If you are 7 feet tall, your arms might be three feet long, or even longer. That means you need to get five feet up in the air to dunk. The world record high jump is over eight feet. A professional basketball playing athlete should be able to make a five foot jump. Blake Griffin could probably do it. Look how far above the basket he gets now.
I said dunks would be possible, not that they would be common. You wouldn't have multiple dunks per game. You would maybe have one dunk per week, if that. When they happened they would be EPIC.
I said dunks would be possible, not that they would be common.
Not even remotely close. A NBA ball is 29.5 inches in circumference. That gives you a diameter of 9.4 inches. We'll call it 10". So to dunk you'd have to get to 15' 10" minimum, more realistically 16' to actually throw it down.
Here's the NBA pre-draft physical testing results. Important column is max vertical reach. Now, these guys are pre-rookies going into the NBA, so you might reasonably assume they would put on some vertical after spending time in the pros.
Here are some big dunkers in today's NBA: Dwight Howard: 12' 3" Blake Griffin: 11' 8" Lebron James didn't do the max vertical test, but his standing reach is listed at 8' 10". That means he would need a 7 foot vertical to even have a prayer of throwing it down.
The highest ever recorded was Shaq, reaching a Himalayan altitude of 12' 5". Only another 3 and a half feet to go.
That makes no sense because there are plenty of high school and college people who can dunk. You even had people like Manute Bol who would barely even hop and put it in. I mean, is there a single player in the NBA today who can NOT dunk? Raise it up.
That makes no sense because there are plenty of high school and college people who can dunk. You even had people like Manute Bol who would barely even hop and put it in. I mean, is there a single player in the NBA today who can NOT dunk? Raise it up.
Wait, isn't he talking about dunking on a 15 foot hoop? Maybe at 15 feet it might be pushing it, but the regulation height is 10 feet. Or maybe I'm confused because my caffeine hasn't kicked in yet this morning...
Has anyone said Mutant League Football yet?? Get on this shit science
What about Cyberball? Now that's even older school!
That makes no sense because there are plenty of high school and college people who can dunk. You even had people like Manute Bol who would barely even hop and put it in. I mean, is there a single player in the NBA today who can NOT dunk? Raise it up.
Wait, isn't he talking about dunking on a 15 foot hoop? Maybe at 15 feet it might be pushing it, but the regulation height is 10 feet. Or maybe I'm confused because my caffeine hasn't kicked in yet this morning...
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Every professional player can dunk at ten feet. So surely some percentage of them can dunk at 15 feet.
The other factor is defense. Do you really need defense when it's that much harder to score? I think what you do in addition to raising up the net is remove the goal tending rule. If someone can jump up and grab the ball on its way down into a 15' basket, then that's legit.
This fact doesn't help your case for the following reason: The high jump record measures the LOWEST point from the floor, not the highest point. The way high jump technique works, both one footed (in athletics) and two footed (in circus tumbling), that at the highest point in the jump, the human body is horizontal in the air, not vertical. It's all about getting the center of gravity as high as possible, not reaching as high as possible.
This means that the lowest point of the body in a high jump is way LOWER than the bar, but every part of the body gets over the bar at some point, and at a different point in time. And the HIGHEST point the body reaches in a high jump is around about 12-15 inches higher than the bar or hoop.
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Every professional player can dunk at ten feet. So surely some percentage of them can dunk at 15 feet.
Every professional runner can do a 4 minute mile, so surely some percentage of them can run it in under 3 minutes? There's gotta be diminishing returns after some point.
Even with the world record jump his shoulders are raising, what- maybe 3 feet? Most of that is lifting his legs up which wouldn't help when trying to dunk on a 15' net.
Spud Webb is 5' 7" tall. His vertical leap was 3' 6". His arms give you another 3' add onto that. He could theoretically dunk on a 12' high net, and he was shorter than me. If he were 3' taller, he could have dunked on a 15' net. Obviously being larger makes it harder to jump as high, but it balances out.
Maybe we can have some sort of fair system where difficulty is adjusted to skill levels. We calculate the absolute maximum dunking height for each player in the league. Then set the height so only 25% of players can dunk. Readjust it at the beginning of each season.
I do think that is a problem with most sports around the world. Players keep getting better and better, but few sports adapt to player skill increases. They value tradition much more importantly so that you can fairly compare the new players to the old. A lot of games just need to be harder. For example, in baseball we need to put the pitcher further away from the plate, but also push back the fences and make the bases further apart.
You are probably thinking that the higher basket is worth more points. I have a better idea. The distance from the basket still determines the points. But if you make the higher basket YOU KEEP THE BALL.
You are probably thinking that the higher basket is worth more points. I have a better idea. The distance from the basket still determines the points. But if you make the higher basket YOU KEEP THE BALL.
I like that.
Actually, this gives me an even better idea. An entirely new sport. I will muse on this further.
But, imagine that a new sport were designed by some body. After some playtesting and iteration, the official rules were announced. The teams are then all given the full rules, and are to prepare for a full season of this sport the following year.
This new sport then runs through two seasons. The winning teams of these two seasons (let's ignore edge cases for now) then have some manner of ultra-bowl.
The cycle then repeats with a new sport, but the same teams. One year, it's something like football. Another year, it's trampoline jousting. Paintball. American Gladiators multi-sport. The possibilities are endless. ;^)
The problem is if you want to make money from a sport the rules have to be simple enough for spectators to understand, or understand enough to enjoy the sport.
The problem is if you want to make money from a sport the rules have to be simple enough for spectators to understand, or understand enough to enjoy the sport.
I would argue that many football fans don't fully understand football. At the same time, I love how football is the only sport where the refs explain their calls.
We could "archive" basketball or baseball. Have some honorary exhibition games every year with the old, never-changing rules and the current teams, but have the "real" sport update significantly as conditions and play warrant like in motorsports.
You are probably thinking that the higher basket is worth more points. I have a better idea. The distance from the basket still determines the points. But if you make the higher basket YOU KEEP THE BALL.
I like that.
Actually, this gives me an even better idea. An entirely new sport. I will muse on this further.
But, imagine that a new sport were designed by some body. After some playtesting and iteration, the official rules were announced. The teams are then all given the full rules, and are to prepare for a full season of this sport the following year.
This new sport then runs through two seasons. The winning teams of these two seasons (let's ignore edge cases for now) then have some manner of ultra-bowl.
The cycle then repeats with a new sport, but the same teams. One year, it's something like football. Another year, it's trampoline jousting. Paintball. American Gladiators multi-sport. The possibilities are endless. ;^)
Spud Webb is 5' 7" tall. His vertical leap was 3' 6". His arms give you another 3' add onto that. He could theoretically dunk on a 12' high net, and he was shorter than me. If he were 3' taller, he could have dunked on a 15' net. Obviously being larger makes it harder to jump as high, but it balances out.
Even if you pretend his arm starts at the top of his head, 5' 7" + 3 = Eight foot seven!
So yeah, some percentage should be able to dunk on a 15 foot hoop. Zero percent.
Spud Webb is 5' 7" tall. His vertical leap was 3' 6". His arms give you another 3' add onto that. He could theoretically dunk on a 12' high net, and he was shorter than me. If he were 3' taller, he could have dunked on a 15' net. Obviously being larger makes it harder to jump as high, but it balances out.
Even if you pretend his arm starts at the top of his head, 5' 7" + 3 = Eight foot seven!
So yeah, some percentage should be able to dunk on a 15 foot hoop. Zero percent.
I can't believe I was so stupid as to miss the fact that arms are attached at shoulders and not the top of the head.
But, imagine that a new sport were designed by some body. After some playtesting and iteration, the official rules were announced. The teams are then all given the full rules, and are to prepare for a full season of this sport the following year.
This is very close to what high school-level robotics competition FIRST does every year, but it's more like "Here's the game, you have six weeks, see you later." It's exciting for the participants, but, depending on the game, it sometimes confuses spectators.
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I said dunks would be possible, not that they would be common. You wouldn't have multiple dunks per game. You would maybe have one dunk per week, if that. When they happened they would be EPIC.
Here's the NBA pre-draft physical testing results. Important column is max vertical reach. Now, these guys are pre-rookies going into the NBA, so you might reasonably assume they would put on some vertical after spending time in the pros.
Here are some big dunkers in today's NBA:
Dwight Howard: 12' 3"
Blake Griffin: 11' 8"
Lebron James didn't do the max vertical test, but his standing reach is listed at 8' 10". That means he would need a 7 foot vertical to even have a prayer of throwing it down.
The highest ever recorded was Shaq, reaching a Himalayan altitude of 12' 5". Only another 3 and a half feet to go.
Not. Even. Close.
This means that the lowest point of the body in a high jump is way LOWER than the bar, but every part of the body gets over the bar at some point, and at a different point in time. And the HIGHEST point the body reaches in a high jump is around about 12-15 inches higher than the bar or hoop.
15 foot hoops are waaaaay too high to dunk.
Even with the world record jump his shoulders are raising, what- maybe 3 feet? Most of that is lifting his legs up which wouldn't help when trying to dunk on a 15' net.
edit- too slow
Maybe we can have some sort of fair system where difficulty is adjusted to skill levels. We calculate the absolute maximum dunking height for each player in the league. Then set the height so only 25% of players can dunk. Readjust it at the beginning of each season.
I do think that is a problem with most sports around the world. Players keep getting better and better, but few sports adapt to player skill increases. They value tradition much more importantly so that you can fairly compare the new players to the old. A lot of games just need to be harder. For example, in baseball we need to put the pitcher further away from the plate, but also push back the fences and make the bases further apart.
Actually, this gives me an even better idea. An entirely new sport. I will muse on this further.
But, imagine that a new sport were designed by some body. After some playtesting and iteration, the official rules were announced. The teams are then all given the full rules, and are to prepare for a full season of this sport the following year.
This new sport then runs through two seasons. The winning teams of these two seasons (let's ignore edge cases for now) then have some manner of ultra-bowl.
The cycle then repeats with a new sport, but the same teams. One year, it's something like football. Another year, it's trampoline jousting. Paintball. American Gladiators multi-sport. The possibilities are endless. ;^)
We could "archive" basketball or baseball. Have some honorary exhibition games every year with the old, never-changing rules and the current teams, but have the "real" sport update significantly as conditions and play warrant like in motorsports.
So yeah, some percentage should be able to dunk on a 15 foot hoop. Zero percent.