Who is Best Center in B1G?

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BOUNDOUTPASSDUNK

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Since Mo Walker just earned POW honors, it seems to raise this question, particularly when there are so few true centers. So go ahead and rank 'Em. You can choose to eliminate or add guys who are forwards who periodically post up, but here's mine.

1. Kaminsky, WI
2. Hammonds, PUR
3. Williams, OSU
4. Mr. Mo Walker
5. Jack, Rutgers
6. Woodbury, IS
7. Egwu, IL
8. Olah, NW
9. Abraham, NE

Your thoughts?
 

BOUNDOUTPASSDUNK said:
Since Mo Walker just earned POW honors, it seems to raise this question, particularly when there are so few true centers. So go ahead and rank 'Em. You can choose to eliminate or add guys who are forwards who periodically post up, but here's mine.

1. Kaminsky, WI
2. Hammonds, PUR
3. Williams, OSU
4. Mr. Mo Walker
5. Jack, Rutgers
6. Woodbury, IS
7. Egwu, IL
8. Olah, NW
9. Abraham, NE

Your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Kaminsky
Haas
Hammons
Walker
Williams
Olaseni
Olah
Egwu
Woodbury
Jack
Doyle
Costello
Dodd
EE
Pitchford-Would be higher but is having a horrific start to the season.
Dickerson
 

I would certainly keep a very close eye on Isaac Haas. So far it's been tit for tat between AJ and Haas. The guy is a raw Kaminsky and true freshman. Plus, he has a better inside presence than AJ.
 

BOUNDOUTPASSDUNK said:
Since Mo Walker just earned POW honors, it seems to raise this question, particularly when there are so few true centers. So go ahead and rank 'Em. You can choose to eliminate or add guys who are forwards who periodically post up, but here's mine.

1. Kaminsky, WI
2. Hammonds, PUR
3. Williams, OSU
4. Mr. Mo Walker
5. Jack, Rutgers
6. Woodbury, IS
7. Egwu, IL
8. Olah, NW
9. Abraham, NE

Your thoughts?
Click to expand...

Gotta have guys like Haas, Olaseni, Eliason in there... minutes not high, but have played very well. Haas caught me by surprise. Looked like he could be very good eventually, but what he's done immediately upon arrival is impressive. A bit hit or miss game-to-game, so curious to see how the rest of the year goes for him.

Hammons continues to be 'meh' for me compared to the love that has been continually poured out for him over the years.

Other than Frank, not a ton of stars, but actually some high quality centers in the Big Ten.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Gotta have guys like Haas, Olaseni, Eliason in there... minutes not high, but have played very well. Haas caught me by surprise. Looked like he could be very good eventually, but what he's done immediately upon arrival is impressive. A bit hit or miss game-to-game, so curious to see how the rest of the year goes for him.

Hammons continues to be 'meh' for me compared to the love that has been continually poured out for him over the years.

Other than Frank, not a ton of stars, but actually some high quality centers in the Big Ten.
Click to expand...

Agree about AJ. Last year he seemed to fade to black in a lot of games. Also, imo, the BIG is in a transition year esp so for Ohio State (refuse to use "the") Michigan, Michigan St. So far not impressed by Illinois. Their last game was horrible as was Iowa's. Purdue may be in a position to be a surprise this year.
 


Walker is a valuable player but I'm not convinced he is the best center on his own team. Scoring over unathletic 6'8" guys the past few games has not changed my view. He was a liability on defense against good teams, and tried too hard to force his offense against bigger, better opponents instead of moving the ball around and finding the open man out of the post. I still favor pairing Eliason with King. I hope I'm proven wrong when we start playing some real competition again (or that Pitino finally goes back to that pairing and brings Mo off the bench).

After Kaminsky, who's not even really a true center, there are a lot of solid guys but not really stars in the B1G... I suppose like most of the rest of the country. The dominant post player is a rarity these days.
 

I'm hopeful that Mo can as many have said "play strong," holding the ball high and firmly, going up strong without hesitation, initiating and finishing through contact. Get to the line. Log 22-25 minutes per game consistently. If he can do this most of the time, he has the capacity to average double figures with 5 or 6 rpg, resulting in the Gophers' outside game and hoop slashing to also flourish. Make it happen big Mo!
 

WanderingGopher said:
Walker is a valuable player but I'm not convinced he is the best center on his own team. Scoring over unathletic 6'8" guys the past few games has not changed my view. He was a liability on defense against good teams, and tried too hard to force his offense against bigger, better opponents instead of moving the ball around and finding the open man out of the post. I still favor pairing Eliason with King. I hope I'm proven wrong when we start playing some real competition again (or that Pitino finally goes back to that pairing and brings Mo off the bench).

After Kaminsky, who's not even really a true center, there are a lot of solid guys but not really stars in the B1G... I suppose like most of the rest of the country. The dominant post player is a rarity these days.
Click to expand...

Agree on all points. I think we're in the minority with our view on EE... oh well. Still a luxury to have two capable, 5th year seniors.

Former Indiana center Luke Fischer looking excellent tonight in his season debut.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Agree on all points. I think we're in the minority with our view on EE... oh well. Still a luxury to have two capable, 5th year seniors.

Former Indiana center Luke Fischer looking excellent tonight in his season debut.
Click to expand...

Fischer would have been a great piece to this years Indiana team. He is exactly what they need. I also find it kind of funny he transferred because of lack of playing time. He probably isn't too happy with the Ellenson commitment.


As far as Mo goes, we'd likely be a big ten bottom feeder this season if we didn't have him. He is a very valuable player for us.
 



DeathClutch said:
Fischer would have been a great piece to this years Indiana team. He is exactly what they need. I also find it kind of funny he transferred because of lack of playing time. He probably isn't too happy with the Ellenson commitment.
Click to expand...

Nah, loves it. Ellenson likewise has a favorable view of having Fischer and Matt Heldt... they are centers. Henry is not a center. Works out very, very well for Marquette.
 

GopherPop said:
I would certainly keep a very close eye on Isaac Haas. So far it's been tit for tat between AJ and Haas. The guy is a raw Kaminsky and true freshman. Plus, he has a better inside presence than AJ.
Click to expand...

Agree, Haas is a player. Could be a real beast by the end of the season.
 

I'd put Olah higher than Walker. Olah is a way more complete player.
 

Gopher Warrior said:
Agree on all points. I think we're in the minority with our view on EE... oh well. Still a luxury to have two capable, 5th year seniors.
Click to expand...

I also think Elliot is underrated by many on here. Although neither of our centers is a complete player (Walker has played closer to one more recently), both of them are valuable in somewhat different ways.

I also agree that the conference has no star "true" centers (Haas looks like he could be one), so it is better to look at team center play rather than individual centers. In terms of team center play, I think the Gophers are among the top three or four in the conference. I would have ranked them higher last year but other teams have caught up.
 



The 5 spot

Instead of trying to get an agreement on a true center I will list mine as those who play a majority of minutes at the "5" spot.


1.Kaminsky 7' 235 SR 16 pts, 7.6 rb, 1.9blks, 54% fg, 68% ft, 42%3pt in 29.6 mpg.

Haas 7' 300 Fr 11.5 pts, 5.5 reb, .9 blks. 65% fg, 56% ft, 0% 3pt in just 18.5 mpg.
Amir W. 6-11 250 SR 9.2, 5.9 r, 1.9 blks, 75% fg, 67% ft, 0% 3's in 18.4 mpg.
Egwu 6-11 250 SR 7.8, 5.9, 1.7 blks, 47% fg, 91% FT, 37% 3's in 27 mpg.
Olah 7' 270 JR 11.6, 7.2, 2bls, 50% fg, 73% FT, 56% 3's in 28 mpg.
Woodbury 7-1 245 JR 8ppg, 5.9 r, .4 blks, 61% fg, 61% ft, 0% 3's in 21mpg.
Olaseni 6-10 225 SR 8.5 ppg, 5.8 r, 2.5 bls, 59% fg, 79% Ft, 0% 3's in 17.5 mpg.
Mo 6-10 250 SR 11.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.8 blks, 64% FG, 72% Ft, 0% 3's in 20 mpg.











cjbfbp said:
I also think Elliot is underrated by many on here. .
Click to expand...
 

**Repost**
Instead of trying to get an agreement on a true center I will list mine as those who play a majority of minutes at the "5" spot.


.


1.Kaminsky 7' 235 SR 16 pts, 7.6 rb, 1.9blks, 54% fg, 68% ft, 42%3pt in 29.6 mpg.
2.Amir W. 6-11 250 SR 9.2, 5.9 r, 1.9 blks, 75% fg, 67% ft, 0% 3's in 18.4 mpg.
3.Hammons 7 260JR 9.6, 5.5, 3 blks, 46% fg, 60% ft, 0% 3's in 19.7 mpg.
4.Haas 7' 300 Fr 11.5 pts, 5.5 reb, .9 blks. 65% fg, 56% ft, 0% 3pt in 18.5 mpg.
5.Olah 7' 270 JR 11.6, 7.2, 2bks, 50% fg, 73% FT, 56% 3's in 28 mpg.
6.Olaseni 6-10 225 SR 8.5 ppg, 5.8 r, 2.5 bls, 59% fg, 79% Ft, 0% 3's in 17.5 mpg.
7.Mo 6-10 250 SR 11.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.8 blks, 64% FG, 72% Ft, 0% 3's in 20 mpg
8.Jack 6-9 235 Jr 13ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1blk, 40% FG, 68% ft, 36% on 3's in 33 mpg.
9.Woodbury 7-1 245 JR 8ppg, 5.9 r, .4 blks, 61% fg, 61% ft, 0% 3's in 21mpg.
10.Egwu 6-11 250 SR 7.8, 5.9, 1.7 blks, 47% fg, 91% FT, 37% 3's in 27 mpg.

**Suprising stats: Hammons 3blks in 20 mn., Olah 56% on 3''s, Egwu 37% on 3's.
 

My thought is that it would be more representative to look at "team" center play rather than individual centers. Some teams use the primary center more than we do and some have very little post presence after their primary center.

Mo averages just over 20 minutes and game and Elliot averages just under 15 minutes a game. Only on one very brief occasion this year were they on the court at the same time and I don't ever recall them being on the floor at the same time last year. Together they are averaging the following:

16 pts., 9.2 rbs., 1.1 ast., 1.8 stl., 2.5 blk., and only 3 turnovers in 35 minutes per game. Their combined field goal percentage is 66%. Those aren't outstanding averages for 35 minutes a game but they're pretty good for centers these days.

In terms of scoring, our team may not feed the ball to the big men as much as some others in the conference. Purdue's 2 centers average 14.3 field goal attempts and 9.64 free throw attempts per game while ours average 10.3 and 4.0 respectively.
 


cjbfbp said:
My thought is that it would be more representative to look at "team" center play rather than individual centers. Some teams use the primary center more than we do and some have very little post presence after their primary center.

Mo averages just over 20 minutes and game and Elliot averages just under 15 minutes a game. Only on one very brief occasion this year were they on the court at the same time and I don't ever recall them being on the floor at the same time last year. Together they are averaging the following:

16 pts., 9.2 rbs., 1.1 ast., 1.8 stl., 2.5 blk., and only 3 turnovers in 35 minutes per game. Their combined field goal percentage is 66%. Those aren't outstanding averages for 35 minutes a game but they're pretty good for centers these days.

In terms of scoring, our team may not feed the ball to the big men as much as some others in the conference. Purdue's 2 centers average 14.3 field goal attempts and 9.64 free throw attempts per game while ours average 10.3 and 4.0 respectively.
Click to expand...


Wow good post! Good info.
 

Combine Mo's strengths with Elliot's strengths and we have one awesome center. However (as most of you have stated) we are very lucky to have two senior centers and we will really miss them next year. Like them both
 

It's amazing how big the gap between #1 and #2 is in this discussion. That's a very bad thing for the B1G. Kaminsky in a landslide, other than that it's a bunch of average big men in my opinion. I'm not a Hammons fan, he is just too bad on defense. I'm not sure what to make yet of Haas, but my hunch is if he was particularly good then somehow Purdue would've found a way to, you know, not lose to North Florida. Amir Williams is routinely disparaged by fans of his own team due to his general lack of energy and activity (although he is tough to score over and has a bit of skill).
 

OSU fan. I think it shows how few Mcdonalds all american big men we get in the big ten. If they are any good they are one and done anyway. Combine that with the way teams would rather play what was a pf 6-9 230 guy at center then a step slow 7' 250lb player nowadays. The NBA has changed the same way.
 

Another think to consider is if Kaminsky was more athletic he would have been rated higher out of high school and probably would have been in the NBA two years ago. It is rare to see a guy with his skills play all 4 years. He has a very European game. In he NBA he will have to be paired with a great defensive big.
 


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