The Celtics became a title contender again when they acquired KG. Now I understand he isn’t the prototypical post player in the mold of Ewing or Hakeem and I understand part of his impact stems from his intensity and leadership, traits he has passed on to the entire organization. But he is still a dominating defensive presence and rebounding force and has made that team tougher. Paul Pierce or Ray Allen couldn’t do that.

The Lakers went from a solid playoff team with one of the two best players in the game (Kobe) to a possible title contender with the development of their Bynum, a prototypical center who rebounds and can receive the ball in the post. Once he went down, what did the Lakers do? They got Gasol. Again, I understand he isn’t a quintessential post player, but he still has post characteristics that have made the Lakers a frontrunner. He can run the pick and roll with Kobe, receive the ball near the basket, and with his length, he is disruptive near the basket on the defensive end.

I love what McGrady is doing in Houston, but I’m afraid people are going to forget that the Rockets were already on a 12-game winning streak with Yao.

Chris Paul is turning into a great player, but surely you can’t deny that the Hornets are a better team also because of Tyson Chandler’s growth. I realize Paul has been instrumental in Chandler’s development, but Paul needed a big man like Chandler to team with for the Hornets to rise in the standings.

Portland was already a very talented team before drafting Greg Oden. They could have had Durant, but chose Oden instead for his defensive presence, rebounding skill, and physical toughness he would provide the team from his post underneath the basket.

If you look at the past nine champions, four were won by the Spurs (obviously, Duncan was the center of that team), three by the Lakers (offense and defense focused around Shaq), one by the Heat (Shaq was important, but I admit Wade carried the team through those last 3 1/3 games of the Finals) and one by the Pistons (Ben Wallace was the heart and soul of that team and was the most intimidating defense force in the league, not to mention a great offensive rebounder).

What I am getting at is when teams look to turn themselves into title contenders, they look to the post. Look at the great teams of the 80s. There were plenty of great running teams then, plenty of great wing players, but the teams that won championships had good, if not great, centers.

Jordan was completely the exception to the rule. What LeBron is doing in Cleveland, taking his team to the Finals last year, is rare. Obviously Bron is a rare player. Kidd two years in Jersey and A.I. that year in Philly played out of this world. They couldn’t sustain that level of play for very long. They needed a dominating post guy, at least one with an outstanding defensive presence, if not all-around game, to win titles.

Sorry for the rant, but I guess I didn’t say everything I needed to in my article.

Where the game is decided the most is in the open court on fastbreaks with all these spectacular run ‘n jump athletes, that include the aforementioned “hybrid” PF/C’s. With PG’s like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and others dictating the game with their outstanding/flashy play you have to embrace yourself for the Guards/Swingmen to DOMINATE the game and “rule” the NBA with the likes of KOBE and LEBRON leading the way, among others…

The game has changed and there are no more HAKEEM’s, Shaq’s, Wilt’s, Lew’s (Alcindor), and Russell’s anymore, and the BEST big men left are either hurt way too often to make a difference/impact (YAO), can’t consistently play in the post against top-notch big men to be that “classic” dominate big guy (Amare), or they have no go-to-moves nor variety post moves like a HAKEEM, let alone a FT shot (DWIGHT Howard).

Dwight is the BEST BIG in the Association right now and if he continues to get better he could win a couple of Championships, if of course he gets some pieces around him (depends on the Guards once again, esp. a PG for him) and improves his game in the Summer. The NBA has changed so that 1 dominate big guy cannot win a championship for his team, he needs Guards/Swingmen to make the “CLUTCH” shots under pressure, take over games, and get the job done, while he demands/draws double teams doing the dirty work.

It’s a Guards league right now – but I don’t know if that’s a good thing and if it will last. With KOBE Bryant and LeBron James being the best players in the league, you could say it’s good for the league and I don’t mind it if those 2 are on the top going for titles during the next 5-7 years.

You cannot say big men still rule the NBA whenwe don’t have enough well-rounded, balanced enough big guys that can control and take over a game at any given time, and it’s been that way since Shaq left the Lakers, Duncan/Robinson were w/ SA, and when The DREAM was with CLUTCH City back in the mid 90s for Houston. You see that Guards are getting the publicity, MVPs, and on top of that they are the most important pieces in the game 2day.

Russ

Thanks

Yao