Best Center to Anchor the 2/3 Zone Defensively

[walsh2012]

For me this will always be Fab Melo. I was an undergrad at the same time he was, and remember telling everyone I could see that I thought he would be Big East DPOY after losing some baby fat over the offseason.

I saw him in Chuck’s and after 10-15 pops shoulder tapped him to say “I think you’re going to win BE DPOY this year.”

He smiled so big and told me how much he appreciated the confidence. He leaned into my ear and said how nice it was to have a fan show confidence in him as he was taking a lot of at the time - between his frosh and soph year.

i’ve been wrong about our guys many times but i was very firm about Fab being an all tome elite tier zone center.

he was a very kind soul and wanted to win so bad. If he plays the 2012 tournament we win the title.

he will always be the best defensive zone center to me. I cried when he passed. Such a kind spirit who loved love and loved basketball.

would love the boomers here to discuss who may have been as goodin the middle of the zone defensivly.

 

[721Comstock]

Not a Boomer, but the answer you’re looking for is:

Etan Thomas

TWICE was Big East DPOY.
Syracuse season & career blocked shot record holder.

Fab’s Soph year he blocked 88 shots.
Etan had 138 as a Soph, then 131, & 107 as a Sr.

The thing Fab was the GOAT at (other than pitchers in Chucks) was drawing charges.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 7-footer who was so adept at that.

As exciting as a great SWAT! is, you don’t always get the ball because it can go out of bounds (Etan sometimes would send 1 or 2 into the seats to intimidate opponents), or go back to the other team.
A charge is 100% change of possession, AND a foul on the opponent. HUGELY impactful if you can do that, and also be an elite rim protector

It’s not an official stat (because - FFF Duke!) but if it was, between blocks & charges, Fab was THE MAN.

R.I.P. “Big Bastard”

 

[General20]

I dont think you need to be a boomer to have a good opinion on this because Syracuse didn't start playing zone full time until '96. Almost all of our centers have been good defensively, so we are lucky, but I think its between Melo and Thomas. I would choose Melo. It comes down to whether you value blocked shots more (Etan was the best we've ever had) or whether you value positional defense more (Melo was the best we've ever had).

Melo was really hard to score against one on one because he was so strong that he always pushed opposing centers a couple of steps farther away from the hoop than they were comfortable with. He was also great at taking charges.

Because Melo was also a great shot blocker, I'd choose him.

Melo's weakness was rebounding. Not sure if you count that as defense or not. He wasn't great on the boards, but because he was so very good defensively, even though Syracuse gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, they did not give up a lot of second chance points.

 

[Cusefan69]

Not a Boomer, but the answer you’re looking for is:

Etan Thomas

TWICE was Big East DPOY.
Syracuse season & career blocked shot record holder.

Fab’s Soph year he blocked 88 shots.
Etan had 138 as a Soph, then 131, & 107 as a Sr.

The thing Fab was the GOAT at (other than pitchers in Chucks) was drawing charges.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 7-footer who was so adept at that.

As exciting as a great SWAT! is, you don’t always get the ball because it can go out of bounds (Etan sometimes would send 1 or 2 into the seats to intimidate opponents), or go back to the other team.
A charge is 100% change of possession, AND a foul on the opponent. HUGELY impactful if you can do that, and also be an elite rim protector

It’s not an official stat (because - FFF Duke!) but if it was, between blocks & charges, Fab was THE MAN.

R.I.P. “Big Bastard”

I am with you on Etan. Man that guy is a great example of hard work paying off. He was really good and his ability to control his blocks was insane. He was no joke in the NBA for some seasons as well. Washington I think...used to look up in the newspapers his stat lines and dude was a house in the NBA. As equally impressive has been his post NBA life. Nothing but

 

[Orangefan1]

AO was great and I still feel we would of won the title that year had he not got hurt...shows you how valuable the center position is to winning a title with a zone defense.

 

[sufandu]

I would go with Etan. To me it's not just about blocked shots or charges, those are a few plays out of about 50 possessions in a game. I believe Etan was also a strong position defender, not allowing opposing big men to get where they wanted or get the shot they wanted to get. I think his solid run in the NBA supports that. I also think the blocked shots, although not always leading to a change of possession, likely led to more missed shots or a reluctance to coming in the lane that charges don't.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I dont think you need to be a boomer to have a good opinion on this because Syracuse didn't start playing zone full time until '96. Almost all of our centers have been good defensively, so we are lucky, but I think its between Melo and Thomas. I would choose Melo. It comes down to whether you value blocked shots more (Etan was the best we've ever had) or whether you value positional defense more (Melo was the best we've ever had).

Melo was really hard to score against one on one because he was so strong that he always pushed opposing centers a couple of steps farther away from the hoop than they were comfortable with. He was also great at taking charges.

Because Melo was also a great shot blocker, I'd choose him.

Melo's weakness was rebounding. Not sure if you count that as defense or not. He wasn't great on the boards, but because he was so very good defensively, even though Syracuse gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, they did not give up a lot of second chance points.

This is a really good take, and the only way I can take Etan over Melo is because I do value blocked shots more, and you left me the wiggle room to make that call.

Etan was the only player I've ever seen playing defense on a 1 on 1 fast break where I thought the guy trying to score was screwed.

 

[sufandu]

AO was great and I still feel we would of won the title that year had he not got hurt...shows you how valuable the center position is to winning a title with a zone defense.

Probably not the most intimidating defender, but was able to use his size to push guys away from the basket and was a good low post scorer that we've often been without since him.

 

[sufandu]

This is a really good take, and the only way I can take Etan over Melo is because I do value blocked shots more, and you left me the wiggle room to make that call.

Etan was the only player I've ever seen playing defense on a 1 on 1 fast break where I thought the guy trying to score was screwed.

Except the 2003 NCAA tournament against Oklahoma St when we were pressing during our comeback. Guys stopped trying to score on McNeil. Of course, that was Etan basically all the time.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

Strictly defense Baye was as good as anyone.

 

[dollarbill44]

I give Etan a slight edge over Fab, in part because he sustained it over 4 years. It's a sizable drop off after those 2.

I'm gonna throw a little love at BMK. I think his D was underrated and I really appreciated his all out effort. I don't know if we've had anyone give as much effort as he did. Give me 8 or 9 guys like him and I'm taking that team to the final four most years, albeit in an ugly fashion (think UConn v Butler, which is probably the worst basketball display above the HS JV level in the history of the game).

 

[stuckinbig11]

ETAN

 

[Sherman20]

Rosie Bouie. He was a shot blocking/shot altering machine who had defenders cowering when they tried to come into the paint, according to everyone who saw him play in person. In the era I grew up in, I’d say DC and Rony. I know those are before we played the 2/3 zone 95 percent of the time but we still played it a lot. Etan is probably head and shoulders above all in the more modern era. Over the past decade, I do think the platoon of Rak and Baye were equal to Fab. That 2012-13 defense was incredible.

 

[23Zone]

DC. Hands down. Ferocious defender. Played with a massive chip on his shoulder. All time leading rebounder. Even if he sometimes play the four, I would take him at center any day when he was at his prime. Etan and AO would be my runner-ups but DC was something beyond special.

 

[OrangeDW]

Rosie Bouie. He was a shot blocking/shot altering machine who had defenders cowering when they tried to come into the paint, according to everyone who saw him play in person. In the era I grew up in, I’d say DC and Rony. I know those are before we played the 2/3 zone 95 percent of the time but we still played it a lot. Etan is probably head and shoulders above all in the more modern era. Over the past decade, I do think the platoon or Rak and Baye were equal to Fab. That 2012-13 defense was incredible.

MCW and Triche up top, with guys like Southerland, Fair, and Grant on the wings too. Amazing. If we had a 3rd guard, we win it all IMO.

 

[NineOneSeven]

AO was great and I still feel we would of won the title that year had he not got hurt...shows you how valuable the center position is to winning a title with a zone defense.

AO was solid but definitely more of an offensive threat, imo.

 

[NineOneSeven]

AO was great and I still feel we would of won the title that year had he not got hurt...shows you how valuable the center position is to winning a title with a zone defense.

AO was solid but definitely more of an offensive threat, imo.

 

[OrangeDW]

Chukwu deserves a mention. He’s not the best, but he was better defensively than some of these other guys being mentioned IMO.

It’s either Fab or Etan. Etan was also a strong man to man defender, and we still played quite a bit of it back then. He was a better overall defender than Fab IMO. But i can see an argument for Fab as being better for the zone. He was just so big, and as others have noted he became adept at taking charges too.

 

[moqui]

Chukwu deserves a mention. He’s not the best, but he was better defensively than some of these other guys being mentioned IMO.

It’s either Fab or Etan. Etan was also a strong man to man defender, and we still played quite a bit of it back then. He was a better overall defender than Fab IMO. But i can see an argument for Fab as being better for the zone. He was just so big, and as others have noted he became adept at taking charges too.

in his senior year, syracuse was 5th in the nation in defensive efficiency (highest finish ever) and 1st in block percentage

 

[Todoubled23]

Strictly defense Baye was as good as anyone.

That hustle was contagious, man those teams swarmed opponents nightly.

 

[newmexicuse]

Agree w Sherman above about rosy, clearly our most intimidating defensive center. Probably not a top of the list guy, but Rony should be part of the conversation as well.

 

[Trueblue25]

Not sure hes in this convo, but loved me some McNeil

 

[OrangeDW]

Not sure hes in this convo, but loved me some McNeil

Best at defending the basket in the back of the press.

 

[walsh2012]

Not a Boomer, but

That’s what a boomer would say.

 

[walsh2012]

MCW and Triche up top, with guys like Southerland, Fair, and Grant in the wings too. Amazing. If we had a 3rd guard, we win it all IMO.

I was on campus from fall 08-spring 12. It was such an awesome time to be a student who loves college basketball.

Fair deserved a better shot at the NBA. That dude is an absolute stone cold gamer.