Duncan's All-Time Power Forward There seems to have been a debate about whether Duncan should be included in the NBA's all-time center rankings. Because in many rankings about various positions in the NBA, Duncan is at the forefront of the power forward position, and there has even been a conclusion: "Stone Buddha" is the number one big forward in NBA history! In my opinion, Duncan is a true center, and one of the best in the history of the league.
Let's not go into detail about the technical statistical records of the "Stone Buddha". Today, I want to talk about why in my opinion, Duncan's career positioning should be more inclined to the center position. Due to the complexity of various opinions, I will only explain my views based on my personal experience of watching NBA games. Of course, the so-called viewing of the game is also broadcast live on TV or the Internet.
The first is why Duncan should be a center! Speaking of the beginning of Duncan's career, we have to say that the Spurs "twin towers". Duncan was the top pick in 1997, and after Duncan came to the team, Popovich set up a "twin tower" strategy based on the technical characteristics of the main players on the ball, and also combined with the maximization of Duncan's personal ability. In fact, the earliest "two-tower tactic" referred to the presence of two center forwards at the same time. Famous "twin tower" combinations in history, such as the Jazz twin towers Mata Eaton and Tur Byry, the Pistons twin towers Bill Lambier and James Edwards, and the Rockets twin towers Ralph Sampson and Olajuwon, are all typical two-center combinations. This tactic requires a team to have two excellent interior players at the same time, which is undoubtedly a luxury combination that can not be met in the first decade of the last century, when more attention was paid to the interior.
And Duncan's position in college and the Spurs' original position when they drafted him was a center in his own right. And, in the combination of Duncan and Robinson, albeit technically statistically and positionally, Robinson is shown to be "C" and Duncan is "Pf". But if you really watched the Spurs games that year, that is, the Spurs games in the two years after Jordan retired, you will clearly see that in fact, the position of "big brother" David Robinson is more inclined to the No. 4 position, while the "little brother" Duncan is more in the center position.
In fact, this is also easy to understand, because the "admiral", who was once called the weakest of the "four centers", is characterized by his agility and speed. At this level, even against Olajuwon can be said to have a slight advantage, so David Robinson is also the center who may be best suited to the current small-ball era in the 90s. Don't forget, Wang Zhizhi, one of the banners of our Chinese men's basketball team, was once considered by many people to be the closest to David Robinson in terms of technical characteristics.
And Duncan, although we can also classify him as a fast-moving interior line when he was young, his technical characteristics and habits are still very traditional and typical center play. It's just that because the "four centers" were too famous in that period, people are more inclined to think that young people must be able to run and jump, which is more in line with the perception of the No. 4 position in that era, so it is not surprising that many friends think that Duncan was a "big forward" during the "Twin Towers" period of the Spurs!
After David Robinson's retirement, Duncan became the undisputed interior core of the Spurs and the best choice for the center position. Naturally, some friends will say that in the Spurs' subsequent championships, Duncan was a big forward in the starters. That's right, in the 2004 05 season, which was called the most boring Finals in league history, the Spurs' starting center was Nazr Mohammed, a "pseudo-starter" who only played five starts in the regular season and averaged just over 20 minutes per game in the playoffs and Finals. That year's Spurs, for the vast majority of the time, was an outside combination of Parker + Ginobili + Bowen, coupled with Robert Horry to play the No. 4 position, and Duncan was a pillar of optimism on the inside! What position do you think Duncan is playing?
After that, until the final championship in 2014, for the most part, the Spurs' interior relied on Duncan's excellent and balanced ability on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. It's very simple, the Spurs have won several championships, I'm afraid many fans can clearly list the main players in the team at that time, or the name of the main player, so in addition to Duncan, can you name another center? If you can, do you know how long that person is in the game? So, for the vast majority of Duncan's career, he played as the team's center.
After the retirement of the "Admiral", Duncan held up the sky of the Spurs, but Duncan, who was obviously playing center, was still "steadily" arranged by Mr. Bobo in the position of power forward. Even after more than a decade, only two players in the Spurs team, Nestrovic and McDyes, have played more than 20 minutes at center. Even until the arrival of Aldridge, Duncan, who was already at the end of his career, was still positioned as a "big forward" when he appeared on the field, and Ade, who had been famous in the power forward position for a long time, could only be "is" in the center position.
So the question arises, why did the theory that Duncan is the "No. 1 striker in history" come about? Actually, this one is quite interesting, so we can talk about it. I'd like to ask my friends, before Duncan, who was the best power forward in the league? If you don't consider the gods before the 90s, I think for people of our generation, there is a high probability that they should choose between Carl Malone and Kevin Garnett. So, when did Duncan first become known as "power forward"?
The following are just some of my personal associations, and there is no empirical evidence, pure entertainment! That is, putting Duncan in the position of power forward is actually a trick by Popovich in order to make Duncan stable into the All-Star starter!
According to NBA rules, teams are required to upload their starting lineups to the league before each game. And in this starter, it is divided according to the five traditional positions of C PF SF SG PG, and it has been the same until now, so we can often see that James can appear in all positions except the second position in the Lakers' lineup. And because when Duncan first arrived at the Spurs, no matter what, the position of C must have been David Robinson's, so Duncan was positioned on the PF when he filled in the position. However, why did Duncan, who was actually already in the center position, always maintain the position of PF after the retirement of the "Admiral"? Actually, that's because of an NBA rule that seems unrelated, but actually has a huge impact – the All-Star Game player voting system!
Now the All-Star selection rules are clear to everyone, and the two backcourts and three forwards with the highest votes in the East and West are selected to become the starters in the East and West. However, from the late '70s until the 2011 '12 season, All-Star starters were selected for voting at the center, forward and guard positions, with two spots each for forward and one spot for center. Then, if you want to win in the center forward position, it is only 1 15 chances. While the bench is selected by the coaches, there are usually only two centers on a team at most an All-Star. After all, the run-and-jump guard is better suited to the All-Star Game than the vast majority of big guys.
More realistically, due to the existence of the four centers in the 90s, the center forward position was once the most competitive but least controversial option, especially for the West at the beginning of the 21st century. Because since 1998, no matter in terms of popularity or strength, "Big Shark" O'Neal is undoubtedly the only choice for the starting center in the West, and with Yao Ming signing into the NBA with the top pick, whether it is personal efforts or the blessing of the overseas market, Yao Ming has become the best choice for the starting center in the West in the NBA All-Star Game. From the 1997 '98 season until Yao Ming's retirement in 2010, except for the 02 and '06 '07 seasons, the Western center did not miss the start in the past 13 years. And the only three chances were also topped by the forward position, which is actually the player in the power forward position.
Therefore, positioning in the "big forward" position can actually be more reasonable to avoid the fierce competition in the All-Star center position, so as to "reduce the dimensionality of the strike" in the big forward position. With Duncan's ability at the time, both in terms of record and statistics, he was among the best interior players in the league. If Duncan is placed in the center position, he has to compete with "Yao Shark" for those two center spots, and naturally there is no advantage. But Yao is in the big forward position, except for the epoch-making "Wolf King" Garnett, the rest of the players are too different from Duncan's interior strength, so Deng must be placed at the power forward, maybe it is Popovich to ensure that Duncan can be selected as an All-Star starter all year round!
In fact, there was another example in the alliance at that time, that is, Amare Stoudemier, who was known as the "Little Overlord". Anyone who watched his Suns games, let's just say how many people think he was a center? In fact, he was also positioned as a power forward 10 years ago. But he was named to the All-Star team twice as a center in the 2009-10 season, why should he do that? It's very simple, you look at the forward competition in the West in those years: Duncan, Garnett, Anthony, Durant, Gasol; In the center position, it is Bynum, Nene, the young Jr. and the old McDyes. Seeing these names, it should be understandable why Xiao Si "switched" to center forward that season.
Of course, this reason is just some of my personal speculation. In my opinion, Duncan is undoubtedly one of the best interior players in league history! As for whether it is the number one striker or center in history, it doesn't really matter!