I know how much the NBA wanted to have their Kobe Bryant-LeBron James showdown in the Finals this year.
Everyone got a little carried away with the Nike puppet commericals and one-hour specials on ESPN.
I for one, am glad to see the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals because of the presence of Dwight Howard, the man in the middle.
We're in an age where big men are becoming more and more like small forwards and shooting guards. While I like seeing the versatility of our young bigs, I'm still an old stick-in-the-mud when it comes to watching big men play.
I still like my bigs to play like bigs. I still enjoy watching a big man play the post position like it is meant to be played. He scores down low, rebounds, blocks shots and draws automatic double teams. Old-school big men are somewhat like dinasaurs, but when you have one who can get it done, it's like having gold these days.
That is why it is important to see the young up and coming giant Dwight Howard get a chance to show his stuff in the Finals for the first time. Young big men, there is hope out there.
I grew up in an era when the center was the focal point of the team. Not only did he stuff the stat sheet, but he was the leader of the team. I came up when Wilt and Bill Russell were late in their careers, but they were followed by such greats as Lew Alcindor, Willis Reed, my uncle Wes Unseld, Bill Walton, Dave Cowens and many others.
These all-time greats led their teams to NBA championships in the 1970s.
Along came the likes of Robert Parish, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, the great Hakeem Olajuwan and current greats Shaquille O'Neal and my man Tim Duncan.
These were all great centers. Not wannabe shooting guards who loved to play the skilled game, but waffled under the heat of physical championship basketball. These men laid it on the line every night. (Remember Willis Reed's historic walk out of the locker room before Game 7 on the 1970 NBA Finals against Wilt and the Lakers)?
With Shaq and Tim Duncan now in the twighlight of their Hall of Fame careers, it was looking like the classic NBA big man was becoming an endangered species. It should be no surprise that teams featuring Duncan and Shaq won the world title eight of the nine years between 1999 and 2007. In 2008, the Celtics won with versatile, yet dominant big man Kevin Garnett leading the way. All of these men are 30-something with injuries creeping in. We need some young blood.
Yao Ming looks the part, but injuries are curtailing what could be an even more dominant career.
Who do you call when the league needs a young dominant center to carry on the tradition.
Superman, or course. Enter Dwight Howard.
Howard's game is still a work in progress. At 23, he still has a long ways to go to master the fine art of low-post basketball. But what he does now is still pretty remarkable for someone at 6'11" and 265 pounds.
He is big, physical, strong, yet he can run the floor like a smaller player. He loves to rebound and block shots as evidenced by his Defensive Player of the Year award. The Magic are full of 3-point shooters, but make no mistake, the first option is to get the ball inside to their young beast. Wait until he hits his peak as a player. Look out.
The Lakers may not have a young stallion like Howard in the middle, but what they do have is plenty good. Pao Gasol is 7'1" 250 pounds and skilled while Andrew Bynum is still a pup at 21, but can be a factor at 7'1" and 280.
Obviously, neither one is replace Shaq, Wilt or Kareem in the Laker pantheon of great centers, but those are two excellent bigs to bring to the championship party. Both are different. Gasol is skilled, versatile, can score with either hands and can pass. He is also blocking some shots. Bynum is a big young moose in the middle right now.
Together, they make quite a tandem, than can be together for several more years. Gasol is just 28 and in the prime of his career while Bynum is just 21 with a lot more room to growth.
Yes, Kobe will garner most of the spotlight with his showstopping talent, but it will be fun to watch some honest-to-goodness bigs get down in the post with the championship on the line.
Everyone got a little carried away with the Nike puppet commericals and one-hour specials on ESPN.
I for one, am glad to see the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals because of the presence of Dwight Howard, the man in the middle.
We're in an age where big men are becoming more and more like small forwards and shooting guards. While I like seeing the versatility of our young bigs, I'm still an old stick-in-the-mud when it comes to watching big men play.
I still like my bigs to play like bigs. I still enjoy watching a big man play the post position like it is meant to be played. He scores down low, rebounds, blocks shots and draws automatic double teams. Old-school big men are somewhat like dinasaurs, but when you have one who can get it done, it's like having gold these days.
That is why it is important to see the young up and coming giant Dwight Howard get a chance to show his stuff in the Finals for the first time. Young big men, there is hope out there.
I grew up in an era when the center was the focal point of the team. Not only did he stuff the stat sheet, but he was the leader of the team. I came up when Wilt and Bill Russell were late in their careers, but they were followed by such greats as Lew Alcindor, Willis Reed, my uncle Wes Unseld, Bill Walton, Dave Cowens and many others.
These all-time greats led their teams to NBA championships in the 1970s.
Along came the likes of Robert Parish, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, the great Hakeem Olajuwan and current greats Shaquille O'Neal and my man Tim Duncan.
These were all great centers. Not wannabe shooting guards who loved to play the skilled game, but waffled under the heat of physical championship basketball. These men laid it on the line every night. (Remember Willis Reed's historic walk out of the locker room before Game 7 on the 1970 NBA Finals against Wilt and the Lakers)?
With Shaq and Tim Duncan now in the twighlight of their Hall of Fame careers, it was looking like the classic NBA big man was becoming an endangered species. It should be no surprise that teams featuring Duncan and Shaq won the world title eight of the nine years between 1999 and 2007. In 2008, the Celtics won with versatile, yet dominant big man Kevin Garnett leading the way. All of these men are 30-something with injuries creeping in. We need some young blood.
Yao Ming looks the part, but injuries are curtailing what could be an even more dominant career.
Who do you call when the league needs a young dominant center to carry on the tradition.
Superman, or course. Enter Dwight Howard.
Howard's game is still a work in progress. At 23, he still has a long ways to go to master the fine art of low-post basketball. But what he does now is still pretty remarkable for someone at 6'11" and 265 pounds.
He is big, physical, strong, yet he can run the floor like a smaller player. He loves to rebound and block shots as evidenced by his Defensive Player of the Year award. The Magic are full of 3-point shooters, but make no mistake, the first option is to get the ball inside to their young beast. Wait until he hits his peak as a player. Look out.
The Lakers may not have a young stallion like Howard in the middle, but what they do have is plenty good. Pao Gasol is 7'1" 250 pounds and skilled while Andrew Bynum is still a pup at 21, but can be a factor at 7'1" and 280.
Obviously, neither one is replace Shaq, Wilt or Kareem in the Laker pantheon of great centers, but those are two excellent bigs to bring to the championship party. Both are different. Gasol is skilled, versatile, can score with either hands and can pass. He is also blocking some shots. Bynum is a big young moose in the middle right now.
Together, they make quite a tandem, than can be together for several more years. Gasol is just 28 and in the prime of his career while Bynum is just 21 with a lot more room to growth.
Yes, Kobe will garner most of the spotlight with his showstopping talent, but it will be fun to watch some honest-to-goodness bigs get down in the post with the championship on the line.
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