In the scheme of things, it really wasn’t that long ago, but when New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach Kevin Hanson learned to play basketball, 6-foot-10 centers like him were usually instructed to go directly to the paint – and stay there. Big men weren’t encouraged by coaches to dribble much, fire perimeter shots or even spend much time practicing those abilities. Frontcourt players were supposed to be anchors on defense and confined to rigid roles on offense, leaving the flashy aspects of the game to the guards.
Oh, how things have changed. On All-Star Saturday in Toronto, the NBA will hold its first skills event for big men, featuring a four-man competition among New Orleans power forward Anthony Davis, Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins, Golden State power forward Draymond Green and Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns. In a way, the 2016 Taco Bell Skills Challenge is the culmination of what’s been a gradual evolution of NBA bigs, with University of Kentucky products Davis, Cousins and Towns at the forefront.
“In high school and AAU, bigs are able to do more than they used to,” explained Hanson, a University of San Diego pivot in the early 2000s and pro overseas, before he became an NBA coach who’s helped develop Davis. “There is a lot more freedom to explore their games. Before, when I was in high school, they’d put you on the block and you were kind of limited in what you could do. Now everyone wants a more well-rounded big.
“Coaches are giving guys more freedom. Twenty years ago, they put you in a box and wanted you to play within that role. The development of bigs has come a long way – guys are really focusing on being able to knock down jump shots and put the ball down on the floor. A lot of these athletic bigs can handle the ball and go by defenders, and make plays.”
That’s why, for the first time, the NBA decided to incorporate power forwards and centers into an event that had exclusively been the domain of point guards. More than ever, there are plenty of candidates to choose from in putting together a field from the 6-10-and-over crowd, players who can do things on the court that previously were left to smaller men.
“It’s the way the game is going,” Davis said as he prepared to face Towns in frigid Minneapolis this week. “There are no more traditional bigs. It’s all bigs who can shoot it – stretch fours, stretch fives who are skilled. Growing up now, that’s what you’re working on. You’re not working on post moves with your back to the basket; you’re working on your ballhandling, passing and shooting. That’s the way the NBA game is going.”
“(Davis) is a very good athlete who can do a lot of things,” Pelicans first-year head coach Alvin Gentry said. “If you look around the league, that’s where it’s going. Karl-Anthony Towns is a kid with a big body, can post up, step out and make threes. (New York rookie Kristaps) Porzingis is in that category. I think you’re seeing that the big guys coming into this league have a complete game and a skill level that’s much more there than in the past. You’re not just a back-to-the-basket player.”
Rule changes didn’t just benefit guards
In the late 1990s, the NBA was becoming an overly-physical brand of basketball in which hand-checking and other contact by defenses was prevalent. As a result, final scores were dropping below 100 and games were becoming slugfests that choked off the creativity of the league’s most talented and skilled players. The league eventually changed the rules to make hand contact by defenders a foul in most instances, giving the quickest and most athletic offensive players more space to create and attack without constantly being redirected. Although most have focused on the impact rule changes have had on frenetic point guards such as Russell Westbrook and one-time league MVP Derrick Rose, they’ve also had a positive effect on talented bigs.
“The way the rules are set up, it really benefits you to be able to face up,” Hanson said. “Because now defenders can’t put their hands on the guy with the ball. When you have your back to the basket, the defender is allowed to use his arms (to impede the offensive player). Facing up, you’re able to see the defense and know when the double-team is coming. With your back to the basket, it’s easier for the defense to double-team you and for you to be trapped.
“You put a hand on an offensive player facing you now, for the most part it’s going to be called a foul. For someone like AD, who is a little lighter, it benefits him a lot.”
Saturday night spotlight
Twenty-four hours before much of the NBA sits down to watch Davis and 23 other elite players compete in Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game, many TV sets will be tuned in to the inaugural skills challenge for big men. Davis’ Pelicans teammates are curious to see how the competition unfolds.
“They’ve got some pretty talented guys in it, but I’m quite sure he’ll hold his own,” Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans said of Davis. ”It’s going to be fun to watch. Hopefully he wins as my teammate. His mid-range shot is pretty legit, so he might have an edge there.”
“I’m definitely interested to see it, to see how they maneuver through the cones and do pinpoint passing,” Pelicans guard Norris Cole said. “I don’t have any question that they all can shoot – bigs can shoot. But I’d like to see how they do in the ballhandling and passing parts of it. It’s interesting how our game has changed. Bigs have always had skills, but now they have guard skills. That’s kind of amazing. AD used to be a guard, until he had that crazy growth spurt (in high school).
“I think he’s going to do a good job, because there are so many things he can do: He can push the ball on the break if he gets the rebound. When he catches it in the mid-post, he has a stepback jumper or hesitation dribble, a little bit of guard in his game. I’m definitely confident that he can win it.”
“It’s going to be very different, with bigs in there,” a smiling Davis said of the first-time event. “It’s all about having fun and getting a chance to show our guard skills, our ballhandling, shooting, passing. I’m just looking forward to having fun. (There are) three Kentucky bigs in it – we produce skilled big men.”
Evans is reserving judgment on the event until he actually gets to see it, but he probably speaks for many as he describes what’s most compelling to him about what could become a new staple of All-Star weekends.
“I might have to watch it first, to decide whether it’s a good idea or not,” Evans said, when asked about his initial reaction to the competition. “But it’s going to be fun to see if the big men can do what the guards do.”