Big Men: size and skills

Since undersized big men are all the rage these days, it’s only fitting that this post begins with the latest signing of the team that paved the way for this trend:

In the London Euroleague final the most valuable centers for Olympiacos and Madrid – Kyle Hines and Marcus Slaughter respectively – had made their Euroleague debuts with Brose Baskets. Both would often appear overmatched defending against more conventional centers, but their pick and roll prowess on both ends of the floor, coupled with their ability to stand their ground down low and push off taller opponents, went a long way toward redefining the center position in European hoops.

Samardo Samuels (Milano), Bryant Dunston (Olympiacos) and Alex Tyus (Maccabi Tel Aviv) aspire to be part of this evolution, whereby undersized big men are no longer considered a low-cost gamble for teams which can’t afford any ‘true’ centers. However, the signing of Hines by CSKA Moscow (who can afford to add as many seven-footers as they please), along with the return of Mike Batiste to Panathinaikos (where this shift started a long time ago) are perhaps the most powerful examples of this type of player going mainstream.

Bamberg seem to be going the other way as far as size in their center rotation is concerned. Maik Zirbes’ game comes straight from the 90’s and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sharrod Ford should see less minutes at power forward this season, given that his inconsistencies as a perimeter shooter make him better suited as a stretch five option instead of a full-time stretch four. Philipp Neumann is…tall. And quite raw at this point. When it comes to their power forwards, though, things get more interesting and the return of Novica Velickovic to Euroleague basketball is not the main reason for it.

A couple of seasons ago, Bamberg paired Slaughter with PJ Tucker, a combo forward that made most of his damage inside, finishing over smaller opponents and through bigger ones, putting his positioning instincts to good use on the boards and defending expertly on and off the ball en route to an NBA deal with the Phoenix Suns. The German champs look at Rakim Sanders – featured on the video above – as a similar project, with an added bonus: long range shooting. In his first season as a pro, Sanders made 38% of his three-point attempts. This sort of efficiency, combined with a strong frame that allows him to bang inside and go after offensive rebounds against bigger opponents make him a rather promising prospect as the next undersized big man for Brose, this time at power forward.

Such unconventional yet affordable solutions can work really well by helping teams dictate the spatial terms of the game. Sanders’ shooting is a good place to start, but he needs to improve his decision making and technique when he puts the ball on the floor. Even though he possesses an explosive first step and can finish through contract, the ex-Gilboa Galil forward tends to drive with his head down and on a straight line, often missing kick out opportunities or running straight into a help defense wall – that said, his eurostep seems to be coming along. And while it could be argued that coach Chris Fleming would be perfectly happy if Sanders just hit a fair portion of his open threes (while limiting contested attempts off the dribble, which he is prone to), the transition from a serviceable undersized PF to a truly valuable undersized PF requires a more complete perimeter package.

Sanders’ value will also be influenced by his performance in more traditional big man tasks. The American forward can develop into an above average rebounder, provide an extra option in transition, either on the wing or by trailing the fast break, and establish deep position down low thanks to his lower body strength. But his passing out of the post, screening and overall defensive awareness inside and out – keeping track of rotations, avoiding using his hands, getting into proper defensive stance in order to maintain his balance – could stand to improve a great deal. Which is only natural for a 24-year old, with just one season of experience under his belt.

Truly special undersized big men can find a proper balance between ‘new’ and ‘old’ roles. Take Hines. An elite scorer in the paint and a hard-nosed low post defender, the former Olympiacos center can also lead the transition, take his man off the dribble in half court and switch into virtually any guard coming off the ball screen – this is his main difference with, say, Alex Tyus, a dangerous shot-blocker and close range scorer, who nevertheless struggles with his pick and roll defense despite fitting the undersized center mold.

This versatility not only turns Hines’ size into an advantage, but also allows him to fit in a variety of lineups. In other words, he can coexist harmoniously with both Milos Teodosic – a perimeter-oriented pick and roll guard with a knack for finding the roll man from the outside – and Jeremy Pargo – an explosive slasher who doesn’t always look for the screener, but can provide a bunch of Kobe assists to one of the best offensive rebounders in Euroleague.

The only thing missing from Hines’ offensive game is a reliable jumper, but that shouldn’t be much of an issue in a CSKA frontline featuring some pretty dangerous shooters from both mid- and long-range. Besides, his contributions will matter more on the other end of the floor. Ettore Messina seemed to become increasingly wary of Nenad Krstic’s defense during last season, to the point of playing him just nine minutes in the deciding game 3 of CSKA’s VTB League series against Khimki, in favour of a rarely used but very effective three-forward lineup featuring Khryapa or Mivcov, Vorontsevich and Erceg. It’s not unreasonable to expect that Krstic will be kept on a similarly short leash if his defense doesn’t hold up.

Sanders will not be the only Euroleague front court player trying to balance skills, size and position. Furkan Aldemir established himself as an elite rebounder and pick and roll defender in his Euroleague debut with Galatasaray two seasons ago. But he also struggled with post defense as a somewhat undersized center while being too opportunistic on offense, doing most of his work away from the ball through offensive boards and assisted close range shots. After a season where he had to fight for playing time in a deep Galatasaray frontline, Aldemir has to find more ways to be productive. His physical development should help him hold his own down low, but he also needs either a reliable jumper, or a few go-to post moves in order to fully establish himself. The latter option appears to be more appealing. Furkan’s game fits the prototype of a conventional mobile center (with length making up for height) and given his rebounding pedigree, it just makes sense to keep him as close to the basket as possible.

Other teams have not completely bought into the undersized trend just yet. Efes has paid good money for Semih Erden and Stanko Barac (because height remains expensive) and are hoping that they will finally see some consistent returns on these investments. Unicaja have a regular-sized front line, after replacing Luka Zoric, Kosta Perovic and Andy Panko with Ognjen Kuzmic (2,14 m), Rafa Hettsheimeir (2,09 m.) and either Mindauskas Kuzminskas (2,05 m) or Carlos Suarez (2,03 m) at power forward – conventional wisdom says that Suarez’s shooting (last season’s dreadful percentage aside) gives him the edge, but also look out for Hettsheimeir getting back to his Zaragoza days, when his ever expanding range was one of the keys to his emergence.

Meanwhile, Madrid and Barcelona seem to want the best of both words. The Spanish champs’ frontline additions were hardly controversial. Out went Mirza Begic, who had associated himself with some of Madrid’s worst performing lineups last season (in large part due to his limitations as a pick and roll defender), in came Giannis Bouroussis and Salah Mejri. Bouroussis never delivered on the promise he had shown during the 2008/09 season, when he was one of the main pillars of Olympiacos’ final four run, but he can rebound, spread the floor with his shooting – a valuable asset in Pablo Lasso’s guard-centric sets – and score with his back to the basket. Mejri can reproduce Begic’s shot blocking numbers while also providing better defensive footwork away from the hoop – not to mention another post up option.

Barcelona have made more noise with their frontcourt reinforcements but also raised more questions. A calm, collected and focused Joey Dorsey could turn out to be an upgrade over Nate Jawai as a pick and roll stopper and finisher, even though he gives up a few centimeters to the Aussie. Ante Tomic should be the best center in Europe – Madrid’s aforementioned signings have a lot to do with his inventive post game. And a fully fit Erazem Lorbek should be more productive after a forgettable season. After that, things get a bit more complicated.

Maciej Lampe is a fine offensive player, who can keep the defense guessing what he’ll do after setting a screen on the ball. Will he roll straight to the rim? Will he pop for a three, allowing the likes of Jacob Pullen to attack the basket? Will he go one-on-one? Baskonia’s spread offense last season was a thing of beauty when the Polish center was on his game and Xavi Pascual’s playbook can definitely accommodate his talents. Moreover, Dorsey is foul-prone even when he is at his best behaviour, so the blaugrana definitely needed a third rotation center. But what about defense?

Will any frontilne combination featuring Lampe, Lorbek and Nachbar be able to meet the impossibly high standard set by Barcelona’s D over the past few seasons? CJ Wallace was limited on offense and inconsistent as a shooter, but how will his defensive contributions be replaced? And if Marko Todorovic – a physical defender and rebounder – is being groomed as a back-up PF, how will Pascual deal with spacing issues on offense? Can Lampe (29% from beyond the arc last season) hit enough three pointers to make such lineups work?

That’s a lot of questions. It could even be argued that Baskonia got the better end of their deal with Barcelona, by replacing Lampe with Lamont Hamilton at a fraction of the price. If the Vitoria club can keep their spread pick and roll offense running under Sergio Scariolo, Hamilton could easily replace Lampe as the main beneficiary of their ball movement , while also providing better defense and a more reliable stretch five option. And while his offensive repertoire is not as extensive as Lampe’s, Baskonia might be OK with that, if Walter Hodge builds on his excellent scoring campaign at Eurocup and Tibor Pleiss finally settles in.

Then again, the ever – expanding skills set of Euroleague big men could help Pascual find the right answers on both ends of the floors -think of Khimki from last season with both Paul Davis and James Augustine on the floor. While the predominance of the pick and roll game has turned guards into the barometer of the average Euroleague offense, frontline players keep evolving – as shooters, passers, perimeter defenders and even ball handlers. It’s up to the coaches to make the most out of this evolution.