might. "You can't teach size" was the phrase that used to carry the day. But now, the constructed box of the point guard has been shattered. It is no longer the position where you are not required to score. It is no longer the position where you pass to the big man and stay out of the way. Instead, it is the position where you are required to be complete in every aspect of the game.

 

Although every position is trained to be far more complete than in days past, generally speaking, only the point guard has come close to such completion. Only the point is required to take every aspect of the game plan off the board and make it come to life on the court. Only the point guard must be a threat to score from any area of the floor. From the 3-point line to the front of the rim, the small man must be good in every area. Depending on the position, completeness is either a goal or a necessity for all players now, which has made the game better.

 

Maybe no team better exemplifies this evolution than the streaking Los Angeles Clippers. With Chris Paul, Eric Bledsoe, Jamal Crawford, Chauncey Billups and Willie Green, they have the most complete set of guards on one team. Former Pistons General Manager Jack McCloskey had a saying: "You should never be guard-poor in this league," and the Clippers are definitely in the top 1 percent of guard-wealth in the NBA. Chris Paul, the small leader of the Clippers, has kicked the door down and boldly announced his team's arrival.

 

http://www.nba.com/2012/news/12/27/isiah-thomas-evolution-of-the-point-guard/index.html

 

What are your thoughts on this?

 

Do you think that Thomas is right and that the NBA is moving away from big men because of the way the game is changing?

 

Or do you thinkt he reason why more and more teams are going small is because of the dearth of quality centers in the league?

[Nitro]

Teams are going small mostly because of the poor state of the center position. The elite centers are way too far and inbetween, and IMO only one (Dwight) is capable of being the focal point on a championship team. There are a 2nd tier of good, quality centers that can definitely be a main piece on a championship team, but the center position is so dilluted that those players are making close to max money, which is well above their actual productivity and effectiveness. Then you got solid role players making $10M a year solely because of their size.

 

So, teams look at this, and think, "Why spend all that money on a center when I can either get a much more talented PF for the same price, or a few different pieces that will provide ultimately better productivity and depth?" Miami is a good example of this. They have wanted a legit starting center the last 3 years, but after their big 3 they have had no assets to trade for that kind of big. And there have been certain possible scenarios to attain marginal big men, but that would mean giving up depth (which is what helped cost them a title in '11) and 3pt shooting (which is what helped win them the championship last year). So, in the end, it just doesn't seem worth it to make that gamble, and since the center position is so thin league-wide, it hasn't been a fatal weakness yet.

 

Also, certain rules and overall environment change has phased out the need, and effectiveness of true centers. With the defensive 3 second rule, shot-blocking for relatively slow-footed big men is harder to come by than in the '90's. With guards and PF's alike becoming a lot more athletic, strong and skilled, and the PnR becoming such a staple in every playbook, big men are less looked at to be big-time shot-blockers, and now need to be more proficient in the KG mold....quick traps on the PnR, being able to step out to defend quick PF's like Bosh/Griffin, and being able to make quick recoveries off of over-helping. The best defenses of the last few years have been dominant primarily because of that versatility and quickness, not from traditional shot-blocking ala the '90's.