Tyler Hansbrough | |
The measurements came out positive for all but a handful of draft hopefuls. There
really weren’t any huge surprises on the negative side with players measuring
far smaller than expected. Here are the notables:
Tyler Hansbrough was a big surprise measuring almost identically with Blake Griffin.
Many felt Hansbrough was closer to 6’8 but he’s actually a big 6’9, measuring
6’8.25 without shoes and a huge wingspan at 6’11.5. His standing reach of 8’10
tops Griffin’s by a full inch.
Patty Mills, Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson — All three came in at 5’11 barefoot which
puts them at the magical number for point guards as legit 6′ footers in shoes.
None of them have great length but they’re all speed merchants who benefit from
the new hand check rules allowing them to use space to get shots off. Flynn and
Lawson each outweigh Mills by 20 lbs.
Gerald Henderson was another big surprise as he measured a legit 6’5 in shoes
(6’4 barefoot) but his 6’10.25 wingspan and 8’6.5 standing reach are surprising
and really help his cause.
DeJuan Blair measured just 6’5.25 without shoes making him just 6’6 (exactly what
we had him listed at all season), but an amazing 7’2 wingspan and a standing reach
of 8’10.5 gives him legitimate power forward size. His 1.5 inch standing reach
advantage over Griffin almost doesn’t seem possible.
Blake Griffin’s standing reach being just 8’9 is disappointing. But measuring
a legit 6’10 (which is what we had him listed at) 6’8.5 barefoot, answered a lot
of critics about his height.
Many had James Harden listed at 6’4 but he is in fact 6’5 measuring 6’4 barefoot.
His huge wingspan of 6’10.75 and standing reach of 8’7.5 are actually very strong.
So much for him being undersized.
Jrue Holiday had a solid measurement coming out 6’4 in shoes with good length
(6′ 7" wingspan) and standing reach 8′ 4.5"
Tyreke Evans was conspicuously absent from the shooting drills but came up huge
in the measurements. Although just 6’4.25 without shoes, he’s got a whopping 6’11
wingspan and a 8’8 standing reach which is close to power forward size.
DaJuan Summers height and length discrepancy over fellow small forward Sam Young
is big considering he’s younger and has better fundamentals. Summers measured
a legit 6′ 8" with a 7′ 0.25" wingspan to Young’s 6′ 6" and 6′
10.75" wingspan.
Austin Daye’s measurements weren’t surprising considering how long he looks, but
they were impressive. His standing reach of 9’2 is center worthy, explaining why
he gets so many blocked shots despite his lack of explosiveness. At 6’9.75 barefoot
and with a 7’2.5 wingspan, his length is impressive to say the least.
Earl Clark’s length is downright scary. At 6’10 in shoes, Clark has a 7’2.5 wingspan
and a 9’1.5 standing reach. Unlike Daye, Clark actually has strength and explosiveness
to accompany his tremendous length. Clark appears to have the ability to put weight
on without losing any of his mobility as well.
Another standing reach surprise was Luke Harangody who measured just 6’6.25 barefoot
but had a 8′ 10.5 standing reach. He’s also obviously worked very hard on his
body checking in at just 240 lbs.
Jeff Teague measured out an inch shorter than he’d been listed at (6’0.25 barefoot
– 6’1 with shoes) but his huge wingspan (6’7.5) makes up for it.
Taj Gibson’s 7′ 4" wingspan was second only to Hasheem Thabeet’s 7′ 6.25"
wingspan. Other condor team members include Derrick Brown 7′ 2.5", Daye 7′
2.25", Clark, 7′ 2.25", Jeff Adrien 7′ 2", Blair 7′ 2", Jordan
Hill 7′ 1.5", BJ Mullens 7′ 1.25", James Johnson 7′ 0.75", Josh
Heytvelt 7′ 1.5" Jeff Pendergraph 7′ 1".
Measurements Are Not A Key Factor
We have years of player analysis that shows measurements are interesting, but in the end, they don’t mean much. The only time I think they’re relevant is when you can’t decide between two players, then the guy with the greater length might get a slight edge. Another example is D. Blair, who’s probably too short for the power forward position until you factor in his wingspan.
Having said that, in the end it’s how you play the game. I don’t care what Blake Griffin’s measurements are, he dominated college basketball and I mean dominated. I don’t think one inch here or there will make any difference when it comes to the draft. Do you think any of Oklahoma’s opponents this past season cared about Blake’s measurements? All they cared about was trying to defend against a guy who was a monster on the boards and an unstoppable force on offense.
I thought NBADraft.net did an historical analysis of the players a couple of years ago analyzing length, leaping ability and sprint times at the NBA draft combine where they learned many of the guys with the top scores were failures. Maybe it was another website? Nonetheless, that tells you it’s how a guy plays basketball that matters most.
On another note, why measure guys with and without shoes? Why don’t they do what everyone else in life does, measure barefoot? Then we’ll have one simple standard.
RE Combine
The barefoot measure is the meaningless one because the nba list according to court height which they already round up 6’9.5”= 6′ 10″
D Hamp….Hubie Brown
Where did Eric Devendorf measure out at?
Nice shot!
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