Jabari Young: Monroe or DeAndre

defensively its the biggest factor

 

Just think of Monroe as a young Aldridge, an inch shorter, without the hot dog long shots. Given the years Aldridge has had, Monroe can become just as mediocre at defense as Aldridge is.

Get Monroe if possible.

 

Without the talent, skill, and intelligence all of that athleticism would be for naught. However, when you ADD athleticism to the truly important qualities THAT'S what makes a player a game-changer.

 

Precisely my point, regarding athleticism being the most overrated quality a player can possess. You can have all the athleticism in the world but be dumb as an ox (Outlaw) and you'll never be a good basketball player. Or you can be super athletic and rely on that to get you by, and so you never develop fundamentals (Miles). A player's athletic ability should be the last piece of the puzzle, not the first. I'll take a smart, nonathletic player with good fundamentals over a dumb athletic freak every time. Typically those players won't be stars, but they'll be much better rotation players than your average athletic player. However, there have been a fair share of non-athletic stars that were just so damn smart and skilled that it didn't matter that they weren't amazing athletes.

 

So Athleticism is the biggest factor in Defense, I completely disagree. Tenacity and effort are the most important elements of defense. Bruce Bowen is an excellent example. Not an elite athlete by any stretch but an elite defender. Jason Kidd is another example of a very good defender lacking in elite athleticism, Ben Wallace, a center same thing. How about Shane Battier or Raja Bell. You can go down the list there are plenty of elite defenders who weren't elite athletes... Same with Offensive players, Zach Randolph prime example, so is Chris Mullins going back in time. The rare elite athlete is the one whose athleticism coupled with skill and effort pushes them to a different level.

 

You just described Andre Miller down to the letter. Unathletic, smart, good fundamentals, etc. The guy is still playing and has been a solid rotation player for almost 20 years.

 

Could have described Tim Duncan the same way

 

Eh.... I don't know. I've seen Timmy do some pretty athletic things in his prime.

 

No you would have to convince him that playing for Stotts is better than Rivers and considering how hard Rivers has backed Deandre since he has been there I see 0 chance he leaves unless the Clips low ball him.

 

Where is Donald Sterling when you need him.

 

Well that's just not athletic at all....

 

He is not unathletic but it's hardly one of his strongest attributes and he's maybe the most successful player since the millenium. I think it's a good example

 

He's a bit Marc Gasol-ish in the athletic department but with his type of game I don't think it matters.

He's a true low-post player who never had spacing - surrounded by, at best, mediocre shooters. He'll blow up in this system.

 

If Leonard continues to grow defensively, they would be a fun front court to watch.