We continue our look at the Texas Tech basketball all-decade team by revealing the best power forwards to play for the Red Raiders in the 2010s.
No position in the game of basketball has evolved more than the power forward spot. And that’s a position that has been manned rather well for the Texas Tech basketball program this decade.
We all grew up knowing power forwards to be rugged defenders, dauntless rebounders, and scorers on the block. They were expected to be the toughest players on the court and throughout the years, some of the game’s most physical players have been power forwards.
In the 1980s-90s, players like Detroit’s Bill Laimbeer, Chicago’s Dennis Rodman, New York’s Anthony Mason and Charles Oakley were all considered enforcers who protected the paint by wielding elbows and fists more than by moving their feet. But over the years, the position has morphed into one of the marquee scoring spots on the court.
That change in the modern game was born when Utah’s Karl Malone rode his mid-range jumper to the No. 2 spot in the NBA’s all-time scoring ranks. Other players like San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett soon followed in his footsteps and became the best offensive players on their teams and reshaped the way we thought about power forwards.
But no single power forward did more to alter the way we think the position should be played than Dirk Nowitzki. In 21 seasons, the 7-footer score 31,560 points (6th all-time) for the Dallas Mavericks but what made his game revolutionary is that 5,946 of those points came from behind the three-point line.
Of course, that was unheard of for a 7-footer when he came into the league. Most wanted the German to live on the blocks and post up defenders but he was more comfortable facing the basket.
Along the way, he made the term “stretch 4” common in the game and now, players all over the world are working on their 3-point shots and step-back jumpers, even if they are 7-feet-tall. That’s why Dirk will forever remain one of the most transcendent players we have ever seen.
That’s a change that’s beginning to trickle down to the college level but because big men with those skills are so rare and so coveted, there remains a place for the traditional power forward in the college game. And over the last decade, we’ve seen some 4-men come through Lubbock who were of the type that we grew up with while others have been more of the modern style.
As we move into the 2020s, might we see the stretch-4 become the preferred power forward at Tech given the motion offense of Chris Beard and the fact that he covets positionless players? Only time will tell but for now, let’s look back at the best power forwards of the last decade because they spanned the spectrum from the new-age player to the traditional.