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Most Impactful Center in 2021-22

Who will be the most impactful center in 2021-22?

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dukedevilz

dukedevilz

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Apr 3, 2002
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Arguably the deepest position in college basketball. Jalen Duren is the only freshmen in my top 10. Lots of good options. Tre Mitchell (Texas, via UMass) is the only transfer. Here are the stats from this past season.

2022-Centers.png


Who will be the most impactful? This is a tough one.

Just missed: Mark Williams (Duke), Walker Kessler (Auburn), Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky)
Rest of the Honorable Mentions: Osun Osunniyi (St.Bonaventure), Paul Atkinson (Notre Dame), Kenneth Lofton (Louisiana Tech), Colin Castleton (Florida), John Fulkerson (Tennessee) Nate Watson (Providence), Tanner Groves (Oklahoma), Qudus Wahab (Maryland), Nick Muzynski (Belmont).
 
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Group is elite. I'd be fine with any of Hunter Dickinson, Kofi Cockburn, or Drew Timme. I voted Cockburn but even guys like Trayce Jackson Davis, Trevion Williams, or Jalen Duren might be the top pick in most years.
 
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Ingersol said:
Group is elite. I'd be fine with any of Hunter Dickinson, Kofi Cockburn, or Drew Timme. I voted Cockburn but even guys like Trayce Jackson Davis, Trevion Williams, or Jalen Duren might be the top pick in most years.
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It's an awfully impressive bunch of players. Could easily have 5 All-Americans from this group.
 
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I think all three that just missed are going to be really good this year, so that tells you how crazy deep this lot is. Great year for front court talent.
 
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Tre Mitchell might be the most important transfer.
Definitely the only one with a for sure pro basketball future who Chris Beard brought in.
Some people are down on him.
I really am not. The hype of him being the best player UMASS had since Marcus Camby is true.
With better players around him I think his game gets even better. Especially with an impact PG.
Mitchell is a shooter as well. Could hit that 40% this year
 
Oscar was ranked in the top 15 last year by you and not even a top 10 center this year? Ouch. I'd personally have him over 5 of these dudes but no biggie. Voted Timme, I'm so intrigued by the Zags/Chet this year.
 
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RR30 said:
Oscar was ranked in the top 15 last year by you and not even a top 10 center this year? Ouch. I'd personally have him over 5 of these dudes but no biggie. Voted Timme, I'm so intrigued by the Zags/Chet this year.
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It's the deepest position in college basketball. He could easily be an All-American center. He's no slouch. My main concern with him are his offensive limitations. And with all the playmakers around him, I suspect he'll have moderate scoring outputs. Dude is a force in the paint, though, and will be a huge asset for Kentucky.

FWIW, I downgraded Mark Williams quite a bit, mostly because I believe Banchero will significantly eat into his numbers. Talent-wise, Williams is easily a top 10 center in my book. I think you could say the same about Oscar, too.
 
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hailtoyourvictor said:
Dickinson had a better freshman season than all of the Big Ten guys listed. Food for tonight as he enters his sophomore year.
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He also played basketball his entire life and will be 21 as a sophomore. He’s two months younger than Trevion Williams, and Kofi had only played for 3 years before his freshman year.
 
Ingersol said:
Group is elite. I'd be fine with any of Hunter Dickinson, Kofi Cockburn, or Drew Timme. I voted Cockburn but even guys like Trayce Jackson Davis, Trevion Williams, or Jalen Duren might be the top pick in most years.
Click to expand...
Yea the center position seems to be absolutely stacked this year.

reminds me of a few years back when all the big men dominated the draft. I think it was mo bambas draft class. Thats one dude i figured would be a perennial nba all star, his upside/raw athleticism was ridiculous. Guess now aday if u cant shoot from deep you dont have as much value.
 
NC_Trojan10 said:
You seem a little triggered there, guy. I expect we will see a similar post about the 1 guy that voted for Trevion Williams too, right?
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Triggered? RollLaugh

I'm sorry for not pointing out a Purdue fan that's never posted on the board before and instead pointing out the resident Indiana homer. I didn't realize that would get you so worked up.

Would you mind justifying why you think TJD will be the most impactful center in 2021?
 
Jaycg15 said:
Triggered? RollLaugh

I'm sorry for not pointing out a Purdue fan that's never posted on the board before and instead pointing out the resident Indiana homer. I didn't realize that would get you so worked up.

Would you mind justifying why you think TJD will be the most impactful center in 2021?
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1. Drew Timme is far and away the best returning/most impactful center.

2. I did happen to vote for the returning center who averaged the most ppg and bpg of anyone on that list.

3. You called me a homer, yet you voted for DickBurn even though the obvious answer is Timme.
 
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NC_Trojan10 said:
1. Drew Timme is far and away the best returning/most impactful center.

2. I did happen to vote for the returning center who averaged the most ppg and bpg of anyone on that list.

3. You called me a homer, yet you voted for DickBurn even though the obvious answer is Timme.
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My reasoning is that Timme has more supporting cast. Chet Holmgren and Andrew Nembhard are significant pieces on that team. There's a legitimate possibility that Holmgren is the best player on the team. In any event, voting for TJD vs Cockburn isn't equivalent. Timme and Cockburn are the two best returning post players in the game.
 
Jaycg15 said:
My reasoning is that Timme has more supporting cast. Chet Holmgren and Andrew Nembhard are significant pieces on that team. There's a legitimate possibility that Holmgren is the best player on the team. In any event, voting for TJD vs Cockburn isn't equivalent. Timme and Cockburn are the two best returning post players in the game.
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Whatever helps you sleep at night.
 
Jaycg15 said:
He also played basketball his entire life and will be 21 as a sophomore. He’s two months younger than Trevion Williams, and Kofi had only played for 3 years before his freshman year.
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Sure but true freshmen got a little screwed last year anyways because of COVID and not being able to workout / practice with the team all summer. A full offseason of conditioning and D1 training should help Dickinson. That’s one of the big reasons for freshman to sophomore jumps (getting a full offseason of D1 level trainers).

I think it’s fair to project Dickinson getting up to something like 17 and 9
 
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Jaycg15 said:
Is anyone surprised that @NC_Trojan10 voted for TJD despite there being a 0% chance of that happening?
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Didn’t you vote for Curbelo as the most impactful PG in college basketball? TJD was a 3rd team All American last year. Curbelo?

FWIW I wouldn’t vote TJD either but it’s no more crazy than Curbelo being the most impactful PG.
 
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dukedevilz said:
It's the deepest position in college basketball. He could easily be an All-American center. He's no slouch. My main concern with him are his offensive limitations. And with all the playmakers around him, I suspect he'll have moderate scoring outputs. Dude is a force in the paint, though, and will be a huge asset for Kentucky.

FWIW, I downgraded Mark Williams quite a bit, mostly because I believe Banchero will significantly eat into his numbers. Talent-wise, Williams is easily a top 10 center in my book. I think you could say the same about Oscar, too.
Click to expand...

Agreed overall. Just saying it's quite a drop considering his standing going into last year. Not sure who's going to eat into Oscar's numbers though. UK gonna be a more perimeter oriented team and I think that will help him tremendously.
 
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hailtoyourvictor said:
Didn’t you vote for Curbelo as the most impactful PG in college basketball? TJD was a 3rd team All American last year. Curbelo?

FWIW I wouldn’t vote TJD either but it’s no more crazy than Curbelo being the most impactful PG.
Click to expand...
Ouch…
 
NC_Trojan10 said:
1. Drew Timme is far and away the best returning/most impactful center.

2. I did happen to vote for the returning center who averaged the most ppg and bpg of anyone on that list.

3. You called me a homer, yet you voted for DickBurn even though the obvious answer is Timme.
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To be fair, you say in #1 that Timme is “far and away thest center”, and then votes for TJD anyway. That is being a homer.
 
VulvHa said:
To be fair, you say in #1 that Timme is “far and away thest center”, and then votes for TJD anyway. That is being a homer.
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Okay? Who cares? This poll means nothing. If I were giving an honest answer, it would be Timme, but again, this poll means nothing.

No different than you and all the other Purdue fans voting for Ivey over Johnny Juzang in the SG poll.
 
RR30 said:
Agreed overall. Just saying it's quite a drop considering his standing going into last year. Not sure who's going to eat into Oscar's numbers though. UK gonna be a more perimeter oriented team and I think that will help him tremendously.
Click to expand...

It'll probably be good for him not to share the floor with someone like Culver. That should afford him more space down low. But, I was thinking more in terms of shots available for him. Most of the offense is going to be run through the guards. Oscar isn't a dominant offensive player anyway. Just thinking his offensive production will be relatively modest, and that might hold him back from All-American honors. Could see him averaging 11-13 points and 9-10 boards a game.

The guy I'm going to hit the hardest in rankings will undoubtedly be Garrison Brooks. I want to say I had him in my preseason top 20 last year. But after last season? Idk. He looked like the 4th best big on Carolina's team. Still a top 150 player, but his ranking is going to plummet. I suspect Oscar might remain in my top 50.
 
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Jaycg15 said:
Is anyone surprised that @NC_Trojan10 voted for TJD despite there being a 0% chance of that happening?
Click to expand...

The odds aren't in his favor to be more impactful than Timme, Cockburn, and Dickinson... But, at the same time, he was 3rd Team All-American by USBWA, NABC, and the Sporting News. And he did that on a team that didn't even make the tournament.

If those IU transfers are moderately productive, he'd have a decent shot at being 1st Team All-American, IMO. Still not the favorite, clearly. But, I also wouldn't say 0% chance.
 
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NC_Trojan10 said:
Okay? Who cares? This poll means nothing. If I were giving an honest answer, it would be Timme, but again, this poll means nothing.

No different than you and all the other Purdue fans voting for Ivey over Johnny Juzang in the SG poll.
Click to expand...

FWIW, I voted for Jaden Ivey. Can't blame anyone for voting for Juzang, however. He has the highest floor and is a serious contender for National POY honors. I just really, really like Ivey's upside. His ability to blow by defenders is quite impressive. Does everything well on the floor, minus connecting on outside jumpers with consistency.
 
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My votes by position have been the following:

PG- Collin Gillespie, Villanova
SG- Jaden Ivey, Purdue
SF- Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona
PF- Paolo Banchero, Duke
C- Drew Timme, Gonzaga


I'll probably do one more poll next week for the most impactful player in college basketball.
 
I feel like you could switch Timme and Chet’s position on these polls.

While Chet doesn’t have a ton of weight/strength compared to Timme, he’s still probably going to guard the other teams center most nights due to his length and shot blocking ability.
 
Jaycg15 said:
The voting about sums up my thinking. Timme or Cockburn are the two top-shelf guys at the position. Dickinson is right I there but a half step behind. Bigger gap behind that for the rest.
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😂😂
Take the better defensive center and the one who can actually shoot.

The two stats that really stand out.
Are steals per game and 3 pt shooting percentage
 
Jaycg15 said:
Only a moron would think those are key stats for a center.
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That is why they stand out😂

You want a big who stretches the floor to give you more room to drive the ball

If a center is getting you steals. Like Hakeem. Why Hakeem is considered one of the greatest centers of all time. He is filling stat sheets. Even with steals
A center averaging around 1. 5 bpg and 1.5 spg is highly impressive

Mitchell isn’t anywhere near the defender that Hakeem was
Doesn’t have the size
But the Marcus Camby comparisons who is one hell of a defender himself could be true
 
SheriffBufordTJustice said:
That is why they stand out😂

You want a big who stretches the floor to give you more room to drive the ball

If a center is getting you steals. Like Hakeem. Why Hakeem is considered one of the greatest centers of all time. He is filling stat sheets. Even with steals
A center averaging around 1. 5 bpg and 1.5 spg is highly impressive

Mitchell isn’t anywhere near the defender that Hakeem was
Doesn’t have the size
But the Marcus Camby comparisons who is one hell of a defender himself could be true
Click to expand...
He’s a 4 in the NBA. That’s why his stats look different than most of these guys. He’s really good, but he’s not the best because he’s able to do some things a true 5 can’t.
 
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