The Best Center in the NBA?: Hint - It's Not Dalembert

The Best Center in Basketball?

Is Yao Ming the best center in basketball? That would not be the first choice here, but when Richard Justice, the respected writer for the Houston Chronicle made that claim recently, it gave pause. Justice sees Yao on a regular basis and the Chinese star certainly possesses remarkable skills for a 7' 6" man, notably a soft shooting touch. And he certainly has solid numbers, 20 ppg and 10 rpg. But he is slow and plodding, usually late getting down the court, prone to injury and he seems to tire quickly. Dwight Howard gets my vote. Young, more athletic, more of a defensive and rebounding force, with solid numbers of his own - 20 and 14. But it's noteworthy that there isn't more competition. The center position, particularly with Shaq in the twilight of his career, is just not the glamour position it once was. Most of the big men now tend to be role players, specialists, and very few are offensive minded.


Samuel Dalembert - Perpetual Work in Progress

Sam Dalembert is definitely not in the conversation when discussing the best centers in the NBA. In the Sixers-Hornets game last week he spent most of the time on the bench with his head in a towel. Perhaps with his French heritage, he has an existentialist bent and was contemplating the meaning of life. Or perhaps he was lamenting investing his money with Bernie Madoff. But the best guess is that he was displeased about his meager playing time. After getting lit up by David West, admittedly a tough match-up, for 14 points in the first quarter, Dalembert finished the night with only 12 minutes and 2 points.

The Seton Hall alumnus has a penchant for pouting but he now in his 7th year and he needs to get over it. He will be paid well over $30 million over the next three seasons and there aren't many professions where a mediocrity can pull in that kind of cash - investment banking does come to mind though. Kate Fagan did a nice job in the Sunday Inquirer of enumerating Dalembert's shortcomings. In all his time in the league, has he learned a single post-up move? If he has, it's the best-kept secret since the Manhattan Project. In the Hornets game, Dalembert took 4 shots. One was an off-balance baseline jump shot, a terrible percentage shot. Another was a tear-drop, a la Tony Parker, from 5 feet - this should have been an emphatic slam dunk. Last night against the intimidating Oklahoma City Thunder, things went from very bad to very, very bad as Dalembert tallied 0 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes. At times, he looked absolutely bewildered by what was going on around him.

Yes, Dalembert's primary roles are defense and rebounding. But when the Sixer offense is sputtering, as it has been lately, a no-offense center is a real liability. And when you throw in the tendency to commit silly fouls, is it any mystery the team found little interest in Dalembert as the trade deadline approached in February? Signing him to a huge long term deal was one of the biggest mistakes the previous front office regime made and it will continue to be an albatross around the neck of this team as it attempts to move to the next level.

Unfortunately for the Sixers, Dalembert is far from their only problem right now. Since the All Star break the team has been mired in mediocrity. Last night, against the dreadful Thunder, they were dreadful themselves. Right now, they are indeed looking like a one-and-done team in the playoffs.