HoopDreams said:
01Bear said:
RedlessWardrobe said:
I for one respect your opinion except for one thing. Who is to say that bigs need to be bullies on the block and beat up everyone who comes into the post? From your post, it sounds like you're a bit of an "old school" type of fan, which I happen to be myself. But since some people on the board here are bringing up old school centers as examples I don't recall seeing a say, Hakeem Olajuwon beating a lot of people up. Or to go back even further, Willis Reed (don't let his body frame fool you), or Bob Lanier didn't feature a game that beat anybody up. And we all know those guys were pretty damned good!
Yup! I am definitely an old school basketball fan. I grew up in the era of the dominant big man. Kareem was the most "finesse" of the great big men. Even he threw elbows and used to beat up people on the low block. The other dominant bigs I admired in my youth were Ewing, Bill Laimbeer (actually, I hated the guy, he was a really dirty player), Alonzo Mourning, and Shaq. Dream wasn't quite as physical, but he could hold his own in the post physically. But what really set him apart was his footwork. Unfortunately, Daws lacks the footwork artistry of Olajuwon, but he has size; he needs to use it to impose his will in the post.
12 out of 12 Pac12 coaches would pick Daws over everyone of those past Cal centers in a heartbeat
12 out of 12 Pac12 coaches would pick Kareem, Ewing, Mourning, Olajuwon, Shaq, Embid, Adebayo, Davis over Daws in a heartbeat
I guess we agree
One of my favorite Bear big men from the 2000s was Markhuri Sanders-Frison. He was undersized (short) but he played really big. I remember running into him at the Pac-12 Tournament in Staples Center; I was surprised at his size (both lack of height and broadness of body).
Another Cal big man that disappointed me (as a Cal player) was Bear Insider's own Rod Benson.* At the end of every season he was leaps and bounds better than at the beginning. But he seemed to regress in the offseason, which made it seem as if he took two steps forward and one step back. I kept waiting for him to break out fully, but he never seemed to put all the pieces together during his collegiate career.
Of the big men to come to Cal since I started paying to Cal sports, Ivan Rabb and Leon Powe were the exceptions. They were both a little undersized (Ivan was skinny and Leon a little short) but played well. I loved Leon's fearlessness and willingness to bang in the paint. Ivan's post talent was apparent and his skills needed polishing, but he more than held his own. Unfortunately, neither played the center/5 (due to size). Still, both were excellent collegiate power forwards/4s and I very much enjoyed watching them play.
That said, I really want to see Cal bring in someone like Patrick Ewing, Zo, or Shaq to play the center position. Yeah, talents like that are rare (and getting rarer), but I always hold out hope that one of our bigs will turn out to be a fiamond in the tough who needs a little polishing (looking at you, Kingsley Okoroh and Kam Rooks).
Still, I also definitely enjoyed watching Richard Solomon play and improve, David Kravish scrap for rebounds and play out of position at the 5, and Rob Thurman Thurmanate the rim during Cal's tourney run.
As much as I criticize Cal's teams (especially the bigs), at the end of the day, I can't help but love them. I just want them all to play better, not just because I'm a Cal partisan, but because I want the players to achieve their NBA dreams. I guess that's why I'm so hard on Daws; I think he has a shot at making the League, but he needs to play tougher.
* I became a bigger fan of Rod's when he started his blog and also writing for Yahoo! sports. Back then, it was readily apparent that Rod's an excellent storyteller and gifted writer. His insights into what it was like to be in the D-League and trying to make it to a NBA roster were eye-opening. I followed his tales of his Reno Bighorn and Dakota Wizard days with bated breath. My heart broke for him when he mentioned how NBA teams were leery of signing him because of his blogging. I was also happy for him when he found a home playing overseas in Korea, though he had to stop blogging. His joining the BI staff was an excellent surprise.