It was undoubtedly painful for Van Gundy to say this. Van Gundy scoffed at Pat Riley's prophecy, believing it to be just a remark by Pat Riley's grandstanding. But the successful defense of the Heat title in the past two years has made Van Gundy understand something, and this Pat Riley, who looks like the leader of the Italian mafia, really has a few brushes.

"In the future, there will be no position on the basketball court, and the absolute height will also be reduced, and the future basketball is a sport in which five players with a height of 2.03 to 2.06 meters are running on the court. The development of basketball court tactics is also becoming more and more ambiguous, with players moving around the court to swap positions, and overall mobile offense replacing positional high play. Brin also repeated Pat Riley's prophecy, and as an older generation, he didn't want to see the decline of the traditional center.

There is a saying that friends who like basketball must know, that is, "Those who get the inside line win the world." "If you look at the NBA's annals, almost every era has had the league's top superstars at the center position. From McCann to Chamberlain and Russell, then Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Parish, to Olajuwon, O'Neal, Ewing and Robinson, the NBA has always been dominated by super centers, and "whoever gets the inside wins" has become a wise saying.

But if you take a closer look, except for Chamberlain and Russell's ancient times when the rules of the NBA league were not perfect and the tactics were extremely backward, which center did "win the world"? ”

Is the era of the four centers really the era of the four centers? It was the age of God, the age of Jordan! It's the era of the Bull Dynasty! However, the Bulls dynasty has never had an All-Star center.

Olajuwon, the head of the four centers, only got two championship rings in the gap between Jordan's retirements, and he was also joined by the "glider" Drexler, who could be called the second quarterback in the league at the time.

It wasn't until the three centers grew old and Jordan retired that O'Neal got three championship rings in that era when the league's stars were dying.

However, in the past decade, as the overall offensive and defensive speed of the league has accelerated, traditional centers have become less and less important in the tactics of various teams, and their end of the road is also an increasingly hot topic in the coming seasons.

"Blue collar" has become synonymous with traditional centers, they are difficult to dominate the three-second zone like their predecessors, although there will be a new generation of centers represented by Downs, Boshen and Embiid in the future is gradually growing, but they are completely cut off from tradition, this may be a revolution for the center, but this is undoubtedly an era of the lowest status of the traditional center.

There are a number of reasons for this change, such as a change in the league's rules to allow joint defense, and a blowout of quality perimeter players.

It's said that there is a blowout of outside players, but have you ever thought that this is almost a sure thing to happen! The threshold to become a center is always the highest one in the five positions on the court, a very simple reason is that people above 210CM are definitely very rare, and the standard of a high-quality center may only be the best of the five tall men, but what about the point guard with the lowest threshold in the five positions on the court?

With the continuous development of social productive forces, the material living standards of human beings have gradually improved, and the physical fitness has gradually increased, there are more people who love sports, and there are more people who play basketball, 165CM people can play point guard, 175CM people can also play point guard, 191CM people can also play point guard, and even 208CM people can play point guard, there are more people who play this position, and those who can stand out from it are naturally the best, which is why NBA team management tends to point guard when drafting, From 2008 to 2018, six out of 10 years chose the point guard as the top pick.

Another big reason is that the three-point shot is getting more and more attention from the league.

Take the U.S. men's basketball team as an example, before the 21st century, the dream team of the U.S. men's basketball team participated in international competitions with almost autumn wind sweeping away the leaves, wreaking havoc on opponents, defeating opponents, and winning various international championships. However, from 2002 to 2006, the U.S. team failed many times in international competitions and failed to win a championship. The progress of basketball skills and tactics in European and American countries is obvious to all, relying on tall interior lines and fast offensive and defensive conversions, ball transmission, joint defense, and a major weapon - three-point shots, Ginobili, Arroyo, Salunas Jascovysius, Spanollis and other outside players frequently hit outside the three-point line, giving the American team a heavy blow. The quality of the opponent's defense has improved, relying on joint defense, so that the breakthrough of the stars of the American team has been somewhat restrained, and even their best defensive counterattack is difficult to play, and the outside of the three-point line is also weak. The U.S. team also lost these games against Argentina, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Greece and other European and American powerhouses.

After a seven-year or so championship drought in major international tournaments, the U.S. team began to use the same defensive tactics that they had previously disdained, and equipped them with multiple outside shooters. Michael. Reed, Mike. Miller, Sean. Battier and other goalscorers have been called up for the national team. The data shows that in the 2004 Athens Olympics, the player of the U.S. team with the highest three-point shooting percentage was Allen. Iverson's 42 percent, and by the 2007 Men's Basketball Championship of the Americas, LeBron Brown. James shot a staggering 62 percent from three-point range (you read that right, it's LeBron. James's 62%). It also served as a benchmark for the selection criteria for the U.S. men's national basketball team for the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, as well as the 2010 and 2014 World Basketball Championships.

"Do you mean that a traditional center like Gobert was born in the wrong era?" Brin listened to a whole bunch of Van Gundy's explanations and finally concluded.

"No, I mean, the role of the center is mainly reflected in blocking and defending for the outside, especially on the defensive end, blocks, and rebounds are the survival skills of the center now!" Van Gundy emphasized.

"Oh, so you mean if it were you, you'd use Goebel like a blue-collar worker, would? Just like Hornacek is doing now. Brin continued.

"Gobert's definition is blue-collar, yes, because if it were me, I would have used Marc Lee as the core, but I would improve Gobert's tactical position, and I think both Marc Jab and Gobert are the future of the Suns." Van Gundy's words lifted Brin's spirits.

"Oh? How so? Brin asked curiously, and the audience in front of the TV was also curious about what the once experienced coach had to say about his retirement.

"Oh? What other different ideas could this old stubborn come up with? At this time, Luke and Tyrone, two professionals drinking beer in front of the TV, were also whetted by Van Gundy's words.

"Do you remember my brother Stan?" I didn't expect Van Gundy to sell out.

"Of course I know this, he also led the Magic Belt to the finals! It was '08-09, when they lost to the Lakers, and I certainly remember. Brin said impatiently, thinking that Van Gundy's old stubbornness was still selling off.

Suddenly, Brin seemed to think of something, opened his mouth wide and said, "Oh, wait, you mean?" ”

"Can it still be like this?" On the other side, Luke and Tyrone also put down the beer in their hands and looked at each other with solemn faces.

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