Mandy
Yes, a guy.
Do sticks help one's execution? I'm a complete doofus and often throw out completely the wrong move or drop easy combos. This happens far more frequently online, but still. Does it make doing the moves easier? If it's relevant, I play my controller piano style, pressing the right-side buttons with my fingers rather than my thumb.
In my opinion everything is pretty much equal with pad and stick except for two things:
1) Movement is easier on pad
2) Slide inputs (agA) are easier on stick
Other than that everything is just about the same, for Soul Calibur at the least.