Source
r/DetroitPistons•
PushItHard

Cade Cunningham and the advantage of adaptability

Discussion

I was listening to a podcast, Thinking Basketball, where they were speaking of how difficult it is to track player development. Stating that if you asked a great player why they were great, they often don't know. With a few exceptions, like Steve Nash apparently had a road map he made - because he had enough humility to recognize his weaknesses.

And, they went on to talk about how guys like Harden, CP3 and Nash were never the biggest, the fastest, great leapers, etc. Basically, they have no physical advantages, even when they may have been in high school or college. And, that pushed them into this mindset of adaptability and a growth mindset. For example, John Wall, even in the NBA, could just out-speed most humans. Why work harder on fundamentals when you can just lean into your speed more? Certainly, CP3 was very fast when he was younger, but he was still a guy who is 5'11-6' that was torching massive humans and was top ten player in his peak. Nash and Harden aren't athletic slouches, but it's not what their calling card was/is about. I don't want to derail the conversation into someone arguing about that.

Cade's lacking athleticism is a concern for me. But, this discussion helped me feel a lot more optimistic about Cade. In terms of physical gifts, he's around 6'6-6'7, and seemingly has a good wing span. There are hundreds of guys in HS, college and the NBA that meet or exceed that. But, despite that, he was the best player on his U19 team, that featured Green & Mobley. He wasn't even the best athlete on his HS team at Montverde, but he was still the best player. Same for the NCAA.

This is opinion, but I feel confident that Cade will fall into that same group aforementioned, where he's so used to adapting to new challenges and expanding how he plays the game that he'll ultimately be able to mitigate a lot of issues that a lack of athleticism would be a barrier to success for other players. I'm not saying Cade will be the next Luka, or any prior player. I think he'll ultimately find his own path and be his own player archetype.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Posted Sep 7, 2021, 2:11 PM UTC

8724
Mtommy Cade Cunningham•

There was an excellent article by the ringer where they discussed what "feel for the game" is, and part of their definition was ability to recognize patterns and react more quickly that your opponents. That's Cades advantage, that'll have to be what he trains heading into the league.

I think he will, it'll be difficult, but the skill and potential are there.

17
asthebroflysLaimbeer•

One of the best articles this year.

1
Myomyw•

Totally agree and theres even a book written on the subject (which I've mentioned here before). Range by David Epstein.

Basically, the less of a specialist you are, typically the better it is for you. Look at guys like Giannis, Nash, and Hakeem who played soccer first, never playing organized basketball until they were teens and eventually went on to win MVP's. Most really high level guys excel at a number of sports. It's the confluence of multiple disciplines that work different parts of the body that make you really great at the sport you eventually specialize in. Luka Doncic is a great example right now. His love of soccer gives him more range than guys who only played basketball and have only developed those specific muscles and fine motor skills. Cade was an excellent football player so he's already in that generalist camp.

Aside from the range, work ethic is the other dividing factor. Everyone should do themselves a favor and listen to CJ McCollum's recent interview on Redicks podcast. He tells his story starting with being a 5'2" freshmen up to the NBA. His mindset and work ethic are what absolutely separate him. We see that in most great players. Their minds are as elite as their bodies, and often they aren't even elite athletically among their peers. If Cade has that too, then athletic limitations are almost meaningless.

12
youngsixnineBen Wallace•

related to your point on specializing in one sport--playing basketball year-round is horrible for kids. running around on that hard ass floor all year is not good for your knees and feet. imo soccer is a great complimentary sport for basketball because of the emphasis on footwork.

10
Myomyw•

Agreed. I think we'll see these auxiliary sports being implemented as part of regular training for pro athletes. They were onto something years ago when they had football players taking ballet. A really balanced body is better at avoiding injury.

6
FunetikPrugresiv•

Agreed. He's a very cerebral player, which is what the Pistons need, given they have a bunch of super athletic but less skilled guys around him. I don't have a lot of reservations about him.

9
yodeadasssBeef Curry•

Nah we don’t have a bunch of super athletic players around Cade at all. If anything that’s our weakness. Grant is the only plus athlete in our starting 5

22
RaskolniKvothe•

Diallo and Lee are both super athletic, but they both need to develop a consistent outside shot to stay on the floor.

8
yodeadasssBeef Curry•

Yep Josh Jackson too.

5
Kapono24•

I think to expand on the first part of your topic, it's why you don't see the best players in the league become high level coaches. Players like Nash, Kidd, Kerr, Lue all played the game with their head and learned things at a very fine level. It's very similar with baseball, a lot of catchers become coaches because they see the entire game from both sides and can explain how to do technical things very well. A lot of the best hitters were incredible at what they do but if they can't explain how they did it, they won't be able to teach.

Cade definitely has the chance to be smart on that level, especially if his leadership potential comes to fruition. Dwane Casey is great at this too and I really hope he sticks around through this rebuild.

7
yodeadasssBeef Curry•

Fun fact, in high school he was a math tutor and always the smartest in his class, with a 4.0 GPA. Super smart kid and it shows

4
Away-Cricket-1339•

Cade was?

1
yodeadasssBeef Curry•

Yea Cade

1
Away-Cricket-1339•

That makes me very happy

1
defeatedmac•

Honestly there's not a lot of all time greats that would be considered total dumbasses. Closest you might get is Rodman but the man would watch slowmo tape to count the rotations on the ball from different players releases just to get an edge in knowing where the ball would land for the rebound. Athleticism is the minimum requirement but intelligence is the key to success in the NBA.

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[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Substantial-Hat6504•

One thing that is important for professional athletes is to recognize their own strengths/weaknesses, and to understand the role they need to play in the NBA.

Cade seems hyper-aware. On a much smaller scale, Garza does as well.

3
hammerandnailz•

I agree with everything you said, but I still think people really over blow his athleticism (or lack thereof). He’s an average athlete, not a bad one. PLENTY of guys have had amazing careers with just average athleticism. He’s also super tall and has long arms which helps make up for those deficiencies.

Guys like Harden, Booker, Luka, Trey, Pierce, and even Tatum all had people “concerned” about how explosive they’d be against NBA defenders. We’ve become so accustomed to the Giannis, LeBron and Zion types that we feel like every dude who isn’t an absolute freak should be of concern.

2
JWF1•

I love that Cade isn’t some phenomenal athlete. That way his game can continue to expand and grow overtime as he ages. As opposed to midway through his career needing to learn to adjust when his athleticism starts to decline.

1
PushItHardOP•

One perspective is that it’s an advantage. If your game is not predicated on athleticism, you’re not a bad lower body injury away from being irrelevant.

5
JWF1•

100%. We’ve seen it countless times where players rely their entire life on being stronger, and faster then once they’re not they have an average game. Guys like Cade and Luka will be able to play until they’re 40 because they already have a more cerebral game.

2
aTROLLwithBlades•

I really like the small amount of what I've seen from Cade so far.

1
Away-Cricket-1339•

Great post. That sounds like a fascinating podcast. Gonna go listen!

1
King_ArtisDraft whoever is good•

Always love these types of convos cause everyone assumes you need to be an absolute phenomenal athlete to compete in the NBA these days or if you aren’t a breakout player from the gate then you have no chance at success.

Paul Pierce was never super athletic but had ways to still get his. He adapted and became better. Even in his old ass age he still played well for the wizards and clippers.

Chris Paul now is still short as hell and like 37 still managing in the league going to work.

Cades got a high bbq and has already shown he can adapt to the game. We seen it summer league where he went from being rusty as hell to getting better each of the 3 games he played. He’s gonna be fine, that’s for sure.

1
PushItHardOP•

Well, having an elite offensive package makes life easier and raises a theoretical ceiling. LBJ is still amazing now, but at his athletic apex, there wasn’t a real discussion who the best player was at that time.

But, guys like TMac became exceptionally less impactful when his knee injuries slowed him down.

I think Cade may struggle more than many expect this season. His handle needs work. But, I’d be very confident he will achieve success in areas of weakness he can improve on.

1