The League is STACKED with young big men right now

[ralph_i_el]

AD
KAT
Kristaps
Nikola Jokic
Josef Nurkic
Okafor/Embiid/Noel in Phill
Willie Cauley-Stein
Drummond
Valanciunas
Steve Adams
Nikola Vucivic

There's even a lot of young guys with tons of potential like Clint Capela that I wouldn't even mention with these other names.

We had a rough patch in terms of big men, but the future looks bright.

If we had a fantasy big man draft, where does the order shake out? Obviously AD and KAT are at the top of the list.

[juju151111]

AD
KAT
Kristaps
Nikola Jokic
Josef Nurkic
Okafor/Embiid/Noel in Phill
Willie Cauley-Stein
Drummond
Valanciunas
Steve Adams
Nikola Vucivic

There's even a lot of young guys with tons of potential like Clint Capela that I wouldn't even mention with these other names.

We had a rough patch in terms of big men, but the future looks bright.

If we had a fantasy big man draft, where does the order shake out? Obviously AD and KAT are at the top of the list.
Myles turner

[ralph_i_el]

Myles turner

Good catch. Good athlete and shooter.

I haven't even mentioned the tweener/playmaking 4's that are coming up:

Simmons
Aaron Gordon
Saric
Jabari Parker
...

[swagga]

I wouldn't call it stacked.

only ad and kat show perenial all-star material, compared to the days of karl malone/shaq/hakeem//ewing/drob/duncan/kg/mourning/mutombo/young dirk it's still a very weak era. Now that's what stacked with bigs really means. Nice to see the position making a comeback though.

[ralph_i_el]

I wouldn't call it stacked.

only ad and kat show perenial all-star material, compared to the days of karl malone/shaq/hakeem//ewing/drob/duncan/kg/mourning/mutombo/young dirk it's still a very weak era. Now that's what stacked with bigs really means. Nice to see the position making a comeback though.

Those guys weren't all in their prime at the same time.

I didn't even mention prime players now.

LMA
Horford
Paul Millsap (so underrated)
Blake Griffin
Draymond
Cousins
Whiteside
DeAndre Jordan
Dwight Howard
Marcin Gortat (really underrated)
Pau and Marc Gasol


Forgot Gobert and Favors for the young studs list too.

I'd say that this is a strong era for bigs.

[eeeeeebro]

none of them as good as patrick ewing or olajawon or kareem or wilt... and by not as good as i mean they are not good enough to shine their shoes..

[swagga]

none of them as good as patrick ewing or olajawon or kareem or wilt... and by not as good as i mean they are not good enough to shine their shoes..

that's what I'm saying .. nobody from the C spot can just consistently take over a game these days... imagine young shaq in this small ball league :roll:

[Nets fan 93]

Those guys weren't all in their prime at the same time.

I didn't even mention prime players now.

LMA
Horford
Paul Millsap (so underrated)
Blake Griffin
Draymond
Cousins
Whiteside
DeAndre Jordan
Dwight Howard
Marcin Gortat (really underrated)
Pau and Marc Gasol


Forgot Gobert and Favors for the young studs list too.

I'd say that this is a strong era for bigs.
You can add Brook Lopez to that list.

Bigs are back and the shooting Gaurd position is almost dead now.

[j3lademaster]

You can add Brook Lopez to that list.

Bigs are back and the shooting Gaurd position is almost dead now.Agreed with Brook Lopez. Also, I think the shooting guard position is because the new school way of playing due to players becoming more and more multifaceted. There are more "combo guards" who can play both 1 and 2 and "tweener" forwards who can run both 3 or 4. Look at James Harden. Leads his team in assists, runs the pnr while Beverly is relegated to a spot up shooter a la the traditional sg. But the arbitrary position listing on nba.com has Harden as a shooting guard. Then the whole new demand for stretch 4's makes the league friendlier to tweener forwards who were shunned in past generations.

[ralph_i_el]

that's what I'm saying .. nobody from the C spot can just consistently take over a game these days... imagine young shaq in this small ball league :roll:

Getting rid of illegal D made it hard to ISO in the post.


The best bigs today control the game from the High Post. It's a little bit more subtle, but bigs still can take over games. Just because they aren't scoring 25-30 ppg doesn't mean they aren't dominating.

Plus, you have a lot of dominant offensive bigs playing the 4 instead of the 5 now.

Patrick Ewing and the rest of the low-post ISO bigs would be LESS effective in today's league, the way teams can double and prevent entry passes.

[BigKAT]

Getting rid of illegal D made it hard to ISO in the post.


The best bigs today control the game from the High Post. It's a little bit more subtle, but bigs still can take over games. Just because they aren't scoring 25-30 ppg doesn't mean they aren't dominating.

Plus, you have a lot of dominant offensive bigs playing the 4 instead of the 5 now.

Yeah. It really became a matter of skill rather then height.
You have 7 footers or around that playing the 4 because they can hit the J like Pau, Duncan, Garnett and Nowitzki. Take away their jumpshot and they play center.

Really it became that if a Big is skilled enough they'll put him with a rebounding, defensive minded C (Tiago Splitter, Perkins, Bynum) without too much of an offensive game just to give some rim protection.

It's not about height anymore as it is about skillset. For that reason, most offensive talents that stretched beyond the post and were tall were put as a 4, making it look as though no one decent could take over from the 5. Duncan, Garnett and Pau were all Franchise guys doing some extraordinary things, some of them not falling short of past greats like Drob and Ewing. Yet the current trend of putting them at the 4 made it look as though the 5 Spot was drying out of talent with only the occasional Dwight or Horford who happened to play with Millsap (Any other lineup and Horfod doesn't play center)

[PP34Deuce]

Today's Bigs are patterned after Rasheed Wallace, KG, and Dirk.

6'10 legit big guys that want to be high post and perimeter.

I'd say Joel Embiid is probably the closest to a legit sized 7 footer with post ability but can also play defense on an island when need be.

I had faith for Demarcus Cousins being that guy but he wants to shoot 3's 4-5 times a game now.

I Blame Alvin Gentry, Antoni (No D).

[ralph_i_el]

Yeah. It really became a matter of skill rather then height.
You have 7 footers or around that playing the 4 because they can hit the J like Pau, Duncan, Garnett and Nowitzki. Take away their jumpshot and they play center.

Really it became that if a Big is skilled enough they'll put him with a rebounding, defensive minded C (Tiago Splitter, Perkins, Bynum) without too much of an offensive game just to give some rim protection.

It's not about height anymore as it is about skillset. For that reason, most offensive talents that stretched beyond the post and were tall were put as a 4, making it look as though no one decent could take over from the 5. Duncan, Garnett and Pau were all Franchise guys doing some extraordinary things, some of them not falling short of past greats like Drob and Ewing. Yet the current trend of putting them at the 4 made it look as though the 5 Spot was drying out of talent with only the occasional Dwight or Horford who happened to play with Millsap (Any other lineup and Horfod doesn't play center)


5-star post :cheers:

Watching KAT last season blew my mind, because he has the potential to be dominant from any spot 18ft and in. His low post footwork is insane. His jumpshoot is nasty (plus a decent passer)

[DaHeezy]

It gets better when Harry Giles and DeAndre Ayton make the league

[BigKAT]

5-star post :cheers:

Watching KAT last season blew my mind, because he has the potential to be dominant from any spot 18ft and in. His low post footwork is insane. His jumpshoot is nasty (plus a decent passer)

:cheers:

All hail KAT, our lord and saviour.

[j3lademaster]

I don't understand this notion that past bigs were low post stiffs. Drob and Ewing had some of the most automatic 20 footers for centers in history, certainly better than Demarcus Cousins who even has a 3 point shot now simply due to this era's coaching greenlighting 3 point shooting to anyone with any semblence of ability to shoot. Encourage Robinson and Ewing to shoot the 3 and who knows? I would liken Drob's game more to AD than say, Shaq. Drob is infamous for his ability to run the floor as a 7footer, and Ewing was no slouch before his knee issues.

Hakeem was mostly a faceup player in his prime and slowly transitioned into a low post player in the mid 90's as he got more and more into his 30's. 2010 Chris Bosh was able to put up 24/11 playing that way and I'm supposed to think Hakeem fkin Olajuwon wouldn't dominate? Is 28/11 for a 27 year old Hakeem really that unrealistic?

Shaq and Mourning were the only players who consistently relied on the low post to score. And I honestly can't think of more than a handful of 6'10" + guys who can run the floor like Orlando Shaq in nba history. Prime Dwight, Deandre, Whiteside certainly aren't keeping up with him(and those guys are athletic beasts). And Shaq's ability to handle the ball and pass out of the double team has always been overlooked. And Shaq and Mourning understood how to do your work early, how to get position first so when you get the ball you can score withing the next move or two; unlike say Phoenix Barkley who would back someone down from the 3 point line for 7 seconds(someone the modern era rules and style of play would affect)

All these bigs would be just as successful in today's game. Only thing I see going down are their gaudy block numbers since perimeter players now are craftier attacking the rim and flat out better and people are just shooting more 3's.

If you mean stacked as in a lot of solid bigs, I agree. Disagree that there are many transcendant bigs.