Dilemma of the true big man

Try as I may, I can’t find pictures or video of Troy Murphy’s flagrant foul against Dwight Howard Monday. Instead, I’ve included two images to illustrate the point.

In neither picture is there a play on the ball – it’s all about getting the arms and shoulders to prevent the shot. I’ve heard it argued that Howard (and his type: Shaq…Bynum?) are big enough to handle it and that’s all teams can do to stop them.

Really?!? So it’d be ok to blatantly trip LeBron or CP3 as he blows by you because he’s too quick to be defended? Why is there such a disconnect between how wing players are treated and how post players are treated? How do you stop LeBron or CP3? You double-team them or funnel them to help. If you want to legally stop Howard, front him and provide back side help. What? That leaves shooters open? That’s your problem, not Howard’s.

The rules of the league are biased against big men – 3-second violations (both offensive and defensive), the NBA’s new rule on allowing an extra step is a wing player rule – that doesn’t benefit back-to-the-basket guys.

Others state that Howard should improve his free-throw shooting to prevent this treatment. I want whatever those people are taking because even if he was shooting 80 or 90%, a dunk is a sure 2 point plus a possible third on the foul. 2 foul shots are never guaranteed, no matter who is shooting them.

The statement is a bias against big men itself.

• The average free-throw shooting for top 10 centers in free throw attempted? 71.2%
• Top 10 players other than centers? 85.9%

Why are free throws the great equalizer? A true big man center is not a shooter (looking at you Tim Duncan, Mr. Power Forward), he uses his size and post moves to score. Manute Bol, Gheroge Muresan and Shawn Bradley were much taller than their counterparts but were not effective scorers because of their lack of post moves. This helps invalidate the argument that it’s unfair for centers to be so tall. They must have talent too.

Finally, watch the work and abuse a big man puts into a game. Wing players take plays off on the wing from time to time. Big men are always wrestling for rebounding position – nothing is as physically taxing on the basketball court. The only thing as tough on the body is the poor individual who always chases shooters like Reggie Miller and Rip Hamilton around picks. Those guys take a beating too but the constant wrestling down low take a lot of work.

Bottom line is: we in Orlando have a unique perspective and history on this. We’ve had the two best big men centers to play in the last twenty years come through here. We know what we’re talking about – we’ve seen the injustice. Half of us want to take a swing at the Troy Murphys of the world. The NBA must crack down on this and set expectations for what you can or can’t do with big men in dunk position or I’m going to advocate for blatant tripping on players that are too fast.