‘Embiid, KAT and Jokic only centers comfortable with Rockets win’- Draymond Green highlights ‘big man’ issue

Draymond Green said on Twitter that if the Rockets beat the Lakers, big men will be valued even less than they already are.

Draymond Green has taken a liking to analysing NBA basketball in the past year, and made a great point of Twitter, saying quote, “If Houston takes this series, it’s going to hurt the value of the big man even more.”

Draymond Green was of course, part of the revolutionary Golden State Warriors small ball lineup, where the Warriors placed the 6’7 Green at center, introducing one of the greatest small-ball lineups in the history of the NBA.

Does Draymond Green have a point?

It is no secret that the traditional, rim-running, put-back dunk, low post up center has lost a tremendous amount of value in the past 6 years. This is due to the emergence of small-ball lineups that utilize centers who can stretch the floor, playmake, and get back on defense instead of pounding the glass for boards.

Also Read: LeBron James has shambolic stats in the 4th quarter of Game 1 vs Rockets

However, one of the biggest issues with small ball centers is their ability to defend larger, versatile bigs such as Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid. This where players such as Houston’s PJ Tucker come into the picture.

PJ Tucker played stellar defense on LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

PJ Tucker has shown that he is great at operating in the mid post on defense, over this 2019-20 season.

Here we can see PJ Tucker get as low to the ground as possible to maintain a stable center of gravity against one of the best offensive bigs in the league, Anthony Davis. This forced Davis to shoot an uncomfortable jumper that missed the rim entirely.

Once again in the mid post, PJ Tucker barely budged when LeBron James tried to bully him down low, forcing James to get off an awkward layup. Tucker also has great feet on defense, as seen here.

The Houston Rockets also equalled the Los Angeles Lakers in rebounds, with both teams grabbing 41.