Halftime Hype

In the midst of all the "Who's the best player?" talk, I've decided to stray away from Kobe, Lebron, and Durant(?). Rather, I want to examine the best big men in the game. As of late, it seems like the consensus is that Dwight Howard is invincible. Can't say I agree with that. My point of view is that the requirements for a center are to rebound, score (mainly in the paint), and block. Dwight Howard can certainly do that. But so can, say, Samuel Dalembert. Of course, some meet those requirements better than others. Here are the best big men by category...


Best All-Around Big Man: Chris Bosh
Unfortunately, Bosh hasn't gotten very far in the playoffs and maybe consequently, remains extremely underrated. All big men can - at least, they should be able to - score within a few feet of the basket. Personally, I believe that in order to be the best big man you need to have some range. As fun as dunks are, everyone else can dunk too; just because someone is fun to watch doesn't mean they're necessarily the best. In contrast, Bosh has proven he has the mid-range game to distinguish himself from all the other 7-footers in the league. He is capable of knocking down threes - maybe that's he'll incorporate in his game more next season. All that said, the gold-medal Olympian is averaging a completely unnoticed 24 points, 11 rebounds, and 1 block a game.

No doubt in my mind, Dirk Nowitzki is one of the best big men in NBA history when it comes to shooting. At about 7 feet, it's remarkable that he can drain mid-range fadeaways and pop threes. He's basically a shooting guard in a big man's body. In late-game situations, he's not a formiddable clutch player, but how do you defend him if he's taking the last shot? At seven feet, he has(/should have) no problem shooting over a top defender like Bruce Bowen or Ron Artest, who he towers over. That's not to say he's only an offensive threat; he's capable of playing good D too - he's averaged 0.9 steals and 1 block this season - but everybody knows the reason he's made it big is because of his shot.

Defensively, I don't know if there's anyone better that Dwight. He can tussle with anyone in the league. The way he blocks shots can simply be described as "emphatic," sending the ball well off course; just his presence intimidates teams when they step in the paint. At the defensive end, nobody has better stats than him: 13.3 rebounds, 1 steal, 2.7 blocks. However, the reason why I don't crown him the best all-around big man is because he can't shoot from more than several feet out and can't hit a free-throw if his life depended on it.

I'd give this title to Bosh, but he does get some credit - he just deserves a ton more. Very few, however, are cognizant of Marcus Camby's game. The Clippers basically acquired him for nothing (1 or 2 second-round picks, if I'm not mistaken) and Portland was smart in trading for him. He's much younger than he looks (26 years old) and is 4th in rebounds (averaging 11.6 boards this year) and 5th in blocks (averaging 2.1 this season). Yet, does anybody know that Camby is a top 5 rebounder/blocker in the NBA? No! What's more, Camby works wonders in the post and can shoot the mid-range jumper just as easily as he can dunk. This dude really deserves more praise.

Ever since February 9, Blatche has only had one game where he scored less than 12 points. Lately, he's been showcasing all his talent: rebounding, a block or two, points, pretty good free throw shooting, generally acceptable FG% - the whole package. Nobody was really familiar with him before, but now it seems like he's on everyone's radar. Earlier this week, there were some reports about tension with Head Coach Flip Saunders, but it appears that everything was more or less worked out. So far, he's been the lone bright spot for the Wizards.