Welcome to Part Three of the Field Goal percentage series, where we will take a look at the big fellas and their success flushing the rock. Centres, by nature, play down low and usually shoot a much higher percentage than other positions. The catch is that they are usually not gunners, and their field goal attempts are usually lower than the typical high scoring guard or forward. There are some big men that get lots of looks at a high success rate, and those are who we are targeting in this list. Remember, these rankings take into consideration the actual percentage coupled with the field goals attempted per game. Obviously, more field goals attempted by a player will affect this roto category more.

Top 10 Fantasy Ranking, Field Goal Percentage, Centres

1. Nene, Denver Nuggets (61%, 9.1 FGA, 14.7 PPG): The Brazilian big man has found success in the paint this year. Throw it down big fella, throw it down! Many have considered him an excellent sell high candidate for months because of his injury history, but we’re into late-February and he’s still balling.

2. Shaquille O’Neal, Phoenix Suns (59.5%, 11 FGA, 17.4 PPG): Just when everyone thought the Diesel was out of fuel, he posts All-Star numbers with an all-world swagger. Other than resting the occasional game earlier in the season, Shaq has been a reliable fantasy presence all year long. As much as he hurts your free throw percentage, he helps your field goal percentage even more.

3. Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic (56.9%, 12.5 FGA, 20.7 PPG): Howard is scary talented and he will only continue to get better. Seeing as how most of his baskets are dunks, he shoots a very high percentage with over a dozen looks a game.

4. Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers (56.3%, 12.4 FGA, 18.3 PPG): The Spaniard has solidified the centre position for the Lakers with Andrew Bynum out for an extended period of time. While Lamar Odom has picked up on the rebounding front, Gasol takes over more touches in the paint, which can only lead to more scoring opportunities. Kobe Bryant understands that Pau needs the ball, and he will let him get his touches.

5. Emeka Okafor, Charlotte Bobcats (57.6%, 9.7 FGA, 14 PPG): Okafor’s great percentage with nearly 10 attempts a game will certain help you in this category, and the fact that he’s a such a great rebounder and shot blocker as well is gravy.

6. Andris Biedrins, Golden State Warriors (56.8%, 9.4 FGA, 13 PPG): Biedrins is an interesting player because it seems like all his baskets are garbage follow dunks. His fantasy owners do not care how he scores, they just love his rebounding and high shooting percentage. You may be surprised to know that he gets almost 10 field goal attempts a game in a guard-oriented Warrior offense.

7. Yao Ming, Houston Rockets (54.5%, 13.1 FGA, 19.9 PPG): The 7′6″ Chinese icon is so good down low, which is evident by his nearly 55 per cent shooting on over 13 attempts a game.

8. Kendrick Perkins, Boston Celtics (59.8%, 5.7 FGA, 8.1 PPG): The Boston big man could get more looks in the upcoming weeks with Kevin Garnett sidelined. Perkins is a high percentage shooter, but does not get very many touches with all of the talent surrounding him. He is a marginal fantasy player, but he will help you in FG percentage in a pinch, while putting up nice rebounding and block totals.

9. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland Cavaliers (50.1%, 11.3 FGA, 13.7 PPG): Big Z is back from injury and doing his thing. He takes a lot of jump shots for a centre, but is deadly accurate.

10. Marc Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies (52%, 7.8 FGA, 10.9 PPG): Joining his brother on the top 10 list, baby bro Marc can hold his own down low. The Grizzlies are a young team on the rise and they have a very promising centre. As Gasol develops more on the offensive end, his field goal numbers are sure to only improve.

Low Shooting Percentage, Centres

1. Rasheed Wallace, Detriot Pistons (42.8%, 11.6 FGA, 12.9 PPG): I am not sure how many more years this former Tar Heel has left as a starter. It seems like he is a fading star with a deteriorating jumper. He does take a lot of threes, but his shooting hurts your FG percentage if you start him at centre. I would look to move him if at all possible.

2. Andrea Bargnani, Toronto Raptors (42.4%, 11.5 FGA, 13.8 PPG): Even though Bargnani does not have the typical skill set of a centre, he is nearly seven feet tall. He is a rising star in the league and I am sure his field goal numbers will improve down the stretch, but overall, he’s been so inconsistent this season. The problem is that if you start Bargnani at centre, you are not only getting a low number from him, but you’re also missing out on the high number from most other centres who are instead starting for another fantasy team.

3. Spencer Hawes, Sacramento Kings (44.4%, 9.6 FGA, 10.2 PPG): With Brad Miller shipped to the Bulls, Hawes is the man in the middle for the Kings. He has had an up and down first half of the season, but should improve with time. Hawes has solid post moves that will start to work after repetition and game experience. Consider him a sleeper for nice production down the stretch with an improved field goal percentage.

Check in later in the week to see Part 1 of the second series of The Hidden Truth!

The Detroit Pistons snapped an ugly five-game losing streak (their longest skid in five years) by beating Memphis on Monday, and Wednesday they’ll look to start a winning streak when a struggling Raptor squad heads into Motown. Fortunately, beating Toronto at the Palace has never been a difficult chore for Detroit; it’s won 10 straight such battles (a streak that dates back to April 2003 and includes an average margin of victory of 11 freaking points!).

Detroit was rolling along at 21-11 early this month, but a 2-6 skid since then has dropped them well off the pace in the Central Division behind Cleveland, and down to fifth overall in the East, with Miami inching closer.

Wednesday is the start of a three-game homestand, but after Toronto, things get tough, with visits by Dallas and Houston.

Detroit may be sporting a new look tonight; the Pistons have been going with a three-guard starting lineup featuring Allen Iverson, Rodney Stuckey and Richard Hamilton, but there’s been plenty of talk that coach Michael Curry plans to send AI or Rip to the bench and move Amir Johnson into the starting five. From all indications, it will be Hamilton who will be demoted.

A few weeks after the deal that sent Chauncey Billups to Denver for Iverson, we noted that the Pistons weren’t exactly kicking ass with AI in their lineup. While Iverson is coming off a big game Monday (27 points, five boards, two steals), this kind of effort has been too rare, and to say he’s been inconsistent almost seems like a compliment. He’s recorded seven steals in the past three games, but before that had really struggled to offer value in a category he’s traditionally been among the league leaders in. In fact, since arriving in Detroit, Iverson has simply not shot the ball well. Sure, the 16-for-28 showing over the past two games has been nice, but like I said, he’s been inconsistent as hell. While I doubt strongly that Iverson is headed to the bench, what would happen to his level of consistency if that did happen? From an overall value perspective, it’s hard to believe it can get any worse for Iverson.

Hamilton, meanwhile, continues his decline over the past couple of seasons. He lasted until the end of the 12th round in my media league draft this fall, but the way things are going now, he may find himself at the very end of the draft next season. Rip has actually been doing pretty well in past few games, notwithstanding some foul trouble Monday that limited his court time. But he missed several games last month and earlier this in January with a groin injury and looked quite rusty upon his return. But beyond the injuries (or perhaps as a result of them), a disconcerting trend has developed in Hamilton’s game. His FT attempts per game has been in free fall for the past couple of months; in fact, in five games this month, he’s only gotten to the charity stripe four times. For a scorer who shoots an extremely high percentage from the line, that’s really going to cut into his point total. The bottom line here is that since arriving in Detroit, Hamilton has never been less valuable. And a move to the bench – which seems all but assured starting against Toronto Wednesday – is not going to help matters.

So despite his less-than-inspiring season, AI ranks second among all Eastern Conference guards in All-Star voting behind only Dwyane Wade. Damn, even Vince Carter – who’s been slipping himself the past couple of seasons – deserves to be ahead of Iverson in voting.

Tayshaun Prince has not been impervious to the inconsistency. He’s sunk just 7-of-25 in the past two games and on Monday he turned in a real stinker, managing just four points and three boards with no assists, blocks or treys. Prince started the month with some fine shooting nights, so we’ll cut him some slack for now. He’s actually enjoying his finest season overall and he remains among the most durable players in the game, but whatever happened to Prince’s perimeter game? He used to be good for one trey per game; two years later, he’s getting just half that many. By the way, Prince ranks eighth among forwards in the East. No way should he be behind rookie Michael Beasley at seventh, and you could make an argument given the time that Josh Smith lost to injury that Prince could also slide ahead of J Smoov at sixth in the voting.

When we ranked Rasheed Wallace as the 12th best centre heading into the season, we expected his PT to continue to decline in a deeper Detroit frontcourt. Well, that hasn’t happened, yet Wallace’s overvalue has slipped anyways, and he’s now barely a top 20 centre. While Sheed enjoyed a decent game on Monday (13 points, eight boards, three steals, two assists), his outside shooting has gotten worse and worse as the season has progressed. He’s sunk just 7-of-27 from beyond the arc over the past four games, dropping his 3-point percentage down to 26.5 for January. As I mentioned, Wallace is getting more action this season, and he’s done a fantastic job from the line, but owners are aghast at the fact his FG percentage, steals, blocks, assists and scoring have all dropped. Sheed currently ranks third in voting among Eastern Conference centres, and he’s definitely outplayed No. 2 Samuel Dalembert, but I’d buy it if Jermaine O’Neal (currently fourth in voting), despite his injuries, was ahead of Wallace.

A real problem for Detroit lately has been finding offense late in games. During the five-game losing skid, the Pistons failed to score even 20 points in the fourth quarter once, averaging just 15.2 points in the final stanza over that stretch. Hell, even when they snapped the losing streak on Monday, they only managed 20 points in the fourth. Fortunately, they limited Memphis to a laughable 10 points to ice the W. Still, the Pistons are going to need to find a way to put late points on the board if they hope to improve their playoff positioning.