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Post by Jamaica We Have a Bobsled Team on Jul 29, 2005 15:22:19 GMT -5
I find this battle between _way and MCI over the athleticism of Jeff Green very interesting because I, and I'm sure many of the posters on this board, have had similar debates. I think it boils down to creating a solid definition of athletic, which allows one to determine the best athlete in the world, or group of athletes rather. I tend to say that ball sport athletes take the cake over olympic sport style athletes (sprinters, swimmers, bikers...). I think that ball sports require such a myriad expanse of actions (running, jumping, evaluating information quickly) that they trump olympic style sports. Quick decision making within the flow of a ball sport game tests one's ability to adjust and stretch oneself physically. With this said I come to the conclusion that NBA forwards and swingmen along with world class soccer strikers are the best atheletes in the world. For names I would say AI, Tmac, and Amare Stoudamire along with Tierry Henry and Ronaldino are the best athletes in the world. I think there is a strong argument for certain NFL players, Mike Vick maybe. Thoughts on how to define athleticism, what group of atheletes are the best, and who individually is the best athlete? And of course, who is the best athelete to come of Georgetown? I say AI over Ewing.
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the_way
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
The Illest
Posts: 5,422
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Post by the_way on Jul 29, 2005 15:38:34 GMT -5
AI was the best athlete and most talented player to play G'town basketball. Better than Ewing. Ewing was the second best. Although Ewing had much more impact, he did have a better supporting cast than AI, and a much more creative and motiviated coach in JT2 than the version of JT2 Iverson had in 94-96. Ewing at 7'0 ran the floor and jumped like a 6'5" swing-guard. Iverson played the game and skyed through the air like a 6'10 power forward. Both amazing athletes. But even more importantly, intelligent basketball players that made their teams instantly better and competitive with their basketball skills as well once they came on the scene.
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MCIGuy
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
Anyone here? What am I supposed to update?
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Post by MCIGuy on Jul 29, 2005 15:42:41 GMT -5
Its not a battle between me and the_way. A battle would involve a devotion to go back and forth on this topic. I'm done debating the_way over it because it serves no purpose. He can't believe I have the audacity to call Green more athletic than Reid or Jahidi. And I LMAO when he states that essentially Jahidi and Don Reid, two guys who can't stay in a game because they kept knocking into people when trying to defend, are more agile than Jeff or can adjust their bodies in mid air like Jeff. He doesn't think Jeff can get pas his man because he's slow and I think its absurd to suggest that Don Reid was better at running the floor than Jeff (Jeff actually often ahead of the break, something I don't recall Don ever doing). When two people are on two totally opposite ends of the spectrum its time to call it a day and stop talking to one another about it.
As for athleticism the most important thing to me are jumping and quickness. But there are of course different levels of those types of abilities. And then there's a whole lot of other abilities such as running, stamina, foot speed, strength, hand-eye coordination, reflexes, agility, etc. Jeff is so-so in some of these areas, good in others and great in others. To me he is a tremendous athlete for a guy his size. Not super or elite. But tremendous. I have no complaints about that.
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Eurostar
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,094
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Post by Eurostar on Jul 29, 2005 20:12:33 GMT -5
with regards to jeff, he is obviously a great athlete but he needs to work on his quickness. he is often very deliberate and has a slower than average first step.
i agree with jamaica that the best athletes are strikers, nba swingmen, and some nfl players (mostly skill positions). baseball players no because they can get away with a lack of stamina. and i dont watch or care about hockey. i would also add tennis players. cant argue with agassi, federer and roddick being among the top athletes in the world.
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Post by StPetersburgHoya (Inactive) on Jul 29, 2005 23:26:24 GMT -5
The diferences over what athleticisim is and what it is not in general is not what should be defined. What we think of as an athelete in each sport is different - think of what you consider athleticism in traditional olympic track and field sports and what you consider athleticisim in baseball. They are different skill sets - there maybe some overlap, but what athleticism is in each sport is something that is seperate and distinct from what it is in other sports. In basketball I think that athleticism is defined primarily by vertical leap, body control, speed, and endurance.
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Jul 30, 2005 9:35:26 GMT -5
Good call, St. Pete. I like your listing of -- Jumping/Vertical Leap -- Body control/Agility -- Flat-out speed -- Endurance and I would add one more, quickness, as the components of athleticism.
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