National Basketball Association
fromESPN.com
5 days agoInside the end of the Ja Morant era in Memphis
Ja Morant showcased his athleticism with a chase-down block but faced a UCL sprain, leading to a potential rebuild for the Grizzlies.
Every year, rookies find that once they enter the NFL, their previously elite skill set in college is - at best - par for the course on an NFL team. NFL players are bigger, faster, stronger, and more talented than most college players because the NFL assembles only the most elite athletes it can find.
I cannot tell any trick that anyone on skis or a snowboard does from any other trick that anyone else does; I have to take Johnny Weir's word for what is an axel vs. what is a salchow; and watching ski jumping is like looking at a painting. For one, he's up there, while his competitors are back there, but more relevant to our purposes, he can pound out the pace on skis in a way that nobody else can.
Football in the modern era is all about athleticism. Coaching has come a long way in the past couple of decades, raising the floor of elite footballers' general ability, but the truly elite players combine their footballing with frightening athleticism. Geovany Quenda is among them - and that's exactly why Chelsea bought him. The Blues' stockpiling of young talent in recent years is a bone of contention for fans of rival clubs but one thing you can't knock is their talent ID.
As with Kuminga's entire career, the good and the negative were equally represented, and perhaps nothing displayed the duality of Jonathan Kuminga quite like a half-minute sequence in the second quarter. Kuminga was splayed out on the floor after Lakers reserve Jake LaRavia had buckled him with a hesitation move midway through the quarter. There were more than a few oohs and ahhs that reverberated from the Lakers crowd, and plenty of snickers on Sunday night. Twenty seconds later, nobody was laughing.
Adou Thiero stands out with a 6'6" and 220-pound frame coupled with a 7'0" wingspan, showcasing his freakish athleticism. He recorded a staggering 41-inch vertical jump at Kentucky's pro day in 2022.
Fatse looked me in my eye and said, Bro, this is you. It just clicked from there. I was looking at Dom and I said, I don't think you're using your athleticism to your advantage.