Basketball: Can it be taught?
- Thread starter SLYFOXX1968
- Start date
Funny you mention Ernie D, I played him in pickup games at Wales and Johnson in Rhode Island one afternoon, played my a$$ off on defense, pretty much stayed in front of him an he scored literally at will, jumper after jumper, nothing but net.
The only other player I matched up with that I felt as utterly helpless covering was John Somogyi when he was at Rutgers. Just a different level of ball.
That's how I felt covering Kareem Reid and Shamgod Wells in HS. They could do anything they wanted with the ball at warp speed. Wasn't fair lol
My father was a pretty fair college ball player, he used to tell a story about playing against Sonny Dove in the park. After he got the better of it early on, Dove decided to play for real. Dad said that when Dove dunked on him he swears that he was looking down at him through the rim and aiming the ball at his head.
These are all good posts about improving Shooting etc . And , even better stories of some
Personal Experiences with dine highly skilled College and NBA players .
My point was that Elite Level Shooting , I.e. Bird , Reggie , Chris is very much encased in Natural or God Given ability .
Those 3 guys could shoot at a performance level that even other , skilled NBA Players could not attain , no matter how much practice shooting , Coaching , they did .
Otherwise , John Starks would have been a Elite shooter like those 3 .
John was a good , streaky shooter but , no where near those guys abd would never be .
Let’s look at Michael Jordan’s skills as possibly and arguably the GOAT.
There are many NBA Players , past and present , that could possess the same Athletic abilities as Michael . Speed ,,Jumping , Dribbling , etc .
But , none have ever put the skills that Jordan had to the use he did . Of Course he practiced and got great Coaching along the way but , his God or Natural talent put him on a different pedestal than , everyone else .
At least , in his Era
Just to add more fuel here , would Michael have ever beaten Reggie , Larry or Chris in a shooting contest ?
My answer is No , he wound not.
Personal Experiences with dine highly skilled College and NBA players .
My point was that Elite Level Shooting , I.e. Bird , Reggie , Chris is very much encased in Natural or God Given ability .
Those 3 guys could shoot at a performance level that even other , skilled NBA Players could not attain , no matter how much practice shooting , Coaching , they did .
Otherwise , John Starks would have been a Elite shooter like those 3 .
John was a good , streaky shooter but , no where near those guys abd would never be .
Let’s look at Michael Jordan’s skills as possibly and arguably the GOAT.
There are many NBA Players , past and present , that could possess the same Athletic abilities as Michael . Speed ,,Jumping , Dribbling , etc .
But , none have ever put the skills that Jordan had to the use he did . Of Course he practiced and got great Coaching along the way but , his God or Natural talent put him on a different pedestal than , everyone else .
At least , in his Era
Just to add more fuel here , would Michael have ever beaten Reggie , Larry or Chris in a shooting contest ?
My answer is No , he wound not.
John Starks wouldn’t make the G league today.
I recall a story in , either the Daily News or NY Post , back in the day that was projecting a trade between the Warriors and Knicks .
The story was that the Knicks would trade Starks to the Warriors for Mullin . Bring him back to NY . This was a a few years into Mullin’s career .
George Karl, Warrior Coach at the time , when he learned of the story , just laughed .
He's 58 years old.
Rocket
Well-known member
Obviously everyone agrees it can be taught or there wouldn't be skills academies everywhere, coaches, and thousands of CYO teams.
However, on the upper levels of competition, athletes still must possess natural physical abilities to separate themselves from the schoolyard basketball players.
They possess certain physical advantages such as height, length, stamina, coordination, etc.
However, on the upper levels of competition, athletes still must possess natural physical abilities to separate themselves from the schoolyard basketball players.
They possess certain physical advantages such as height, length, stamina, coordination, etc.