Battle of the big men

The NBA Finals is just a few games away and for all four championship hopefuls; those few games will separate the pretenders from the contenders.

All four teams feature explosive backcourts that have garnered a lot of attention in recent weeks. There is the league MVP Steve Nash calling the shots in Phoenix alongside Quentin Richardson, Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups in Detroit, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker zooming past everyone in San Antonio and Dwyane Wade and Damon Jones filling it up in Miami. I believe the road to the finals will be traveled on the shoulder of a giant. Not to take anything away from these star perimeter players, the big men in these games will determine who goes home with the hardware. Let’s take a look at the towers that teams should get through to advance to the finals and eventually win it all.

Phoenix Suns (As I write this, they are down 3-1): The Suns really just have one big man with enough talent to win and affect the outcome of a series, and that’s Amare Stoudemire. Shawn Marion is great, but he’s undersized and overmatched against Tim Duncan, and that’s a big reason they’re down against the Spurs. Shawn is an exceptional rebounder, especially for his 6’7 frame and is probably the Suns’ best defender. Amare, though, is on a whole other level. He is showing flashes of a young Shawn Kemp and Karl Malone and then some. Against the Spurs, no single player in the league has a higher scoring average. That’s against one of the best defenses in the league. Amare is a big reason why the Suns have gotten this far without a legitimate center. If not for him, the Spurs would’ve cakewalked through this series.

Miami Heat: The Heat arguably has the best center rotation in basketball with Shaquille O’Neal starting and Alonzo Mourning backing him up. While it’s true Dwyane Wade has been spectacular in games two and three, without a healthy dose of Diesel, the Heat can’t match the defending champion Detroit Pistons. If Shaq can stay healthy enough to dominate like he usually does, and if Zo can give Miami a defensive boost of the bench, then the Pistons have their hands full. Those, however, are big ifs.

San Antonio Spurs: Tim Duncan and company are showing their frontcourt depth in their series against Phoenix. Duncan, Nazr Mohammed and Robert Horry are three reasons why the Suns are all but setting. Although they haven’t been able to significantly slow down Amare, the Spurs’ big men are clogging the lane and altering shots every time. On offense, they have been relentless on the offensive boards and are just bullying the smaller frontcourt of Shawn Marion and Stoudemire. With Tim Duncan playing the way he is, the Spurs have to be considered heavy favorites to win the title.

Detroit Pistons: The championship still goes through the duo of the Wallace boys, Ben and Rasheed. If their defense holds up against Shaq and D-wade, they could give Tim Duncan and the Spurs problems with their length and quickness. This is the frontcourt that won a title a year ago, and this might be very well the frontcourt that wins it this year. With Ben Wallace anchoring the dreaded Piston defense and Rasheed supporting him, it’s going to take a lot of effort for opposing teams to just get off a decent shot. This duo is as dominant on defense as a healthy Shaq is on offense. For the Pistons to repeat, the Wallace duo and backup Antonio McDyess have to control the game inside.

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