Interesting article--athlete vs. skill

I quit reading after I saw that the first comparison in the article compared a 6'1" athletic player to a 5'9" skilled player.
 
There's nothing wrong with discussing athleticism vs skill but when you compare 2 players they should at least be of similar stature.
 
If height was all that important, Aaryn would never have a good game. You can reverse the heights of the players used as examples and the point of the article is the same.
 
SoonerNorm said:
If height was all that important, Aaryn would never have a good game. You can reverse the heights of the players used as examples and the point of the article is the same.
Click to expand...

You might be right. Since I didn't read the entire article, I don't have a clue what point the writer was trying to make. It's not that height is so important. If you want to compare 2 players and say that the skills of one outweigh the athleticism of the other or the athleticism of one outweighs the skills of the other, you have to use players of similar stature. Having one player 4 inches taller than the other is like comparing apples to oranges.
 
The article's general point, which is the game is moving away from skill and toward athleticism, is true. And the team examples he uses are good. If you think about it, the new rules and guidelines being enforced by referees this year are trying to combat that trend. We're seeing a lot more fouls called players using athleticism combined with brute force to defend more skilled players.

However, his individual example is not necessarily good. If the 5'9" skilled player can box out better than the 6'1" athlete, she can win - particularly since the rules as enforced this year don't allow the 6'1" player to bump the 5'9" player and impede her path.
 
35TangoTango said:
The article's general point, which is the game is moving away from skill and toward athleticism, is true. And the team examples he uses are good. If you think about it, the new rules and guidelines being enforced by referees this year are trying to combat that trend. We're seeing a lot more fouls called players using athleticism combined with brute force to defend more skilled players.

However, his individual example is not necessarily good. If the 5'9" skilled player can box out better than the 6'1" athlete, she can win - particularly since the rules as enforced this year don't allow the 6'1" player to bump the 5'9" player and impede her path.
Click to expand...

I think generally you are right but, an athlete can many times jump high enough to get the rebound even when they aren't in the best position. Look at Griffin. She should never get beat for a rebound as tall as she is but more athletic players jump and come down with the ball because she plays flat-footed. Even when Nicole gets a rebound she often loses it to the better athlete who doesn't give up.
 
Speaking of rebounding, Jo has a great instinct for where the ball is going to go when it comes off of the rim which makes her a good rebounder. Part of that is athletic ability because she can react quickly when she senses where the ball is going. But part of that seems to be instinctively knowing how that round ball is going to react when it hits that round rim. Does that instinct fall under athleticism or skill?
 
SoonerNorm said:
I think generally you are right but, an athlete can many times jump high enough to get the rebound even when they aren't in the best position. Look at Griffin. She should never get beat for a rebound as tall as she is but more athletic players jump and come down with the ball because she plays flat-footed. Even when Nicole gets a rebound she often loses it to the better athlete who doesn't give up.
Click to expand...
I don't think anyone's jumping over Nicole's back to get rebounds.
 
MsProudSooner said:
Speaking of rebounding, Jo has a great instinct for where the ball is going to go when it comes off of the rim which makes her a good rebounder. Part of that is athletic ability because she can react quickly when she senses where the ball is going. But part of that seems to be instinctively knowing how that round ball is going to react when it hits that round rim. Does that instinct fall under athleticism or skill?
Click to expand...

I think it's a learned thing, but there may be some natural instinct in there. In my (very limited) experience as a player, that was something I was good at. I was shorter than average but got more than my share of rebounds. I was good a blocking out, but was also good at predicting where the ball was going. And I was never afraid to launch a shot because when I missed, I got most of my own rebounds. I knew where my shot was going the instant it left my fingers and was starting to move to the spot where the rebound would come down before the ball even got to the rim.
I think it came from countless hours of shooting by myself in the back yard and having to chase the rebounds. You get tired of chasing the ball all over the place and start figuring out where it's gonna go.
 
mgood1 said:
I think it's a learned thing, but there may be some natural instinct in there. In my (very limited) experience as a player, that was something I was good at. I was shorter than average but got more than my share of rebounds. I was good a blocking out, but was also good at predicting where the ball was going. And I was never afraid to launch a shot because when I missed, I got most of my own rebounds. I knew where my shot was going the instant it left my fingers and was starting to move to the spot where the rebound would come down before the ball even got to the rim.
I think it came from countless hours of shooting by myself in the back yard and having to chase the rebounds. You get tired of chasing the ball all over the place and start figuring out where it's gonna go.
Click to expand...

Good post!
 
mgood1 said:
I think it's a learned thing, but there may be some natural instinct in there. In my (very limited) experience as a player, that was something I was good at. I was shorter than average but got more than my share of rebounds. I was good a blocking out, but was also good at predicting where the ball was going. And I was never afraid to launch a shot because when I missed, I got most of my own rebounds. I knew where my shot was going the instant it left my fingers and was starting to move to the spot where the rebound would come down before the ball even got to the rim.
I think it came from countless hours of shooting by myself in the back yard and having to chase the rebounds. You get tired of chasing the ball all over the place and start figuring out where it's gonna go.
Click to expand...

And if you are shorter than everyone else, you have to get whatever advantage you can find.
 
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