Super Athletic vs Less Athletic. Who wins?

[T-Spot]

Athletic Team;

Paul
Iggy
G. Wallace
J. Smith
D. Howard

Less Athletic;

Nash
Kevin Martin
Mike Dunleavey
'Sheed
Yao

[J~Rush]

You could've at least gave the less athletic team Duncan or Paul Pierce.

[Bobbcats]

The athletic would be great defensively. I'll take them without thinking about it even though none of them have range.

[circushots]

Less athletic team. 4 guys to spread the floor, two guys who are legit centers and defensive presences, and overall a more experienced and higher IQ team.

I will say though that the Paul Howard duo is enticing, it's like a super version of Paul Chandler. Problem is, they don't have shooters around them like the team does now. All their wings will want to clog the paint which is IMO a major hinderance to Dwight.

[shawngoat23]

Athletic team. Chris Paul is the best player on the court, and Howard is arguably a great #2.

Not necessarily because athletic teams are the way to go, but because the individual players in question here are better on the athletic team.

[Sixersftw]

the athletic team on the break makes my head hurt. i agree with the poster above, the two best players are on the atheletic team.

[Patterns]

Less athletic team easily. The athletic team would be pretty bad on offense because you have NO ONE to space the floor. They're all around the rim players.

[rpa]

I know the term you're using ("less athletic") is completely relative but Kevin Martin is actually a VERY athletic player.

[penbeast0]

Yao hasn't played 60 games since his 3rd season in the league. Even when he plays, his teams underachieve it seems (and TMac only seems to play his best when Yao is injured which doesn't say much for his working with so many great shooters). Have to go with the athletic team for that; even without the Chris Paul issue. Oh, and since when has Rasheed been considered not athletic for his position?

[KF10]

Kevin Martin in the less athletic team.

Martin is very athletic. Even though, Martin isnt that flashy...

[Joseph17]

Kevin Martin is one of the fastest and most athletic players in the NBA. He's as athletic as VC if you define athleticism as a combination of speed and leaping ability. The athletic team would probably win because they are better on defense.

[jab]

Sheed on the less athletic team

[LiquidFire]

Kevin Martin is one of the fastest and most athletic players in the NBA. He's as athletic as VC if you define athleticism as a combination of speed and leaping ability. The athletic team would probably win because they are better on defense.

[Patterns]

Why would people say that the less athletic team would lose?

Everyone on that team is versatile. They can all shoot, drive, pass, etc.

On the other hand, no one can shoot on the athletic team besides Paul and he isn't even close to be a pure shooter.

Every team has a pure shooter that starts.

[TAI8]

Athletic

[Storm Surge]

Less Athletic has more balance, but a lot worse defense with Nash and Dunleavy.

In a 7 game series I see Paul just abusing Nash.

If Nash had ok defense I would take the less athletic.

[Joseph17]

-= original quote snipped =-

I'm not talking about prime VC. VC isn't as athletic as he used to be. He can still jump higher than Martin, but he's also a lot slower than Martin.

[Bobbcats]

The athletic lineup would be a complete nightmare to face because all of them are good man to man defenders and excellent help defenders. No pass or shot in the lane would be safe. There would create tons of fast break chances which is why spacing wouldn't be so important.

[writerman]

This post just illustrates the limited and ignorant perspective of a lot of posters on this board to whom "athletic" means one thing and one thing only--hops.

These people seem to be blissfully ignorant of the fact that athleticism encompasses a whole range of physical abilities, of which leaping ability is only one and in many cases not the most important one in determining success in the NBA. There are plenty of guys who can jump through the roof who are **** players.

And, Jordans Bulls, there's the answer to your question--as I've said before, there's not a nickel's worth of difference in the athleticism of your average NBA player now and those in the 60's--the reason today's NBA is not as good as in some previous eras is because of this era's absurd fixation on flashy but basically inconsequential highlight reel flash and trash while the mental aspects of the game and fundamentals languish.

[shawngoat23]

This post just illustrates the limited and ignorant perspective of a lot of posters on this board to whom "athletic" means one thing and one thing only--hops.

These people seem to be blissfully ignorant of the fact that athleticism encompasses a whole range of physical abilities, of which leaping ability is only one and in many cases not the most important one in determining success in the NBA. There are plenty of guys who can jump through the roof who are **** players.

Writerman, it's hard to deny that the "athletic" group of players are also much faster end-to-end, much quicker, and much agile than their counterparts; and to a lesser extent, stronger as a group. It has been noted that players like Nash and Martin are quite quick. It has been noted that Rasheed is quite athletic. And I'm sure everyone can agree that Yao is quite strong.

Your definition of athleticism, however, which you have repeated many times in numerous posts, focuses on aspects such as coordination, body control, quickness of hand, etc.--all of which are important qualities in basketball but do not constitute physical athleticism. You seem to think that we automatically assume that athletic players "who can jump through the roof" are great players. That is not the case, or this entire thread would be moot.