27% of Brits think they could qualify for the LA Olympics in 2028

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paulcook 16 Aug 2:53pm, 16 Aug 2024 6,219 posts	0 paulcook To a point yes, though Curry ain't getting denied by people stood in front of him all that much.
paulcook 16 Aug 2:56pm, 16 Aug 2024 6,220 posts	0 paulcook On a general point though, I'm amazed there's such a huge pool of talent who are that tall in the US for basketball. I'd be short (ish) for a basketball player and it's not many a day I meet someone taller than me. Though one of them did coincidentally play basketball in whatever the BBL equivalent of Division 2 is. It's like American kids are fed very differently!! Or stretched!!
Nellers 16 Aug 2:59pm, 16 Aug 2024 43,630 posts	0 Nellers There was some statistical analysis of basketball players that the "More of Less" podcast covered a while back. Basically the taller you are the more likely you are to be recruited by an NBA team, to the point where there is a height (6'9" I think) where if you're that tall and American you're more likely than not to have had an NBA career. However, there was no correlation between height and the length of your NBA career. ie. taller players weren't any better than shorter NBA players despite their height advantage, so once the games were played the guys recruited just because they were tall were found out and dropped away. Of course the other filter is that an NBA player of less than 6' is rarer than hen's teeth (Mookie Blaylock I guess being an exception and that was maybe 20 years back?) so "short" in this context is a relative term.
Nellers 16 Aug 3:00pm, 16 Aug 2024 43,631 posts	0 Nellers Curry doesn't get stopped by defenders standing in front of him at the 3 point line because he just drops further back and shoots from halfway.
paulcook 16 Aug 3:05pm, 16 Aug 2024 6,221 posts	0 paulcook Steph's brother is actually shorter than him. Though still just taller than 6ft.
SPR 16 Aug 3:12pm, 16 Aug 2024 45,717 posts	0 SPR larkim wrote:SPR wrote:I'd wager that the difference between Steph Curry's height Vs the tallest players is bigger than that for short people here Vs the average guy on the street. Height is an advantage no doubt though and shorter players have generally been more skillful (dribbling/ shooting) although that is changing a bit. Yebbut at 6ft2 he's still pretty much a giant from my perspective! I guess there's a minimum height at which having a reasonable reach and jump gets you closer to the hoop - and 6ft2 will always beat a 5ft8! Curry was v impressive with his 3pt shooting at the Olympics, and he clearly needed his additional levels of "skill" at what he did to find a niche for himself. ISTR there was a really short guy (or at least, he appeared so) that I would see on World of Sport or Grandstand back in the 1980s when British basketball was on. Think he was relatively famous at the time, not sure if he was British or a US import. Can't remember his name though! But he's not a giant in the NBA that's the point. I'm shorter than him at 6'1 and I'm tall when I play basketball with normal people. Your disadvantage in a park game is exaggerated. Also it's not going to be a disadvantage of you can shoot and dribble. I've played with players at that height who hold their own easily. Some even playing in regional leagues.
SPR 16 Aug 3:16pm, 16 Aug 2024 45,718 posts	0 SPR larkim wrote:Ah yes, Byrd - that's the one!! @paulcook yes I'm sure that's true. But if he was my height he'd still struggle to shoot 3pt with a member of the opposition able to just stand in front and block. The point with Curry is he gets shots of and hits them when he has no right to. You should watch the end of the France and Serbia games. There's an iconic picture of him hitting a shot over 7'3 Wembanyama earlier in the France game and you'd be very unlikely to be facing anyone with that height advantage in general participation basketball.
larkim 16 Aug 3:21pm, 16 Aug 2024 25,371 posts	0 larkim OK, of course there are exceptions for talent. But the general rule is pretty consistent - height is a massive natural advantage for basketball. I'm at a disadvantage because I lack both talent and height!! If I was a natural at shooting 3 pointers despite my height I'd take you on on a basketball court I did watch the end of that France match, and yes he scored when others wouldn't have (mainly through his deception to fake the throw and cause the defender to be off balance or out of the way for the shot). Even I could see he was an exceptionally talented player!
larkim 16 Aug 3:22pm, 16 Aug 2024 25,372 posts	0 larkim I also clearly have "small man syndrome"
SPR 16 Aug 3:25pm, 16 Aug 2024 45,719 posts	0 SPR The pic images.app.goo.gl Here's the 4th quarter Vs France. https://youtu.be/L8FqQrgx9Zc?si=V2yUffPDhItxZXeY