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me Tarzan, you Jane
Out of players expected to be on the team, Walker IV (doesn't utilize it), Murray and to a lesser extent Young (likely here for a cup of coffee) and Wieskamp (two-way) are the only ones with a notable height to length differential . . .
Aminu: 7'3.25''
Bates-Diop: 7'3.25''
Poeltl: 7'2.75''
Landale: 7'2''
Collins: 7'1''
Hutchinson: 7'1''
Young: 6'11'.5''
Eubanks: 6'11''
Wieskamp: 6'11''
Samanic: 6'10.5''
Walker IV: 6'10.25''
Vassell: 6'10''
Murray: 6'9.5''
Johnson: 6'9.25''
McDermott: 6'9.25''
Primo: 6'9.25''
White: 6'7.5''
Forbes: 6'5''
Jones: 6'4''
Yes, some of them play bigger than their size (Murray with his rebounding, White with his shot blocking, Johnson with his strength) and some have a standing reach that belies their relative lack of length, but there are reasons most teams prioritize it: Defensive disruption/play making/rebounding, shot blocking/rim protection and finishing.
me Tarzan, you Jane
I feel like it's been this way for 10 years. The front office is just allergic to size, along with their fear of speed and athleticism.
IMO,
In terms of importance (physical traits only),
Perimeter players:
Lateral Quickness > Wingspan > Standing Reach > Height > Strength
-3's are the name of the game. If you can't stay in front of your man, expect that player to blow by you and for your teammate to cover leaving someone wide open for a 3. Thus, Lateral quickness is the most important.
-Wingspan helps with pass deflections, intimidation on passing, DHO's
-Standing reach is most important for disrupting shot attempts whether by making them take an uncomfortable shot, or straight up blocking their shot.
-Height to see over players... not that important by itself, but usually when you're tall it assumes you already have decent enough wingspan and standing reach.
-Strength is really, really not important unless you're matched up with a player who is also a bruiser inside (Kawhi)
Interior players:
Lateral Quickness > Strength > Standing Reach > Height > Wingspan
-This is the modern NBA. Interior players are asked to step outside of the paint. Lateral Quickness is still very important, or you're not being played during crucial moments.
-Strength as a big is super important. While we have quicker interior players in the modern NBA, you'll find that almost all of them are really strong and can back you down.
-Standing reach - When you play inside, you mostly have your hands up and not horizontal. When you cover the weakside, it's all vertical. When you're guarding a post player, it's all vertical.
-If we're talking about a defensive anchor a la Gobert or Poeltl, height is important. When you're matched up one-on-one with a bruising big, height is important.
-I just fail to see where wingspan is important for a big (4's and 5's) unless they're on the perimeter on most possessions. Even then, wingspan won't help if you're not quick enough laterally. So it's all about striking a healthy balance.
If we were to be honest, offensive and defensive awareness would go first in line and would trump every physical trait there is. Guys like White, Davion Mitc , Jrue Holiday are very unimpressive physically relative to other players but are some of the best defenders in the NBA.
And I do acknowledge Keldon is currently an inadequate defender who lacks in lateral quickness right now, which puts him in a very odd spot as far as what his role should be. I'm not advocating for him to be a PF full-time... but I'm unlike some here who thinks he should never play a minute at that position because it "hurts the team". On some occasions, sure. But that's the game of basketball.... you adjust to your match-ups. Keldon should play SF when there's a clear strength advantage for him and Keldon should play PF when he's playing against another big wing like him (which is amazingly common and most people are in denial about) or playing against a tall big who is too slow to keep up with him on the perimeter. All of these things can be true. I'd say the PF position in this day and age is 50/50 between my descriptions for perimeter players and interior players above.
Last edited by Dejounte; 08-14-2021 at 04:24 PM.
Did not look up player height to figure out the differential
Today’s game is an embarrassment to the real game of basketball.
We’ll see how serious the league is about putting an end to the offensive flopping foul inducing bull but my guess is that it’s all just lip service.
Maybe they should hold a combine for how good these guys are at video game basketball because that’s basically what this game has become.
If that were true, the majority of the best shot blockers, rim protectors and defensive rebounders wouldn't be long armed relative to height and vice versa.
Sure, it’s important and helpful. But without context isn’t this sort of like (coughs politely) another version of a counting stat?
Since nephew's departure Spurs are severely lacking in secondary defender/shot blocker. Giannis, Lebron, Durant all play this role. I am hoping Thad, Luka, KBD can grow into this role.
I don't understand what happened with Aminu's meniscus, and why it has so seriously derailed his play... for some that's one year off and then back to business as usual, but in his case there seems to be lingering problems, and a follow up "minor procedure" after the initial surgery. It's a shame, because his last year with Portland was the best of his career, and he was sizing up as a legitimate starter & positive force. It'd be a pretty wild turn of events though if it were Aminu rather than Zollins who was able to return from a couple years of injury issues and have an impact.
It’s a legitimate point. Somehow seeing Zollins future as significantly brighter than Aminu’s is more about PR and hopes than anything else.
There was no one in the draft 6'4 or shorter with a bigger standing reach than Primo.
Thank you Dejounte for the nice analysis!
It doesn't require context and besides, only pussies and assholes use other users catch phrases.
I've been saying this for a while... Pop is confused about small ball... He thinks he has to adapt to the time and "play small"... So he literally gets small players...
Small ball was coined in an era where players who could shoot and dribble were usually guards and wing players... Now that's different... U can play big and still be versatile... All the teams that win rings have been big and versatile... I can't think of one team that was small and won... Even the warriors had 7 foot centers and a 7 foot SF to offset Green's lack of height... When they lost their height advantage with an injured Bogot in 2016, they lost a 3-1 lead vs a bigger Cavs team
You lost all your argument by the Bogot injury stuff. He was not the reason. Remember Green was suspended one game.
After the Green suspension, warrior lost game 6 and lost their momentum.
Yawn.
The context is how does long arms impact winning at basketball. Otherwise, you’re just sharing an awkward fetish.
I take it you've never ventured "downstairs".
Green was no longer allowed to kick players in their balls after that.
29th in defensive efficiency, 30th in defensive field goal %, 29th in defensive 3-point %, with a starting lineup that supposedly has four good defenders and no sieve and a rotation that supposedly only has one of the latter.
This is what happens when you don't prioritize length and athleticism.
Our starting lineup ia vastly overrated regarding defensive ability. It’s great that they play on both sides if the ball because many players don’t even do that but I’m not convinced Vassell is really a 2 way player. Tre is too small to really impact the defensive end. Jak is rock sokid but still has his limitations. Keldon just doesn’t have it. Sochan has the intangibles to be a sound defender but it’s still very early.
The effort is there however.
Patrick Beverley, Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul are 6'7" tall?
https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1630200/by-position
https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1630200/defense-dash
I’m more arguing Tre is a solid defender but I’m not confident he’s going to go out there each night and be one of your lockdown defenders across 2-3 positions.Patrick Beverley, Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul are 6'7" tall?
https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1630200/by-position
https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1630200/defense-dash
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