Andris Biedrins: Center Of The Future

When people talk about centers in the Western conference, they say that the future is looking bright. They name many players that will become big superstars including: Yao Ming (who already is one), Andrew Bynum, Al Jefferson, Chris Kaman, and others.

However, a name never mentioned with the group is the lanky center of the Golden State Warriors, Andris Biedrins.

Biedrins almost left the NBA this off-season to sign with a club in Europe that would have offered him loads of Euros to play closer to his hometown in Latvia. Yet, he remained loyal to the Warriors' franchise and signed a six year deal, letting worried Warrior fans get some sleep at night.

It's not often that you find a center with good hands, a high basketball IQ, and one that doesn't complain about the team. Biedrins is all of that and more. He is a phenomenal pick and roll player. He's quick and excels in Don Nelson's offense and is one of the few players on the Warriors squad that is committed to playing good defense. His length could disturb the opposing offense and he can block shots with the best of them.

Biedrins, however, has to work twice as hard on defense because of the lack of front court help. Nelson plays small ball so, at times, a shooting guard may have to play power forward which makes it even harder on Biedrins.

Somehow, though, he manages to get the job done.

Biedrins led the league in field goal percentage last season. He averaged nearly a double double in less than 30 minutes a game, not to mention a 26 rebound game last season against the New York Knicks. It was not only a career night for him, but it was also the NBA's season highest rebound total in a single game.

Along with all his other talent, Biedrins has great footwork and possesses a great work ethic. His free trow shooting has improved since his rookie year by nearly twenty percent, which obviously shows he can improve on many other things over time.

He may not be the strongest guy out on the court, but he can take control with the dirty work he does down low and the way he crashes the boards. He has the potential to be a star in this league, and many people have yet to acknowledge it.

When he went out with an appendectomy last season, the Warriors struggled without their big man in the middle. They were a much worse rebounding team, didn't shoot the ball well, and their scoring percentage decreased.

Don Nelson doesn't like young players, and he doesn't like centers. Nevertheless, he continues to play Biedrins. It indicates to the fans that he truly possesses an amazing work ethic and more potential than many may think.

Andris Biedrins may not be as good as Bynum, Jefferson, Kaman, but he is not as far off as many people predict. Biedrins will be at least a borderline all-star in this league, and one of the best centers of the future.

 

Boy, he sounds like the perfect center to play with Deron Williams for the next 15 years. Somebody should put that combination together in one of these GM drafts I've seen on here.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Legacy @ Aug 11 2008, 03:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>His free trow shooting has improved since his rookie year by nearly twenty percent</div>

That article must be old, because his FT% has improved over 30 points since his rookie year (31% -> 62%). But, they do mention the 26 rebound game which was half way through last season, so maybe just an error.

Since I'm looking at the stats page, check out how he ended the year last season:

<pre>TEAM PTS REB
---------------------
DEN 17 17
DAL 16 14
SAS 8 7
DAL 7 8
MEM 21 17
NOR 17 15
SAC 17 17
DEN 11 19
LAC 10 14
PHO 16 11
SEA 20 17
</pre>
During that span he also shot 65% FG, 68% FT, and over 1.5 blocks in less than 32 mpg.

 

When this guy was 19 I saw him hook someone's arm so he couldn't get the rebound. I saw him step on another guy's foot so he couldn't jump. I thought if he's learning these things now, he is going to be impossible to deal with when he reaches his prime. Winner

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (HiRez @ Aug 11 2008, 06:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Legacy @ Aug 11 2008, 03:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>His free trow shooting has improved since his rookie year by nearly twenty percent</div>

That article must be old, because his FT% has improved over 30 points since his rookie year (31% -> 62%). But, they do mention the 26 rebound game which was half way through last season, so maybe just an error.

Since I'm looking at the stats page, check out how he ended the year last season:

<pre>TEAM PTS REB
---------------------
DEN 17 17
DAL 16 14
SAS 8 7
DAL 7 8
MEM 21 17
NOR 17 15
SAC 17 17
DEN 11 19
LAC 10 14
PHO 16 11
SEA 20 17
</pre>
During that span he also shot 65% FG, 68% FT, and over 1.5 blocks in less than 32 mpg.
</div>

Yeah, I wrote this article and made an error over there.

 

Biedrins has always been pretty talented. I think he needs to shift from being a role player to a star player. He's got the physical tools, he's got the mentality, he's got the talent. I think ultimately we need a coach change and invest more personal trainers to get him better (maybe somebody close to the Warriors organization like Nate Thurmond). Hopefully we get somebody that specializes in big men and can get him to optimal weight so he can do his offensive moves. I think he should be at 240 or 250. If he gets up there, his basic offense will be there and he'll get more confident about his above-the-rim type of game because he'll have strength and mass and he'll be able to clear out with a forearm. He's just not strong enough to do the types of moves he was trained to do as a PF/C. He's also not very balanced IMO, but I think with an optimal weight he'll take in contact and his sense of balance will get better and he'll be able to go up in the air without much worry. I feel like his 36 inch standing vertical goes to waste because of his center of gravity is all screwed up with being 220 or 230 lbs. If you're a center expecting contact, normally you don't jump high if you don't have to for fear of your 7 foot butt getting knocked upside down. It's all physics from there in how a lighter, tall player reacts to a heavier, lower center of gravity, strong player while in midair.

Then again, this is my hunch about why Biedrins doesn't display more athleticism. I'm not a pro at developing bigs, but I think Biedrins was tailored to fit Nelson's type of scheme rather than the organization developing Biedrins as a player of his own. Biedrins is too young and talented to be used as a garbage rebounder and pick and roll type of guy. I feel we need to see more drop step moves, up and under, post up hookshots, short range jumpers off glass. If Biedrins has studied his idol's playbook (Tim Duncan) he would have worked on these moves that he's capable of doing. Biedrins has excellent finesse inside the paint and he loves to dunk. I think he's capable of doing anything provided he's strong like a center so he can accomplish those moves with confidence (Biedrins has fire and he's got a Kmart mentality/meanstreak, but he also plays within his game which is low risk). Biedrin's offense doesn't have to have range, he just needs to dominate the paint against your standard nba center not named Yao or Dwight Howard. I think he's got to be as good as Chris Kaman or else our power forward has to carry a lot of that offensive load in the paint (when not shooting midrangers and deep twos).

I think being heavier will get Biedrins better defensively (and he's a naturally good defender). At his current weight, Beans is better off playing power forward and he could be a type of power forward that can handle the ball, make very short range shots, and get stuff off glass. He's very quick moving side to side and that helps him cover even some big small forwards (the kind that are guys like Tim Thomas, Zarko Cabarkapa, Andrei Kirilenko etc.) The coolest thing is that both him and Wright are very, very quick players moving side to side (at the sacrifice of muscle mass). The question is what is optimal for Biedrins so he can keep his gifts and gain some strengths. Unless Beans operates like Theo Ratliff or Marcus Camby, I don't see the upside of him being just a defensive guy and not a guy who can score inside against some of the best. I'm hoping Beans becomes more like Jermaine O'neil or at least Chris Kaman. You know you get rebounding/defense from these guys with athleticism/fundamentals.

Biedrins is not even my ideal center (I always envisioned him as a power forward), but I think he can handle today's definition of center. There's only a few centers I really like anyway and they are Yao/Duncan/Dwight Howard/Shaq. My favorite is probably Duncan since there's very few ways a center can beat this guy offensively/defensively/tempo-wise/skillwise and he's equally a good power forward (which was his proven natural position for a while when playing alongside David Robinson). Second best is Yao Ming. Also a very skilled player like Duncan, but is flawed due to poor stamina (which is understandable given his size/international commitments) and the fact he's probably too big for his own good (affects the variety of tempos he can play in, his endurance, and his jump ability). How many centers shoot Peja Stojakavic type numbers at the foul line or can hit turnaround jumpers all day and go inside with authority?

Anyway, I'm hoping Biedrins can bring the defensive intensity like a Dwight Howard and play a bit like Duncan (a quiet 20/10 type potential that can play a running game or halfcourt game). Duncan has proven you don't need to be the most athletic, aggressive guy in the world to be effective, you just need to be strong, smart, and match the tempo of the game. I think Biedrins can accomplish this because he's so young and he's already proven how much he could do coming into the league as a 17 year old from Latvia. He may have been around with the Warriors for a while, but he's still so young and capable of doing anything the Warriors train him to do.