despite pao + bynum...the speed of westbrook + durant can out impact both of them.

the league has changed.

it is now predicated on fast guard play and perimeter attacking.

getting a big these days is now meant to complement the guard.

AnubisADL wrote:Not necessarily. The issue is a total lack of quality centers in the league. Derrick Fisher was also getting exposed by quicker guards all year long.

i disagree...i think the day of the old school center are gone. heck even dwight is having trouble staying on the court vs. the cats. guys like haywood + pryzbilla would've been more of a focal point 15+ years ago...but today, they are last minute additions.

as for centers, dj is right. they are not the focal point in today's nba offense. crzy said it right also - the guys who initiate or can change the game are the guards who can distribute, penetrate and hit the outside shot when it matters. perfect example is how the magic were able to sweep the bobcats. if the magic didnt have jameer nelson, that series would not be over right now. charlotte was able to limit howard to just about 30 minutes per game with not much impact other than a bunch of blocked shots. it was all about guardplay and the team being able to get some production from their bench (i.e.: matt barnes).

crzymdups wrote:ironically, d'antoni should be the perfect coach for the way the league now operates. he just needs a lead guard or someone to initiate the offense so badly.

not necessarily. you can have a lead guard without playing chuck and duck. d'antoni is the perfect coach to create excitement for regular season games but doesn't provide the meat and potatoes when it counts. but maybe he can change?

Nalod wrote:DJ, its a euro style game now. Few skilled big low post players anymore. Problem with Shaq and Dwight are at crunch time you hack them and they can't hit a foul shot. If This is what made Ewing so potent. Even more for Hakeem. Hakeem is and was underrated.

Eurostyle game is very different and no one has one a championship with it. YET.

Sergio's impatient high speed pace is how its done.

Channing Frye, Dlee, Gallo, Okafor as a front line is going to give up a lot of points but they gonna score a ton. Rotate as you need defense.

The league is changing. Fans want to see scores around 100 pts. Not 73-69 defensive battles.

If you ever can catch it the old 1976 Celts-Suns championship game, or the "Garfield Heard" game was a classic fun game to watch. Big score but it went back and forth. and eitehr double or triple overtime. This was preshow time during the cocaine days.

This is what colangelo has been trying to do in Toronto but its not working. Bosh maybe the problem as he does not really flow with it. Whaddaya thing DJ?

i agree about the style. colangelo has failed in one major aspect (and what this thread is about)...and that's finding the impact guard. bosh + bargnani are a perfect duo for the new style of play. but without that 1 + 2 or 3, they will struggle to win games. the best guard (in terms of speed and impact) he's been able to bring in was tj ford and he went psycho after that injury from horford. hopefully he gets that player this offseason but bosh + bargs duo is far from the issue (imho).

hawks - rely on joe while joe + horford support
orlando - rely on the 3 while dwight supports
bulls - rely on rose while noah supports
bucks - rely on jennings while bogut supports
okc - rely on westbrook + durant while green/ibaka/collison/krstic support

forget the spurs + boston...kg + duncan are from a different era.
lakers are the closest to an old school team but they are having their problems with okc.

it's such a radical shift from 15 years ago.

AnubisADL wrote:

djsunyc wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:Not necessarily. The issue is a total lack of quality centers in the league. Derrick Fisher was also getting exposed by quicker guards all year long.

i disagree...i think the day of the old school center are gone. heck even dwight is having trouble staying on the court vs. the cats. guys like haywood + pryzbilla would've been more of a focal point 15+ years ago...but today, they are last minute additions.

Dwight Howards problem is he is lazy. He rather run over guys then go around. Pretty sad how pathetic bad his offensive game is. When he loses his hops he will be Theo Ratliff.

Guys like Haywood and Prybilla just arent that good. They both have limited offensive games. Do you see how old Duncan is still effective? The guy never really relied on his athleticism so his game didnt have to change. Charles Barkley mentioned the total lack of skilled bigs in the league. Barkley suggested they needed to stay in college longer.

Its the fundamentals that keeps Timmy so good. Same was true of most older players with limited athletics later in career. Kevin Mchale was a square shoulder stiff but footwork and technique made him almost unstoppable! Might Say the same for Ewings evolution from athletic high flyer to gimpy knee mid range shooter. He as very effective until he broke his wrist.

Camby's game really never changed but the league did and he became more effective. He does not have the fundamental low post game as mentioned above but he can shoot well from the outside and quick which gets him the rebounds. Not from brute force.

Eddy is the polar opposite of the league trend. GOne are the fat Duckworks, Oliver Miller, Tractor Traylors, and Sweetneys who are strong but injury prone and can't stay on the floor long. KMart, Camby, are the future. Bogut has strong fundamentals.

knicks1248 wrote:It's all about the perimeter game and slashing..Who's posting up now a day's, it all about the 3 ball...
The only flaw in MDA's coaching is his attention to defense..The suns are a mirror image of our offense run properly, and if you can match that with some intensity on the defense, we'll be ok.

It's funny how Orlando has the best center in the league, but shoots the most 3's in a game. I rememeber when 17 to 20 3pt attemps was thought to be excessive, I think orlando had 33 attemps last night.

i know i'm an old fogey but i hate what the 3-point shot has done to this sport.