could elena delle donne play in the nba?

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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#41 » by post » Mon Sep 16, 2019 7:56 am

HeartBreakKid wrote:I understand the logic, there are 3 point shooters in the NBA who cannot play defense - but she really, really, would not be able to play defense in the NBA. She is too weak and slow.

Also, her shot might not translate depending on how fast her release is (I've never seen her play).

Comparing her to a rookie is erogenous because there are players in the NBA who are put in for potential. Elena wouldn't have any potential, thus, her being a bit better than a horrible rookie wouldn't be relevant (and she isn't better than said rookie player).


i've seen her play. grayson allen weighs 10 pounds more and is not known for his strength so how much weaker can she be. not significantly weaker. she's not as slow as you probably imagine. she does some impressive crossovers with penetration. not kyrie irving level crossovers, but most nba guys can't do the stuff he does either

her release is not as fast as korver or curry, but i'm not claiming she could take their spots, so it doesn't have to be as fast

i suppose you meant erroneous, not erogenous. anyway, timothe luwawu cabarrot has played three full seasons now and was the second worst shooting guard in the nba last year by real plus minus and only better than allen by .20, a tiny amount. so now i'm comparing her to a bum who has played 171 games in 3 years. in 2014-15, mike miller, with zero potential in his 16th nba season, played 52 games and had a .09 lower real plus minus than allen as a rookie. miller averaged a whopping 2.1 ppg that year in 13.5 minutes per game. translation: there's some garbage getting minutes in the nba
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#42 » by KrAzY3 » Mon Sep 16, 2019 7:57 am

Aventador wrote:No Elena, you cannot; nice post though.

I'm trying to figure out which post was worse, this or the one about The Professor in the NBA...

At least The Professor plays with a regular size basketball. I can't believe someone actually cited shooting stats from the WNBA, as though they don't play with a smaller ball or as though their 3 point line isn't closer.

Can we just change this to a question of who would win between Elena and The Professor? I think that would be a more interesting conversation.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#43 » by SeanDaRyan » Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:09 am

one day some college player who cant make the NBA will turn trans and join the WNBA and put up 50ppg 30 boards and like 10 blocks and steals a game
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#44 » by Duke4life831 » Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:15 am

post wrote:
HeartBreakKid wrote:I understand the logic, there are 3 point shooters in the NBA who cannot play defense - but she really, really, would not be able to play defense in the NBA. She is too weak and slow.

Also, her shot might not translate depending on how fast her release is (I've never seen her play).

Comparing her to a rookie is erogenous because there are players in the NBA who are put in for potential. Elena wouldn't have any potential, thus, her being a bit better than a horrible rookie wouldn't be relevant (and she isn't better than said rookie player).


i've seen her play. grayson allen weighs 10 pounds more and is not known for his strength so how much weaker can she be. not significantly weaker. she's not as slow as you probably imagine. she does some impressive crossovers with penetration. not kyrie irving level crossovers, but most nba guys can't do the stuff he does either

her release is not as fast as korver or curry, but i'm not claiming she could take their spots, so it doesn't have to be as fast

i suppose you meant erroneous, not erogenous. anyway, timothe luwawu cabarrot has played three full seasons now and was the second worst shooting guard in the nba last year by real plus minus and only better than allen by .20, a tiny amount. so now i'm comparing her to a bum who has played 171 games in 3 years. in 2014-15, mike miller, with zero potential in his 16th nba season, played 52 games and had a .09 lower real plus minus than allen as a rookie. miller averaged a whopping 2.1 ppg that year in 13.5 minutes per game. translation: there's some garbage getting minutes in the nba


Are you serious with this? Or are we just forgetting basic biology now? Valentina Shevchenko is only 10 pounds lighter than Henry Cejudo, shouldn't be a significant strength difference between those two either I guess. Also Grayson Allen cant get off the bench and that dude is a great athlete and fantastic shooter. He had the fastest lane agility, 3rd best standing vert and 6th best max vert (40.5") in the 2018 draft combine.

I hate threads like this because it seems like you either have to just ignore reality or you sound like an **** and a hater to these women. Elena Delle Donne from all accounts is an all time great female basketball player. That by itself is a fantastic achievement and something I know I will never be able to say about my career. But no she doesn't come close to being able to compete with men in basketball, its not even a discussion.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#45 » by JN61 » Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:28 am

I was part of coaching team few years after done playing myself (14-18 years depending on the year) and we would have on most years 1-2 matches Vs one of better women's teams in best league we have in my country. 15-16 year olds team would usually beat them 30-40 points, it was mostly for them to get some physical measurement game before their season started. So that's something to think about.

She could play in some pre season game no doubt where winning doesn't matter but she would be big negative out there and would not get playing time even in our local men's league I would say. Unless it's some kind of throw away game for publicity stunt promoting their game.

Only real example of woman playing in men's league is few goalies in hockey. Even they played on 2nd Division level (best woman goalies in the world).
Pennebaker wrote:And Bird did it while being a defensive liability. But he also made All-Defensive teams, which was another controversial issue regarding Bird and votes.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#46 » by JN61 » Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:42 am

donemilio21 wrote:I do not think she can play in the NBA, but I think she would have a fair chance to be a rotation player in Europe.

No she wouldn't. As explained above. Maybe on 2nd Division level in some countries (which would be 3rd best league) where basketball isn't as big.
Pennebaker wrote:And Bird did it while being a defensive liability. But he also made All-Defensive teams, which was another controversial issue regarding Bird and votes.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#47 » by post » Mon Sep 16, 2019 8:56 am

Higgs Boston wrote:BTW WNBA and Fiba women use smaller and lighters balls, even so their shots look slow and anti-natural or forced in comparison to men, imagine if they had to shot using men balls.


you don't shoot 93.8% from the line by having "anti-natural" or "forced" mechanics

zimpy27 wrote:
post wrote:i think she'd have the best chance of any woman basketball player in history

she just turned 30, she's 6'5" 187 lb with elite shooting and good footwork/post game/ball handling

this year she was the first woman in wnba history to shoot 50/40/90 for the season, something only 8 guys in nba history did

her player efficiency rating was 32

her career free throw percentage is 93.8, higher than any nba player in history

according to real plus minus 6'5" 198 lb rookie grayson allen was the worst shooting guard in the nba at minus 5.46

he had a 7.5 player efficiency rating and a minus 6.8 box plus minus. utah gave up on him after 38 games. he's on memphis now

so the question is basically could she beat him out for a roster spot


It's worth noting that a WNBA is an inch smaller circumference than an NBA, yet the rings are the same size. You'd expect WNBA shooting % to be higher from that alone but then the 3 line is 4-foot closer to the time than in the NBA.


KrAzY3 wrote:
Aventador wrote:No Elena, you cannot; nice post though.

I'm trying to figure out which post was worse, this or the one about The Professor in the NBA...

At least The Professor plays with a regular size basketball. I can't believe someone actually cited shooting stats from the WNBA, as though they don't play with a smaller ball or as though their 3 point line isn't closer.

Can we just change this to a question of who would win between Elena and The Professor? I think that would be a more interesting conversation.


an inch smaller is hardly a significant difference, especially considering she is 6'5" and probably has hands as big as some nba players

the wnba 3 point corner shot is 22 feet just like the nba. wnba top of the key 3 point shot is 1.5 feet shorter than the nba but i've seen delle donne make multiple 3's from nba distance in wnba games. and men's college 3 is shorter than the nba but guys get drafted all the time with expectations they can adjust to nba distance 3. i doubt delle donne could not adjust

the wnba as a whole shot 2.7 % higher from the foul line than the nba last season. let's speculate and assume delle donne's free throw percentage drops from 93.8 to 91.1 in the nba. that still makes her the best free throw shooter in nba history
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#48 » by JN61 » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:07 am

post wrote:
Higgs Boston wrote:BTW WNBA and Fiba women use smaller and lighters balls, even so their shots look slow and anti-natural or forced in comparison to men, imagine if they had to shot using men balls.


you don't shoot 93.8% from the line by having "anti-natural" or "forced" mechanics

zimpy27 wrote:
post wrote:i think she'd have the best chance of any woman basketball player in history

she just turned 30, she's 6'5" 187 lb with elite shooting and good footwork/post game/ball handling

this year she was the first woman in wnba history to shoot 50/40/90 for the season, something only 8 guys in nba history did

her player efficiency rating was 32

her career free throw percentage is 93.8, higher than any nba player in history

according to real plus minus 6'5" 198 lb rookie grayson allen was the worst shooting guard in the nba at minus 5.46

he had a 7.5 player efficiency rating and a minus 6.8 box plus minus. utah gave up on him after 38 games. he's on memphis now

so the question is basically could she beat him out for a roster spot


It's worth noting that a WNBA is an inch smaller circumference than an NBA, yet the rings are the same size. You'd expect WNBA shooting % to be higher from that alone but then the 3 line is 4-foot closer to the time than in the NBA.


KrAzY3 wrote:
Aventador wrote:No Elena, you cannot; nice post though.

I'm trying to figure out which post was worse, this or the one about The Professor in the NBA...

At least The Professor plays with a regular size basketball. I can't believe someone actually cited shooting stats from the WNBA, as though they don't play with a smaller ball or as though their 3 point line isn't closer.

Can we just change this to a question of who would win between Elena and The Professor? I think that would be a more interesting conversation.


an inch smaller is hardly a significant difference, especially considering she is 6'5" and probably has hands as big as some nba players

the wnba 3 point corner shot is 22 feet just like the nba. wnba top of the key 3 point shot is 1.5 feet shorter than the nba but i've seen delle donne make multiple 3's from nba distance in wnba games. and men's college 3 is shorter than the nba but guys get drafted all the time with expectations they can adjust to nba distance 3. i doubt delle donne could not adjust

the wnba as a whole shot 2.7 % higher from the foul line than the nba last season. let's speculate and assume delle donne's free throw percentage drops from 93.8 to 91.1 in the nba. that still makes her the best free throw shooter in nba history

Size of the ball makes huge difference. No doubt she could adjust but drop is significant when you just switch on the fly to different size ball. It would take whole off season to get adjusted at minimum. Maybe a year to get to her shooting numbers again. Our boys couldn't hit the target for life of them during friendly matches.
Pennebaker wrote:And Bird did it while being a defensive liability. But he also made All-Defensive teams, which was another controversial issue regarding Bird and votes.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#49 » by AdagioPace » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:27 am

I believe "Elena Degli Uomini"s game would translate to the NBA better than "Elena Delle Donne" 's
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#50 » by BobanSmash » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:31 am

JN61 wrote:
donemilio21 wrote:I do not think she can play in the NBA, but I think she would have a fair chance to be a rotation player in Europe.

No she wouldn't. As explained above. Maybe on 2nd Division level in some countries (which would be 3rd best league) where basketball isn't as big.

Ice hockey is even more physical sport than basketball, but an example to put things in perspective

Hayley Wickenheiser was considered the best woman hockey player in the world and he played with men in Finland, in the 3rd best league, she did ok was good enough for the league but when their team managed to get a spot in the 2nd best league she could no longer keep up with the physicality of the play.

And Finnish women's national team play against 16 year old juniors some times and always get curb stomped like 15-0
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#51 » by dc » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:36 am

Oh, not this stuff again.

Elena Delle Donne wouldn’t be able make a halfway decent men’s junior college team, much less an NBA team.

Take an average 6’5” player from an average men’s junior college team and put him in the WNBA. The result would be that he’d be the greatest WNBA player in history. The differences in physicality and athleticism in the men’s and women’s game are just that great.

That’s why nobody watches the WNBA.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#52 » by Metallikid » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:38 am

I've always thought Diana Taurasi could play in the NBA.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#53 » by post » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:40 am

Duke4life831 wrote:
post wrote:
HeartBreakKid wrote:I understand the logic, there are 3 point shooters in the NBA who cannot play defense - but she really, really, would not be able to play defense in the NBA. She is too weak and slow.

Also, her shot might not translate depending on how fast her release is (I've never seen her play).

Comparing her to a rookie is erogenous because there are players in the NBA who are put in for potential. Elena wouldn't have any potential, thus, her being a bit better than a horrible rookie wouldn't be relevant (and she isn't better than said rookie player).


i've seen her play. grayson allen weighs 10 pounds more and is not known for his strength so how much weaker can she be. not significantly weaker. she's not as slow as you probably imagine. she does some impressive crossovers with penetration. not kyrie irving level crossovers, but most nba guys can't do the stuff he does either

her release is not as fast as korver or curry, but i'm not claiming she could take their spots, so it doesn't have to be as fast

i suppose you meant erroneous, not erogenous. anyway, timothe luwawu cabarrot has played three full seasons now and was the second worst shooting guard in the nba last year by real plus minus and only better than allen by .20, a tiny amount. so now i'm comparing her to a bum who has played 171 games in 3 years. in 2014-15, mike miller, with zero potential in his 16th nba season, played 52 games and had a .09 lower real plus minus than allen as a rookie. miller averaged a whopping 2.1 ppg that year in 13.5 minutes per game. translation: there's some garbage getting minutes in the nba


Are you serious with this? Or are we just forgetting basic biology now? Valentina Shevchenko is only 10 pounds lighter than Henry Cejudo, shouldn't be a significant strength difference between those two either I guess. Also Grayson Allen cant get off the bench and that dude is a great athlete and fantastic shooter. He had the fastest lane agility, 3rd best standing vert and 6th best max vert (40.5") in the 2018 draft combine.

I hate threads like this because it seems like you either have to just ignore reality or you sound like an **** and a hater to these women. Elena Delle Donne from all accounts is an all time great female basketball player. That by itself is a fantastic achievement and something I know I will never be able to say about my career. But no she doesn't come close to being able to compete with men in basketball, its not even a discussion.


i had to google who Valentina Shevchenko and Henry Cejudo were and they are not even basketball players so not exactly good examples. i understand your point though, which is that grayson may be stronger, but how much stronger is not exactly clear. being stronger, faster, and jumping higher does not make you the better basketball player anyway.

grayson gets off the bench. i already said he played 38 games last year and his minutes were 10.9. there were 63 players in the nba who played at least 10 games with fewer minutes per game than grayson and 13 of them played less than half the minutes he played

grayson's 51.6 true shooting percentage as an nba rookie was far from fantastic

grayson could be out of the league in a couple years like anthony bennett or jimmer fredette
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#54 » by dc » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:41 am

Metallikid wrote:I've always thought Diana Taurasi could play in the NBA.


That’s a very wishful thought. She couldn’t play men’s NCAA division II. If she did, she’d be the worst player in that division.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#55 » by yellowknifer » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:44 am

mastermixer wrote:Im being whole heartedly honest when I say I don’t think the top WNBA talent could compete with D3 college.

I think the top high school teams would probably school WNBA teams. The physical differences are just too vast.

The only player that would have a chance is a spot on shooter like you mentioned. But she would get torched so bad on D. Too much of a liability


The women's Olympic hockey teams lose almost every scrimmage they have with elite high school teams. I imagine much the same would happen in basketball.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#56 » by yellowknifer » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:47 am

post wrote:
Duke4life831 wrote:
post wrote:
i've seen her play. grayson allen weighs 10 pounds more and is not known for his strength so how much weaker can she be. not significantly weaker. she's not as slow as you probably imagine. she does some impressive crossovers with penetration. not kyrie irving level crossovers, but most nba guys can't do the stuff he does either

her release is not as fast as korver or curry, but i'm not claiming she could take their spots, so it doesn't have to be as fast

i suppose you meant erroneous, not erogenous. anyway, timothe luwawu cabarrot has played three full seasons now and was the second worst shooting guard in the nba last year by real plus minus and only better than allen by .20, a tiny amount. so now i'm comparing her to a bum who has played 171 games in 3 years. in 2014-15, mike miller, with zero potential in his 16th nba season, played 52 games and had a .09 lower real plus minus than allen as a rookie. miller averaged a whopping 2.1 ppg that year in 13.5 minutes per game. translation: there's some garbage getting minutes in the nba


Are you serious with this? Or are we just forgetting basic biology now? Valentina Shevchenko is only 10 pounds lighter than Henry Cejudo, shouldn't be a significant strength difference between those two either I guess. Also Grayson Allen cant get off the bench and that dude is a great athlete and fantastic shooter. He had the fastest lane agility, 3rd best standing vert and 6th best max vert (40.5") in the 2018 draft combine.

I hate threads like this because it seems like you either have to just ignore reality or you sound like an **** and a hater to these women. Elena Delle Donne from all accounts is an all time great female basketball player. That by itself is a fantastic achievement and something I know I will never be able to say about my career. But no she doesn't come close to being able to compete with men in basketball, its not even a discussion.


i had to google who Valentina Shevchenko and Henry Cejudo were and they are not even basketball players so not exactly good examples. i understand your point though, which is that grayson may be stronger, but how much stronger is not exactly clear. being stronger, faster, and jumping higher does not make you the better basketball player anyway.

grayson gets off the bench. i already said he played 38 games last year and his minutes were 10.9. there were 63 players in the nba who played at least 10 games with fewer minutes per game than grayson and 13 of them played less than half the minutes he played

grayson's 51.6 true shooting percentage as an nba rookie was far from fantastic

grayson could be out of the league in a couple years like anthony bennett or jimmer fredette


Men have significant strength advantage in every way lb for lb. It is very easy to measure as well.

There is a reason testosterone is considered performance enhancing.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#57 » by HeartBreakKid » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:53 am

post wrote:
Duke4life831 wrote:
post wrote:
i've seen her play. grayson allen weighs 10 pounds more and is not known for his strength so how much weaker can she be. not significantly weaker. she's not as slow as you probably imagine. she does some impressive crossovers with penetration. not kyrie irving level crossovers, but most nba guys can't do the stuff he does either

her release is not as fast as korver or curry, but i'm not claiming she could take their spots, so it doesn't have to be as fast

i suppose you meant erroneous, not erogenous. anyway, timothe luwawu cabarrot has played three full seasons now and was the second worst shooting guard in the nba last year by real plus minus and only better than allen by .20, a tiny amount. so now i'm comparing her to a bum who has played 171 games in 3 years. in 2014-15, mike miller, with zero potential in his 16th nba season, played 52 games and had a .09 lower real plus minus than allen as a rookie. miller averaged a whopping 2.1 ppg that year in 13.5 minutes per game. translation: there's some garbage getting minutes in the nba


Are you serious with this? Or are we just forgetting basic biology now? Valentina Shevchenko is only 10 pounds lighter than Henry Cejudo, shouldn't be a significant strength difference between those two either I guess. Also Grayson Allen cant get off the bench and that dude is a great athlete and fantastic shooter. He had the fastest lane agility, 3rd best standing vert and 6th best max vert (40.5") in the 2018 draft combine.

I hate threads like this because it seems like you either have to just ignore reality or you sound like an **** and a hater to these women. Elena Delle Donne from all accounts is an all time great female basketball player. That by itself is a fantastic achievement and something I know I will never be able to say about my career. But no she doesn't come close to being able to compete with men in basketball, its not even a discussion.


i had to google who Valentina Shevchenko and Henry Cejudo were and they are not even basketball players so not exactly good examples. i understand your point though, which is that grayson may be stronger, but how much stronger is not exactly clear. being stronger, faster, and jumping higher does not make you the better basketball player anyway.

grayson gets off the bench. i already said he played 38 games last year and his minutes were 10.9. there were 63 players in the nba who played at least 10 games with fewer minutes per game than grayson and 13 of them played less than half the minutes he played

grayson's 51.6 true shooting percentage as an nba rookie was far from fantastic

grayson could be out of the league in a couple years like anthony bennett or jimmer fredette
and Pro Wrestlers weighs more than gorillas - I don't know why you think because they are comparable in weight they are comparable in strength. It's like you have never met a woman before?
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#58 » by UcanUwill » Mon Sep 16, 2019 9:56 am

LoL, let woman make grade C European competition before talking about NBA. Why some people think its so easy to make this league?
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#59 » by dk1115 » Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:08 am

The MVP of the WNBA probably wouldn't even make a division 1 college team.
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Re: could elena delle donne play in the nba? 

Post#60 » by mcmokken » Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:10 am

No chance. Dumb thread.

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