Gone are the days when 6'8" and above doomed most to a life of banging inside, rebounding and both giving out punishment along with taking it. The generation of Shaq followed Ewing and Olajuwan who all played very different styles but did the majority of their damnage near the bucket.....each year it seems teams are getting away from that idea and adding more and more european aspects and players to the NBA game.
Dirk Nowitzki was one of the first true 7 footers that had the touch of a shooting guard and what he lacks on the boards he more then makes up for on the offensive end. Now, we have the NBA leading MVP candidate, Kevin Durant, 6'11" and thin as that girl on the AE "INTERVENTION" special, I'm anorexic. Durant was critisized routinely and some even said he would be out of the league within a few yearswith that frame....well, guess what guys??? K.D. is not just here to stay, he's going to be challenging Lebron, D Rose, D Wade, Dirk, Dwight Howard and Blake Griffin for NBA MVP for the next decade +.
Now, the man who is seemingly Durant's polar opposite is the Timberwolves Kevin Love. The man is built like an NFL lineman, looks like he will slap the taste out your mouth and was told specifically "DO NOT SHOOT 3 POINT SHOTS". Well, maybe someone was old school and didn't realize what the big man was developing in his off time.....he added a whole demention to his game that NO ONE would have EVER dreamed of him having. Let me be clear, he is listed on NBA.com as 6'10" 260 lbs but looks more like 6'8" and 280-290 lbs and he led the league in rebounding in only his 2nd year. THE ENTIRE NBA. Now, this year, he has made 49/141, 35% AND STILL AVERAGES 14 REBOUNDS EVERY SINGLE GAME.
Someone needs to start re-thinking their prototype of the NBA big-man, if not i'd be more then happy to build around these guys and see you for our ring ceremony next time out.
In case you didn't know, Durant and Love are not on the same team or anything, i'm just saying, they are obviously great pieces to build a franchise around. Seem to have the character to match as well, some great role models from professional sports again finally. I'm glad because that's something I think we got away from.
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