When is Tall Too Tall and When Will It be Said?

[legelegel]

We saw it in college wrestling and that sport put a limit on heavy.

When will college basketball put a limit on tall?

Here is a good example how the freaks of nature are going to kill the game.

Kenny George stands 5 inches short of being 8 feet tall. He weighs 360 lbs and he is one of the tallest players to ever play college basketball.

He played tonight on TV for UNC Asheville.

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/6687/bgzyttuntgftgie20071102lk0.jpg[/

http://www.uncabulldogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=92366&SPID=11176&DB_OEM_ID=19200&ATCLID=1301085&Q_SEASON=2007

[legelegel]

YouTube - Kenny George

[jagowar]

i dont think there will ever be a too tall.... id even go so far to say i am very surprised a bigger basketball school didnt take a chance on that guy. nobody dares to drive the lane with him there.

[legelegel]

i dont think there will ever be a too tall.... id even go so far to say i am very surprised a bigger basketball school didnt take a chance on that guy. nobody dares to drive the lane with him there.

I obviously disagree. If you live long enough you may agree with me.

Bob Kurland (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Kurland) was the reason for the goal tending rule. The 3 second rule was also enacted to cut down the advantage of height. The opening jump ball remains an archaic rule advantage that should be supplanted with a flip of the coin.

Someday the only rule change that will save the game will be the denial of participation for some.

[Loftin]

Tall players have always been a huge part of the game of basketball. There was a long period where Russell and Chamberlain dominated the league, and in the 90s, with the exception of Jordan's Bulls, every great team had a great center (Olajuwon, Robinson, O'Neal, Ewing, etc.).

Why is it a problem? The advantage that their height gives them is usually offset by a lack of agility and tendency to have knee or ankle injuries. Just being tall isn't good enough. Manute Bol had a short career, as did Gheorge Muresan. Shawn Bradley played a long time, but was never good. Good basketball players still need skills to be truly great.

Big men are the best part of basketball and are always my favorite players.

[legelegel]

Tall players have always been a huge part of the game of basketball. There was a long period where Russell and Chamberlain dominated the league, and in the 90s, with the exception of Jordan's Bulls, every great team had a great center (Olajuwon, Robinson, O'Neal, Ewing, etc.).

Why is it a problem? The advantage that their height gives them is usually offset by a lack of agility and tendency to have knee or ankle injuries. Just being tall isn't good enough. Manute Bol had a short career, as did Gheorge Muresan. Shawn Bradley played a long time, but was never good. Good basketball players still need skills to be truly great.

Big men are the best part of basketball and are always my favorite players.

Not me.

[legelegel]

II Pix Short's misquote of Loftin:
Big men are the best part of love making and are always my favorite lays.
and II Pix's wtf? :wow:

This particular little fellow wears a size 28 shoe. It's bigger than Shacks shoe size.

You know what they say about men with big feet. ;)

[Vlyrock]

He was good of defense, but never got down the court on offense. I'd play 5 on 4 defensively all day.

If he really made that big of an impact, UNC Asheville would have been in the real tournament and not in the NIT.

[legelegel]

He was good of defense, but never got down the court on offense. I'd play 5 on 4 defensively all day.

If he really made that big of an impact, UNC Asheville would have been in the real tournament and not in the NIT.

He may never be an impact player, but others than follow him most likely will. Especially if you have several of them on the court at the same time.

[Gravy]

8.5 foot wingspan??? Holy crumolie! So when driving the kids around (if he has any), he is the only person that does not have to say, "don't make me come back there." He can just reach back and pop'em......and that is in a minivan!

[Loftin]

He may never be an impact player, but others than follow him most likely will. Especially if you have several of them on the court at the same time.

You're right. It's not fair for better athletes to have an advantage in athletics.

While we're at it, why don't we ban Richard Hamilton for being too fast, or ban Jorvorskie Lane from football for weighing more than any other RB? The whole point of elite athletics is that the freak athletes showcase the abilities that the rest of us never imagined.

Banning players who are taller would be discrimination. I don't know how you could ban them (which the VAST majority of fans would be against in the first place). Being big makes you better, just like good math skills would probably make you a better accountant. Boxing may have weight classes, but I don't think there's a limit on the highest class.

[Pumchavas28]

You're right. It's not fair for better athletes to have an advantage in athletics.

While we're at it, why don't we ban Richard Hamilton for being too fast, or ban Jorvorskie Lane from football for weighing more than any other RB? The whole point of elite athletics is that the freak athletes showcase the abilities that the rest of us never imagined.

Banning players who are taller would be discrimination. I don't know how you could ban them (which the VAST majority of fans would be against in the first place). Being big makes you better, just like good math skills would probably make you a better accountant. Boxing may have weight classes, but I don't think there's a limit on the highest class.


:bored: Deion Sanders & Darrell Green should never have been allowed to play Football because they were faster than everyone else...

I'm sorry legelegel, but I gotta disagree with you on this... Pro Sports aren't for the average/common man & woman... they are for the exceptional & talented people who were given Special Abilities by God & were able to focus in on that & do their best to continuously improve themselves...

Personally... I could care less is a team had someone who was 10 feet tall... Ask anyone who loves a sport... They would see that as nothing more than a Challenge instead of an unfair disadvantage... I'm sure Kobe, T-Mac, Chris Paul & Others would love to go up against that kind of player because they would see it as a Challenge....

[legelegel]

You're right. It's not fair for better athletes to have an advantage in athletics.

While we're at it, why don't we ban Richard Hamilton for being too fast, or ban Jorvorskie Lane from football for weighing more than any other RB? The whole point of elite athletics is that the freak athletes showcase the abilities that the rest of us never imagined.

Banning players who are taller would be discrimination. I don't know how you could ban them (which the VAST majority of fans would be against in the first place). Being big makes you better, just like good math skills would probably make you a better accountant. Boxing may have weight classes, but I don't think there's a limit on the highest class.

The collegiate weight limit on the heavies is 285. It has been that way for sometime now.

It will only take one very very tall player that can hold the ball above his head where no one can touch it or two very tall players that can play keep away next to the basket.

[Gravy]

The collegiate weight limit on the heavies is 285. It has been that way for sometime now.

It will only take one very very tall player that can hold the ball above his head where no one can touch it or two very tall players that can play keep away next to the basket.


Didn't the Germans think similar to that about the Bismark? If an opposing team had an amazing 3 point shooter, wouldn't that pretty much nullify the big man in the paint?

[legelegel]

Didn't the Germans think similar to that about the Bismark? If an opposing team had an amazing 3 point shooter, wouldn't that pretty much nullify the big man in the paint?

Not if you could get the ball to your big man he could shoot lay ups or short bank shots all night long. He could probably shoot at least 80% from the field.

I guess you could foul him every time if he couldn't shoot free throws, but you would run out of players about half way through the second half.

I believe a player would have to be anywhere from 12 to 18 inches taller than any other opponent player depending on the length of his arms.

[legelegel]

The world's tallest man is 8 ft. 5in. The previous title holder was a Chinaman who stood 7 ft. 9 in.

We are not getting shorter and it will just take one of us to completely ruin the game.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6937655.stm

[Superaggie79]

this is rediculous talk. Dwight Howard can dunk on a 12' goal shouldn't he be pretty hard to defend? Most guards are 6'6" range now and with a decent vertical will keep anyone from holding the ball over his head.

[Superaggie79]

http://www.freewebs.com/nbagiants/
There've been tall players awhile now

[Gravy]

Not if you could get the ball to your big man he could shoot lay ups or short bank shots all night long. He could probably shoot at least 80% from the field.

I guess you could foul him every time if he couldn't shoot free throws, but you would run out of players about half way through the second half.

I believe a player would have to be anywhere from 12 to 18 inches taller than any other opponent player depending on the length of his arms.



I will take a 3 pointer over a 2 pointer every time, and I will win everytime.

[Pumchavas28]

I guess you could foul him every time if he couldn't shoot free throws, but you would run out of players about half way through the second half.

Cause that didn't work for the Pistons in the Finals against Shaq.... :bored: Who by the way... was taller & heavier than anyone the Pistons had..... Hack a Shaq worked fine for them.... And they didn't even lose any of their starters in the process.....:popcorn:


Some teams do the same thing to other Big Men.... I don't know why you think it would change now....

[legelegel]

Cause that didn't work for the Pistons in the Finals against Shaq.... :bored: Who by the way... was taller & heavier than anyone the Pistons had..... Hack a Shaq worked fine for them.... And they didn't even lose any of their starters in the process.....:popcorn:


Some teams do the same thing to other Big Men.... I don't know why you think it would change now....

If the Big Man was a really big, you would have to foul him every time down the court and hope he would miss from the charity line.

[Pumchavas28]

And they do for the most part.... Very few if any Centers or even Power Forwards are money from the FT line.

[TexAgFromCal]

The collegiate weight limit on the heavies is 285. It has been that way for sometime now.


So you are talking about just banning them in college?

Do you really think someone that is 12-18 inches taller than EVERY other NBA player is just going to pop out of nowhere and have the athletcism to play an entire game. People that are that much taller than everybody else usually have a genetic problem the precludes them from playing sports because of extreme uncoordination.

[Loftin]

And they do for the most part.... Very few if any Centers or even Power Forwards are money from the FT line.

The exception is Yao Ming. He's good enough that the Rockets use him to shoot free throws on technical fouls (when he's healthy).

[Pumchavas28]

The exception is Yao Ming. He's good enough that the Rockets use him to shoot free throws on technical fouls (when he's healthy).


He's the one I thought of when I said very few if any Centers....

For the most part they all strugle.... I think Dirk would be another C/F that does ok, but after that......

It gets a lil ugly....

[legelegel]

So you are talking about just banning them in college?

Do you really think someone that is 12-18 inches taller than EVERY other NBA player is just going to pop out of nowhere and have the athletcism to play an entire game. People that are that much taller than everybody else usually have a genetic problem the precludes them from playing sports because of extreme uncoordination.

I obviously don't enjoy watching height freaks play basketball.

My question was what do you do when one comes along that cannot be stopped from shooting and making every basket.

[Chi Ag]

If he could make an impact he wouldn't be playing or UNC ashville.:laugh:

[TexAgFromCal]

I obviously don't enjoy watching height freaks play basketball.

My question was what do you do when one comes along that cannot be stopped from shooting and making every basket.

Well if you really don't enjoy watching tall people play basketball then you should go to LA and start watching the Philipino only city leagues. They actually have a maximum height of players allowed.

[legelegel]

Well if you really don't enjoy watching tall people play basketball then you should go to LA and start watching the Philipino only city leagues. They actually have a maximum height of players allowed.

It's the giants that are playing just because of their height that I do not enjoy.

[Gravy]

the same thing you did against Michael Jordan. Find a way to stop him, or wait it out. At some point, coaching has to make the difference where physical attributes and talent are one-sided.