Dwight Howard had 20 points, 21 rebounds and 3 blocks. At first glance it may seem like a dominant show, but anyone who watched the game knew that Howard's stats didn't help the team much at all. 116-91, the Bobcats beat the Magic by 25 points. Howard made just 10 of 17 free throws. Hayes played 36 minutes and finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists. The Bobcats scored 6 doubles, and it was clear who was strong and who was weak.

This made the pre-game prediction that Dwight Howard would ravage the Bobcats' weak interior into a joke.

Howard has played 20+20 performances in the game many times, and not long ago, the media wrote articles praising Howard, saying that it was only a matter of time before he was comparable to the big four centers in the 90s. It's really a matter of time, and it may take 100 years for a Howard who can't attack to be on par with the big four centers.

Stan Van Gundy still spoke for Howard, attributing the Magic's loss to the Bobcats' outside offensive system and "slashing beast" tactics. "The Bobcats stuck to the perimeter throughout the game, with Hayes and Bagnani pulling out on the perimeter together, making it difficult for us to defend. It was risky to give up the inside play, but they had an amazing shooting percentage and we couldn't defend it. Dwight was dominant on the inside, but because of the Bobcats' foul play, he was sent to the free throw line many times and couldn't play at a good level. ”

When asked by reporters what Stan Van Gundy thought of Hayes, he said: "Chuck Hayes is the most well-rounded player I've ever seen. The way he plays is maddening. If you let the perimeter defend, he arches the opponent and shoots like Barkley, if you let the interior player defend, he can pass like a defender, his passing is like a long eye in the back, he is a real monster. Needless to say, he was named to the All-Defensive Team. ”

Last season, there were still many "Black Seas" who could find fault with Hayes, but this season, there are fewer and fewer "Black Seas", and it is difficult for people to find fault with Hayes. In the past, people could say that he couldn't run, the floor flowed, and after losing weight, Hayes's speed also improved significantly. There is a saying in China - "It's easy to pick a bone in an egg, but it's hard to find fault with Hayes." "He's already a first-class player.

Based on the efficiency of 48 minutes, experts speculate that Hayes would have scored a triple-double in each game if it weren't for a few games where the Bobcats won too easily. Calderon's role was simply to get the ball across the half, and the real playmaker for this team was Hayes.

Hayes' excellent play also made Houston fans even more disgusted with the Rockets. Last season's hottest Toyota Center, with an average attendance of only about 14,000 this season, has fallen into one of the lowest attendance rates in the league. Fans are here to see Maddy scoring, and Maddy is currently averaging 28.3 points per game and ranking second in the league, vaguely having the style of a scoring champion, but the Rockets are at the bottom of the West and are far from the playoffs. If the Rockets can't make the playoffs, they'll break an NBA history by being the first defending champion team to fail to make the playoffs. Judging by their 4-8 start, they are not far from that record.

Rockets owner Alexander has recently been unlucky, the team has lost Hayes and Yao Ming, and he has personally lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the subprime mortgage crisis, and he has no time to care about the team's affairs. The other day he finally put down his work and was sent to a nursing home.

After the game, there was a lot of news about the battle between Hayes and Howard. "Elvis Presley" beats "Warcraft" three doubles, the first center is not worthy of the name", "The First World War led to the real MVP of last season", "The center is declining, why is the 198cm inner line murderous?" 》…… Seeing these news, most people choose to laugh it off, and some fans feel sad. In this day and age, the center has really declined. The time of giants has passed.

What is the center like now, and how many can be used?

The current high school forwards are Bynum and Oden. The former has limited potential, and even if Oden is not injured, it will be difficult to reach the level of a superstar. Other elders over 210cm tall Gasol, Bogut, Carman, Yao Ming, Brad Miller and others are barely considered stars, but they are only average, not superstars. The short interior Howard (said to be barefoot and 206cm tall) and Okafor have few offensive means and can only rely on talent to eat.

In the NBA in the 90s, there were four super centers. Olajuwon "Big Dream", Patrick Ewing "The Gorilla", David Robinson "Admiral", O'Neill "Big Shark"

Under these four, there are two hot pot kings, "Kidney Fighter" Alonzo Mourning, and "African Mountain" Mutombo.

At the next level, there is technical center, Brad Doherty of the Cavaliers, with 19 career points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Yugoslavia's famous playmaker - "Master of the Art of Fake Throws" Divac. Sabonis, Europe's No. 1 center who once cried Robinson.

Yao Ming and Howard, the hottest centers in the league now, may not be first-class centers if their technical characteristics go back to the past. Will they be able to beat the big four centers or the young Duncan with their style of play? (Duncan is nominally a power forward, but in fact he is more like a center) Howard's height of 206cm and fierce style of play are a bit like Mourning. He is more physical than Mourning, rebounding and dunking, but Mourning's mid-range shooting, hook shots, and free throws are much better than Howard's.

Yao Ming is probably on the same level as Sabonis, whom he admires the most, or Sabonis, who was weakened in the later period. The young Sabonis and the four centers did not fall behind one-on-one, but unfortunately he was born 10 years early and failed to land in the NBA in the prime of his career.

The reason why Howard is favored is because of his physical fitness, if he can practice better offensive means in the future, such as mid-range shooting, under-the-basket foot, feint shooting, etc...... There's also the possibility of becoming a superstar. Otherwise, it is impossible for him to compete with the four centers, three of whom are capable of inside and out, and have a variety of offensive means. The only person who can only attack under the basket is O'Neal. The most terrifying center forward is also O'Neal, whose physical fitness has gone against the sky. If he were thrown into Chamberlain's time, he would probably be averaging 100 points per game. When he was younger, the conversation wasn't about "who's the most powerful player in the NBA," but "O'Neal's power?" Or is it the strength of an adult bear? "No one can beat O'Neill.

Because of the scarcity of good centers, on the plane back to Charlotte, D'Antoni deliberately switched places with Azubuuk, sat next to Hayes, and talked to Hayes. He had a new idea.

"Chuck, I want to arrange for you to play the center position in the future." D'Antoni said.

"Huh?" Hayes was stunned for a moment.

"Don't be surprised. I used to want you to be a swingman because you have accurate anticipation of rebounding and can break fast in time, but now I think you can play better as a center. The first is your rebounding ability, your teammates believe in you so much that as long as you are under the basket, they dare to go faster than you run with you. Having you protect the backcourt rebounds can create more fast-break opportunities for the team. The second is your strength, although your height is not enough, but there is no one you can't resist. There aren't many interior players in the league who can play inside or out, and you can block the strong interior players of most teams. On the offensive end, my idea is to let you be the center of the organization, and you will do a beautiful job in this game, and you will do better than Brad Miller and Divac before. ”

Listening to D'Antoni say this, Hayes also feels that he is indeed more like a playmaker this season. He always rushes inside to grab the frontcourt rebound after passing the ball, his ** to grab rebounds is too strong, if he is allowed to only rely on breakthroughs and shots to play, he is not psychologically comfortable.

In his previous life, Hayes was an absolutely special figure, playing a season as a starting center for the Rockets in the 2009-2010 season. In the NBA's more than 60-year history, there has never been a team with a regular starting center of just 198cm like him. According to statistics from EliasSportsBureau, no team has had a shorter regular center than Hayes since the league's first game of the 1946-47 season. Before Hayes, the shortest center in the NBA was Hall of Fame center Wes Unseld with a height of 201cm.

Is it really the life of the center? I'm so well-rounded, and I still want to play center?

D'Antoni saw that Hayes didn't reply for a long time, thinking that he was feeling hard, and persuaded: "Chuck, I know that the inside hand-to-hand combat is a little harder. But when Andrea [Bagnani] comes on the court, our rebounding ability decreases a little bit, and he can make the offense better, so I'm going to start him, and the best thing to do is for you to protect the rebounds in the backcourt, and it can only make you work harder. If we can finish the fight in three quarters and you can get a rest. ”

"No, I don't have an opinion, I just think about how to play to make the team better. You're right, we have to have someone who controls the rebounds in the backcourt. I'm confident that I can steal the big centres. Hayes laughed. Accepted the suggestion to play as a playmaker.

"If you're willing to fight. Gerald, what do you think? D'Antoni asked, looking at Wallace beside him.

"He's fine with anything, but it's better to have fewer long passes at the back. Today's goal was a goal for me, and I can't score again. Wallace laughed.

"It's you running too fast, I don't want you to run for nothing." Hayes laughed. It was also the best goal of the day.

"Normally you play as a playmaker, and when you play against a special team you can play in other positions, so be mentally prepared. We can test it tomorrow against Celtic. Their center, Perkins, is very athletic, and you just have to pull out and attack, and it's enough for them. D'Antoni said.

"Tomorrow Celtic may use Pierce to defend me, he is also very physical, Jamison's athleticism can also defend Andrea, I suggest continuing to use Andrea as the first point of attack tomorrow, as long as Gerrard helps him block Jamison, he can take full advantage of his height." Hayes suggested. When he played Pierce last season, he was impressed with Pierce's power.

Pierce is a super hunk. In the early morning of September 25, 1999, Pierce was dragged to a bar by his teammate Barty for recreation, and got into a verbal altercation with a man, Pierce was slammed on the head with a wine bottle by a scoundrel, and some people stabbed him 11 times. The heaviest of them was 8 centimeters deep and pierced into the lungs, missing 0.25 centimeters to the heart. Ordinary people have died early, but Pierce was only able to participate in training after only two months of rest, what kind of recovery ability is this?

D'Antoni smiled: "Celtic and Ray Allen, this team is not easy to play, don't be careless." But their interior line is not strong, the magic are all done, and when all five of us are shooters, I don't believe the Celtics can defend it. Our goal for this season is the best record in the league. ”

After experimenting with new tactics, the Bobcats started the season as eye-catching as the Rockets last season, with the best record in the league, and it is not out of the question. In addition to victory, Hayes has another goal. He wants to average a triple-double per game!

(To be continued)