[chrislebronParticipant]

i just want to say that super athletism doesnt mean that you will become a good nba player
there are numerous athletic freaks with legit height that cant even make an nbdl roster

take john wall.he has huge upside.ok
what will reallly make him a great nba player is not how high he jumps but the rare ability to run a team,to foresee plays, to make the others better.this cant be taught.why do you think they drafted rubio so high?
take for example the best 2 point guards of the last 2 decades stockton and kidd.could they jump high?could they dunk like rose or wall?no .its something that we call bball iq and thats something you either have it or not. stockton and kidd were(kidd is stiil is)versatile,all around tough bball players with great knowledge of the game and with a rare ability to make their teammates better.
thats what a great point guard means

as for cousins and his lack of great athletism.i just want to make a question.
the best big in the game in the last 2 decades, along with shaq,tim duncan.do you think that he was more athletic than cousins at the same age?i am just asking
the downside of cousins right now is that he must mature as a player and play harder defense.he can be as good as he wants to be.

overall,what i want to say is that athletism is extremely overrated

[flibbenmcgParticipant]

I do agree that athleticism is rather overrated, I wouldnt say extremely so, it is a very valuable asset if you have skill to accompany it.
Take a look at Lebron for an example, while i have no doubt he would still be a very talented effective player if he had average athleticism, he just wouldnt have the dominate game changing ability that he has with it.

Duncan has a low post game and mastery of the fundamentals of basketball that Cousins will simply never have. Part of the reason that cousin’s athleticism is questioned is because he has very little finesse to his game. Duncan has an array of moves in the post and a jumper that is solid out to about 20 feet or so, whereas cousins has what i would call a bullish, power type of game which will be exposed in the NBA by bigger, stronger, more athletic pivot men.

[hotshotschampParticipant]

Cousins has way more finesse than people are giving him credit for.

Duncan he is not. But he’s not just some bulldog who has no touch, or anything.

I’ve seen him do up and unders, ball fakes, and even seen him do some nice turn around jumpers. He’s got real good tools and he could develop into something special. Much more than just a power player.

[tli232]

Just to be fair, Duncan was a four year senior. It’s totally unfair to say that Cousins has average to below average touch. Duncan had 3 more years to develop his magical touch.

Not saying that Cousins can become Duncan-esque if he stays four years, but he DOES have the potential to be a great finesse big if given time to develop in the NBA as it seems there’s 0 chance he stays in college.

[lalailaParticipant]

as for freshmen Cousins has very very good touch..

and i agree that athleticism is very overrated, that’s why Tyreke was late first rounder before his freshman year while DeRozan was top3

[rtbtParticipant]

The greatest point guard to ever play the game couldn’t jump six inches off the ground and he couldn’t run fast. I’m talking about Magic Johnson. And one of the greatest forwards to ever play the game came from the same generation, Larry Bird. He was another guy who couldn’t jump or run the court.

Some of the best rebounders in NBA history were also guys who were earth bound. Here are some names that come to mind, Wes Unseld, Paul Silas, and Charles Oakley.

I think NBADraft had an article a couple of years ago written by someone who compared the athletic skills from the NBA Draft Camp with those who succeeded in the league. It was very interesting because many of the guys who jumped the highest, ran the fastest, and/or had the longest arms never made it in the league.

That doesn’t mean athleticism isn’t important because it is. However, your skill level, your feel for the game, and your ability to perform under pressure are equally important.

[the I in winParticipant]

true but athleticism makes highlight plays and put people in the stands. also if i see a guy who can’t jump coming at me i will try to block him, if he is a known high flyer then i will be a bit more careful with what i’m doing.

[finneganParticipant]

if your a bigman, skills is the more important not athletism. lots of successful unthletic big man in the nba

duncan, al jefferson, boozer, okur, yao ming, kaman, kendric perkins, brad miller, llgauscas, randolph, mark gasol, varejao and more

[B-ball fanParticipant]

Athleticism is more important for big men than perimeter players.
Duncan and Varejao are pretty athletic
Big men need to block shots and rebound, perimeter players need speed and quickness, but their skills are most important.
Big men won’t always have the vertical leaps of smaller, but all big men need some physical gifts. Any big men who lack strength and athleticism must have length and great skills to compensate.
Look at the Celtics-Magic game today: The C’s played some good, if sloppy offense in the second half, but had couldn’t score because they couldn’t buy a lay-up as they had no athletic bigs who got the ball around the rim. Glen Davis had about 4 of his 2nd half shots blocked, including one by three different players, because he is unathletic. Perkins also got blocked along with Ray Allen.
And generally, big men are less skilled than perimeter players. There aren’t any 6’5 Hasheem Thabeets.

[quinceyhodges]

i tried telling this too okee that skills is much more important. its pretty obvious. and you dont have to be a super athlete to be a very good pg. as long as you have skills and can get youre shot off youre good. as far as duncan and cousins duncan wasnt great as a freshman nor was he as polished. he was good though and a tad behind cousins as a freshman. duncan is a average athlete. i wouldnt call him pretty athletic even in his prime but it doesnt matter. just like with zach randolph. like i said before ill take skills over athletic ability any day because some athletes never get that skill and never get much better( gadzuric comes to mind)

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