I blame AAU and guys coming out of college too early, the average rookie age of Robinson, Hakeem, Wilt, Duncan, Ewing and Kareem was almost 23 years old. I left out Shaq because he came out as a Sophomore, but even he was 20 as a rookie. These guys all got a lot of playing time and had their bodies mature as their games developed, they got to see what works and what doesn't in the post. I don't think it's any coincidence that the last great post player also happens to be someone that went to college for 4 years.
It's funny how a lot of the guys that came out of HS or entered the draft as freshmen almost all seem to have their breakout years around 21-23 years old, basically the time they'd be entering the league had they stayed 4 years. I like Andre Drummond a lot, but he's a perfect example of everything at work, on the AAU circuit he wanted to play like a SF and never really focused on developing a back to the basket game, despite having every tool you could think of to be a dominant post player. We can see how naturally good he is at the game right now in the NBA, imagine if he stayed 4 years at Uconn and learned how to play with his back to the basket just off trial and error of moves against guys smaller than himself. By his 2nd or 3rd year the entire offense @ Uconn would have revolved around him and he would have gained confidence in his offense. I mean, someone like Hibbert wouldn't have even been drafted had he tried to come out as a Fresh/Soph.
I maintain that the next great center will either come from Europe, or he'll be one of those undersized PF's that has a late growth spurt and shoots up to 7"0.
is
is it really that hard to develop tho
that could be said for every player
and he is one of the big men with good footwork) and lack of coaching.
you know i never thought bout this
when big men are drafted on potential and are raw. Besides Bynum and J. Oneal which project big men in the past 20 years have truly developed a nice low to mid post game? Watching Bynum grow was truly 
as a Laker fan. It's so rare for a project big to pan out. Still sad he's hampered by injuries.
. one of my childhood bestfriends deadre thomas might have been the best back to the basket bigman to ever come outta chicago but eric gordon snitched on him n stopped him from goin to da nba 
. now if my lil cuzo jabari parker keeps growing then he can be next up but i like the big kid at whitney young okafor he mite be the next great true bigman.
to have a a player 6'7 and under to have more moves around the basket then you at 6'9 and up
do tell
