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Going in to the 2012-2013 season, the Boston Celtics have plenty of big men. 
What they do not have is many true centers. As it stands, the Celtics only have 2 legitimate centers on their roster.
Jason Collins is 33 years old, and averaged just 10.3 minutes per game last season. However, that number did bump to 17 minutes in the playoffs. Last season, Collins averaged 1.3 points per game and 1.6 rebounds per game. While he is not the most skilled rebounder, Collins will do the dirty work. He is a 7-footer who plays physical and likes to bang. Collins will set picks, box people out and will help to ware down opposing big men such as Andrew Bynum over the course of a game. He will likely see his most minutes against bigger teams such as Bynum and the 76ers.
The only other true center on the roster is rookie Fab Melo. However, the Syracuse product has not been playing basketball for all that long and is still learning the game. He is a major product, who likely will spend most of this season in the D-League. The 7-footer from Brazil, may very well turn out to be the Center the Celtics dreamt of when selecting him with the 22nd overall pick, however that will not come for some time.
Bring in Darko Milicic. With Milicic now in the fold, the Celtics have two 7-footers and now possess the size to effectively match-up against bigger foes. Milicic is 27 years old and while he will never live up to the expectations of being the number two pick overall, he continues to carve out a solid career. In 2011-2012, Milicic averaged 4.6 points and 3.3 rebounds, while playing in 29 games for the Timberwolves. He is an underrated defender and a good rebounder. Just like Collins, Milicic provides the Celtics with another 7-footer who plays physical and can hold his own against the league’s better centers.
The Celtics can now feel more comfortable going into match-ups against bigger opponents such as the rival Lakers. They have a variety of options and can now match the Lakers, who have two 7-footers.
The Eastern Conference has also gotten bigger. As previously mentioned, Philadelphia has added Bynum and Brook Lopez, who played in just 5 games this past season, returns to a much improved Nets team. The Pacers have a talented 7-footer of their own in Roy Hibbert, in addition to 2-time all-star, David West.
The Celtics now have Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger, Chris Wilcox, Milicic, and Collins to help counteract rival bigs, alongside starters Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass.
The addition of Milicic and the versatility in the backcourt as well as the frontcourt now, might just be enough to bring home banner 18.
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Interesting insight. It’s difficult to find the value in a true center nowadays considering there are so few true centers that can dominate the game. That being said, I agree that having size like Milicic cannot be understated. He can offensive rebound, set strong screens to free up players on the perimeter and occasional score down low. Nice Article man
Thanks for the post Bobby. I guess it depends upon what you mean by true center. One might say there are fewer than a dozen true centers in the league. If your criteria is that the player can only play center then your assertion may be right. If the issue is the player’s primary position, or position for which he is best suited, then I think you have to add Garnett at this stage in his career. Like Kevin, Wilcox was a PF earlier in his career but right now I think he is more suited to the center position also. I think perhaps the real shortage is in “true” power forwards.
I think that is a very interesting assertion. I do not feel that there is a shortage in true power forwards but I see where you are coming from. The league is smaller and more versatile than it was in previous decades. Fewer big men play block-to-block, as many prefer to face up and play further out from the basket. At this stage in his career and given how the game is now played and the use of small ball line ups, Garnett’s natural position and the position best suited for him is center. While Garnett has the size to play the position he does not fair well when guarding bigger centers such as Andrew Bynum. The league lacks centers who an offense can be run through and can dictate from the block, as well as be an intimidating interior presence defensively. However, the position could be returning to glory with the potential emerges of Roy Hibbert, JaVale McGee who worked with Hakeem Olajuwon this summer, as did Dwight Howard.
[...] Help On the Way Celtics have many big men but no true center. Darko Milicic may be the answer to that problem. [...]
Hey…
Thanks for helping out, good information. “The surest way to be deceived is to think oneself cleverer than the others.” by La Rochefoucauld….