Oden vs. Durant

[jimotis4heisman]

durants a 3, odens a true back to the basket 5. how many good/great 3s out there are there? a dozen? how many good/great 5s are there? shaq, yao, duncan (if you say hes a five not a four debateable but ill slide him in the true five spot)

[osugrad21]

Originally Posted by jimotis4heisman

durants a 3, odens a true back to the basket 5. how many good/great 3s out there are there? a dozen? how many good/great 5s are there? shaq, yao, duncan (if you say hes a five not a four debateable but ill slide him in the true five spot)

Isn't that more of a statement of the evolution of the game itself? How important is a dominant 5 anymore?

[jimotis4heisman]

Originally Posted by osugrad21

Isn't that more of a statement of the evolution of the game itself? How important is a dominant 5 anymore?

who wins world championships. its always been that way. big men bring home the trophy.

evolution of the game? are you serious? no, its a big man game.

[Cornerback6]

I don't think a dominant 5 is as important as it used to be because there just doesn't seem to be much true talent at the position. I think we're in an era of underdeveloped players with small frames who are more prone to play street ball than true basketball within a system...which would then effect the need or lack of need for a dominant center. That being said, Shaq seems a bit of a dinosaur at the position, but it has obviously been paying off for the teams he plays for.

Anymore, it seems the center doesn't need to be so much an offensive threat as he does a space-eater, shot blocking threat. First person that comes to mind: Ben Wallace.

I think the play of the game has influenced the center position's impact on the court. Oden could bring back nuances of the Ewing/Hakeem days. Since then, IMO, Mourning & Shaq were the last great center tandem in the NBA.

[jimotis4heisman]

heat shaq
spurs wallaces (they brought what dikembe off the bench)
spurs duncan
lakers shaq
lakers shaq
lakers shaq
spurs duncan

[crazybuckfan40]

Originally Posted by osugrad21

Isn't that more of a statement of the evolution of the game itself? How important is a dominant 5 anymore?

Look at the last 8 years of championships...

You have Shaq and Duncan cleaning up on finals MVP's, you have last year when Wade won the MVP but Shaq was still there and then you have Pistons championship where Billups won the MVP, but Shaq was still there. Either way you look at either Shaq or Duncan have been in the finals for 8 straight years. 6 times taking the MVP home.

I would say while teams are going away from the dominant 5 b/c honestly they arent out there that much anymore but a dominant 5 is undeniably the best advantage that a team can have.

And I agree that Durant has the potential to be a 30/8/5 type guy which is great, but how many good SF's that are 6'9'' in the league. Guys like LBJ, McGrady, Pierce, Carter, Lewis, etc. I understand that some of these guys arent all-stars, but the thing was you look at these guys and the college game hasnt been seeing these guys, like they are seeing Durant this year b/c these are the types of guys that have been drafted straight out of high school...

[jimotis4heisman]

have Pistons championship where Billups won the MVP, but Shaq was still there.

but big ben and sheed arent chopped liver. they both are in the next group of bigs. so essentially the pistons not having the big guy, went for two second level tier bigs (another handful of maybe six) to attack the problem of shaq/duncan matchup. throw in a mutumbo and those teams had three very good bigs.