Rik Smits was 7' 4"
Rik Smits is another guy who never played big minutes. They always had to protect him (1) because he was not physically capable in terms of stamina to play long minutes. He got tired easily. Worn down easily. It was difficult for him to maintain effort for longer minutes. (2) to protect him from injury.
For his career, Smits played 12 years and averaged 26.6mpg. The most he averaged was 30.2mpg and 30.5mpg. The only seasons over 30mpg in his career. He had two more seasons at 29mpg. One season at 28mpg. One season at 27mpg. So 6 seasons at 27-30mpg. Two seasons at 25-26mpg. Four seasons at 22-25mpg. So another 6 seasons at 22-26mpg. Half his career in 27-30mpg and half his career in 22-26mpg.
I think Rik Smits gets misremembered. He gets the plaudits he deserves for his offensive skill level. 14.8ppg in 26.6mpg for his career. High shooting percentage. Very good low post game. Skilled passer (out of high post and low post). Skilled shooter out to 20 feet (strong PnP game, floor spacer for low skilled bigs).
But R Smits struggles on defense & rebounding get forgotten or minimized. People forget how much he struggled for playing time early on in his career due to how bad his defense & rebounding were. Smits' defense / rebounding were so bad primarily because of his lack of quickness & mobility. Plus he lacked physicality against beefy centers on top of his lack of foot speed / agility.
It wasn't until the two Davis boys (Dale & Antonio) came onto the team to do the dirty work at PF that it became possible for Smits to play 27-30mpg which he did 5 straight seasons next to them. He was in the 22-25mpg in 4 of the previous 5 seasons. Part of his success in the NBA came from having guys next to him who could offset his severe limitations (defense / rebounding).
Smits couldn't rebound well. He could explode to the ball. He couldn't jump. He couldn't move laterally. The ball either bounced right to him or he wouldn't get it. So it put a lot of pressure on other players around him to get those loose rebounds.
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Smits and Big Z are strange comparisons for Wemby because they are both so slow and unathletic. They feel like a 3rd group. They don't fit into the first two groups identified as (a) tall thin centers (b) tall bulky centers.
Neither were that bulky. Neither were that thin. Both possessed a much higher skill level offensively than the defense-only options. Both had weaknesses in defense & rebounding the the others did not have.
Big Z was a bit more durable than Smits. Like Smits he also had two seasons just above 30mpg but also had another at 31mpg and another at 33mpg. Two more at 29mpg. Two more at 27mpg. So in his prime, Big Z played 27-33mpg for 7 straight seasons (29.9mpg over that 7yr period). One of the reasons Big Z was able to play more minutes was his superior defense & rebounding relative to Smits.
Big Z like Smits enjoyed the best part of his career when he paired a defender / rebounder low skilled offensive PF/C. Big Z had Anderson Varejao. Smits had Dale Davis. Smits and Big Z comparable. Varejao and Dale Davis comparable. Big Z never had an Antonio Davis (two way interior player). He had Gooden (offensive big) or Ben Wallace (2nd Dale Davis).
In terms of grouping, I'd say they are both (1) deficient in terms of athleticism and quickness (2) above average offensive skills with below average defense / rebounding. Not as nice and simple a group description as (a) tall thin big and (b) tall bulky big.
So tall big men with plus offensive skills & below average defense / rebounding. Guys that needed to be paired with strong rebounders / defenders in order to be successful.
