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Diamond Enthusiast

Picture of samantha
Posted
Is a player's height or weight more critical in terms of jumping and shooting?
 
Posts: 8657 | Location: BLONDEVILLE, USA | Registered: 06-07-02Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Platinum
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I don't think weight has anything to do with pure shooting ability. The height probably is more of a factor there. Add in the physical nature of todays pro games and it becomes a tough call. The hand eye cooridination, speed, ability to fake are also important factors. Between the two you mention I would go with height.
 
Posts: 2216 | Location: central fl. | Registered: 06-03-02Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Diamond Enthusiast

Picture of samantha
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Thanks Gatman I may just agree with you on this...I just wasnt really sure.
 
Posts: 8657 | Location: BLONDEVILLE, USA | Registered: 06-07-02Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Diamond
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There are two quite different questions here, and it would be best to separate them.

As for jumping ability, I look at it this way: frogs and grasshoppers are remarkable jumpers. Why? Because, relative to their overall body weight, a great deal of their muscle mass is concentrated in their legs. There is probably a nearly exact formula one could arrive at, based on accurate enough measurement of these.

I am at least 6 inches taller than the great Spud Webb, yet he could slam dunk with the best of them, whereas I can barely reach the bottom of the net with my biggest vertical leap (and that's without a basketball in my hands). I'm not suggesting that Spud Webb was part frog. But his leg muscles sure were a lot stronger than mine.

As for shooting "ability," especially if this is measured by field goals per shot, there is of course a very large advantage in being taller than everyone else on the court, as Wilt the Stilt was at the height of his career. He once scored over 100 points in a single game, mostly by standing under the net and dropping the ball in when he managed to catch it. But even I had a better free throw shooting percentage than Wilt. Geeze, even my little sister did. I don't think weight or height have anything to do with shooting ability, if this is measured in any reasonable way. Hand-eye coordination is certainly the key thing, as gatman says, if we think about shooting ability in a pure form.

Unfortunately, as gatman also points out, shooting in the modern professional (and collegiate) form of basketball is never anything like a pure thing. Weight and height both become crucial in the physical game played today, because your scoring average will be miserable if you can't muscle people out of the way and score lots of put backs by out rebounding everybody else. Look what happened to Manute Bol when he first joined the NBA and was a mere beanpole.

Clearly, where field goal averages are concerned, you'll do better if you are tall and hefty, too.
wink
 
Posts: 2612 | Location: Upper U.S. | Registered: 06-11-02Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Diamond Enthusiast

Picture of samantha
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Thanks for the answer Maiku! It explained alot..
 
Posts: 8657 | Location: BLONDEVILLE, USA | Registered: 06-07-02Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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