I am one of the last true centers in the NBA, and it's a title that I enjoy to hold.
I was the center on our fraternity team, but I was a center-eligible, so I was known for my ability to go out, and I was pretty sure-handed catching a pass in the flat about ten yards down the field. My father played high school football and was pretty good. He also played center, so I always relished the idea that we both ended up playing center.
Patrick Ewing used to be much better in every aspect of the game.
I'm a big-guy guy. I look at guys like Shaq, Ben Wallace, guys who play inside and play tough. I don't pay much attention to the little guys; I like the big guys who do the dirty work.
I think playing the 5 is an advantage for me. I'm much quicker than a lot of the other centers in our league.
Marc Gasol, he's more of a true center. There are guys who play that traditional center role, but the game is also played differently now.
I think what's bad is that there aren't centers in the All-Star voting anymore.
Lacking a dominant big man is a tall order.
The value of a Bismack Biyombo is the speed and agility that he has at the center position.
You've got to be the anchor of the defense at that five position. Call out pick-and-rolls, screens. The five is usually around the rim, so you see everything.
I play basketball. I play center, and if you haven't watched me play, I'm not a regular big man. I can move my feet. Not saying I can stop anyone out there who's in front of me, but trust me: I can really be a problem on the perimeter guarding somebody.
I feel like I'm trying to change basketball; being a center, being able to play both sides of the ball and being able to pass as well as I can, that's a difference-maker on a team, especially at the center spot, so it's respect at all levels.
I know Andre Drummond has potential.
Center is a very tough position to play.
The way the podium is situated in wrestling, the first place spot is the center. So if I'm in a bathroom, I'll look for the first place urinal.
Coming out of college, I got a lot of notoriety for being the old-school center.
You have full-field view when you're watching the film. Eye in the sky, it's a lot easier to look at it that way than when you're back behind center.
Well, history always repeats itself, so there's probably a baby Shaq out there in a crib somewhere, sipping on a bottle, and when he gets old enough, he'll bring the post-up center back.
Looking at myself, I'm a center, I'm 275 pounds, I'm taking hard fouls, making decisions where 'nothing easy' is my favorite. Sometimes in the middle, sometimes you get screened, sometimes it's an illegal screen, and that stuff is part of the game.
I think there's a special relationship between the center and quarterback.
In 2005, our starting center, Dan Koppen, went down with a season-ending injury. Russ Hochstein was always our interior 'swing guy' - he played guard and center - and I remember Russ stepping in and playing beautifully.
Joe Kleine is not a legitimate center in the sense that he is not a shot blocker and not an intimidator. He's not a force on the offensive end.
I'm too athletic to play the dunker role at center.
I played on a line with Theo Fleury and German Titov, and I was actually center on their line.
Every decade the game changes and evolves, but by no means do I think the center position is dead, because there's still a lot of great centers.
