Total BAM Score Lin 76 Irving 84 Wall 83 Source: http://thebamboxscore.com/2012/03/09/the-linside-point-guard-review/
I think you interpret wrongly what a athlete is. I see many people seem to think that lack of vertical and jumping ability automatically = bad athlete. Let me put it that way, if the Westbrook was Usain Bolt of basketball, I bet Nash was a marathon winner. And both are considered great athletes. Nash's off the chart in terms of endurance and change of direction which make up a big part of being a bball athlete. There are simply many aspects of being an athlete. One bad area does not make Nash "one of the least athletic PGs".
You either never watched Lin play or you never watched Francis play and just based your comment on raw numbers. Lol. Their games have nothing in common except both are turnover prone. But in case you don't know Nash and Deron both had several seasons as turnover leaders too and both are nothing similar to Francis.
Let's just wait and see. If I was a Phoenix fan, I would be really worried about giving this "better" Dragic such a big and 4 year contract and watching him lead the team to nowhere. Lol.
Westbrook has no problem playing 45 mins just like Nash can. your argument is valid if a NBA game lasts 200 mins, but no, NBA games are 45 mins with regular breaks. so being a marathon runner is the wrong athleticism to have in NBA
That score is before Lin's reported special training last year, which increased his vertical and strength significantly. I think Lin is now on similar level of Wall athletically.
You're assuming Wall isn't getting better. Not a good assumption. Wall's end to end speed is significantly better than Lin's, and you really shouldn't need advanced stats to see that. I personally don't think Wall's first step or explosiveness is near as good as advertised, but saying Lin and Wall are similar level athletes is crazy.
This assumes that Wall wasn't in the gym improving his athletic ability as well. Even with Lin's new gains and that "special training" I still think Wall blows Lin out of the water as an athlete. Lin is an average to slightly above average athlete with elite straight line speed. All NBA players are "athletic" to some degree, but unless we draw the line somewhere that descriptor loses all meaning. There is nothing wrong with not being an elite athlete. Hell, I think Wall is one of the top athletes in the NBA, but I'd rather have Lin.
Sheer speed is one of the most overrated physical attributes in the NBA. Scoring on the move is not about speed most of the time. It's about juking and getting the defender off balance and getting position while on the move. In other words, getting a step. That is usually done with quickness and skill much more often than it is done with sheer speed.
Lin isn't an "elite level" athlete, but being one isn't a prerequisite for being a successful NBA PG. PG is the most cerebral position in the game, which explains why those who rely on their athleticism decline much quicker than those who learned to play the game with their minds (likely a result of not being an "elite" athlete to begin with). Some of the best PG's to ever play the game were not elite athletes.
Not only that, but BAM statistics clearly shows Lin's speed is elite level and similar to Wall. Talking about perception and reality... http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2012/03/life-in-the-fast-lane/ AVERAGE SPEED Jeremy Lin: 16.66 mph Derrick Rose: 16.60 mph John Wall: 16.48 mph Kyrie Irving: 15.67 mph Lin wins this battle. START SPEED Lin: 13.93 mph Wall: 13.25 mph Irving: 12.64 mph For Rose, BAM has only average speed data. Lin wins this battle too. TOP SPEED Lin: 18.85 mph Wall: 19.30 mph Irving: 18.74 mph Lin comes in second to Wall.
Who gives a f**k about BAM test? By watching his games alone it's clear Lin isn't as athletic as Rose, Westbrook or Wall. Doubt he's even top 20/30 in his own position.
Lin similar level to Wall athletically!? Not in a million years. The only way Lin can match Wall's athleticism is if he were to go back in time to choose his parents or to go into the future and find the machine that alters his athletic genes. Until I see Lin jump in the air, switches the ball behind his back to the other hand and then throws it down the way Wall does, I cannot fathom how anyone can make this statement.
Athleticism is not just about vertical. Lin is pretty quick, agile and strong. Even talking about vertical, Lin is not far behind as he outjumped Wall for jumpball in rookie season and blocked Rose's layup attempt last year. His speed is slightly better than Wall overall(see posts above yours). Overall he's definitely on similar level as Wall.
SMH. If athleticism was based purely on things like that, then volleyball players or 200m track athletes would be considered "better" athletes. athleticism is much more than just running in a straight line, at top speed, and jumping high. Sure it can help a lot, but things like balance, foot speed , acceleration, flexibility, and short area quickness/maneuverability are just as important, and in some cases, much more important. Those tests and game tapes from this year clearly shows that his quickness with the ball and ability to maneuver in tight spaces is no fluke. Sure, he definitely doesn't have the elite top end explosiveness in terms of jumping that guys like Rose, Westbrook or Walls has, but on the same hand it ain't a end-all-be all weakness. You have a very naive and ignorant notion of atheliticism. Ask any real athlete and scout out there whats more important, and most of them would rather take good skills + IQ + above balance, average quickness and acceleration than pure raw straight run and jump ability.
True, there are an endless number of people out there with crazy verticals who will never even sniff D1 basketball, much less the nba. What is JLin's vertical anyway? Spartascience is very discreet about releasing this stat, except to say it's improved significantly.
