Had another Blazer fan tell me that Dame wishes he had Ant's athleticism. Obviously older Dame isn't as athletic as Ant is right now, but I disagree that Dame never had athleticism close to Ant. I think young Dame was extremely athletic. I think the major difference is height and arm length. That has nothing to do with athleticism. Those are physical gifts. I also think that it takes A LOT of athleticism to shoot accurately from half court. And just so people are reminded of what young Dame could do....
Aha! An ally. I don't know..... Ant's issue is that he was so bad at going to the hole in his first three seasons. The guy is crazy athletic though. I just don't think he's THAT much more athletic than Dame.
I don't think there's any doubt Ant has better vertical extension than Dame. He's a little bigger and a little longer and he has hops obviously, vertical isn't the only component of athleticism; and athleticism isn't the only component of basketball skills. If that wasn't true, Tyrus Thomas would have had a better career than Lamarcus Aldridge
This was strictly an argument about athleticism. I took issue with the idea that Dame has never been as athletic as Ant, or really even close to as athletic.
I think probably part of the problem with the argument is often times people just think athleticism = hops. There's more to being athletic than just being able to jump out of the gym, IMO.
I still maintain that being able to accurately shoot from half court takes an insane amount of athleticism.
Ants can carry up to 20x their body weight for a short time. Dame has been carrying an entire franchise for a decade. Dame is clearly more athletic.
Could actual physical makeup play a part in opinion? Dame is a bit stalkier… bulkier. When talking guards, it has always seemed that the thinner, lankier types are more athletic. To me, it is better to use left and right motion as a sense of athleticism over vertical ability. How quickly can a player change directions, stop on a dime, quickest first step, etc. So barring that in mind, to me, Ant seems more athletic, but it is close and i think whats setting them apart is Ant just looks longer and lankier and lighter. Makes for quicker change of motion i think. But is it all an illusion because he is lankier?
I do remember the summer after Ant was drafted, Dame was quoted saying something like, "Ant had a "different" kind of athleticism that he had never seen before". I am paraphrasing because I read that years ago. But, Dame himself said something along those lines.
Word I noticed it as well, he has a speedy fluidly that is super unique, of course it was hard to defend his potential over the years with people constantly pointing to his stats, as if that mattered drafting a high schooler.
What do you consider athleticism? If it's leaping ability and lateral quickness, I'd say Ant and with all due to respect to Dame I don't think it's close. However, I think strength, constitution and endurance also are athletic traits, and there aren't many in the NBA on Dame's level in any of those respects. Also, going downhill, Dame's really gotten better over the course of his pro career. He gets to the hoop in a flash.
Was going to say basically this. You aren't arguing who is more athletic, you are arguing what athletic means.
Ant is bouncier than Dame. Simons is a quick jumper with ridiculous spring. Dame seems a little heavier in his legs
Even downhill when Ant is really just going for it, he's a lot faster than Dame but I agree Dame has gotten better at that throughout his career. I think one thing that people were talking about is the fact that Dame blows by his man easier than Ant and they were pointing at that showing that Dame has a more explosive first step. I don't think that is the case at all, Dame just has brilliant timing and while he doesn't have a flashy handle he has one of the most effective handles in the game. Dame is athletic and although he's not as athletic as Ant in any area, Dame is brilliant at knowing how to use his athleticism on offense and Ant isn't close to being on his level with that side of things yet.
Dame's court vision is "off the chain". His ability to fire a pass, through traffic , at odd angles, to an open shooter , is an amazing thing to see. And he does it all the time. That takes a ton of agility, strength, and precision. That is athleticism at it's highest.
