How Long Before the "3 and D" Center is a Thing?

[PhoSita]

Imagine guys like Omer Asik, Andrew Bogut, Roy Hibbert, Kendrick Perkins, Festus Ezeli, Joakim Noah, etc.

These guys are increasingly getting run off the floor as meaningful games feature less and less post play by bigs and more ball movement and outside shooting.

How long before this type of player, that once got by on offense strictly by setting picks and finishing open dunks / layups, camps out in the corner shooting spot-up threes instead?

Wouldn't, say, Omer Asik help his team a lot more on offense by getting out of the way and hanging out in the corner?


On the Celtics this year, Amir Johnson might give us a glimpse at that kind of role, though he's obviously got a lot more left physically than the other guys I mentioned.  Pero Antic played the role offensively for the Hawks the last few years, but he was never a good defender.

[kozlodoev]

How long before people ask their PG to do the brunt of the rebounding? After all, the guy is typically universally matched with the shortest opponent on the field

[esel1000]

Serge Ibaka was the name that came to me as I read your post

[fairweatherfan]

How long will it take for Karl-Anthony Towns to become an elite player (if he does)? 

...because he seems like he has the exact skillset to be a template for playing this kind of role at a high level. 

[Donoghus]

How long will it take for Karl-Anthony Towns to become an elite player (if he does)? 

...because he seems like he has the exact skillset to be a template for playing this kind of role at a high level.

I think he's gonna be pretty solid right off the bat. 

He will be elite, IMO.  It's just a matter of when.

[hpantazo]

Somewhere out there, Manute Bol must be thinking he played in the wrong era

[fairweatherfan]

How long will it take for Karl-Anthony Towns to become an elite player (if he does)? 

...because he seems like he has the exact skillset to be a template for playing this kind of role at a high level.

I think he's gonna be pretty solid right off the bat. 

He will be elite, IMO.  It's just a matter of when.

I think so too, I just don't want to count chickens on a guy who hasn't played a regular-season game yet.  He just seems to fit Pho's description very well, though he's certainly got an inside game too. 

...interestingly, if this becomes a trend, eventually a center's rim protection abilities won't be nearly as useful, because they'll have to stay close to the other team's C that's also parked around the 3 pt line.  So the "D" quality might become more perimeter-oriented too.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I think having 7-footers shoot threes is a tragic waste of God-given height and size. I understand the concept of pulling opposing bigs out of the paint so your smaller guys can get in there, and I think it's okay to do that part of the time, but I think finishing at the rim is easier for a skilled 7-footer than it is for a guard, so (in my opinion) it would be foolish to not take advantage of that.

[hpantazo]

The game has changed a lot , and rule changes have helped to contribute to the shift of emphasis on shooting and speed, but I think a large factor in this transition has been the lack of talented big men in the league in this last era. With guys like Yao Ming and Greg Oden, Andrew Bynum and others going down early, there really were no big men that can consistently punish you inside on offense. Guys like Asik and Noah don't scare anyone, and pale in comparison to players like Ewing and Olajuwon for example. Dwight Howard has been injured for the past few years, but even when healthy he has no offensive moves or shooting touch, and same goes for Drummond.

I think this shift was due much more to necessity rather than choice. Teams still salivate over the dream of a dominant big man. I mean, a one legged old Tim Duncan is enough to get the Spurs into title contention and even to beat Lebron's team consistently enough, imagine what a young healthy low post scoring big can do.

I think with players like Anthony Davis, Towns, Okafor, and even Embiid if he returns healthy, we can see a resurgence of the low post dominant offensive big man.

[PhoSita]

People are mentioning guys like Towns and Ibaka who have the skill and athleticism to actually help their teams in other ways.

I'm not saying Towns or Ibaka couldn't be very successful as centers shooting threes, but that's not really what I'm talking about.  Arguably we've already seen that model with Chris Bosh on the Heat whenever he played at the 5.


Rather, I'm talking about guys who might otherwise be out of the league, or who would get pushed off the floor by small-ball opponents (e.g. the Warriors). 

I'm thinking of guys like Hibbert, who looks like a dinosaur these days, or Asik, who is perhaps more of a hindrance on offense next to a paint beast like Anthony Davis than a help.  Joakim Noah and Andrew Bogut also come to mind as players who once had the physical tools to play inside but now shoot something like 40-45% from the floor on mostly inside shots.

Those guys would probably be able to stay on the floor longer without hurting their teams offensively if they could hit an open three pointer.  In the league right now, it's hard to find a big man who can hit an open three pointer and also play acceptable defense at the center position.

I have a feeling that will change.  We'll see more of these veteran center types in the future who clean the boards on defense, bother shots inside, and set picks on offense, and otherwise just get out of the way and space the floor.


I mentioned this to a friend of mine and he pointed to Raef Lafrenz as an example of a guy who was before his time in that regard.

[wdleehi]

Just wait until a strong big man with good hands, a soft touch  and the ability to hit free throws realizes he can abuse these little guys down low. 



That is what the league is lacking. 

[kozlodoev]

Somewhere out there, Manute Bol must be thinking he played in the wrong era

I know Manute Bol got lots of exposure for that one game, but he really attempted one three pointer every three games on average over his NBA career.

[csfansince60s]

Myles Turner will be this prototypical 3 and D center. 19 years old with a nice outside shot AND a shot blocker.

To me he will always be the one who got away and the one (not Winslow) who most makes me regret making the playoffs last year. Many of us on here didn't want us to tank, we just didn't want us to make the playoffs. Big difference.

[PhoSita]

Myles Turner will be this prototypical 3 and D center. 19 years old with a nice outside shot AND a shot blocker.

To me he will always be the one who got away and the one (not Winslow) who most makes me regret making the playoffs last year. Many of us on here didn't want us to tank, we just didn't want us to make the playoffs. Big difference.

Stanley Johnson, Justise Winslow, and Myles Tuner are the ones I'll be watching closely from that perspective.  How much will it hurt to have missed out on those guys? 

We'll see.

[Eddie20]

Ibaka

Last season averaged

BPG- 2.4
3PG- 1.3 (37.6%)
RPG- 7.8
MPG- 33.1