The first complimentary article mentions his “perceived lack of athleticism “ before saying his shooting skill is comparable in some ways to Stephen curry which is actually high praise for his athletic skill. Perhaps catching at shooting without pause isn’t athletic?
now granted I didn’t watch one minute of him playing so I have no clue how athletic he is, but for those of you aware of his measurables I’d be curious if that is a fair assessment?
I didn’t watch tons of Manek’s games, I’m certainly not a scout, and I’ll harbor my own self-interested biases. With all that said, I’m convinced that this language is made-up and there are no objective metrics in basketball for “athleticism.” The closest tangible that this usually refers to is a “first step” on defense to shift lateral position and stay in front of a dribbling opponent.
Quite frequently, top performers at the NBA rookie combine have been white. Joe Weiskamp tested tremendously last year, was drafted late to the anti-white Spurs, and rode the pine all year. Pat Connaughton of the Bucks is now a veteran journeyman, but few fans realize he is the closest analog athletically on the Bucks to the “Greek Freak.” Those two players come to mind right off the cuff, but there are plenty of phenomenal feats of athleticism from unknown, completely unsung white players in our sparse NBA threads, including John Konchar, Max Strus, and Alex Caruso.
The NBA tends to change its rules to accommodate its stars. The late 80s to mid 90s were very physical and known for hard fouls and swallowed whistles (ie Jordan’s famous “push-off” finals winner). The introduction of the hand-check foul lent itself to more isolation and dribble penetration (ie Iverson, Kobe, and dozens of interchangeable stat-aggregators). The current analytics era is relatively position-less with a premium on three-point shooting (Stef Curry, Damian Lillard, various all-6’8 lineups).
Think of all the prolific white three-point specialists from recent past eras. Jeff Hornacek, Chris Mullin, and even Steve Kerr are just a few of the very best. So knowing that the game has changed to favor three-point shooting, then seeing the percentage of white players/draftees actually decreasing despite the steady growth of Euro leagues, wouldn’t you think something is just off?
Manek doesn’t pass the “eye test” because he’s a tall ginger with pale skin (which disguises muscle definition - why bodybuilders use bronzer). He’s obviously a prolific rebounder, although we don’t have combine measurements since he wasn’t even invited. If he indeed has a quick, high release from beyond the arc at 6’9, he’s basically unguardable. As a power forward, there are not a lot of matchups that would pull him out to the perimeter to be “first step” liability.
But again, the bar always moves for white players and “athleticism.” Late first round pick Walker Kessler is knocked for athleticism despite topping 4.5 blocks per game in college. Kessler has three-point range, but brick-layer Rudy Gobert just commanded a king’s ransom on the trade market. Gobert is also a rim-protector who needs to use drop coverage against pick and rolls (rather than fighting through / switching off), but where is any criticism at all for him? It’s just a weird double-standard that starts to resemble a fetish.
The last true white “defensive specialist” that comes to mind for me was Ohio State’s 6’2 point guard Aaron Craft. Craft went undrafted in 2013 after a stout collegiate career, never got a sniff in the league of course, and packed off to Europe for a career where he won top defender accolades in multiple years in multiple leagues. Go figure. Check out this CV:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Craft
