Insider Special: Who's the Best PF?

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NBA Scouting Report: Who's the best power forward?

By Terry Brown

Friday, December 13 Updated 10:21 AM EST

Bang! Bang!

Your daddy's power forward is dead.

Rasheed Wallace

Forward

Portland Trail Blazers

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2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

20 17.5 7.5 2.3 .451 .688

"There is no better go-to move in the NBA," said one NBA scout. "Rasheed Wallace will post up, work his way to the baseline and then pop that turn-around jumper. Just because he doesn't get enough touches or enough shots doesn't mean he isn't the best big forward in the game. Portland has destroyed him. Make him the focal point of your offense and we wouldn't even be talking about anyone else."

Tim Duncan?

Chris Webber?

Elton Brand?

"Antoine Walker can play the one, two or four positions," said another NBA scout. "He sees the floor well and has the handles of a point guard. And he knows how to get the ball in the hoop. When the game is on the line, he wants the shot and I like that in a real ball player."

Kevin Garnett?

Jermaine O'Neal?

Antonio McDyess?

Antoine Walker

Forward

Boston Celtics

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2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

21 22.2 7.8 4.9 .392 .641

"I love KG," said another NBA scout. "Don't get me wrong, Tim Duncan is very good. But right now, my favorite one to watch would have to be Dirk Nowitzki. He does so many things so well. They like to call him this new type of power forward, but, actually, he's a throwback to a time when guys could really shoot. It's just that he's this white guy with great athletic skills as well as great range so we forget."

So who, exactly, is the best big forward in the NBA?

"Forget about power forwards and small forwards," said one of the scouts. "Most teams just play their best two forwards together."

Antoine Walker hit 53 three-pointers as a rookie in 82 games. This year, in 21 games, he's hit 55 already. Two years ago, he hit 221 of them. Last year, he hit 222. This year, you fill in the blank.

He's also got a triple-double to his credit, is No. 7 in the entire league in steals per game at 2.1, averages more minutes per game than any other player at 42.9 and, surprise, surprise, has shot more three-pointers than anyone else, 167 to be exact.

It took Wallace five full seasons to make his first 65 three-pointers. Then, in his sixth, he drilled 52 of them at 32 percent. Last year, he hit 114 of them at 36 percent. This year, he's on pace to make 127 of them and is shooting 45 percent from long range.

"Small forwards are just getting bigger," said one of the scouts. "And big forwards are getting more skilled. In a few years, the three, four and five positions may be interchangeable."

Nowitzki is sixth in the NBA at 10.7 rebounds per game. The 7-footer has increased that average every year he has played, this being his fifth, as well as his steal average and three-point shooting percentage.

By the way, the best player on the best team in the NBA has hit 290 three-pointers in the last two years not counting the 33 he's dropped so far for Dallas this season.

Dirk Nowitzki

Forward-Center

Dallas Mavericks

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2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS

GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%

21 21.6 10.7 2.8 .453 .851

"I think there is still a distinction between the two forward positions," said a scout. "But obviously, guys can play both as well as power forwards playing center and big guards playing small forward. The positions are now being defined more by players' skills rather than their height."

Of the 25 players chosen for the Al- NBA First, Second and Third Teams, traditionally broken down into the five different positions, there were six power forwards honored last season. The MVP, Most Improved Player and Rookie of the Year were all power forwards.

You can talk all you want about Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson, but it is the power forwards who are the backbone of the NBA, even if a few teams have to play them at small forward or center in order to get as many of them on the court as possible.

"It used to be that your power forward was the bruiser on the floor," said one of the scouts. "You didn't even care if he scored most of the time. But, obviously, times have changed."

It may come as no surprise that the three power forwards mentioned in this feature (Wallace, Walker and Nowitzki) have grabbed 127 more rebounds so far this season than the three premier shooting guards in the NBA (Bryant, McGrady and Iverson), but they've also hit 42 more three-pointers than them, too.

And if they're too loud, then you're probably too old and most likely never imagined a 6-foot-8 high school kid running across a television set as thick as a dime during prime time on a national all sports cable network because of the way he could pass a basketball, anyways.