Post by nets on Oct 20, 2007 17:43:30 GMT -5
This will be my series on a position by position review of starters in each division by position. I will start with the Atlantic and centers since the big men (and PG) usually drive a team.
Boston Celtics - the Celtics are driven by the three which has made it hard to afford a center as well but they go with a two headed monster of Kurt Thomas and Glen "Big Baby" Davis. Between them they play 50 minutes and put up 14/14. While the rebounds are not bad the number of points being contributed is very poor. They also shoot a fairly low percent from the field and from the line. If their is a silver lining its that their combined 1.6 turnovers a game they handle the ball well which is probably a by product of them never getting the ball. Neither seems to be a long term solution and if the Celtics have a weakness, this is it.
Miami Heat - no Shaq "diesel" and no center. This team uses a bunch of power forwards like Haslem and Simien along with an inexperienced Thabeet to cover the middle. At this point they all provide decent defense and good rebounding but zero offense. Simien and Thabeet are shooting under 40% which is piss poor from the paint. Thabeet is the obvious long term choice but without some serious improvement to his scoring game he will be fairly useless.
New Jersey Nets - Channing Frye starts as a slightly undersized center but he only plays 30 minutes as the Nets play a fast paced game so they use their backups a lot. Frye is a very good offensive player as he can mix the inside game (B+ inside scoring) with a three point shot (55 of 169 in last two years). His rebounding is average and his defense may be a bit below average. His counter part getting the rest of the minutes is the defense beast known as Sean Williams who averages 2.3 blocks and 5.3 reboungs in 19 minutes. On the other hand Sean is not much of an offensive threat. Both are young so the Nets may have a two pronged approach in the long haul.
New York Knicks - another team using a two headed approach, I guess this is popular when no team seems to have a clear starter. The Knicks use Eddy Curry and Kosta Koufus giving them one of the heaver combinations with Curry pushing the 300 pound mark. At 22/12 this combination seems to be working pretty well. Both guys are fierce on the post, both can rebound, neither likes to play defense but I guess Dwight Howard at PF makes up for everyone. This may be the long term approach for the Knicks as this combination is working just fine.
Orlando Magic - I don't even know who plays center but their is nobody on this team that deserves that designation. I think they have switched to a Suns type of ball but forgot that you can't do that without a true PG. So for now they have a bunch of guys just launching 3s. Moving a franchise center like Howard may haunt this team for a long time.
Philadelphia 76ers - Samuel Dalembert is the starter and the second teamer. This is the first team we come to with one guy holding down the fort. Samual is a good defender and rebounder but gives you nothing on the offensive side. His 11 points a game and under 40% shooting are terrible. I think this guy would be a great backup or defensive stopper for a team that needs no scoring but right now the 76ers are not that team.
Washington Wizards - 4 guys on the roster claim to be a center but not sure that any are a good long term solution. Brad Miller gives you offense and Haywood gives you defense but nobody does it all. I am not sure who works better on this team but the right coach can probably make it interesting. Brad Miller is a great offensive center in a ball movement system but the Wizards have enough scorers on the other hand Haywood could bring an offesne to a halt with his inability to do anything with the ball. I guess the Wizards can experiment till they figure out what works, either way this team is driven by the other 4 guys on the floor mainly Arenas.
Final Rankings:
7th - Orlando Magic, as I mentioned I can't even say they have a center
6th - Philadelphia 76ers, they have a true center but he is one dimensional
5th - Boston Celtics, no long term guy and I don't think big baby and old baby have enough to compete with some of the good centers in the league
4th - Miami Heat, I think their only true center is Thabeet and he is not ready
3rd - Washington Wizards, I put them 3rd because at least Miller can hold his own. He is not a long term solution but he is still a decent guy to have and fits nice in that offense.
2nd - New Jersey Nets - I rather have Frye and Williams over Curry and Koufus but I think with Dwight Howard the Knicks centers dont have to play defense so they are valuable for their offense
1st - New York Knicks - neither plays great defense but again with Howard back there these guys just need to score and they can do that
There you have it. Nobody dominant but the Altantic does have some decent combos.
Boston Celtics - the Celtics are driven by the three which has made it hard to afford a center as well but they go with a two headed monster of Kurt Thomas and Glen "Big Baby" Davis. Between them they play 50 minutes and put up 14/14. While the rebounds are not bad the number of points being contributed is very poor. They also shoot a fairly low percent from the field and from the line. If their is a silver lining its that their combined 1.6 turnovers a game they handle the ball well which is probably a by product of them never getting the ball. Neither seems to be a long term solution and if the Celtics have a weakness, this is it.
Miami Heat - no Shaq "diesel" and no center. This team uses a bunch of power forwards like Haslem and Simien along with an inexperienced Thabeet to cover the middle. At this point they all provide decent defense and good rebounding but zero offense. Simien and Thabeet are shooting under 40% which is piss poor from the paint. Thabeet is the obvious long term choice but without some serious improvement to his scoring game he will be fairly useless.
New Jersey Nets - Channing Frye starts as a slightly undersized center but he only plays 30 minutes as the Nets play a fast paced game so they use their backups a lot. Frye is a very good offensive player as he can mix the inside game (B+ inside scoring) with a three point shot (55 of 169 in last two years). His rebounding is average and his defense may be a bit below average. His counter part getting the rest of the minutes is the defense beast known as Sean Williams who averages 2.3 blocks and 5.3 reboungs in 19 minutes. On the other hand Sean is not much of an offensive threat. Both are young so the Nets may have a two pronged approach in the long haul.
New York Knicks - another team using a two headed approach, I guess this is popular when no team seems to have a clear starter. The Knicks use Eddy Curry and Kosta Koufus giving them one of the heaver combinations with Curry pushing the 300 pound mark. At 22/12 this combination seems to be working pretty well. Both guys are fierce on the post, both can rebound, neither likes to play defense but I guess Dwight Howard at PF makes up for everyone. This may be the long term approach for the Knicks as this combination is working just fine.
Orlando Magic - I don't even know who plays center but their is nobody on this team that deserves that designation. I think they have switched to a Suns type of ball but forgot that you can't do that without a true PG. So for now they have a bunch of guys just launching 3s. Moving a franchise center like Howard may haunt this team for a long time.
Philadelphia 76ers - Samuel Dalembert is the starter and the second teamer. This is the first team we come to with one guy holding down the fort. Samual is a good defender and rebounder but gives you nothing on the offensive side. His 11 points a game and under 40% shooting are terrible. I think this guy would be a great backup or defensive stopper for a team that needs no scoring but right now the 76ers are not that team.
Washington Wizards - 4 guys on the roster claim to be a center but not sure that any are a good long term solution. Brad Miller gives you offense and Haywood gives you defense but nobody does it all. I am not sure who works better on this team but the right coach can probably make it interesting. Brad Miller is a great offensive center in a ball movement system but the Wizards have enough scorers on the other hand Haywood could bring an offesne to a halt with his inability to do anything with the ball. I guess the Wizards can experiment till they figure out what works, either way this team is driven by the other 4 guys on the floor mainly Arenas.
Final Rankings:
7th - Orlando Magic, as I mentioned I can't even say they have a center
6th - Philadelphia 76ers, they have a true center but he is one dimensional
5th - Boston Celtics, no long term guy and I don't think big baby and old baby have enough to compete with some of the good centers in the league
4th - Miami Heat, I think their only true center is Thabeet and he is not ready
3rd - Washington Wizards, I put them 3rd because at least Miller can hold his own. He is not a long term solution but he is still a decent guy to have and fits nice in that offense.
2nd - New Jersey Nets - I rather have Frye and Williams over Curry and Koufus but I think with Dwight Howard the Knicks centers dont have to play defense so they are valuable for their offense
1st - New York Knicks - neither plays great defense but again with Howard back there these guys just need to score and they can do that
There you have it. Nobody dominant but the Altantic does have some decent combos.
