Greg Oden Can (or Could?) Play Tallest in the NBA

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Thanks for posting. I'm not totally surprised. If you compare Greg's per-48 stats, he's up there with the best big men in the game. Oden's biggest problem was foul trouble. Once he gets that corrected and can stay on the floor, I'm expecting big things from GO.

-Pop
 
That's nice. I wonder what it is now, post-surgery. The answer might be a bit depressing.

(Also interesting: for those people who claim that Dwight Howard is more athletic than Shaq was - check out who leads all players on non-no-step vertical. Polish Hammer represents at the same height as Oden!)

(Was it true that Clyde could dunk on a 12 foot rim? That would put him higher than any of these. Who the hell is Kenny Gregory? Under 6'4" and could out-reach Oden?)
 
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Rastapopoulos said:
That's nice. I wonder what it is now, post-surgery. The answer might be a bit depressing.
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The surgery wasn't expected to worsen his explosiveness or athleticism. Of course, that isn't a guarantee. I guess we'll see next season, after he's had an off-season to get back into his pre-draft shape (in terms of fitness and weight).
 
This could be a little misleading, because didn't Dwight Howard dunk on a 12' hoop during the all-star break?

Edit: My bad, it's no step vert :(
 
Yao isn't listed for some reason.
 
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Uncle Ty said:
Yeah. I'm a little surprised by Howard's number. Dude looks like he could be very close to touching the top of the backboard. The backboard is something like 13', isn't it?
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I remember when those numbers first came out how impressed I was by Oden's 12' combination of standing reach and no-step vertical. The top of the square above the basket is 11'6". So, without even taking a step, Oden can touch 6" above the top of the square. That's insane. 30 years ago, when I was in my prime, I could come within 3" of touching the top of the square - with a full running start (8'3" standing reach, 36" max. vertical). Oden get's up a full 9" higher - without a running start. Imagine how scary it would be to try to get a shot off against a guy who can go straight up and get up a full 2' above the rim.

I think he'll be there again - once he loses some weight and gets back in per-surgery shape. The microfracture surgery itself (once healed) has no impact on vertical leap. But, the recovery period is long, and prevents stressing the knee while it's healing. In Oden's case, given his very young age, I think the Blazers were extra cautious, prolonged the healing period and delayed his conditioning. If he can now do squats without pain, it's only a matter for time until he regains all., or at least most, of his explosiveness.

BNM
 
Minstrel said:
The surgery wasn't expected to worsen his explosiveness or athleticism. Of course, that isn't a guarantee. I guess we'll see next season, after he's had an off-season to get back into his pre-draft shape (in terms of fitness and weight).
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are you thinking back down to the 257 or whatever it was? thats a big drop in one off-season. I can see him doing very well at 270 though maybe 265.. I knwo it sounds like I'm being nit-picky.. but I cant see him being uber successful in the nba as he was in college.
 
BrianWheeler said:
are you thinking back down to the 257 or whatever it was? thats a big drop in one off-season. I can see him doing very well at 270 though maybe 265.. I knwo it sounds like I'm being nit-picky.. but I cant see him being uber successful in the nba as he was in college.
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Yeah, maybe not all the way down to his college weight, but closer to that weight than 300. More like Orlando Shaq than LA Shaq.
 
Minstrel said:
Yeah, maybe not all the way down to his college weight, but closer to that weight than 300. More like Orlando Shaq than LA Shaq.
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agreed.. just want to make sure we are on the same page :cheers:
 
Uncle Ty said:
Wasn't Orlando Shaq 290lb?
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I shouldn't have treated it like a binary thing, Orlando/LA...he added weight over time. When he was in his first couple of seasons in Orlando, he was around 260-270 lbs. Very mobile and athletic. As he got older, he put on more weight, lost some mobility and also played less active team defense.

pg2_g_shaq_magic_300.jpg
 
Uncle Ty said:
Ah, I see. Although, I don't think Shaq was ever in the 260-270lbs range. Dude came into the NBA already huge. His rookie card listed him as 290lbs, iirc. Dude has about 2 inches on GO (read somewhere Shaq's 7'1" is actually IN shoes) and an even bigger frame. A true monster.
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Hmm, he doesn't look 290 lbs in the picture I posted of him, but I guess it's hard to gauge how much weight a seven-footer is carrying.
 
Not mentioned is mook and his standing 23' reach.

image.php
 
Uncle Ty said:
Yeah, the picture you posted of Shaq doesn't look like Shaq's upper body is any bigger than GO's upper body. I think the difference in weight is their legs. GO's got skinny legs (relative to his upper body) while Shaq looked quite proportional. So if GO was 285lbs this season, I can believe that Shaq was around 290lbs in that pic.
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You have just touched on a major conundrum.

To regain his college explosiveness/agility, he needs to lose weight. To stay healthy, the best thing might be for him to *add* muscle in his lower body. A stronger base would also help him establish and hold position on the low block. Great NBA rebounders don't just rely on leaping ability....they have to master timing and positioning.
 
Interesting stats. That would be cool if it went back to the 80s, so we could see how guys like Jordan and Drexler stacked up.

We all knew that Brandon had deceptive athleticism, but he has a higher vertical than Derrick Rose, Tracy McGrady, Tyrus Thomas, and surprisingly Jerryd Bayless, who measured at 38. Respectable, when he looks more like a 43+ guy to me. Another surprising stat, Rudy Fernandez had one of the best agility times recorded. It was the same as Speedy Claxtons

Also, Oden's wingspan is only '.75 less than Shawn Bradley's.

But talk about guys with freakish wingspans, there's a prospect who is 6'8, but has a 7'5 inch wingspan, that is longer than Odens. He's some no namer though, "Shawn James".
 
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Rastapopoulos said:
That's nice. I wonder what it is now, post-surgery. The answer might be a bit depressing.

(Also interesting: for those people who claim that Dwight Howard is more athletic than Shaq was - check out who leads all players on non-no-step vertical. Polish Hammer represents at the same height as Oden!)

(Was it true that Clyde could dunk on a 12 foot rim? That would put him higher than any of these. Who the hell is Kenny Gregory? Under 6'4" and could out-reach Oden?)
Click to expand...

Kenny Gregory was a McDonald's All-American who went to Kansas in the late 1990's I believe. Solid college player.
 
Clyde said he could come to within a few inches of the top of the backboard, which is ~12'9 feet high. So yes, he would have been higher than anyone listed here. (~12'7")

Though, Vince Carter's max vertical reach is listed as 3ft 6....which is a typo....I wonder if that was supposed to be 13'6....if so that is 9 inches above the backboard...totally insane. But Jamario Moon, who is taller, and has the same vertical, had a max reach of 12' 2" So not sure what Vince's was supposed to be.
 
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The thing I find amusing about The Great Weight Debate is that Oden injured his knee while at the lower weight that everyone claims he needs to be at to stay healthy.
 
RickyRubio said:
23% body fat?! That is huge!!!!
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And people though Kevin Love was pudgy (12.9% body fat). This guy is a fat tub of goo.

Too bad the database only goes back to 1989. I would love to know Charles Barkley's body fat as a rookie.

The 76ers were considering drafting Barkley with the 5th pick in the 1984 draft, but their owner Stan Katz questioned Barkley's conditioning and work ethic. So, three weeks before the draft, Katz personally told Barkley that if he could lose 25 lbs. in three weeks, he take him with the 5th pick.

Coming for a poor background, Barkley's singular goal coming out of college was to get rich. The thing he craved more than food was a $1 million a year contract. So, he hit the gym, started watching what he ate and lost 22 lbs. in two weeks. Mr. Katz learned of this and was impressed. It was obvious Barkely was going to hit the goal of 25 lbs. in three weeks.

Then 2 days before the draft, Barkley's agent got word that the 76ers would only have $200K to offer Barkley due to the new (at the time) NBA salary cap. Barkley no longer wanted to be drafted by the 76ers and attempted to sabotage himself by going on an epic eating binge. Two days later when he showed up in Phildelphia for his weigh-in he was back to his original weight. Stan Katz shook his head and asked Barkley, "Are you stupid, son? I told you to get in shape". To which Barkley famously responded, "But Mr. Katz, round is a shape".

BNM
 
handiman said:
The thing I find amusing about The Great Weight Debate is that Oden injured his knee while at the lower weight that everyone claims he needs to be at to stay healthy.
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The weight debate involves more than that, it's how much agility, balance, explosiveness and stamina he'd gain by being lighter.
 
Boob-No-More said:
And people though Kevin Love was pudgy (12.9% body fat). This guy is a fat tub of goo.

Too bad the database only goes back to 1989. I would love to know Charles Barkley's body fat as a rookie.

The 76ers were considering drafting Barkley with the 5th pick in the 1984 draft, but their owner Stan Katz questioned Barkley's conditioning and work ethic. So, three weeks before the draft, Katz personally told Barkley that if he could lose 25 lbs. in three weeks, he take him with the 5th pick.

Coming for a poor background, Barkley's singular goal coming out of college was to get rich. The thing he craved more than food was a $1 million a year contract. So, he hit the gym, started watching what he ate and lost 22 lbs. in two weeks. Mr. Katz learned of this and was impressed. It was obvious Barkely was going to hit the goal of 25 lbs. in three weeks.

Then 2 days before the draft, Barkley's agent got word that the 76ers would only have $200K to offer Barkley due to the new (at the time) NBA salary cap. Barkley no longer wanted to be drafted by the 76ers and attempted to sabotage himself by going on an epic eating binge. Two days later when he showed up in Phildelphia for his weigh-in he was back to his original weight. Stan Katz shook his head and asked Barkley, "Are you stupid, son? I told you to get in shape". To which Barkley famously responded, "But Mr. Katz, round is a shape".

BNM
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haha awesome post! I love reading about stuff like that.
 
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