 | |||
| DeMarcus Cousins is averaging 26.8 points and 11 rebounds, top-five in both categories, this season |
Big men DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Drummond feel left out as NBA All-Star Game shifts its attention to smaller lineups
It must be time to play the NBA All-Star Game again, the fourth running of the revised game that essentially squeezed true centers out of the mix. When the East and West players touch fists on Sunday at the Air Canada Centre and gather around the mid-court circle for the tip, it will likely be LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant for the jump ball. Or if coaches Gregg Popovich and Tyronn Lue had a sense of humor, they'd put Steph Curry against Kyle Lowry.
We do know for sure it won't be Andre Drummond against DeMarcus Cousins, a more natural pairing. Both will be on the bench and watching and feeling a bit jealous that, had this been 2012, they'd have the honors. But a league committee decided that All-Star starting lineups would feature three front-court players regardless of position, rather than keeping the designated one center. If that policy change caused an uproar among elite centers, you certainly didn't hear it, because there weren't that many elite centers at the time.
"I wouldn't mind going back to the way it was before," said Drummond.
You can certainly understand why the league was moved to do this. The game was (and still is) going small, and teams are sticking 6-foot-9 power forwards in the pivot and playing a more up-tempo style. And because this approach is being embraced by the Warriors and Draymond Green, who's making his first All-Star appearance by primarily playing center, the trend will likely continue.
For some reason, mothers and fathers today are producing fewer seven-foot sons with wide bodies who are capable of controlling the paint. The prototype is becoming rare, and most true centers in the league right now are rather clumsy and unskilled and mainly set picks and try to master the big-man duties of rebounding and blocking shots.
Also, the league grew weary of Tim Duncan taking an All-Star spot away from others. For years the Spurs listed Duncan as a forward, even though he primarily played center. Meanwhile, centers of average ability were showing up on All-Star rosters and nobody wanted to see them on the floor in an exhibition game that's best played by creative players.
Stu Jackson, then a league executive, explained: "Having a center is the only specific position that was singled out on the ballot. It just seemed a little outdated and didn't represent the way our game has evolved."
Jackson denied that centers were being discriminated against and, in fact, if two centers would good and popular enough, then the starting front-court would be two centers and one forward. But nobody could envision that at the time, when it was tough to find two elite centers in the game, let alone in the same conference.
The real reason for the change was the development of the modern player. Suddenly, it became advantageous to put a quicker and more athletic "big" man at center than a lumbering oaf, and so teams adopted that idea and minimized the importance of the once-typical center.
But did the league act too quickly to punish centers and reward a trend that could someday flip back to favoring centers?
"You shouldn't disrespect the center position the way they're doing," said Cousins. "We work as hard as the other positions. I think the center position is very much alive."
Cousins could have a point. He's only 25 and is averaging 26.8 points and 11 rebounds, top-five in both, and this season has added a surprisingly reliable three-point shot.
Drummond is even younger at 22 and is yanking rebounds at a rate not seen among centers since Wilt. Karl-Anthony Towns might be the front-runner for Rookie of the Year. These three, assuming good health, should have multiple All-Star-worthy years in their future between them.
"On behalf of the other centers, it shouldn't be that way," said Cousins. "But it's a trendy league. That's what's trending right now, the small-ball stuff, and I'm sure it'll change down the road. A lot of great talent coming up."
In the first year of the revised voting, Dwight Howard was the only starting center. In 2014, there was no true center in the lineup. Last season, Marc Gasol was the only natural center, although his brother Pau, who split time that season between center and forward for the Bulls, did start for the East.
"It's a new generation in the game and everybody wants to see small lineups, but with time, a lot of new blood will bring change," said Drummond. "You've got Towns, Jahlil Okafor I think is going to be good, and some others. I think the giants will come back."
The league has given no indication that it's ready to pull a reversal. The only way centers can be represented in the starting lineup, and on rosters period, is to elevate their game and do it in bigger numbers.
"All I can do is play hard," Drummond said. "What the fans choose for their starters, it's up to them. For our team in Detroit, we have a good lineup and we use our centers. We haven't followed the trend, and I'm thankful for that. My team and my organization gave me a chance to grow and improve."
0 komentar:
Post a Comment