Size doesn’t matter nearly as much as it used to when it came to being an NBA big man. The days of the slow, plodding but powerful post player has given way to a sleeker, more refined, long-range shooter.
But here’s the thing: Nobody told Boston’s Al Horford or Memphis’ Marc Gasol that the revolution was coming until it was here, leaving both with a choice of adapting to stay ahead of the game or sticking with their status quo, low-post brand of basketball and quickly become marginalized NBA talent.
They have done more than just keep up with the times, but have actually set the pace in many respects when it comes to what an NBA big man must do to be successful.
And those skills will be on display when Boston (15-12) tries to extend its winning streak to three in a row against the Memphis Grizzlies (18-11).
The two have a number of similar attributes, but none stands out more than their ability to help facilitate good ball movement.
Both Boston and Memphis rank in the NBA’s top 10 for passes made per game with the Celtics (332.3) second in the league while the Grizzlies rank 8th (311.4).
And the play of Horford and Gasol have a lot to do with that, evident by Horford leading the league among centers in passes per game (51.9) and Gasol (49.8) right behind him.
The similarities between the two and their skillsets is not lost on Celtics head coach Brad Stevens.
"(Horford) and the guy (Gasol) we’re playing against (tonight) are two of the best big passers in the league,” Stevens said. “When you play off the post or off the seams, they just make the right play really quickly.”
Listening to Horford describe Gasol as a player who “can really pass the ball, score in the low post,” as well as shooting 3s at a decent rate … “He kind of does it all. We know we’ll have our hands full.”
Those descriptions should sound familiar to Horford, because it’s how many describe his game.
“We have a lot of similarities in our game,” Horford acknowledged.
Stevens added, “He’s always been a really skilled shooter. The game has changed, right? That’s what bigs do. Bigs that shoot it well at 20- feet are shooting 3’s because it makes sense. He’s always had great arc, great touch. It always made sense that he could shoot more volume. And they’ve done a great job of finding spaces for him; they’re creative in their after time-out plays to get him shots from the 3-point line. He’s an outstanding player.”
Horford is shooting 33.8 percent on 3s which ranks 8th in the NBA among centers. Meanwhile, Gasol is connecting on 41.4 percent which is the second-best mark in the league behind Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (44.2 percent).
The 3-point shooting numbers put up by Horford and Gasol are just mind-blowing when you consider it was a shot that neither used much until recently.
“When I came into the league I never saw it,” Horford said. “When I came into the league I didn’t shoot threes. It’s an evolution that the big man, it’s good to have it. That was my whole thing, to shoot the ball if needed. But now it’s to the point where we’re getting a lot of reps from 3s.”
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