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Old 04-01-2007, 03:34 PM   #1
freshnesschronic
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Oden and Hibbert

this is a repost of a note from my facebook:

dang. did you guys see the OSU Georgetown final four game? Hibbert and Oden, very much anticipated. But yeah, foul trouble didn't help either of them and the showdown wasn't as intense, but when they were in the paint together it was still fun to watch. Did you see those guys box out and wage war to get position on the other? Those are big men, baby, big men.
i just read the chicago tribune and mike wise's article "big men on campus" and it was great. i'll try to reiterate his main points while adding some of my feelings. and i'm gonna major in sports management, so i enjoyed reading this article cause it helped me learn.

what the article mainly tried to say was college is what makes big men, well, big men. it's what makes them vicious, fierce and unforgiving down low. I'm actually glad Oden was forced to stay in college because frankly I don't think he would have had the impact that say, LBJ had. Reason being, Oden doesn't play lebron's position, have the athleticism of a 6'9 guy, nor the speed or agility. LBJ is contributing to the current generation of NBA basketball, the small ball gen that came about with the emergence of Shaq as the dominant force and KG as the versatile small ball "big man". Everyone other big man is trying to be KG.They aren't trying to be what they are, big men. The post Jordan era started the end of the big man and the beginnings of small ball. Think about it. Shaq enters the league, no one can guard him so the game develops around HIS dominance. Other alternatives are used. KG, Dirk Nowitzki, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, Rashard Lewis, Andrew Bogut, ANDREA BARNANI! and now Kevin Durant all alternatives to contend with Shaq's dominance in the paint. They are big men used on the perimeter to draw out O'Neal and clear the paint for a drive or to shoot a 3 over Shaq.
Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Wes Unseld, Jerry Lucas, Kareem!!! Those were all 60s and 70s big men that grinded out the post nite in and nite out. We have nothing like that anymore (not saying that it's a bad thing, just the evolution of basketball). Those big men were built in college. Then the 80s rolled out Moses Malone, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Ralph Sampson, and David Robinson. The contemporary 80s is where the article use its example.
Patrick Ewing the Hoya, Hakeem the Dream at Houston. Remember that matchup in 84 for the ncaa title? Not many of you remember, or even knew that. And what, Ewing and Olajuwon didn't become 2 of the the top 15 or even 10 centers ever to step into the paint? They both went to college and learned how to play the pivot and dominate it. Remember the 84 draft? Yeah, 3 out of the 4 picks were CENTERS. Who was the off pick? the #3 pick, Michael Jordan? Recall? It went Hakeem, Sam Bowie, MJ and Sam Perkins with 3 out of the 4 having pretty much glorious careers.
With little 6'8, 6'9 players draped on the real big men, it gives them the edge, confidence and grittiness that is necessary at the position of a center. Dunk that shit on the guy 3 or 4 inches shorter than you! This is what college does for a true big man. A true center. I'm not going to entangle the usage of power foward because it is NOT the same position. Tim Duncan (as unbelievable as he is) is NOT david robinson. Karl Malone was never Moses Malone. The position is not the same. True big men don't dribble drive to the basket or take nice fadeways from 10 feet out on the baseline. They post, fake weak side then use the up and under to score. If Oden went to the NBA I don't think he'd be ready to take on an Erick Dampier. He might have developed into a PF like TD instead of a C, playing on a poor team and not developing into a big man. College is truly developing Oden and Roy Hibbert and don't forget, Joakim Noah! They are real big men. Look what happeend with Kwame Brown, expecting to lift his team to NBA glory at his "center" position. A bust. He didn't learn the position. Nor how to be a big man. He didn't go to college.
Sure, Kevin Durant will definitely reinforce the current generation of small ball, at 6'9 he can basically do everything as a SF. But at least there are two more true centers that will splash into the league and at least TRY to command the paint, unlike Durant.

Hakeem and Ewing were defensive minded first. Then their offensive game developed. But they never lost their desire to shot block. Oden is the same.
Remember Shaq in college? Skinny ass mofo. But did he fill out, damn. Let's hope Oden takes a similar course.
Here's to the big man, and his reawakening.
Excited?


Last edited by freshnesschronic; 04-01-2007 at 04:00 PM.
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Old 04-02-2007, 10:31 AM   #2
freshnesschronic
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do the people in the cellar not follow sports?! I spent an hour on this post and am pretty proud of it...
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