3rd Annual SI Player Rankings: #1 Center

[youngguru]

So you don't think Lebron should have been DPOY?

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Nola you truly are a piece of work. Lol.
I could give a fuck less about his usage rate, or whatever the fuck you just summed up the Grizzlies offense to be.
Gasol could be more talented offensively, as is most centers in the league than Dwight is. But Dwight just produces. You can't sit here and say a guy who averages 14 and 7 in the same amount of minutes as a guy who averaged 17 and 12 is a better overall player. You can twist the stats and your dumb ass factoids whatever way you want. The only point you've made to me is Gasol is more talented, which is something I already knew. But when it boils down, Dwight is still the better player and better producer. And half the fucking board agrees with me. And I'm sure the board appreciates your Skip Bayless approach to every topic. Now post the new poll so we can all vote Gasol 2nd best where he belongs.

Which is exactly why your opinion should be taken with a grain of salt. You don't seem to care or understand about anything other than raw stats. This post pretty much proves that. You have to take other things into account other than raw stats that don't prove much, but you have no interest in it. Like the fact that Dwight played for a team that played the 4th fastest pace in the league while Gasol played for a team that played the 29th fastest pace in the league. Which obviously means Dwight had more opportunities to score, rebound, block shots, or produce as you put it. You can't ignore that. Just because Dwight has better raw stats doesn't mean he's the better player, which you believe to be the case.

And I'll get the next poll up when I'm on my laptop, but someone else can do it before if they want.

 

[RipCity32]

In 11-12, Dwight put up 20 and 15. Do you think if Dwight was replaced with Gasol on the Magic team, that Gasol would have the ability to put up a stat line of 20-15? That team was 3rd in the East with the 2nd best player on the team being Ryan Anderson. Do you think that team finishes better with Gasol on that team? I'm sorry but I just don't see Gasol being good enough to put a team like that on his back.

You can critique every facet of Dwight's offense game however you want, but the bottom line, as I said, is he produces. And produces the best numbers for any center in the league.

 

[Ballsohard]

So you don't think Lebron should have been DPOY?

What does that even have to do with this argument? This is Dwight versus Gasol.. Either way there was a consensus, coaches and media thought that gasol was the better defender to Howard. If we start measuring guys against the game's best, they're going to come up short often.

 

[Ballsohard]

In 11-12, Dwight put up 20 and 15. Do you think if Dwight was replaced with Gasol on the Magic team, that Gasol would have the ability to put up a stat line of 20-15? That team was 3rd in the East with the 2nd best player on the team being Ryan Anderson. Do you think that team finishes better with Gasol on that team? I'm sorry but I just don't see Gasol being good enough to put a team like that on his back.

You can critique every facet of Dwight's offense game however you want, but the bottom line, as I said, is he produces. And produces the best numbers for any center in the league.

Are we comparing Dwight from 3 years ago or as of last season. Two different players. My assumption of we were ranking as of the end of last season, this argument is void.

 

[bosoxlover12]

I think Dwight and Gaol are really close in terms of overall ranking, but in terms of offensive ability, Gasol is hands down the better player.

Let's compare.
Passing: Gasol
Back to the Basket: Gasol
Jump Shot: Gasol
Vision: Gasol
Dunking: Howard
Pick and Roll: Howard

The funniest thing about this is, that Howard's best ability is in the pick and role but he doesn't want to do that anymore. He wants to play back to basket basketball and it usually turns into him facing up and just trying to be quicker than his guy going left or right or if he's feeling fancy spinning off. That's it.
 

tbh, so what? some of these categories aren't balanced at all. Like Gasol is significantly better jump shooter than Dwight, but isnt much better at overall vision. Dwight's a far better dunker and is much more explosive. You cant just openly say "Out of these 6 categories, Dwight is only better at two, so Gasol is better"
 
 
And like Rip said, there is no chance Gasol could put up stats that Dwight had in Orlando. In 2008-09, Howard averaged 21/14/3 and CARRIED a very poor Magic team to the Finals, edging out the defending champion Boston Celtics. Gasol can't do that at all, and in fact, whether you want to call it selflessness or understanding he cant be "the guy", he cant lead a team on his own. Gasol was the third best scorer last year, behind ZBo and Conley. He arguably isn't even the best defender on the team (Tony Allen). If Memphis didnt have Allen and Conley, two really great defensive guards), and had the best overall defense in the league, they wouldn't be even in the talks for a possible title. Dwight in 09 put Orlando to the #1 defense, but Dwight carried them to a top 10 offense as well. Gasol can't do that. Marc Gasol wont be doubled, or tripled, every play. Thats one of Dwight's biggest strength, is his ability to get his teammates to score. The attention he draws inside allows guys like Rashard Lewis, Ryan Anderson, and probably Chandler Parsons this year to average 18ppg, because with his body and skill set, if you don't double team him, there is a mismatch. Nobody is scared to face Gasol in the post alone. Yea, he can score, but so can half the PFs/Cs in the league. Opposing defenses are a lot more scared of ZBo, which may even make Gasol better offensively than his possibly is.

 

[bosoxlover12]

Are we comparing Dwight from 3 years ago or as of last season. Two different players. My assumption of we were ranking as of the end of last season, this argument is void.

It is well documented that D'Antoni ran an offense that Dwight would not succeed in. His stats should be much more 11-12 like than like 12-13

 

[buzzy]

I'd even rank Duncan above Gasol. 
 

 

[RipCity32]

Are we comparing Dwight from 3 years ago or as of last season. Two different players. My assumption of we were ranking as of the end of last season, this argument is void.

Well first of all, that was the season prior to his Lakers season, so it was not 3 years ago. And no, they are not different players. Dwight was banged up last season, so there is no doubt in my mind that he can be the same player as that season when he is healthy. But that wasn't even the point I was trying to make. I said in his current state, that Gasol could not do what Dwight did that season. 

 

[RipCity32]

tbh, so what? some of these categories aren't balanced at all. Like Gasol is significantly better jump shooter than Dwight, but isnt much better at overall vision. Dwight's a far better dunker and is much more explosive. You cant just openly say "Out of these 6 categories, Dwight is only better at two, so Gasol is better"
 
 
And like Rip said, there is no chance Gasol could put up stats that Dwight had in Orlando. In 2008-09, Howard averaged 21/14/3 and CARRIED a very poor Magic team to the Finals, edging out the defending champion Boston Celtics. Gasol can't do that at all, and in fact, whether you want to call it selflessness or understanding he cant be "the guy", he cant lead a team on his own. Gasol was the third best scorer last year, behind ZBo and Conley. He arguably isn't even the best defender on the team (Tony Allen). If Memphis didnt have Allen and Conley, two really great defensive guards), and had the best overall defense in the league, they wouldn't be even in the talks for a possible title. Dwight in 09 put Orlando to the #1 defense, but Dwight carried them to a top 10 offense as well. Gasol can't do that. Marc Gasol wont be doubled, or tripled, every play. Thats one of Dwight's biggest strength, is his ability to get his teammates to score. The attention he draws inside allows guys like Rashard Lewis, Ryan Anderson, and probably Chandler Parsons this year to average 18ppg, because with his body and skill set, if you don't double team him, there is a mismatch. Nobody is scared to face Gasol in the post alone. Yea, he can score, but so can half the PFs/Cs in the league. Opposing defenses are a lot more scared of ZBo, which may even make Gasol better offensively than his possibly is.

Bingo bango. 

 

[Ballsohard]

tbh, so what? some of these categories aren't balanced at all. Like Gasol is significantly better jump shooter than Dwight, but isnt much better at overall vision. Dwight's a far better dunker and is much more explosive. You cant just openly say "Out of these 6 categories, Dwight is only better at two, so Gasol is better"
 
 
And like Rip said, there is no chance Gasol could put up stats that Dwight had in Orlando. In 2008-09, Howard averaged 21/14/3 and CARRIED a very poor Magic team to the Finals, edging out the defending champion Boston Celtics. Gasol can't do that at all, and in fact, whether you want to call it selflessness or understanding he cant be "the guy", he cant lead a team on his own. Gasol was the third best scorer last year, behind ZBo and Conley. He arguably isn't even the best defender on the team (Tony Allen). If Memphis didnt have Allen and Conley, two really great defensive guards), and had the best overall defense in the league, they wouldn't be even in the talks for a possible title. Dwight in 09 put Orlando to the #1 defense, but Dwight carried them to a top 10 offense as well. Gasol can't do that. Marc Gasol wont be doubled, or tripled, every play. Thats one of Dwight's biggest strength, is his ability to get his teammates to score. The attention he draws inside allows guys like Rashard Lewis, Ryan Anderson, and probably Chandler Parsons this year to average 18ppg, because with his body and skill set, if you don't double team him, there is a mismatch. Nobody is scared to face Gasol in the post alone. Yea, he can score, but so can half the PFs/Cs in the league. Opposing defenses are a lot more scared of ZBo, which may even make Gasol better offensively than his possibly is.

What all of you are saying though at least to me is you're judging him off his past reputation rather than what he did. Maybe it's a language thing.. I'm understanding yearly rankings as based off of what he did last year. And last year Dwight couldn't be "the man" either. Also, your point about Dwight drawing defenders to him seems a bit moot. Anderson Average the same line without Dwight as he did with him without drawing doubles. Rashard was scoring well into the 20's well before Dwight Howard.