Wait… Cousins can jump now?

one of the guys that i exected to get fat during the lockout…but i guess not 

I guess all-you-can-eat buffets are having the opposite effect on him and suddenly helps him to gain muscle lol.

I thought he would be another Shawn Kemp and get fat, he actually looks like he’s got slimmer, kudos to him.

 better then Favors IMO

WIDE MEN CANT JUMP

The guy is not the athlete that Derrick Favors is, though he has a much more developed skill set. But, let’s break down the "He can jump now", tag after this dunk. The guy is close to 6’11 and has almost a 7’6 wing span. He was measured as having a 9’5 standing reach, which would mean he technically would need a 7 inch vert to touch the rim. As I assume you need to be at around 10’5 or 10’6 to dunk, he would only have to jump 12 to 13 inches to dunk standing directly under the rim.

His standing vert was indeed low for a NBA player, measured at just under 2 feet at 23.5 inches, but that still would still put him close to a foot and a half above the rim (11’4.5). Now, he was measured as getting 4 more inches on his "max vert", which I still believe is only a few steps, but still puts him at 11’8.5. With a full head of steam, that guy is going to throw down, but to say he can jump now as compared to than is probably not overly true. I am guessing his athleticism may have improved slightly, especially if he has lost weight and gotten into better shape, but I have a feeling a year ago, he is still throwing down from there with a head full of steam.

Now do you see why I do not necessarily agree with you about LeBron James? I understand that you feel like he has slowed down and his vertical is not as high as it was initially, which tends to happen when you have been in the league for a certain number of years. But, I think I have said this before, LeBron needs to jump 40 inches to have his head at the rim (simple mathematics, he is 6’8 and the rim is 10 feet. Hence, 3 feet and 4 inches, 40 inches).

If he has a full head of steam, he could more than likely do this. But, when you showed that play of him in summer league where his head was below the rim or whatever, well, does he always need to jump 40 inches? I think you just kind of jump as high as you need to sometimes as opposed to jumping as high as you can. I think this applies to all players, but some have that extra gear, which I still think LeBron does. I still think he is the biggest athletic freak in the league, and however much his athleticism has declined, the guy is still a dominant force due to his combo of size, speed, strength and skying (wanted to keep the alliteration alive). 

 Cousins, at his peak looked like his head was still a foot and a half below the rim. Just sayin..

nobody’s getting their head over the rim in a game guys. That’s an incredibly unfair expectation, NOBODY does that in a game.

 no way cousins is a better athlete than derrick favors.. favors is a very good athlete… cousins is getting there athleticly… he moves well for a guy his size

 Kevin Durant actually went head above rim this past season on an alley-oop. LBJ managed to do it multiple times earlier in his career.

 KD did in the series vs the Mavs when he dunked on Brendaa

you guys are right, but the point is we’re not comparing demarcus cousins to guys like lebron and KD athletically. I see demarcus as kind of a cross between chris webber and zach randolph at best. The thing about a guy like cousins is he makes up for his lack of explosiveness in a lot of cases with his craftiness. He’s a very clever player, which is why a lot of people think he’s going to be special.

 Exact same reason I don’t think Javale McGee is the best athlete at the center position (9’6.5” standing reach.)  Still way better than Cuz, though.

Cousins looks in shape, and being in shape cardio wise has a big impact on vertical leap.  I still don’t think his running vert is over 30” but kudos for him for not being at 300 lbs 6 months after the season ended.

I have always wanted to point out things like MikeyV does. I just have always been wayyy to lazy to type as much. lol. He is right about jumping. In the combine you can have sick numbers in your vert but that is trying to jump your highest. In the NBA you rarely have that much time to gather and put forth the effort to jump to your max. Just ask Jordan Farmar, something like a 42" vert in the combine and he rarely dunked in game and when he did it didnt look like 42 inch.

The funny thing is, this was one of my shorter posts. Had been wanting to type something like it for a while though, because I think people look at combine numbers and take them to seriously. Having a high vertical can be greatly beneficial, but basketball is so much more than that. Guys like Troy Bell and Jordan Farmar had monster verticals, but were they really staggering athletes at a NBA level?

Want to know the only players listed as having a higher no step vert than Iman Shumpert in the combine? Nick Young, Kenny Gregory, Alex Scales, Dwayne Mitchell, Ronald Dupree and Timmy Bowers. Nick Young is the only one chosen in the first round and who has stuck around a NBA roster. Even so, you do not see him using his vertical to much besides elevating on his jumpers (which he takes to many of).

I would use the combine as a range for what these guys can do athletically, but if you just do the math, you can see that most of these guys play below their combine numbers as far as jumping. DeMarcus Cousins needs about a foot of air to do a dunk next to the basket. If he is coming with a full head of steam, he will probably dunk on your face fairly easily.

While the combine gives us some surprises of what certain players can do athletically, it does very little to show how they will translate to the NBA beyond their strengths and weaknesses as a basketball player. I have found incredibly little correlation between high combine results making you a top player, not to mention the players we see as being the most athletically gifted do not always score the highest.

I definitely hope Iman Shumpert is successful, but I would be much more concerned with his shooting percentage in college rather than excited about his jumping ability. He was drafted to play defense, but I would rather have a complete player than a high jumper, which is why I believed New York may have made a poor choice. Could be wrong, because their is a mental facet to it that Iman could have, but he does not exactly leave me bowled over, even with his amazing combine numbers.

 I wish they would post combine numbers for a 2nd and 3rd jump.  I think it would help gauge a players in game leaping ability.  A guy with strong legs can gather his momentum and get a great verticle leap, but often the guys with the real spring can come close to their peak no step vert on their 2nd and 3rd jump.  

I know they used to do a drill where a player would dunk as many times in a row flat footed as they could without getting tired. ( I remember Shane Battier scoring the highest in his draft class, and now one of the best defenders in the league).  That kind of in game style leap measurements go a long way, and I would imagine they still do drills like that, but they are never released with the combine results.

Jump endurance is a very important part of basketball and the physical fitness invloved in playing the game.  I still do 3 sets of 10 touching the rim with my leg workout day. 

"I wish they would post combine numbers for a 2nd and 3rd jump. I think it would help gauge a players in game leaping ability."

Convenient as it would be, isn’t this something easily gauged by watching a player?

Like I told cyclo after he said Luke Babbitt was more athletic than Al-Farouq Aminu, explosiveness and how quickly you get off the floor is far more relevant to basketball leaping ability than peg-slapping.

If it were up to me, there would be no athletic testing at all. Players should be drafted exclusively on their wingspan measurements. #bismack

 That is true, but when someone surprises you by posting a high vert, it’d be nice to see what they could do on the 2nd and 4rd jumps on paper.  Especially since a lot of guys are coming from Europe and we may not have a chance to see them in games.

I like where you are going with the wingspan though, but also their outfit to team meatings #EpkeUdoh

It is not a horrible idea Joe, but I do not believe it would give you the information you would necessarily be looking for. Let me show you this tidbit about Michael Olowokandi:

In Phoenix he faced the basket and wowed the Suns with superior footwork. In Vancouver he stunned the Grizzlies with his quickness, the kind that enables him to run the 40 in 4.55. In Denver he flexed his muscles for the Nuggets, dunking one medicine ball after another, setting a club workout record.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1013999/index.htm

That drill could tell your stamina, and it was probably much easier for Michael Olowokandi than Shane Battier (albeit, the guy was dunking MEDICINE BALLS. That has to hurt after a while), but I think that butidonthavemoney is more correct. The combine, which we all wait anxiously for and tells us numbers we like to hear, does not tell us close to as much as how these guys play in games.

Athletic testing is interesting, but I do not know if the results matter close to as much as we make them out to matter on this board (myself included). I think the physical exams and team meetings held during the combines are probably more important. I am sure they probably do more conditioning in team workouts, but at the combine, I would not see how they would tell us very much. My thinking would be, have the guy play 20 minutes of hardcore game time basketball, than see how high he jumps. Will never happen, but it would probably be more telling than seeing how high the guy gets up after jumping two or three times. We saw Jay Bilas make up the term "secondjumpability" with Michael Beasley, and if he is someone who is good at it, than how are we supposed to use it as much of a guage?