Effective Height
Jesse Dampolo’s article favoring Kenneth Faried as the Celtics’ pick (in the somewhat unlikely event that the slips from the expected mid-teens or the Celtics move up) got me to thinking about an article I wrote last August about effective height vs. floor to hair follicles height. The gist was that for purposes of hand/ball contact, the distance from the floor to the raised finger tips was more germane than the more traditional measurement of height. Whether releasing a shot, blocking one, or snaring a rebound, the key is where the rubber meets the flesh—usually a hand rather than the top of the head. With that in mind I took a look at Draft Express’s pre-draft measurements for some prospects for next month as well as some comparators and those for some of the players I would like the Celtics to try to bring in through free agent signings or trades. Added to the DX measurements I have included their DX mock positions or actual draft position. The first group is prospects for this draft, the second comparisons, and the third is my wish list (but that is an article for another day) for Danny’s post-CBA maneuvers.
__player_______Height _ Height _weight_wingspan_standing_(mock) draft
____________ w/o shoes_w/shoes________________reach___ position
Kenneth Faried___6’6”___6’7.5”___225___7’0”_____9’0”_____17
Tyler Honeycutt__6’6.75”_6’8.25”__187___6’9”____8’9”______26
Kyle Singler_____6’7.5”__6’8.5”___228___6’10.1”__8’10______24
Jordan Williams__6’7.75”_6’9”____247___7’0.25”__8’10.5”____45
Chris Singleton___6’7.75”_6’9”____230___7’1”____8’7.5”_____19
Justin Haarper____6’8”___6’8.75___228___6’11.75”_8’10”_____28
JaJuan Johnson____6’9”___6’10”____220___7’2”____8’11.5”____36
Nikola Vucevic__6’10.25”_6’11.75”_260___7’4.5”__9’4.5”______37
Keith Benson_____6’10”__6’11”_____217___7’3.75”_9’1.5”______38
Travis Leslie_____6’3”__6’4.25”___205___6’10.5”_8’7”_______25
Blake Griffin______6’8.5”_6’10”____248___6’11.25”_8’9”______#1
Jeff Green________6’7.75”_6’9.5”___228___7’1.25”__8’7”______#5
Shelden Williams__6’7.5”__6’8.5”___258___7’4.5”___8’8”______#5
Joe Alexander_____6’7.25”_6’8/25”__220___6’11.5”__8’10”_____#8
Josh McRoberts___6’8.75”__6’10”____240___7’1”____8’10.5”____#37
DeShawn Sims_____6’6.75”___NA_____230____7’0”___8’8.25”___undrafted
Brandan Wright___6’8.75”__6’10”___200____7’3.75”_9’0.5”_____#8
Tony Gaffney____6’7.75”__6’8.75”__207____7’1.5”___NA____undrafted
Chris Johnson____6’11”____7’0”____192____7’2”____NA_____undrafted
DeAndre Jordan___6’9.75”_6’11”____250____7’6”____9’5.5”_____#35
Kwame Brown______6’10”___6’11.25”__243____7’1”____9’0”_______#1
Earl Barron_______NA
Jonas Jerebko_____NA
At first blush Faried is the all-too-typical undersized power forward that Danny seems to add every year. However a closer inspection suggests some long arms mounted rather high on his frame giving him a better reach than Blake Griffin and most of my “wish list” guys. Oddly Jeff Green has another inch of wingspan but lags a full five inches behind Faried in standing reach. The poster boy of low slung arms is Shelden Williams who has a whopping 88.5” of wing span but in spite of exceeding Faried by 4.5” still falls four inches shy on standing reach. I suppose it is the price of having 6” of his listed height tied up in forehead.
Admittedly professional basketball is a leapfrog sport and the standing reach seldom overcomes a soaring rival. However contesting a shot is often best accomplished by staying on the floor and good boxing-out techniques often reduces the rebound to a standing reach. For those that want to examine the measurements of other draft prospects attending the Chicago combine, see the current group. If you wish to see players already in the league (at least those who have joined the NBA recently) check these historical measurements.
__player_______Height _ Height _weight_wingspan_standing_(mock) draft
____________ w/o shoes_w/shoes________________reach___ position
Kenneth Faried___6’6”___6’7.5”___225___7’0”_____9’0”_____17
Tyler Honeycutt__6’6.75”_6’8.25”__187___6’9”____8’9”______26
Kyle Singler_____6’7.5”__6’8.5”___228___6’10.1”__8’10______24
Jordan Williams__6’7.75”_6’9”____247___7’0.25”__8’10.5”____45
Chris Singleton___6’7.75”_6’9”____230___7’1”____8’7.5”_____19
Justin Haarper____6’8”___6’8.75___228___6’11.75”_8’10”_____28
JaJuan Johnson____6’9”___6’10”____220___7’2”____8’11.5”____36
Nikola Vucevic__6’10.25”_6’11.75”_260___7’4.5”__9’4.5”______37
Keith Benson_____6’10”__6’11”_____217___7’3.75”_9’1.5”______38
Travis Leslie_____6’3”__6’4.25”___205___6’10.5”_8’7”_______25
Blake Griffin______6’8.5”_6’10”____248___6’11.25”_8’9”______#1
Jeff Green________6’7.75”_6’9.5”___228___7’1.25”__8’7”______#5
Shelden Williams__6’7.5”__6’8.5”___258___7’4.5”___8’8”______#5
Joe Alexander_____6’7.25”_6’8/25”__220___6’11.5”__8’10”_____#8
Josh McRoberts___6’8.75”__6’10”____240___7’1”____8’10.5”____#37
DeShawn Sims_____6’6.75”___NA_____230____7’0”___8’8.25”___undrafted
Brandan Wright___6’8.75”__6’10”___200____7’3.75”_9’0.5”_____#8
Tony Gaffney____6’7.75”__6’8.75”__207____7’1.5”___NA____undrafted
Chris Johnson____6’11”____7’0”____192____7’2”____NA_____undrafted
DeAndre Jordan___6’9.75”_6’11”____250____7’6”____9’5.5”_____#35
Kwame Brown______6’10”___6’11.25”__243____7’1”____9’0”_______#1
Earl Barron_______NA
Jonas Jerebko_____NA
At first blush Faried is the all-too-typical undersized power forward that Danny seems to add every year. However a closer inspection suggests some long arms mounted rather high on his frame giving him a better reach than Blake Griffin and most of my “wish list” guys. Oddly Jeff Green has another inch of wingspan but lags a full five inches behind Faried in standing reach. The poster boy of low slung arms is Shelden Williams who has a whopping 88.5” of wing span but in spite of exceeding Faried by 4.5” still falls four inches shy on standing reach. I suppose it is the price of having 6” of his listed height tied up in forehead.
Admittedly professional basketball is a leapfrog sport and the standing reach seldom overcomes a soaring rival. However contesting a shot is often best accomplished by staying on the floor and good boxing-out techniques often reduces the rebound to a standing reach. For those that want to examine the measurements of other draft prospects attending the Chicago combine, see the current group. If you wish to see players already in the league (at least those who have joined the NBA recently) check these historical measurements.
