"There are no great big men anymore because the games too fast for them"

[G-Zeus]

whoever said that couldnt be more wrong

average Pace rating in the mid to late 80's : 102
average Pace rating this year : 91.3

games in the 80's had about 21 more possessions per game than today

possession does not equate pace in your example but plays...look at the all star games..no plays.. but run and shoot..
but the game pace that implies big men cant follow is inside those 24 seconds... where you have to defend and run plays...unless your OKC

 

[Malta]

so robin constitute the bulk of big men in the 80's? lol despite the fact he was picked in 87? meaning his career span in the 90's which makes him a 90's ball player WHICH.. is when they started to look for Athletes more then talents. i.e. Shawn Kemp..Shaquile (use to have good handles tho)
come on man..

were in the age of super athletes and injury proned players... it is what it is
started after jordan. adn we are now at it's peak.

Larry Nance was every bit the athlete Shawn Kemp was or anyone today for that matter, he was drafted in 81.

Ralph Sampson was every bit of athletic as JaVale McGee, yet he was taller, drafted in 83 -

He liked to handle the ball too, @ 7"3.

Do I need to bring up Hakeem? The point in all this is that there are plenty of good to great big guys from the 80s and 90s that would have no fukking problem adjusting to the "speed" today. Especially when stiffs like Kendrick Perkins and Robin Lopez are starting.

You and Malta have this tendency to post great athletes in a different era as if they represented all athletes in the generation.

Fam, you said Dwight Howard is better than David Robinson I will not let that go. Again, the topic is about "Great big men", do you expect people to talk about Priest Lauderdale?

 

[Malta]

lol @ today being "too fast" ... the dominant center era's were even faster than today - In the two strongest eras of dominant bigmen (late 60's/early 70's and late 80's-mid 90's) those bigs were taught how to outlet pass and start fast breaks. Their era was too fast for todays big men. Today's bigs don't even think that fast. Today's big men are taught to play slow half-court games and let the guards and forwards create every single play and most bigs today can't even hit a hook shot, big man skill is a lost art - we have guys like Bynum telling Kareem "I know enough" and Dwight is as fluid as frankenstein despite Hakeems best efforts. There is nothing holding big men back except themselves and how they've been taught to play since a young age. We are in the post-MJ era, everyone wants to be like Mike, and soon everyone will want to be like Kobe and Lebron. Nobody wants to be like Wilt or Kareem anymore.

Artis Gilmore posterizes Kareem and Theus puts on a show - YouTube

Come on man, Artis clearly wasn't athletic enough to keep up with the speed today -

Everybody knows Robin Lopez is better!

 

[G-Zeus]

Larry Nance was every bit the athlete Shawn Kemp was, he was drafted in 81.

Larry Nance Highlights - YouTube


Ralph Sampson was every bit of athletic as JaVale McGee, yet he was taller, drafted in 83 - Ralph Sampson - Mr. Mountain Top - YouTube

He liked to handle the ball too, @ 7"3.

Do I need to bring up Hakeem? The point in all this is that there are plenty of good to great big guys from the 80s and 90s that would have no fukking problem adjusting to the "speed" today. Especially when stiffs like Kendrick Perkins and Robin Lopez are starting.






Fam, you said Dwight Howard is better than David Robinson I will not let that go. Again, the topic is about "Great big men", do you expect people to talk about Priest Lauderdale?

my man, i got tons of respect for you.. but pulling out 1 player a year only serves to prove my point, their exceptions to the rules.... apex athletes are not something new.. they have been around since human hunted with spears...

i think in today's game, Wilt would have been the number 1 center...better then Shaq... but he is one of one... we are talking about.. a group of players.. the 5 position.. in which... today's age.. their saying they cant use the typical big body centres...

people didnt stop growing... they just dont need them that much...because they foul out too quick in todays age...

NBA league average height, weight, age and playing experience - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

centres have somewhat become the player you put to take hits before you put your talented defender (usually a PF) in the game on the 4th quarter

 

[dantheman9758]

my man, i got tons of respect for you.. but pulling out 1 player a year only serves to prove my point, their exceptions to the rules.... apex athletes are not something new.. they have been around since human hunted with spears...

i think in today's game, Wilt would have been the number 1 center...better then Shaq... but he is one of one... we are talking about.. a group of players.. the 5 position.. in which... today's age.. their saying they cant use the typical big body centres...

people didnt stop growing... they just dont need them that much...because they foul out too quick in todays age...

NBA league average height, weight, age and playing experience - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

centres have somewhat become the player you put to take hits before you put your talented defender (usually a PF) in the game on the 4th quarter

From Wilt's time:

Russell, Jabbar, Cowens, Lanier, Thurmond, Unseld, Bellamy, Hayes, Reed, Gilmore

Which ones are you projecting should struggle with a lesser role today, seeing as how we're supposed to leave Wilt the "apex athlete" out of the equation?

 

[G-Zeus]

From Wilt's time:

Russell, Jabbar, Cowens, Lanier, Thurmond, Unseld, Bellamy, Hayes, Reed, Gilmore

Which ones are you projecting should struggle with a lesser role today, seeing as how we're supposed to leave Wilt the "apex athlete" out of the equation?

you do know Jabbar ran ish wih a Sky hook right?

he would literaly stand still.. ask the ball high and pull a sky hook...

look at such unmatchable speed

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMtZGfsWMCE[/ame]

I only give you super defensement Russell... i dont think the rest would be as big as they were

this is real poetry in motion footwork
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpuswrs-Svg[/ame]


only "big" men with speedy footwork close to that was Ola... and he was a small big men.

 

[#1 pick]

Larry Nance was every bit the athlete Shawn Kemp was or anyone today for that matter, he was drafted in 81.

Larry Nance Highlights - YouTube


Ralph Sampson was every bit of athletic as JaVale McGee, yet he was taller, drafted in 83 - Ralph Sampson - Mr. Mountain Top - YouTube

He liked to handle the ball too, @ 7"3.

Do I need to bring up Hakeem? The point in all this is that there are plenty of good to great big guys from the 80s and 90s that would have no fukking problem adjusting to the "speed" today. Especially when stiffs like Kendrick Perkins and Robin Lopez are starting.






Fam, you said Dwight Howard is better than David Robinson I will not let that go. Again, the topic is about "Great big men", do you expect people to talk about Priest Lauderdale?

Dwight Howard was going to be one of the best ever till the back injury.

Ralph Sampson was 100 times better than McGee. Sampson was a freak of nature.

 

[mitter]

you do know Jabbar ran ish wih a Sky hook right?

he would literaly stand still.. ask the ball high and pull a sky hook...

look at such unmatchable speed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMtZGfsWMCE

I only give you super defensement Russell... i dont think the rest would be as big as they were

this is real poetry in motion footwork
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpuswrs-Svg


only "big" men with speedy footwork close to that was Ola... and he was a small big men.

You clearly haven't seen footage from Jabbar's younger days, when he didn't use the skyhook nearly as often

 

[G-Zeus]

You clearly haven't seen footage from Jabbar's younger days, when he didn't use the skyhook nearly as often

well no... i wasnt born.. 1981 over here... but...






i guess he was pulling a jumper too

why id everyone just standing around in those vid or just going for rebounds

 

[dantheman9758]

you do know Jabbar ran ish wih a Sky hook right?

he would literaly stand still.. ask the ball high and pull a sky hook...

look at such unmatchable speed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMtZGfsWMCE

I only give you super defensement Russell... i dont think the rest would be as big as they were

this is real poetry in motion footwork
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpuswrs-Svg


only "big" men with speedy footwork close to that was Ola... and he was a small big men.

So, Jabbar is a stationary center? Revisionist history...




And with comments like that, one of these days I'm gonna have to drop a Bill Russell mix on this board, - a way misunderstood athlete in terms his abilities and how imposing, dominant, and athletic he was. The centers of that day were not 1 trick ponies. Sorry, they were much better taught at how to initiate fast breaks and play in the key and I'm not just talking about offensively. They were much better integrated into their teams than the current crop of centers today and that was because they were better players. I'm not going to kid myself and say "Past > Present" as a generalization of basketball then vs now - but if we break down this 1 specific facet of the game I can without hesitation say that it looks like there has been just as much regression in big man play as there has been progress in things like ball handling skill and league-wide athleticism of modern forwards

 

[mitter]

Wilt/Malta:


What kind of player do you think Greg Oden would have become if not for the injuries?

 

[Amare's Right Hook]

Larry Nance was every bit the athlete Shawn Kemp was or anyone today for that matter, he was drafted in 81.

Larry Nance Highlights - YouTube


Ralph Sampson was every bit of athletic as JaVale McGee, yet he was taller, drafted in 83 - Ralph Sampson - Mr. Mountain Top - YouTube

He liked to handle the ball too, @ 7"3.

Do I need to bring up Hakeem? The point in all this is that there are plenty of good to great big guys from the 80s and 90s that would have no fukking problem adjusting to the "speed" today. Especially when stiffs like Kendrick Perkins and Robin Lopez are starting.






Fam, you said Dwight Howard is better than David Robinson I will not let that go. Again, the topic is about "Great big men", do you expect people to talk about Priest Lauderdale?

Met Larry in Atlanta in the airport, cool dude.

 

[#1 pick]

Greg Oden always had health issues but Oden was a player who could have easily been a top 10 player in the NBA. He wasn't the passer I wanted him to be out of OSU.

 

[dantheman9758]

Artis Gilmore wouldn't possibly be able to keep pace with todays quick paced league ran by fleet footed bigmen like Brook Lopez

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brh2kIvgFcw[/ame]

Right?

 

[#1 pick]

Artis Gilmore wouldn't possibly be able to keep pace with todays quick paced league ran by fleet footed bigmen like Brook Lopez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brh2kIvgFcw

Right?

Artis Gilmore would be one of the best players in the NBA today. Those aren't the players we are talking about.