Evolution of the center position.

Not very long after the invention of basketball by Dr. James Naismith in the 1880's, coaches figured out that it made sense to position their tallest player closest to the basket, both on offense or defense. So was born the offensive formation we still see today, the venerable low post.

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It didn't take rule-makers long to realize that a big man planted under the basket enjoyed a tremendous advantage in scoring and rebounding, and so the free-throw lane and three-second rule came into existence to limit low-post domination.

This trend was expanded in the 1950's when the lane was widened to further inhibit the big-player dominance. The international game then followed by modifying the traditional rectangular shape of the lane to force even greater low post problems. These changes have given us the "paint" we see today.

Long before lane modifications, coaches discovered another way to circumvent the three-second rule. By placing the center on the free-throw line, right in the middle of the offense, the coaches made him more feedable by guards. It also enabled him to score with various post-up moves and to execute feeds to cutting teammates. Enter the high post offense.

But what if a team lacked a dominant tall player? Could speed rather than height dominate a squad? Coaches not having a so-called "big man" (or woman) noticed that trying a shorter player at low or high post was usually counter-productive. So was born the open or no-post offense. But what about the opposite personnel situation?

What if a team had, among its five best players, two tall, "center type" individuals? A coach so blessed has to get them both into the game. The resultant offensive formation came to be known as the double-post or 1-3-1 (Diag. 1). This formation, often played asymmetrically (Diag. 2), proved to be highly effective against most zone defenses, and some coaches will employ it whether they have two unusually tall players or not.

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So it seemed that there were four basic ways to play a center, and limiting the choice of offensive formations to these four approaches. This rather rigid categorizing of offensive sets prevailed for some time, until two events during the 2004-2005 basketball season, one in the NCAA and the other in the NBA, would render it old-fashioned or at least over-simplified.

The 2004-05 college basketball season saw an amazing run by the University of Illinois. Few persons had picked the Fighting Illini to win the Big Ten Championship, much less make it to the NCAA finals. They lost only twice all season.

What made the Illinois success relevant to the topic of this article is the way in which the center was utilized. To be sure, Illinois had centers on the squad, like everyone else.

What made them unique was that they entered a high or low post area by cutting into and through it, not remaining there very long. This put them in a better position to make moves or take shots, as their defenders had to be moving with them. A player passing through the high post would be positioned with his side, rather than back to the basket, or even facing the hoop, like a forward. This procedure allows for greater capitalization upon the post player's athleticism.

We are not inferring that traditional back-to-the-basket high-post players of the past were not athletic, at least not some of them. Down through the years, centers like George Mikan, Bob Pettitt, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were certainly athletic.

But when stationarily positioned on the free throw line, many of their best moves involved turn-around post-up jumpers and hook shots. Some traditional post-up centers were also gifted assists men. Arvydas Sabonis was great at hitting the cutter with a pass, for example. But it may be argued that a post player who largely faces the basket has the advantage in dishing the ball off, as his field of vision is superior.

At the start of the 2004-5 NBA season, pundits lamented that the Phoenix Suns were in deep trouble because "they didn't have a center." These so-called experts howled when it was announced that Amare Stoudamire would be the Suns' center. What the critics were basing their thinking on was that Stoudamire was not a traditional center. After all, he was a forward, to be sure, with all the characteristics and moves of an NBA forward. Readers know the rest of the story; the Suns had the best won-lost record in the NBA.

Why Amare Stoudamire did so well despite playing "out of position" is that being highly mobile and athletic, he was able to move in and out of both low and high posts usually facing the basket, like a forward. This made it possible for him to receive assists from teammates located on the sides and along the baseline. It also enabled him to continue using his customary forward-type shots, all the while playing the center position.

Pursuing offensive rebounds and making assists was also easier for this type of center, as he already faced the source of the action from whence such opportunities arose.

The role of the center may be changing, at least at the higher skill levels of basketball. Obviously, coaches cannot take any tall player and instruct him or her to play center facing the hoop. In order to implement this approach, a center must be quick and athletic, and know forward-type moves, as well as be tall. Not every player is going to fill that bill.

However, a certain kind of player is more and more showing up in college and pro ranks these days. They are tall athletes in the traditional center height range who also possess skills like jump shooting, cutting, dribbling and various forms of lay-up shots--moves more normally associated with guards and forwards.

It may be that offensive sets of the future will be less reminiscent of the familiar high, low, no, and double-posts we have all known, but more closely resemble those recently seen in Champaign, IL and Phoenix.

By Glenn G. Dahlem (Ph.D.), Honolulu, HI