Usually "tweener" is used in a pejorative sense. Yes you can be too big for a position, not allowing you to guard another player effectively. One of the many oversized SFs who can't play D come to mind such as Vladimir Radmanovic, or an undersized shooting guard who plays next to a point guard.
vladimir isn't too big lol, he is just too slow/has little to no defensive SKILLS. If he was as fast as anthony randolph for instance, he would be fine, but he isn't, so he is too slow, not too big. i don't know, maybe i'm not making sense because none of you seem to get what i'm saying, but big means height and weight, not quickness or speed or shooting or any other ability correct?
Vladimir is probably slow because he's huge for a SF dude. Not many NBA players his size have the lateral quickness to defend a 3 as it is. He'd be a disaster at the 4 so he's stuck there. If you want to focus on semantics, both are applicable I suppose. But Vladmir isn't too big? A tweener is exactly what Vlad is, too big for SF, and lacks the skills to play PF.
Tiny weener. In any case, guards are typically about 6'5" or shorter, centers close to 7', and forwards above 6'5". Not always true, but that's the gist. It's not just height, but weight. A 7' guy who weights 150 lbs is tall enough to be a C but will get pushed around too much. The smallest guys in the game are typically PG, but there's exceptions. Iverson is one of the smaller guys, but he plays SG. Not sure he'd be called a tweener. A guy who's 6'5" 250 lbs is really on the short side to play the power forward position, and likely too heavy/slow afoot to play a guard or small forward position. They call these guys "tweeners."
Also, the word first meant the 11-13 year olds. They weren't kids, but they were not teenagers, somewhere in beTWEEN.
Channing is a good example and a bad example. Because he had the wrong skill set for his position, but he was the right size for his position. Maybe a little underweight, but definitely too slow for his SF skill set.
so why aren't anthony randolph or KG tweeners? OR Lebron or T mac or fuck it yao. He has the skillset of a PF. They are way to big for SF according to you, yet have the skills to play them (besides yao lol). All these guys aren't tweeners because they are skilled enough. A tweener is too small for their skillset, thats it. Being too big is like being too awesome in basketball. If you have the skills it doesn't matter how tall you. Was ralph sampson a tweener then according to your logic? Vladimir is just a bad player. He is a slow unathletic SF. Not an undersized pf, he has absolutely no pf skills, how could you consider him a pf?
I don't understand why you are dead focused on the definition of a tweener. There really is no definition it can be used in a positive and negative fashion. The example I have given you is just as correct, what is the average size of a SF? Not 6'10'', most guys just can't keep up at that size SF, nor has one really heard of any. Vlad sucks, but if he was the prototypical SF size he'd probably be a lot better on D. It doesn't just have to do with "skills". Being too Big obviously has affected most 7'4'' players like Yao and Sampson... It is like arguing with that guy from JBB a long time ago who demanded to know what a point forward was. It doesn't matter it is a vague term with some varying meanings.
I don't mean to be like that haha, i just think it is silly to say someone is too big when we are talking about basketball. I get your point, if vlad was smaller he probably would be a better defender, but he'd still be just as slow, so wouldn't being bigger help him? he has longer arms/more of him overall to get around. if he was smaller he wouldn't be able to shoot over anyone. I think the fact that he is so tall is the only reason why he is still in the league. The NBA values height over everything else. That's why i think being too tall can never hurt you, its all the other things like.. idk ability. You can call him a tweener if you want, i'd prefer to just call him bad, it really doesn't matter to me. I think the term is stupid, if you can play you can play, if you can't you can't.
and being a pg my whole life, i can tell you, when someone really tall and lanky with only average quickness if guarding you, its a lot harder than a really good defensive small guy. That's just my personal experience anyway.
Well in my experience, I try to hold back a little on my dunks or I break the backboard every time. No one can guard me really.
Tweener implies a guy is big enough (height/weight) to play one of two positions but if you play him at either one he hurts the team (can't guard quicker guys, can't guard taller guys). For the guys you mention, it doesn't hurt the team to play them at any position.
dissagree. Tweeners turn into some of the most special players in the league. Durant, KG, AI. Tweeners generally are more skilled than their larger and stronger counter parts. I would choose skill over size every time.