Zydrunas Ranked 6th Amoung Centers

[Karma]

Here are some interesting quotes.

Mike Brown on Ilgauskas when assistant of Indiana last season.

"Ilgauskas relies purely on his skills, and his skill level is higher than Yao's," Pacers assistant coach Mike Brown says. "He has more range on his jump shot. He's a little quicker. Yao is a little bit thicker and has a little more upside."

Jeff Foster also on Z and Yao.

"That's a really good comparison," Pacers center Jeff Foster says. "Both are such big guys that when they get the ball, they can just turn around and shoot over you. Ilgauskas has a few more tricks than Yao does. Yao's still learning."

Z is better then Yao

 

[Recluse]

How good do u think Wilt would be if he played today? And maybe he was so good back then because the deffense that was played then is nothing compared to the deffense of today?

i think he'd be a hell of a lot better than shaq. and i'd be right.

wilt was a far better athlete and was smarter to boot. wilt ran track in college and was a world-class professional volleyball player after he retired from basketball.

how can you honestly look at footage of wilt and not tell that he was a far better athlete than shaq? and if wilt had grown up in this day and age, he'd have been bigger and stronger (due to nutrition and modern training programs) than he was.

shaq can't hold wilt's jock. if wilt had been born the same year as shaq and they had played in the nba against each other in their primes, wilt would dominate. wilt would average about 35/20 against shaq, whereas shaq would average about 18/7 versus wilt (and that's if shaq is lucky--wilt would have him in foul trouble so fast that the diesel would hardly break a sweat before returning to the bench!)

not even close.

 

[RuanuLaw]

i think he'd be a hell of a lot better than shaq. and i'd be right.

wilt was a far better athlete and was smarter to boot. wilt ran track in college and was a world-class professional volleyball player after he retired from basketball.

how can you honestly look at footage of wilt and not tell that he was a far better athlete than shaq? and if wilt had grown up in this day and age, he'd have been bigger and stronger (due to nutrition and modern training programs) than he was.

shaq can't hold wilt's jock. if wilt had been born the same year as shaq and they had played in the nba against each other in their primes, wilt would dominate. wilt would average about 35/20 against shaq, whereas shaq would average about 18/7 versus wilt (and that's if shaq is lucky--wilt would have him in foul trouble so fast that the diesel would hardly break a sweat before returning to the bench!)

not even close.

 

[Dungong]

well, I bet Shaq would make a hell of a volleyball player too

Is Z better than Yao? Maybe now, but if I were to pick one for my team, I'd take Yao just because he has more years left.

Its funny that Amare is sliding over to PF so that Kurt Thomas (yet another PF playing the 5) can fill in at center.

Will be interesting to see if Z gets another all-star nod this year behind Shaq and Ben

 

[aaronr]

rigor mortis, the stiffening of the body that follows death, as evidenced recently by the pictures of the corpse of the poor fellow in New Orleans who laid out in the open for several days before anybody bothered to pick up his body.

 

[CleveRocks]

I love ben wallace, but I would not trade Z for him even up.

Having a big tall vs a short strong center is a geniune debate right now in the NBA. I think a team can win it all with a big tall center if he has the right squad around him, but the same is true of the short strong crowd. I don't think Ben Wallace would be enough engine to win a title without a true seven footer standing next to him and one of the best defensive back courts in the country..

The guys who did win it all had a PF that is built as big/tall as most centers AND a seven footer next to him..

My only concern with Z is that unless he is better shape this year than last, he will struggle late if we play him lebron minutes. That is why I am hoping we trade for a solid back up center before it is over. I think they are out there to be had. I find it interesting that so many of our camp invites are really wing players. What does that say about the parade of wings we have under contract..

 

[highplainsdrifter]

I think right now Z has an edge on Yao. A lot of hype follows Yao because hes a giant from China. Will he ever rise to the expectations, who knows......

For him to get better he must play with more intensity (like KG), id still say he is 'soft'. And his arms sure look small compared to the rest of his body. Hes a good player though.

They also had LeBron #1 for SFs, and Hughes baerly missed the top ten for SGs.

 

[longtimecav]

(QUOTE) My only concern with Z is that unless he is better shape this year than last, he will struggle late if we play him lebron minutes. That is why I am hoping we trade for a solid back up center before it is over. I think they are out there to be had. I find it interesting that so many of our camp invites are really wing players. What does that say about the parade of wings we have under contract..


One of the reasons Z struggled late last year was that he got beat up constantly by dbl and trpl teams.That shouldn't be as much of an issue this yr

 

[Karma]

Last season we had just Varejao (rookie) and Traylor (undersized height wise) backing up Ilgauskas. You cannot count Williams as his body and game were finished or Diop who was Paxson practical joke on Cleveland. This meant Z was forced to play long stretches which takes it out of any +7footer. Shaq would not play stretches that Z did.

This season it should change. We have Varejao a year wiser, Donyell can come in and play spot minutes, and we are closing in on the signing of both Jahidi White and Alan Henderson. Both those signing are massive improvements on Williams and Flop. So we have 4 guys who can contribute different things who can spell Ilgauskas at different periods. This should lead to a more efficient Z down the stretches where he would offer tire.

 

[Dungong]

Even LeBron can't play LeBron minutes, we saw this at the end of last year when LeBron was playing rediculous stretches and his game was showing it.

Now Marshall isn't going to be the answer at the backup C, but as the original post shows, theres really only 7 guys in the league who I'd be concerned with him guarding. Will that be enough to get into the playoffs? should be, but we'll see what happens from there

 

[Cleveland56]

This season it should change. We have Varejao a year wiser,

I haven't been abke to keep up lately but isn't varejo likely out until Jan or Feb?

 

[Mac]

He is out four to five months, so he will be out for a long time and even when he comes back, who knows how long it will take him to get into basketball form.

 

[Karma]

This season it should change. We have Varejao a year wiser,

I haven't been abke to keep up lately but isn't varejo likely out until Jan or Feb?

That is the word at the moment. I was just stating the different guys we have capable of playing behind Ilgauskas, so he'll unlikely have to push 40 minutes in any game. That is of course if we do ink both Henderson and White.

 

[CleveRocks]

I won't beat a dead horse, Karma.. I just think signing White as aour back up center is settling for less than we could have. We have an over population of back up wing players who will see few minutes and who will not contribute anywhere near their talent level, an I see us having a much lower quality set behind Z because we are burning slary at the other positions. That spells trade to me. Thats all I am saying.

I am fine going into the season as you suggest, We are seriously imporved and may be good enough to go into the late rounds in the playoffs (especially if AV comes back hard late in the season.. )

 

[Maximus]

"People expect too much from him, but his somewhat placid veneer makes him a finesse player. And how many other 7-5, 295-pounders are there to match up with him? None. So it really does make him a special player and he makes the Rockets always dangerous."

Yao continues to be the most overrated and biggest underachievers in the league. This guys first sentence says it all. OH, "our expectations are too high"? He can only sit in the paint and doesn't have nearly the all round game Z has. He does have the potential to be better than Z because of his size and age....but he just isn't there yet....so let's no just give it to him prematurely With the Cavs pathetic outside shooting last year, Z faced much tougher defenses b/c everyone collapsed on him and dared someone other then Lebron to hit a freaking shot!

An if you are going to call Amare a Center how could you not rank him higher then Yao?!?!?! He is a complete freak who, unlike Yao, has exceeded all expecations and moved within striking range of being the MVP of the league. He averaged more rebounds and 8 more points a game then Yao.

Brad Miller? Take a coaches poll and see how many coaches would rather have Z's inside/outside game than Miller's....it would be a super majority.

This may be the year Z finally gets the respect he deserves. With all the new weapons Ferry has added and the improved perimeter game, Z will be much harder to cover with double teams every time he touches the ball. I think Z's assist will greatly increase this year now that he has some options to pass to other then LJ.

This list has some major flaws.......