I'm not biased against Kobe, but I'd wager he paid the alleged victim to drop the charges too. Some lawyer on ESPN radio said the same thing. It makes a whole lot of sense to me.
Please keep the discussion of Kobe Bryant's trial to another forum or thread. This is the Rockets Forum and I'll be forced to lock this thread if this keeps going.
I think Yao will do great against Shaq like he did last season. Except for one game I don't see anything else being different. Hopefully for Rockets fan he pretends everybody he plays is Shaq. Then he'll definately will be putting up superstar numbers like 23.5 and 12. Maybe even close to 3 block shots a game which should be no problem for a 7'6 player. But his wingspan sucks.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">But his wingspan sucks.</div> His wingspan is 7-5, which is not bad, although it is "just average" for his height.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Trip:</div><div class="quote_post">His wingspan is 7-5, which is not bad, although it is "just average" for his height.</div> Really, then how come his reach is only 9'7. Well I guess his wingspan is that long is because he's wide. Cause my arms are as long as his, but I have no idea what my wingspan is. I'm 6'1 and my reach is 8'2. Oh and if you're wondering where I heard his reach from I heard it from Stuart Scott. You can tell his arms are no where near as long as say Shaq, Odom, Kandiman, etc. His arms are noticably not very long for someone his size.
Well, Nene of Denver has a wingspan of 7-5, and the magazine where I read that from said it was the same as Yao's.
Nene's wingspan does look about 7'5. I don't know though, great wingspan doesn't translate into long reach for everybody I notice. That's why the reach above your head is more important to know for me. Cause I heard Ben Wallace wingspan was 7'2, and his arms look way longer then Mings.
^^ In the pictures posted by 30 standing ver, Big Ben's wingspan looks much larger than Yao's but that might be because of the angle at which the picture was taken..
I just really think Big Ben is just alot longer then Yao. I think Tony Delk standing at 6'1 arms are longer then Yao's too. That's half of the reason why he isn't that great of a shot blocker. Combine that with lack of endurance, a 7'6 guy playing 32.8 mpg gets only 1.9 blocks per game. T-Mac averaged that much once playing 28 to 29 minutes.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 30 standing ver:</div><div class="quote_post">I just really think Big Ben is just alot longer then Yao. I think Tony Delk standing at 6'1 arms are longer then Yao's too. That's half of the reason why he isn't that great of a shot blocker. Combine that with lack of endurance, a 7'6 guy playing 32.8 mpg gets only 1.9 blocks per game. T-Mac averaged that much once playing 28 to 29 minutes.</div> Because of his size and presence in the middle, he still changes a lot of shots.
Well he does do that. But he does get dunked on quite a bit too. He may discourage a player to drive at first. But after awhile there isn't that much fear driving to the hole with him in the middle. He's still a good player. But it would be better if he had arms like that unibrowed guy Jaber.
You guys have to look at it in a different way... it's simple. Yao's wingspan is not by any means impressive, but it's really not that short as most people made it out to be. I believe Yao's wingspan is by far more than 7'2, I'll believe 7'5. The reason why his wingspan looks so short to you guys is because the guy is 7'5-7'6. Think about it. Big Ben is what, 6'9 with a wingspan of 7'2? Of course he's gonna look like he has abnormally long wingspan because he actually does have an abnormally long wingspan! Yao's wingspan is normal but it looks short because of his height and compared to other players that have abnormally long wingspans. Get it?
Speaking of wingspan. My Man D. J. Mbenga is a true seven footer with a short neck. He has a 7-5 wing span and reportedly can touch the rim standing flat footed. That should be enough to make him a shot blocker, but the icing on the cake is a reported Vince Carter-like verticle! Reportedly, the guy can outjump anyone on the Mavs (Finley, Daniels, Howard). He led all players in blocked shots in the summer league, and I just have my fingers crossed that he gets consistent playing time, because he will be a defensive force if give the chance to play. <font color="red">Please talk about the Mavericks players in the Mavericks forum. This is the Rockets one. -Trip</font>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SupraJames:</div><div class="quote_post">You guys have to look at it in a different way... it's simple. Yao's wingspan is not by any means impressive, but it's really not that short as most people made it out to be. I believe Yao's wingspan is by far more than 7'2, I'll believe 7'5. The reason why his wingspan looks so short to you guys is because the guy is 7'5-7'6. Think about it. Big Ben is what, 6'9 with a wingspan of 7'2? Of course he's gonna look like he has abnormally long wingspan because he actually does have an abnormally long wingspan! Yao's wingspan is normal but it looks short because of his height and compared to other players that have abnormally long wingspans. Get it?</div> Big Ben is barely 6'7 and didn't you read what his reach was. 9'7, that's only long on people 6'2 and below. 25 inches above his head, I'm not sure what Bens reach is. But it looks like it's about 9'2. That's like 31 inches above his head. His arms look just as long as Shaq and Shaq's reach is 9'8. Being 5 inches shorter then Yao and still having a inch of reach on him. That's why Shaq is able to block some of his shots. Even the Kandi man blocks some of Mings shots himself.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Big Ben is barely 6'7 and didn't you read what his reach was. 9'7, that's only long on people 6'2 and below. 25 inches above his head, I'm not sure what Bens reach is. But it looks like it's about 9'2. That's like 31 inches above his head. His arms look just as long as Shaq and Shaq's reach is 9'8. Being 5 inches shorter then Yao and still having a inch of reach on him. That's why Shaq is able to block some of his shots. Even the Kandi man blocks some of Mings shots himself.</div> Wallace is not 6'7. Not sure where you got that number from. Jordan is "barely 6'7". Wallace is about Malone's height, which is 6'9". I have a hard time believing that Shaq's arms are that much longer than Yao's. Yao's shoulders are roughly 4 inches above Shaq's. So assuming they have the same wingspan, Yao's reach should be about 4 inches higher than Shaq's. I think Shaq's arms might be slightly longer, a couple inches at most. So, Yao's reach would be about 2 inches more than Shaq's. This is what I'd expect. I don't know where you got the 9'7" and 9'8" figures, but I doubt they're totally accurate. Even player's heights are often misquoted. Wallace's and Yao's arms are probably about the same length, so Yao's reach will be maybe 8 inches more. Keep in mind that Yao's vertical isn't nearly as much as Wallace's or Shaq's, so that effects his height when jumps. But I think his standing reach is more.
Wait... so what's the argument here? Yao's arms are shorter than normal or what? If that's the case, well, I will say that a 7'6 guy with a wingspan of a 7'5 guy is, I guess, technically shorter than normal.. but if his wingspan is 7'6 instead, then it would be normal right? You do realize that's still pretty damn long... The NBA is full of players with monkey-like arms but when a guy with normal arms length comes around, then his arms are abnormally short? Anyways, what I'm trying to say is that Yao has normal length arms, but they look short compared to the other said NBA players with monkey arms. Plus we have 7 footers that have ridiculous wingspans (Darko, I believe is 7' with 7'5 wingspan or something crazy like that). It's not that Yao has shorts arms, his timing is just horrible. He needs to work on that if he wants to ever be a shot blocker. However, if I was the coach, I'd leave him alone and just let him be a presence in the middle. The guy already has limited stamina, no need to make him work extra hard by turning him into a shot blocker.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Wallace is not 6'7. Not sure where you got that number from. Jordan is "barely 6'7". Wallace is about Malone's height, which is 6'9".</div> I think it was Ahmad Rashad that asked him how tall he is. We all know he's listed key word listed at 6'9. But from his own mouth he said he's really more like 6'7, barely. Man I thought everybody knew that. I mean have you seen a picture of him standing next to Sheed? Sheed is only suppose to be 2 inches taller but looks pretty close to being 5 inches taller then Wallace. I mean did you really think Hakeem Olajuwon was really 7 feet? He's no taller then coach Rudy who's 6'10. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I have a hard time believing that Shaq's arms are that much longer than Yao's. Yao's shoulders are roughly 4 inches above Shaq's. So assuming they have the same wingspan, Yao's reach should be about 4 inches higher than Shaq's. I think Shaq's arms might be slightly longer, a couple inches at most. So, Yao's reach would be about 2 inches more than Shaq's. This is what I'd expect. I don't know where you got the 9'7" and 9'8" figures, but I doubt they're totally accurate. Even player's heights are often misquoted. Wallace's and Yao's arms are probably about the same length, so Yao's reach will be maybe 8 inches more. </div> I don't have a hard time believing that. I have a friend that is 5 inches taller then me and he only has an inch of reach on me. To me Yao is kinda like my friend. Very tall but not every part of his body caught up with his height. And I said I got the source from Stuart Scott. He was making like it was a big deal that Yao had a 9'7 reach. Shaqs source is where they had old players verts and reach. Like Kobe reach was measured at 8'10 and etc. I'm saying, I wouldn't be surprised if Shaq's has an inch of reach over Yao. There's a member here named Trees and his reach is 8'2 while only standing at 5'11. While this other member standing at 6'4 named the MegaGreg has a reach of 8'1 in the training thread. Same scenario as Shaq and Yao. A guy 5 inches taller but the shorter guy still has a longer reach. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Wait... so what's the argument here? Yao's arms are shorter than normal or what? If that's the case, well, I will say that a 7'6 guy with a wingspan of a 7'5 guy is, I guess, technically shorter than normal.. but if his wingspan is 7'6 instead, then it would be normal right? You do realize that's still pretty damn long... The NBA is full of players with monkey-like arms but when a guy with normal arms length comes around, then his arms are abnormally short?</div> Most people's wingspans are alot taller then they're actual height I've noticed. But I don't know about Yao's winspan even being 7 feet. But whatever, I'll take Stuart Scotts word saying that his reach is 9'7 cause it looks like it. Oh and yeah his timing is off as well, but it does help to have a wingspan that goes with the height he has. Like George Muresan blocking Hakeems fadeaway without jumping. Ya'll remember that?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 30 standing ver:</div><div class="quote_post">Most people's wingspans are alot taller then they're actual height I've noticed. But I don't know about Yao's winspan even being 7 feet. But whatever, I'll take Stuart Scotts word saying that his reach is 9'7 cause it looks like it. Oh and yeah his timing is off as well, but it does help to have a wingspan that goes with the height he has. Like George Muresan blocking Hakeems fadeaway without jumping. Ya'll remember that?</div> You mean, most NBA players' wingspans are alot taller than their actual height. I play lots of basketball, see lots of basketball players myself and I don't know too many people in the real world who have 5-10inches wingspans over their height. Actually even in the NBA they made a big deal out of Tayshaun Prince having a 7'2 wingspan while only 6'9 himself. That's 5 inches over and people are all raving about it. That goes to show that it's a rarity to have such abnormally long wingspans. By the way on the Ben Wallace issue, you mean to say that Kobe is as tall as Ben Wallace? I'd say he's closer to being 6'9 than "barely" 6'7.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SupraJames:</div><div class="quote_post">By the way on the Ben Wallace issue, you mean to say that Kobe is as tall as Ben Wallace? I'd say he's closer to being 6'9 than "barely" 6'7.</div> Whowhat!? Is it the fro? Man hasn't anybody seen the finals with him standing next to Sheed. I guess if I'm wrong then Rasheed is 7'1 then. Cause I've seen him stand right next to Antinio Mcdyess who's really 6'9 and was a bit taller then Big Ben. If he was 6'9 then he'd be more like 250 instead of 240 cause he does look a bit thicker then Lebron. And naw my 6'6 friend was telling me that they was measuring everybody wingspan and he was the only one that had the same wingspan as his height. Everybody else who was averaged height had longer wingspans then their height.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 30 standing ver:</div><div class="quote_post">I think it was Ahmad Rashad that asked him how tall he is. We all know he's listed key word listed at 6'9. But from his own mouth he said he's really more like 6'7, barely. Man I thought everybody knew that. I mean have you seen a picture of him standing next to Sheed? Sheed is only suppose to be 2 inches taller but looks pretty close to being 5 inches taller then Wallace. I mean did you really think Hakeem Olajuwon was really 7 feet? He's no taller then coach Rudy who's 6'10.</div> If I remember correctly, Hakeem's precise height is 6 feet and 10 3/4 inches. So, he's more like 6'11. And, he is taller than Rudy, who's 6'7 or 6'8. Look at the picture where the whole team is huddled together after winning the championship. Rudy is clearly shorter than Hakeem. I don't remember Wallace looking that short, but I could be mistaken.