pgabrial, Barkley learned it, Jordan learned it, Hakeem learned it...etc...etc...etc.... Some learn it earlier...Magic, Bird, Isaiah, but others learn it AFTER they get in the league.... It can be learned, but not by everyone. DD
Steve may be too small to play the 2 guard, but smaller players have successfully played at the 2. Look at Allen Iverson. He plays at the 2, and he's only six foot one. Steve is six foot four.
Barkley was always a good passer. Hakeem actually was finally surrounded by players who could score. Jordan finally learned to trust his teamates. Magic and Lebron have exceptional court vision, so does T.J. Ford, you can't teach anyone to make some of the passes these guys make.
Pgab, You can certainly teach them better vision, they may never reach the exceptional level of a Kidd, Nash, Stockton, Magic etc..etc...but they can certainly learn to recognize things and become more court aware. Think of it this way, at some point all of the great passers learned court vision....so it CAN be learned, but not by everyone. DD
dude, think about what you are saying. You are going to learn vision. You can learn how to see better. Hakeem may have learned when to pass, he didn't magically see the court better. Its a natural talent.
Iverson knows how to penetrate to the basket, Steve doesn't. Iverson can make a tough shot look easy, Steve makes a tough shot look impossible.
I'd be willing to bet that Steve scores more points per attempt than Iverson. Iverson is not a great shooter at all. As for James's athleticism, I'm not as impressed as I thought I was gonna be, but I think he's made it a point to do the other things well and not to become Carter II. Posters like silentfan are why I hate to post on this forum. All due respect to Clutch and crew, but I think I'm gonna go hangout with the hangout boys.
I disagree. All of those guys had it from the get go. It was the guys that surrounded them that benefitted from it and helped make the them shine.
Have to agree with this. I think "court vision" can only be improved to a certain extent, at least at Francis' age. It is more of a natural talent, or something you acquire when you learn the game. I hardly know of any examples in the NBA where someone would all of a sudden play with "court vision" (e.g., average a lot more assists than before) after not having had "it" for years.
That is my point SJC, They may never reach the GREAT vision stage, but they can at least get adequate at it. DD
I disagree. Thinks like "court vision" and "decision making" are abstract skills that are not easily learned. It's not like a repetition type skill like shooting or free throws. Court vision requires prediction, understanding of human tendencies, and how to use deception. These things are more mental than anything. And much more difficult to grasp. Especially if you are an older player set in your ways (learned old habits). "Learning it" would suggest that somehow a player of lesser ability somehow can achieve a level that of a "great player" with the said ability. Then all players would achive this if given time. This is not the case. Just as Francis will never learn how to pass like Kidd or Stockton, he will never learn "court vision" as easy as you say. He will improve. But not at the same level if he would have started working on these skills early in his bball development. There are shades of gray, and small levels of improvement. But I believe that most players learn the cerebral skills early in their youth (some just have an aptitude for it). And it starts with mastering the fundamentals first. Francis did not do that. He's learning the fundamentals now. A few things I see him doing now are the drop pass, the lay-off pass on the fast break, and the lay-up (not the dunk). All these are skills that are repeated time and time again while young, then and only then, can you develop "extra" skills like "court vision" and "split second decision making" only after the basics are taken care of. I mean, come on. The guy is 27 going on 28. Not 20. By the way, Hakeem never "learned it." Rudy developed a system that Hakeem would pass out of the double team to the three pointers. That's not skill or court vision. It was mostly about trust in his teammates and the system. That's a system that facilitates a opportunity for that player to use if needed. But it's not a developed skill like Kareem or Bird knew. Those guys knew the art of deception. Hakeem did not. He knew "attacking" skills. Players that know the art of deception make their opponents over pursue (the ball or player they are defending) in order to get them off-balance. That's why you hear commentators say about those players, "They make it look so easy."
wHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT...THOSE #S SEEM TO SUGGEST THE PLAYERS ARE ABOUT EQUAL. WE KNEW THIS ALREADY LEBRON IS DAMN GOOD. WHAT'S YOUR POINT?
This is a good example of why I seldomly read this BBS nowadays... as opposed to the every hour of my life during the Championship Seasons. Most of you LOVE rookies... until a few years later, you all just turn & hate them. Cat was a 2nd round steal, now he's a ballhog that has to go. Francis went from the next Rocket great, to an overrated point guard. Yao went from the next great Center, to a soft player that won't meet his potential. Why is that?
I think one explanation would be that people's expectations are very high and when they realize that a certain player might not live up to the sky-high expectations they had for him, their disappointment and anger makes them turn against that player.
Stats-wise, LB's running stats is similar to SF's rookie year. So, just did not understand why people said LB>SF. Maybe LB has potential to be better or at the end of the season, his stats is better. As a PG, I will take LB over SF because I prefer to have pass-first and shoot later mentality. SF is quite horrible in this dept as there were so many fast breaks that were spoiled by SF. Even SF has the best court vision, it means nothing if he shoots first and pass later. Actually, what we should compare is Tony Parker and SF. Both teams have a big man and TP and SF have similar built.
