[BleacherReport] Myth: The Rockets Have a Lot Less Talent Than the Lakers.

Talent sure as hell is not "being in the right spot" or having heart. Those would fall under intangibles. Sure, if you're dumb as a post you can waste much of your ability (like Stromile Swift) but the guy is supremely talented. In the sport of professional basketball, athleticism = talent. Working hard and having heart, will power or whatever the hell you guys call it is not talent.

 

Sure it is. Talent in professional sports is physical attributes such as size and athleticism.

 

article makes a case for Rockets having OUTPLAYED the Lakers. which is true.

it does not prove that they have as much or even close to the talent that LA has

 

I totally agree with you.

 

Bryce Drew? If we're going to do it for a former Houston point guard we're doing it for SCOTTY BROOKS!

 

Right, I forgot the epic careers of Bradley, Bol and Murresan. The great numbers that Robert Traylor and Glen Davis are putting up. Or Livingston, he's a 6'7" point guard he must be great.

Once again the size means nothing without the talent to use it. By your definition:

Brent Barry is better than Ray Allen by 2 inches and 5 pounds.
Keith Van Horn is better than Carmello by 2 inches and 10 pounds.
Bynum is better than Tim Duncan or for that matter, Hakeem.

Now, before you reply that I've compared people of varying athleticism I have to point out that Barry was a dunk champ and although Hakeem was freakishly athletic Duncan on the other hand puts up his numbers through his knowledge of the fundamentals.

You simply can't quantify size as a talent.

 

Not addressing the content of the article, but the notion that the Rockets aren't that far behind the Lakers, talent-wise, has merit. Prior to our All-Star center, back-up center, and All-Star shooting guard being out, we were one of the deepest teams and were widely considered a paper tiger for, mostly, the same players we have now - even before the rise of Brooks and Wafer. If that's not talent recognition, I don't know what is. People not giving Luis Scola, Carl Landry, and Shane Battier their dues are either ignorant or have very short memories; the former two were All-NBA rookies and the latter was representing the US not so long ago.

 

See, I have a problem with this...because isn't effort and hustle part of the talent equation?

Guys who put it all out there and maximize every ounce of their ability have to be considered talented.

Scola vs Gasol for instance....I think Scola is the better TEAM player.....he does more, he puts forth more effort...I would take him over Gasol.....

Even though in a skills challeng Pau wins....but it is not about skills it is about efficiency and performance......

So, I think the talent card is overplayed, people don't look at the entire package, they get lost in the glitz....

For me, it is all about efficiency on both ends...and that speaks volumes more than some mythical skills talent based evaluator.

DD

 

I have always said that the country is watching and this is far more than a game.

 

Yes, I agree that being able to play team ball is a kind of talent. It is kind of like IQ. IQ is certainly talent. But I don't agree that hustle is talent. Ryan Bowen had tons of hustle and nobody would mistake him as a talented player.

Lamar Odom is talented as hell physically. But he is not very smart. Still, I'd take Odom over Landry for pure talent. Gasol is a bigger and more athletic than Scola. Gasol's jumper is as good, if not better, than Scola's, and he definitely has a quicker release. But Scola is more crafty, which is part of his talent. Overall, I'd take Gasol over Scola, although just slightly.

If this Lakers team plays this Rockets team 100 times, I would say the Lakers probably would win about 70 times.

DD, just watch the rebounding and you'll see how much undermanned we are at the front line. Lots of times, the hustles of Hayes/Scola/Landry would tip the ball up in traffic, only to be easily out jumped by the bigger and more athletic Gasol/Bynum/Odom. If the ball is tipped under the basket, the Lakers almost always come up with the ball. That's talent.

 

no it aint. because it's not a skill that an individual player can create or utilize through his own actions

if you're out there playing team ball and 4 dudes are doing their own thing jacking shots the net result of "team ball" is nothing.

you can argue that "team ball" is a sort of collective dynamic or a "team talent" which should count towards a team's odds/chances to win but it certainly isn't quantifiable as individual talent.

IQ is kind of like the ability to play team ball (and certainly contributes to it) but IQ is a talent since you can execute BBall IQ as an individual to increase all facets of your game. The ability to play team ball remains latent if an individual player possesses it and no one else on the team does or the coach cant utilize it

overall the article is lol. it professes to speak on talent but basically it's comparing guys' performances... eg Scola > Gasol in Game 6... OMG Scola is more talented. yes they outperformed LA in certain games of the series. that does not logically or necessarily speak to greater talent... merely that they performed better in those instances

 

No, that's just call being a hard worker.

 

sometimes an insane person see more clearly than the sane. this is 12 monkee ****

 

So, hard worker is not competitive talent?

I say it is....a guy that is a hard worker can get more out of his talent than a guy who is not a hard worker.

I think that constitutes talent.

DD

 

Thats call size. Not talent.

By ur account, Yao is more talented than Kobe?

Talent should be something that you can do/learn with minimum effort.

 

You mean this one.

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if that's true, what does it say about these rockets when they have yao or tmac healthy or both? underachieving...big time? hmm...i'm not sure i'm ready to accept that.

 

Those quotes? They look, actually read, nice when the team wins. So Yeah, I hope they win.

 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/talent
tal·ent
Pronunciation:
\ˈta-lənt\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Old English talente, from Latin talenta, plural of talentum unit of weight or money, from Greek talanton pan of a scale, weight; akin to Greek tlēnai to bear; in senses 2–5, from the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14–30 — more at tolerate
Date:
before 12th century

1 a: any of several ancient units of weight b: a unit of value equal to the value of a talent of gold or silver

2 archaic : a characteristic feature, aptitude, or disposition of a person or animal

3: the natural endowments of a person

4 a: a special often athletic, creative, or artistic aptitude b: general intelligence or mental power : ability

 

I think hard work is something anyone can do but talent is something you're born with. Let's say you and me worked really hard and defeated Kobe and Tmac in a 2vs2. That's proves hard work >>> talent right there.