Athleticism Puns

I still remember in 2015 when Whiteside shocked the league with a fast-rise as Miami's young star. It was that game against the Lob City Clippers that really put him on the map, with a 23-16 game w/ 2 blocks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRcRTMWTMzA&ab_channel=BridgetMaggard). From there, he would just take off into a brief stardom before attitude problems got the best of him after getting a large contract in the summer of 2016, eventually getting replaced by Bam Adebayo then bouncing around Portland and Sacramento before landing in Utah.

Around the same time in 2015, Rudy Gobert has shown enough promise in his role, surpassing Enes Kanter to the point that the Jazz tried to play Kanter at PF while highlighting Gobert as the C. Kanter didn't like it and demanded a trade, so that was addition by subtraction for Utah as Gobert would develop into the defensive force that he has been for the past few years, winning DPOY 3x.

In 2015 and 2016, I remember always trying to compare Whiteside and Gobert on who's better, because they both made their marks as double-double machines and shot-blocking menaces, with Gobert's length and Whiteside's athleticism being their most memorable physical trait. Of course, come 2017 onwards, it started to trend towards Gobert as Whiteside started to build a reputation as stat-chaser, especially highlighted when the Heat began to lean towards Bam more.

That being said, as someone who has often compared the two during their early career successes, it's surreal for me to not only see Gobert and Whiteside on the same team, but also to see Whiteside buying in. I can't see another center starter-backup tandem that comes close to their effectiveness (Maybe Embiid-Drummond?) and maybe, barring injuries especially to Conley & Mitchell, getting Whiteside to backup Gobert becomes the one lowkey move that Utah needs to finally make more noise in the playoffs.

So I’ve realized now that I’m into my thirties that my general athleticism has decreased. I realized this while trying to play a pickup game of basketball. I was plying with cousins 10-15 years younger than me and realized these teenagers have way more athletic ability than me and it’s mostly because they play high school and college sports (mostly not competitively). I always considered myself athletic. Played D3 hockey in college and have weightlifted intermittently for the past 10 years. My goal is to be able to jump and move easily well into my forties. I don’t want to be like my father who moaned and groaned with the slightest amount to physical exertion. So… guys how do I stay young and spry!?

I’m curious to know!

Quick 1st step (acceleration)

Deceleration

Max speed

Jumping

Moving laterally & backwards

Core strength

Balance & Stability

Throwing your bodyweight around (taking contact)

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What more?

Bye Joe

Maybe that’s from game play rebalance mod but, it was nice to see after 150+ hours.

Do you know anything more like this?

Who are NBA players who had solid/great careers for themselves by mainly coasting on their athleticism? These are players who if they had top-tier skill combined with their athleticism they could have been greater than they were, but still were able to be good/elite players in the league. I think of someone like Josh Smith, Vince Carter, Deandre Jordan? Thanks a lot

Assuming that they are all healthy and in their prime athletic years, how would you rank them? I’d go

1. Westbrook: Perfect combination of durability, strength, speed and hops

2. Rose: Probably the fastest out of the 3, had great hops and pretty ok strength wise as well. His body control is what stands out the most to me though. Was very susceptible to injuries though

3. Ja: Insane hops, best out of the group and is fast as fuck, has a bit of a strength issue though but he is young so he might fill out

What y’all think?

I don't know why he bounced around his previous stops, but little things like out jumping others to bat the offensive rebound, etc. He's playing smart basketball within his role. Perhaps he'll taper off but he's a defense/energy guy.

Tweet

>Spencer Dinwiddie on Corey Kispert: "He shows you some of the sneaky athleticism. Sorry to say 'sneaky' because of some of the raсial overtones with that."

Loool he's a real student of the game