Who Will Start at Center for the Sixers?
by Jordan Sams on Sep 8, 2010 11:37 AM PDT
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PrintSamuel Dalembert has been the Sixers starting center since 2003. There were a few games where coaches opted for the likes of Kenny Thomas and Steven Hunter instead, but for the most part Sammy has been manning the middle for the Sixers since I was back in middle school. That will change in 2010-2011.
Earlier this summer, Sammy -- the Sixers longest-tenured player and starting center -- was traded to the Sacramento Kings for Spencer Hawes and Andres Nocioni. The trade opened up a gaping hole in the Sixers starting lineup and also gave the Sixers a candidate to replace Sam -- Spencer Hawes -- along with the two candidates already on the roster.
The other two are Elton Brand and Marreese Speights. If one these three players don't start every game at center for the Sixers something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. That would mean either Jason Smith, Tony Battie or Thaddeus Young has started a game at center.
Now the question is, of the three, who will start at center? And who should? A brief breakdown the candidates after the jump.
Marreese Speights
Speights career numbers per 36 minutes:
18 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and .490/.154/.758 percentages.
Though Speights per 36 numbers are impressive, his attitude, work ethic, defensive lapses have previously stunted his development. Speezy has all the tools to be a good defender and has shown flashes at times, but the lack of desire and hard work has prevented Speights from being even an average defender.
There's no question that Speights has the most potential of the three, and if Coach Collins can light a fire under him it may pay off big-time for the Sixers. He's still only 23.
Spencer Hawes
Like Speights, Hawes is another young big man with untapped potential. And like Speights, he also has the same warts: work ethic, attitude and lack of defense.
Hawes biggest strengths are his passing and ability to stretch the floor as a center. His 13.2 AST% last season ranked second amongst centers and just barely behind other elite-passing big men Pau Gasol, KG and Carlos Boozer.
Looking past Hawes jumper and his passing skills he doesn't bring too much to the table. His rebounding is average-to-below average. His efficiency for a big man is below average. And his defense is bad.
Elton Brand
Unfortunately Elton will almost guaranteed to start either way, whether it's at power forward or center -- most likely power forward. If Brand starts at center it most likely means that either Thaddeus Young or Andres Nocioni are the starting fours. It'd also mean the Sixers starting lineup consists of zero players over 6'8''. It'd also result in the worst frontcourt in NBA history.
If Elton were still in his prime the Sixers may be able to get away with starting him at center, but not now.
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Back to the original questions. Who will start? I think Hawes will start at center for a couple reasons. 1) The Sixers want fans to think they traded Dalembert for a younger, better starting center, 2) Since Speights has a history of not working hard, handing him the starting job may not be the best idea, and 3) Doug Collins will be infatuated with having 5 starters who can pass.
Who should start? I'd start Speights personally. I think Collins is the perfect coach to keep him in check and maximize whatever potential he has.
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Give me the Speezy. He wouldn’t be who I’d pick if we were trying to win, and I don’t exactly have a lot of faith he’ll become a good enough defender to warrant major minutes, but if I’m throwing away a year and don’t have an option that has either more potential than him or significantly better current production than him, I want to see what he has.
Derek Bodner
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I loathe Hawes, but he is a real C, although a crappy one. Speezy’s a PF. If he had any defense at all, maybe this would make more sense.
Now, I do think Speezy’s a better player than Hawes, for whatever that’s worth. So, if it’s a matter of getting the best talent on the floor, then he should start, but he would be out of position.
Battle of the Bigs
It’s true that Spieghts & Spawes have similiar flaws, and both havn’t reached full potential(we don’t know if either will) but I think it’s going to come down to the little things like who sets better screens, who boxes out, defensive rotations, things like that. I give Speights the slight edge b/c of his athleticism & ability to run the floor. If they want to Run like they claim they do Speights is the better option. But if Hawes is knocking down the long ball consistently I would give it to him b/c the Sixers need as many shooters on the floor as they can get, and with his ability to pass (an Speights unwillingness too) he might be a better option in a more grind it out type of game…I like the energy that Mo CAN bring, but its a matter of will he..it’ll prolly be Center by commitee for the 1st 20-30 games, by then one of them should be able to pull away from the other
I go Hawes
Speights still has plenty of development to go, and I think easing into it off the bench with a new coach is the best way to go about doing it. Hawes needs playing time to maximize his potential, whereas Mo needs coaching and discipline. If they can both figure out how to play defense and rebound a bit better, we’ve got a serviceable front court.
If Hawes can’t figure it out halfway through, he’s basically wasting a roster spot and Speights should start the remainder of the season. I’d just like to see what we’ve got in Spencer first.
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I think Smith will be in the mix as well, as Collins is going to try to find the best players for the front-court and none of the other candidates are a sure thing.
I think Speights is the best out of all of them, but it’s more about which is the best tandem for the Sixers of a Center and Power Forward. Speights and Brand worked pretty well at times, but this was against the back ups on the other team. I’d also prefer more height than Brand would provide at PF particularly when the Sixers are playing the bigger teams.
All of our bigs are young and undeveloped. The ones that catch onto Collins system faster and play it with greater proficiency will win out. It remains to be seen if any of them are strong enough to establish themselves in the post and work with their back to the basket. Neither Speights nor Smith could do that last season, but they are a year older now.
I know nothing about Hawes, but I’m perfectly open to him being the starting Center. I think it will be Speights and Hawes or Speights and Smith as your starters by mid-season. Brand will likely be in there at the start of the season, but Collins has to be concerned with floor balance when his starters sit. Having Brand as your first big off the bench could really boost the 2nd group.
hawes
Seems like guys that are all offensive do better off the bench. (aka lou williams, jamal crawford, barbosa) speights can be a offensive big off the bench. Seemed prettty good at it beggining of last year, but we didnt really win too many of those games now did we
I go with youth and start Hawes and Speights. Speights should be groomed as a PF, and Hawes is a center who can will play on the perimeter- forcing Speights to work more closer to the basket. This probably is not a long term answer, but is the right answer for next year.
I’m not saying this as anti-Brand. I would give Brand just as many minutes as Speights or Hawes- but coming off the bench. I believe Brand can be more effective in every way when he is matched more against 2nd team players. He also brings some needed toughness to the bench.
Many people would’ve thought that Dedicated’s most hated player was Andre Iguodala, this isn’t true. He’d be one of my favorites if he wasn’t paid 12 million a year. Who is my most hated? Mo Speights. 6’10, dumb as a brick and whatever shotblocking potential he had was gone after his rookie year. He doesn’t protect the paint, nor does he enforce it. You don’t need statistics to see this, for all of Jordan’s ravings about protecting the paint we weren’t able to do that either. Largely because Daly was our only consistent big.
And to be honest, a very large part of last season was due to the loss of Reggie Evans. We kind of over-rated Elton Brand defensively or at least it seemed that way last year. Daly’s gone, Evans’s is gone and Brand is 32. Only so long we can ping our hopes on a comeback, he’s washed up, injury prone and old. Stefanski, since when did you become Ruben Amaro JR?
I HATE Speights, with a passion. I called him our Zach Randolph and he didn’t show me much different in the summer league.
Brand on Speights: I knew he wasn’t going to pass, Speights doesn’t pass. Even though we’ve seen glimpses that Speights has a pretty good arm! It’s not that Speights can’t be good, it’s that he doesn’t have the motivation, the will or the drive. He’s one of those bigs whose out of the league after his rookie contract.
So TK
by LeQuan Glover on Sep 8, 2010 10:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Opps, I pressed the enter button too early. TK and Dbods: What possible upside does this guy have? Hawes can pass out of the post, he can shoot the mid-range shot and he’s at least a weakside shotblocker. It’s not like he’s gotten that many more minutes then Speights.
For all intents and purposes, this front-court and this team sucks. So I don’t really care who starts, if we win more than 33 games color me impressed with Collins. But Hawes should start at C. Brand can’t and Speights is gonna expire in a few yrs.
by LeQuan Glover on Sep 8, 2010 10:40 PM PDT up reply actions
Speights should be groomed as a PF
I’m not convinced that the team is best with Speights long term position at pf instead of at center. Obviously, if you can get a dominant center like Dwight, that would be ideal, but I am not holding my breath.
Speights advantages are his athleticism and mid-range shooting, so I could see him as more of a favorable mismatch when playing center then against a more athletic pf who could better guard him outside as well.
In terms of defense (and rebounding), it needs to improve for either position. I’m not as concerned about his raw size as I am about his defense footwork and concentration, which makes grooming him into a primarily offense center seem easier. Of course, then we need a big athletic pf that can seriously board and defend…
Either way, we have a glaring need another quality big.
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