Can Athleticism Win Championships?

Posted by Trent Sanders on October 28, 2008

‘Past vs. Present’ (NBAE/Getty Images)

Now that my fantasy football season is officially a lost cause and the preseason is finally over, I can concentrate on regular season basketball 24/7 (starting Nov. 1 of course).  The preseason once again brought up questions like: Do we really need a preseason? Is it really worth watching the second half of a preseason game just to see the 3rd string power forward that may not even be on the final roster? And the big one, what is one of our star players gets hurt? Although D-Will was a bit hobbled by a bum ankle I think the Jazz escaped the preseason pretty uneventfully.  One of the things that the preseason made me ponder was nothing new for the Jazz but was drummed out again as commentators mentioned how athletic the “new school” NBA players are.

For the Jazz, players like Ronnie Brewer, D-Will and AK 47 are seen as above average athletically.  But how do they compare with the Jazz teams of yester year.  Let’s take a look at today’s team vs. the team that played for back-to-back world championships in the late 90’s.

Today’s potential starting lineup:  Deron Williams-point guard, Ronnie Brewer-shooting guard, CJ Miles-small forward, Carlos Boozer-power forward and Mehmet Okur-center.  Bench players: Andrei Kirilenko, Matt Harpring, Paul Millsap, Ronnie Price, Brevin Knight, Jarron Collins, Kyle Korver

1997-98 starting lineup: John Stockton-point guard, Jeff Hornacek-shooting guard, Bryon Russell-small forward, Karl Malone-power forward, Greg Ostertag-center.  Bench players:  Adam Keefe, Shandon Anderson, Howard Eisley, Greg Foster, Antoine Carr, Chris Morris

In my opinion, if we make a very un-scientific comparison between the two squads the results would be such:

Point Guard- I give the athleticism hand to Deron.  I have to admit, I never saw Stockton through down over a big, or anyone for that matter.  However, the point guard position requires much more than athleticism to be successful.  To be a truly great point guard you have to have vision.  You have to be able to see the entire court and be able to predict what a teammate is going to do.  Stockton definitely had this vision when it came to getting the Mailman the rock.  Deron has it as well but not quite to Stockton’s level, yet.  The point guard also has to be able to get the ball to the right guy at the right time.  It seemed that when any given player flashed and was open for that split second Stockton had the ball to them and it was in a place where they could catch it in motion going to the hoop. Deron is a flashier passer but not quite as accurate at times as Stockton was.  How many guys in the league can throw an almost full court, quarterback like pass to a streaking Malone in the finals of a pivotal game in the NBA finals?  Final decision:  Athleticism-Williams   Edge-Stock (based on overall aspects)

Shooting guard-The athletic edge here definitely goes to Brewer.  While Horny was a great shooter and a great all around player he was by no means the fastest, highest jumping, most nimble guy on the playground.  With that said, he would have kicked Ronnie’s you-know-what at HORSE.  Brewer is coming of age and with a few more seasons under his belt his fundamental game will hopefully catch up with his athleticism.  He is still a youngster in the NBA and at times looks like he would rather be dunking in Rucker Park than running through the offense as Coach Sloan would like.  He definitely can jump out of the gym and is great at using his athleticism to put himself in great position for steals.   Final decision: Ronnie Brewer

Small forward-This one could be a tie.  Russell was probably the most athletic player on the ‘97-’98 team.  However, he seemed to have two different sides.   The first side was the guy that would come out and guard the opposing teams best offensive player and try to shut them down.  In order to shut down, or even slow down, any prolific scoring in the NBA you had to be athletic.  You had to be able to fight through multiple screens, run the entire game and make up lost ground.  On top of that you had to also be prepared to contribute at least somewhat on the offensive end.  The other side of Russell was the guy that would come out and forget about defense and just try to break down the roof.  We was not as high-flying as Brewer but could still get up.  CJ on the other hand is a little bit of a mystery.  Potentially starting this year would be a first for him (since high school) and could effect him.  I have yet to be “wowed” by him with a dunk or crazy move.  He is quite inconsistent and his youth gets the best of him at times.  His lanky look (long arms) gives one the impression that he will be uncoordinated and possibly slow.  He could use this to his advantage if other teams do not do their scouting properly.  Final decision: Russell (based on age and the fact that he was more mature and could harness his athleticism better at the time)

Power forward-In my opinion this one is not even close also.  Just like Hornacek, Malone was not the fastest, didn’t have the best low block moves or the best shot.  If a non-NBA fan saw Malone for the first time they may have thought he was a boxer or even a wrestler for the WWF.  But he did not get the nickname “the mailman” for nothing.  He worked hard and used what athleticism he did have to make himself a pretty good NBA career.   Boozer is a slimmer more nimble power forward (some may say he a little undersized for the position) that can slash his way around the opposing defense and get to the hoop.  He is great at finishing with either hand at the rim and can hit a decent percentage of his turn around jumpers.  He is quicker on both ends of the court and runs the court okay.  He seems to shy away from the low block contact (something I think Malone loved) and has had to develop a better outside attack.  On any given night he can use his athleticism to take advantage of his defenders weaknesses.  On the other hand, Malone had to really on the set offense and often times Stockton to get his points.  Final decision-Boozer (let’s hope he has a productive a career with the Jazz as Malone did)

Center-This is a very tough but yet easy debate.  On one side you have Okur.  Not the most graceful center in the league but at least he can create for himself.  He can take it outside and hit the three but that requires very little athleticism.  Skill and training yes.  Athleticism no. Now it is hard for me to say a center is athletic (call me bias because I played point guard my whole life) but for the most part they just aren’t.  The good thing is that they rarely have to be.  The center’s main priority is generally to rebound and set up the inside-out game.  Even your more “athletic” centers like Kareem or Shaq back in the day they were not as athletic as the other 4 players.  The only exception for me (I am 34 and did not see the Chamberlains and Russells) was Hakeem.  That guy had some athletic moves that no other big did (sorry Garnett).  On the other side you have Ostertag.  Enough said!  Final decision-Okur.

Benches-The bench players are often times an interesting story.  They are obviously not up to the level as the starters both fundamentally and athletically or they would be starters.  However, I feel that the one player that needs to be discussed is AK47.  Andrei brings a whole lot of athleticism to today’s squad.  His defensive athleticism allows him to play stellar backside and help defense.  He relies on his athleticism to “gamble” and more times than not he is rewarded.  His offensive athleticism could be questioned.  Sometimes he looks a little uncoordinated with the ball and I worry that he is just going to hand it to the defender.

After reviewing the two teams it seems that today’s Jazz are more athletic than the team from ‘97-’98.  That is on an individual basis.  As a team that is a different story.  Athleticism only gets you as far as the other guys around you.  Let’s hope that D-Will, Ronnie, Booz, CJ, Mehmet and the rest of the guys can parlay their individual athleticism into a collective whole unit and bring home the championship.  After all, that is why they are NBA players-to win a championship.

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