Comments on: Layups: Mid-Sized Players

By: khandor

khandor — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:14:54 +0000

Keith Ellis,

You're absolutely correct about the that Laker team of Pat Riley's being heavily reliant on outstanding players in that size range.

In fact, Riles is the first NBA head coach I can remeber hearing speak about his desire to coach a team where all the players in his principal rotation were that exact size, and how effective they would actually be, as a group, in terms of handling and creating mis-matches for their opponents.

Unfortunately for the Rockets they don't have players with the talent of Magic, Worthy, Coop and Green to draw upon.

By: merl

merl — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:03:05 +0000

Some players play bigger than their height though. I wonder if wingspan isn't a better determinant than height of how 'tall' people play. Or perhaps an average of the two?

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:09:35 +0000

von wafer isnt even on the rockets anymore

By: ernest

ernest — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:33:48 +0000

You should care because it means the rockets are undersized and will again have to play on effort to win.

it's going to be a tough year for the rockets. no lie. they probably will be horrible.

By: ken

ken — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:00:26 +0000

They're also the first team in NBA history to have 8 guys with wingspans over 68".

And I don't remember any team ever that employed four left-handed power forwards.

(Who the hell cares?)

By: Keith Ellis

Keith Ellis — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:23:05 +0000

Time was the Lakers played Worthy, Green, & Magic -- all 6'9" -- heavy minutes. That trio plus Michael Cooper, who paradoxically could play both bigger & smaller than his 6'7" height, made LA one of the taller midsizer-dominated successful teams ever. The midsizer movement was heralded by Billy C's MVP of 1973 -- an award the post-'64 NBA wouldn't see a non-Center win until Doc did in 1981. After Billy we had McGinnis & Erving win MVPs, & '75 Rick Barry show the NBA that he was its best player (altho McAdoo was given the award in a make-up call for not winning in '74). CBS & Chevrolet gave their Player of the Year award to George Gervin in 1978; had DT scored a few more points that season he'd've likely copped the award over IceMan.

By: your favourite sun

your favourite sun — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:50:16 +0000

Von Wafer's not getting minutes for the Rockets next year.

By: Walter

Walter — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:21:49 +0000

It would be interesting to see not just the number of players on a team in that specific range of heights, but rather the minutes that were played relative to the team total. The 2008 Spurs are on that list however two of the top 3 players by minutes were Duncan and Parker which are not in that range. In fact, 4 of the players on that team (Jeremy Richardson, DerMarr Johnson, Bobby Jones, and Marcus Williams) only played a combined 79 minutes during the season.

The rockets team is rather unique in that many of those players are going to be the starters or play significant minutes. If Yao is out for the whole season then the front-line be Scola and Landry (both 6-9) with Cook and Hawes (both on the list) as back-ups. The SF/SG rotation will likely be combinations of Trevor Ariza, Shane Battier, Tracy McGrady, and Brent Barry (all on the list).

The ONLY Rocket players not on the list that will likely get minutes are Aaron Brooks and Von Wafer and Aaron is the only starter. I would think using minutes as the basis and not just number of players that the Rockets have to be one of if not the top team on the list.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:08:40 +0000

I see no championship teams in that list...
In fact, how many of those teams even made the playoffs?

By: KneeJerkNBA

KneeJerkNBA — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:19:09 +0000

To answer True Hoop's question, the Rockets' plan is to grab, hold and foul a lot, with some flopping thrown in for good measure (looking at you, Scola).