Athleticism overrated for point guards in the NBA?

Yea, energizer bunny PGs are cool and all but have a short shelf life.

 

Injuries have nothing to do with whether a player is overrated or not. Where did you come up with that idea.

OP reeks of having some ulterior theme

Maybe we can say being 7'6 is overrated because of expected longevity, but point guards ... R e a l l y

 

Huh?

Stephen Curry and Andre Miller are your non-athletic point guards that are worth a damn? The Dragon.... fin?

 

This is why Jeremy Lin rejects athleticism and believes in Jesus and God.

 

Why does God hate JLin's knee?

 

PG is more about intelligence. Being athletic certainly helps, but very few recent champions have had an actual difference maker playing PG. Really only Tony Parker and Chauncey Billups. Rondo wasn't yet a major player when the Celtics won.

Having a PG as your primary scorer is usually not good towards winning a title, it puts far too much pressure on one player to completely dominate the ball.

 

Then when we look at shooting guards

Most athletic seem to be fine

Non-athletic??
Brandon Roy
Ginobody

 

Yeah, I really don't get the OP's claim. The NBA is filled to the brim with athletic players. The non-athletic players are generally either super tall or bench players. (There are some exceptions.)

 

And here is the ulterior theme I predicted in my first post -- i.e., athleticism is inversely related to IQ

That is the hidden OP theme

 

The only two of that list that fit are DRose and Westbrook. Chris Paul had one injury plagued year and isn't the athlete Rose or Westbrook are, Rondo had a freak accident and hopefully John Wall doesn't suffer the same fate as the Rose or Westbrook. But Rose and Westbrook's games are so jerky and exploding in one direction lightning fast. It shouldn't be a surprise that they have knee or other ligament issues. The body can only handle those type of acrobats so much before it blows.

 

While this is true, plenty of non-athletic PG's have had success. John Stockton, Derek Fisher, old man Kidd. CP3 really isn't athletic, most good PG's make good use of screens and great handles in traffic.

I agree the OP is wrong to suggest athleticism = bad, you don't really need to be athletic.

 

Interesting topic.

Outside of addiction, I think the way Stevie played shortened his career. All of those dunks and bursts to the rim, with hard falls, must have done a number on his knees.

Andre Miller is effective, but my damn is he unathletic and slow. He gets the job done somehow.

I don't think athleticism is overrated, but I think the best point guards play on the ground a bit more. Westbrook is good, but he's injury-prone by the way he plays. CP3 has had a few injuries, but he will have a long career because of his approach to penetrating and facilitating from the backcourt.

D-Rose used his athleticism to a fault, as did Brandon Roy.

There are some exceptions to the rule, but I think guys are learning to play smarter and vary their offense to protect their bodies. When you have Kenyon Martins, the Clippers, Andrew Bynum and Metta fouling so hard, you've got to learn to pick the right times to explode to the rim. It's not fear as much as it is "playing the injury game" and learning to use finesse over athleticism.

 

basketball athleticism isn't jumping high, both Ginobili and Roy had elite basketball athlecism(first step, quick jump, second bounce).

 

There are few players in the NBA who are not super athletic, when compared to us normal human beings. Just goes with the territory I guess.

 

most all-star nba point guards are athletic.

even guys like tony parker and chris paul has/had elite speed

 

Injury prone? The dude had never missed a game in HS, College, and 5 years in the NBA until BEVERLEY!!!.... But now his play style makes him INJURY PRONE?

 

Steve Nash was never very athletic, he is just very good at using picks set for him to get to the rim. Most team offenses in the NBA don't know how to set good picks for their point guards. They rely too much on athleticism.

 

I'm saying his style of play lends itself to injuries. He plays at one speed and that's max. Trust me, just like other guys that played like him, he's going to have a shorter career.

 

Now that he has a gimp knee not caused by his style of play, how very convenient.