You're always telling me what I can't do, Ogged.
You cannot stop politics threads with mere sports. (Though you can stop comic book threads by desperately posting other things until you find something that sticks. Meanie.)
Dear AWB,
If you jump out the window, you can probably fly using nothing but the power of your mind.
Best,
Meanie
Because he's Cuban you think he's cheating? Huh? Huh?
7: Do you know what those doctors have been doing? Huh? Huh?
That guy looks scarier coming out of the back row than mere mortals do right up front.
Imagine the impact landing from that jump.
I give him 5 more years of goof knees.
Joke's on you: I can totally make videos with awful techno soundtracks.
Watching this reminds me of how it felt seeing David Thompson and Julius Erving in the '70s—whole new ballgame. (Building on what Connie Hawkins and others had done earlier off the main media stage.)
Is he leaping more impressively than the basketball guys? Or is it magnified because it's out of context?
awful techno soundtracks
Don't be talking trash about Faithless now...
Is he leaping more impressively than the basketball guys?
He's leaping more impressively than anyone I've ever seen, and if the 50 inch vertical is legit, it's higher than I've heard claimed for any of the basketball guys. There are other great leapers, of course, this guy isn't even jumping straight up. He's covering at least a good six feet horizontally in addition to going up.
More like nine feet. He's taking off behind the three meter line and having to put the brakes on to avoid going into the net.
15: They are saying 50-inch, I have seen claims of low 40s (definitely) to high 40s for the best in basketball (David Thompson, Michael Jordan) and there is this 5'10"' Algerian Kadour Ziani (in this video), who is said to have 56-inch leap (but he pretty much dunks as a sideshow). The volleyball setup gives you better opportunities for unopposed "iso" during an actual game. I find it somewhat equivalent to the ABA guys, because they were actually doing it in real games and it stands out beyond what other premier players of the sport are doing.
17: He's covering at least a good six feet horizontally in addition to going up.
But the smaller, more static volleyball court versus a basketball court "magnifies" this. For instance Dr. J* (and others since) have dunked from the free throw line (13 feet to the rim, on some of Leonel's I think he goes this kind of distance—V-ball court is 30 feet per side.)
*Legend has it that Wilt could do it and they changed the rules to stop it. The rule was changed, but I have seen no credible claim that Wilt ever did dunk from the foul line (although this is from the NBA site).
During his career, his dominance precipitated many rules changes. These rules changed included widening the lane, instituting offensive goaltending and revising rules governing inbounding the ball and shooting free throws (Chamberlain would leap with the ball from behind the foul line to deposit the ball in the basket).
19: We know all about Ziani here.
Ah, I see. Relative newbadicity revealed.
They are saying 50-inch, I have seen claims of low 40s (definitely) to high 40s for the best in basketball (David Thompson
My recollection is that his was reputed to be 48".
Volleyball? Seriously?
One of the less pernicious misallocations of resource in communist economies is that they commonly diverted a lot of super-talented athletes into relatively obscure (and non-remunerative) sports. In some cases, it was deliberate state policy (e.g. the German Democratic Republic matching its top athletes up with the least internationally popular Olympic sports in order to boost its medal rankings), in others just the natural consequence of athletes choosing their passion in the absence of cash-rich professional leagues to lure them away.
Adding to 24---less chance of losing the best athletes to defection in obscure sports, also.
My recollection is that his was reputed to be 48".
How did he fit it in those tiny shorts they used to wear?
27: I think the fact that it is not just the jump, but the windup and then meeting the ball (with the satisfying spike result) that add to the enjoyment of watching it. To that end this is more comparable to an alley-oop dunk in basketball, rather than a staight swoop dunk. (Plus I like the element on some where you think it is going to be hit by one of the other players who are jumping high, but no it's this guy swooping in from the clouds who gets it.)
Speaking of tiny shorts! I was recently in a pizza place where the tv was showing a basketball game in which the players all had demure little mid-thigh shorts, and I was so pleased that I even watched a bit of the game---but then the network clarified that it was archival footage, and the dream was gone. Why, oh why, don't the sports teams uniforms cater to the lascivious female gaze?
Why watch a Cuban guy jump 50 inches when you could watch a cuban guy jump 100 inches?
30: Speaking of not catering to the lascivious gaze:
Women's volleyball in Iran.
21: that sounds like he was leaping from a standing start to get a shorter shot when shooting free throws, which is hilarious, but different.
33: Yeah, I guess assumed it was a dunk, because I am not sure that a "flying" shorter shot would be a higher percentage for most people (but maybe it would be higher for Wilt given his struggles from the stripe).
Other players who changed the rules in basketball:
Mikan - 3 seconds.
Alcindor - temporary NCAA dunk rule
Bob Kurland (7-footer in the '40s) - defensive goaltending . (He is also reputed to be first to dunk in a game.)
More interpretative and controversial:
Erving - extra step on dunk
Jordan - more restricted definition for palming
in 1978 5' 8" Franklin Jacobs cleared 2.32 m (7' 7ΒΌ"), two feet over his head. This was the world indoor HJ record at the time, though it didn't stand long. His vertical jump had to have been amazing.
34: My son, who studies these things, says that many of the rules I remember from 1964 and 1988 (his basketball days) are unchanged, but enforcement has changed (ceased). Besides palming and travelling, there's physical contact on defense.
there's physical contact on defense
And the moving pick on offense.
A Cuban communist jumper in a pinko-type Olympic sport? When we have all kinds of great jumpers here at home?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuhsartyKqw&feature=related
This is exactly why white Americans don't trust exotic dark-skinned foreigners.
One of my least favorite Olympic memories was Dwight Stones doing the color on the HJ in 1984. He was (mildly but unmistakably) badmouthing and jinxing Zhu Jianhua, who was a favorite but ended up third. Stones had already participated and had been eliminated, finishing fourth. He went from being a unsuccessful participant to being a masterful critic in the time it took him to shower. Sort of a parable of the critic there -- most critics are much smarter than most authors, you know.
When we have all kinds of great jumpers here at home?
LeBron doesn't leap like Marshall. Although that's an amazing play that you've linked.
Are the Lur not superstitious, Ogged?
Stones was just saying a lot of things about Zhu that were not appropriate things to say about someone who just beat you. And sort of shitty for anyone to say, putting one of the three remaining guys on the spot.
there's physical contact on defense.
They recently banned handchecking on the perimeter, which is a major change that has opened up the game, but still go easy on contact inside.
But has the Cuban ever done this to get a spike?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auqGozAKmBQ
