What sport's position produces the best athletes?

great post. any stats on Wall or Westbrooks court Sprint? i cant seem to find any data (havent looked too hard) Westbrook may be the most explosive athlete ive seen in any sport, and John Wall at least appears to be faster end to end.
Let me check. He was in the same rookie class as Armstrong above. As you know, lately the best athletes have taken to skipping the Combines because the risk of a poor performance isn't worth the damage to already soaring hype. Fortunately, Westbrook came into the league before that became a trend:
https://stats.nba.com/draft/combine-anthro/#!?sort=PLAYER_NAME&dir=-1&SeasonYear=2008-09
He ran a 3.08. I project that out to a 25m time of 3.30.

So Westbrook beats Ronaldo in the 25m dash by roughly the same margin (-0.31) that Usain beats the last place guy in the Final Heat of the 100m Sprint at each of his respective Olympiads (-0.34s, -0.35, -0.24).

Beijing (-0.34)

Photofinish.jpg

jamaicas-usain-bolt-crosses-the-finish-line-to-win-the-mens-100m-at-picture-id82385421


BTW, 6'11" Mamba beat Westbrook's time with a 3.04:
Mavericks draft target Mohamed Bamba is faster than Russell Westbrook, report says
This. These guys 6' tall, and play in a league full of elite athletes averaging 6'7".
You have a major misconception. The league is NOT populated with 6'0" stars at SG.

Stephen Curry is 6'3". Kyrie Irving is 6'3". Westbrook is 6'4". Harden is 6'5".
  1. Isiaiah Thomas (5'9")
  2. Jameer Nelson (6'0")
  3. Chris Paul (6'0")
  4. Kyle Lowry (6'0")
  5. Mo Williams (6'1")
  6. Allen Iverson (6'1")
  7. Kemba Walker (6'1")
  8. Rajon Rondo (6'1")
  9. Jeff Teague (6'2")
  10. Tony Parker (6'2")
These are the only players in the last ten years of All-Star games to make the roster who were under 6'3", and all of them are point guards-- ball handlers. Iverson is the only one whose style is closer to a SG, and whose primary focus was on scoring rather than playmaking. They're grabbing about 1/24 slots, and as you can see, that's only by expanding our range to 6'2".

Additionally, I suspect guys like Jameer Nelson and Mo Williams might not even be there if it wasn't for the rigid positional structuring of the All-Star rosters (i.e the "Guard" quota and the East/West divide).

Even in the age of the Downtown Moneyball, 6'0" is too short to expect to reach the highest echelon of elite players in the sport. There currently doesn't exist a 6'0" superstar in the league. Chris Paul, now sidekick to Harden, who has enjoyed praise as the best PG in the league for most of the past decade across the coach polls, is the closest thing. Lowry is probably the most significant player behind him. These guys aren't even their own franchise player. Ironically, because he is such a skill-intensive player, whose game relies more on his tactical intelligence, most aren't aware how athletic Chris Paul is. He had a 38" max vertical leap as a prospect (6th best in his class, and dunk legend Gerald Green with 39" is the only significant name ahead of him).

6'3"-6'7" is the current height paradigm for SG in the NBA.
 
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Let me check. He was in the same rookie class as Armstrong above. As you know, lately the best athletes have taken to skipping the Combines because the risk of a poor performance isn't worth the damage to already soaring hype. Fortunately, Westbrook came into the league before that became a trend:
https://stats.nba.com/draft/combine-anthro/#!?sort=PLAYER_NAME&dir=-1&SeasonYear=2008-09
He ran a 3.08. I project that out to a 25m time of 3.30.

So Westbrook beats Ronaldo in the 25m dash by roughly the same margin (-0.31) that Usain beats the last place guy in the Final Heat of the 100m Sprint at each of his respective Olympiads (-0.34s, -0.35, -0.24).

Beijing (-0.34)

Photofinish.jpg

jamaicas-usain-bolt-crosses-the-finish-line-to-win-the-mens-100m-at-picture-id82385421


BTW, 6'11" Mamba beat Westbrook's time with a 3.04:
Mavericks draft target Mohamed Bamba is faster than Russell Westbrook, report says

You have a major misconception. The league is NOT populated with 6'0" stars at SG.

Stephen Curry is 6'3". Kyrie Irving is 6'3". Westbrook is 6'4". Harden is 6'5".
  1. Isiaiah Thomas (5'9")
  2. Jameer Nelson (6'0")
  3. Chris Paul (6'0")
  4. Kyle Lowry (6'0")
  5. Mo Williams (6'1")
  6. Allen Iverson (6'1")
  7. Kemba Walker (6'1")
  8. Rajon Rondo (6'1")
  9. Jeff Teague (6'2")
  10. Tony Parker (6'2")
These are the only players in the last ten years of All-Star games to make the roster who were under 6'3", and all of them are point guards-- ball handlers. Iverson is the only one whose style is closer to a SG, and whose primary focus was on scoring rather than playmaking. They're grabbing about 1/24 slots, and as you can see, that's only by expanding our range to 6'2".

Additionally, I suspect guys like Jameer Nelson and Mo Williams might not even be there if it wasn't for the rigid positional structuring of the All-Star rosters (i.e the "Guard" quota).

Even in the age of the Downtown Moneyball, 6'0" is too short to expect to reach the highest echelon of elite players in the sport. There currently doesn't exist a 6'0" superstar in the league. Chris Paul, now sidekick to Harden, who has enjoyed praise as the best PG in the league for most of the past decade across the coach polls, is the closest thing. Lowry is probably the most significant player behind him. These guys aren't even their own franchise player. Ironically, because he is such a skill-intensive player, whose game relies more on his tactical intelligence, most aren't aware how athletic Chris Paul is. He had a 38" max vertical leap as a prospect (6th best in his class, and dunk legend Gerald Green is the only significant name ahead of him).

6'3"-6'7" is the current height paradigm for SG in the NBA.

Chris Paul was exactly who I was thinking of when I posted that. In all of these "if our best athletes played soccer" discussions, I see guys smaller, quicker, more mobile guys like Paul, Adrian Peterson, etc doing better than the Lebron's and JJ Watts of the world.
 
Chris Paul was exactly who I was thinking of when I posted that. In all of these "if our best athletes played soccer" discussions, I see guys smaller, quicker, more mobile guys like Paul, Adrian Peterson, etc doing better than the Lebron's and JJ Watts of the world.
Probably, considering that height isn't being selected for as aggressively, since ballhandling is so much more important in soccer than basketball, and that's really where the shorter limbs are a marvelous advantage.
 
Also, you have to state what the conditions are that the person is living.
 
Nah, the fastest soccer players have acceleration, straight line speed and agility which leaves football players in the dust.

You have to remember that while football seems like a big sport to America it pulls from a relatively small talent pool compared to soccer, which takes athletes from all over the planet. A larger talent pool is more likely to find more talent. That's a no-brainer unless you're a brainwashed American.


I mean, just look at the fastest players IN NFL HISTORY:

Fastest OF ALL TIME = Chris Johnson, RB 4.24 seconds for a 40 yard dash. That's 8.62 m/s.

Now look at the fastest soccer players in the English Premier League alone, so not including Spain, where Ronaldo and Messi play, or Germany, the league of the World Champions, or any of the other top 5 or 6 pro soccer leagues:

Ashley Williams plays for a mid-table team, is not even a striker or winger (generally the fastest players) and clocks 20.98 mph. That's 9.38 m/s. And he's ranked about 20th fastest in just one of the top 5 or 6 leagues.


Maybe it's because they wear all that goofy-as-fuck padding but watching football players try to change direction or accelerate compared to soccer players is like watching B-52s try to dogfight compared to F-18s.

It's not football players' faults all that dorky gear makes them look so lumbering and clumsy, but the numbers don't lie. Even soccer players from mid-league teams leave the best football players in the history of the game far in their wake when it comes to speed and acceleration. And, yes, endurance.

I mean, fuck, look at the balance, agility and fast-twitch of Jose Aldo. This is a guy who couldn't make it in soccer because he's too small, but P4P he's an elite specimen. And there are thousands like him - and better - in soccer.

Well, they've got the fastest floppers and rollers for sure

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Aussie Rules players are fit as fuck, more built for endurance than power these days though.
 
Aussie Rules players are fit as fuck, more built for endurance than power these days though.

For sure, don't think there is any doubt...I am not sure about all the technical stuff like that fella mad mick but when you consider the fitness the players need, the leaping ability, the strength and explosiveness, the hand-eye co-ordination, they must be up there. Really impressive.
 
I don't disagree, but I was thinking more along the lines of athletes being able to transfer their talents to other sports.

For example, such of playing Tennis!

In which, CB's could make a pretty strong case, but I'm not so sure DE's could.
TE in football and LB is pretty well known for being balanced athletically
 
Gaelic games and Aussie rules don't have a large enough talent pool to boast the best athletes.
Rugby's best athletes are split between Union, League and Sevens. No individual code has a large enough talent pool to claim the greatest athletes.
Basketball has a goal that is arbitrarily suspended 10 feet off the ground, massively advantaging taller athletes.
Volleyball/Beach Volleyball have the same problem, the net is arbitrarily suspended 8 feet high, massively advantaging taller athletes.
 
It's the delusions they feed these kids outside North America (chiefly in Europe and South America). They really do get sent as lambs to the slaughter against North American sports fans. The level of ignorance required to believe that Premier/Liga players are faster than NFL players is worthy of a Floridian charter school. Not that Corona needs the retroactive 2-year assist, but...



Top 100 meter times by NFL players


Former pro soccer player Adam Gemili ran 100m in 9.97s, faster than all but one NFL player ever.
Gemili played soccer at a really low level though.
 
I'd say Saquon Barkley and most other NFL RBs are better athletes than the Ronaldos or Messis of the world. Comparable speed, 10x as much power, strength, explosiveness and really only a disadvantage in explosiveness.
 
I'd say Saquon Barkley and most other NFL RBs are better athletes than the Ronaldos or Messis of the world. Comparable speed, 10x as much power, strength, explosiveness and really only a disadvantage in explosiveness.

Well Messi, Ronaldo etc. aren't even a comparable kind of athlete surely. Dribbling a soccer/football I assume takes completely different athletic (not to mention skill) capabilities than tucking an american football under your arm and sprinting with it/making cuts/reading blockers.
 
I'd say Saquon Barkley and most other NFL RBs are better athletes than the Ronaldos or Messis of the world. Comparable speed, 10x as much power, strength, explosiveness and really only a disadvantage in explosiveness.
You were right about everything but speed.

They're also way, way, way faster.
 
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