How good would Yao Ming be if his arms were longer?

[InfiniteBaskets]

How about Yao with Dwight's athleticism. Or Yao with a LeBron type build.

[BallPhunk]

Not sure how much longer they could be and it still be fair to the rest of the league?



He can already nearly layup from the line...

[royalbluecosby]

how good would Yao Ming be if he had Mister Fantastics power of elasticity. threads like this are dumb.

[BallPhunk]

how good would Yao Ming be if he had Mister Fantastics power of elasticity. threads like this are dumb.

You've been registered 2 years and are sitting at 24 posts - you wasted your one post this month with that gem?

[BallersTalk]

Yao's arm are pretty short for his height...but he still has one of the highest standing reaches in the NBA so it's not a huge issue. I actually wonder if having a shorter lever helps him shoot so well for a mutant bigman.

Yao would be exponentially better if he had longer arms. Keep in mind, standing reach doesn't really mean too much on defense because when he goes for a block his body almost always will hit the guy he's defending. With longer arms, he could just stretch across and block everything instead of almost ALWAYS bumping the guy. That's why he's not a great shotblocker. Yeah, his defensive instincts aren't exactly elite, but it has more to do with his arm length. When you reach a certain height (at least for basketball), more arm length would be more useful than additional height.

I guarantee if Yao's arm length was more proportionally average with regards to his height, he would be leading the league in blocked shots every year and he wouldn't foul nearly as much on the defensive end. He'd probably lead the league in rebounding too.

[Killbot]

I think that might be worse.
His offensive game changes and plus with long arms, that adds more burden to his legs and feet

[BallersTalk]

I think that might be worse.
His offensive game changes and plus with long arms, that adds more burden to his legs and feet

How would it hurt? Basketball is a sport where length is king.

[Killbot]

How would it hurt? Basketball is a sport where length is king.

I'm thinking with long arms he will have a harder time shooting freethrows.
Plus, I don't think it's a good idea to be adding more weight to his injury prone legs.

[BallersTalk]

I'm thinking with long arms he will have a harder time shooting freethrows.
Plus, I don't think it's a good idea to be adding more weight to his injury prone legs.

He wouldn't be adding that much more weight, IMO. At least not enough to make a difference. How would he have more trouble shooting FT's? He's one of the best FT shooters in the NBA. That takes practice and discipline. None of which he loses with additional length.

[Gad23]

his wingspan is like 7'4 or something. wouldnt be suprised if someone like howard or kg has a similiar wingspan.

[supersmashbros]

It's not only his small head, its his short neck and flat shoulders(his trapezius muscles are tiny).
http://www.celticsvlakers.com/Images...drew_Bynum.jpg

Look how long his arms are!!!
http://thesynopsis.files.wordpress.c...ynum_mip_1.jpg

Players like Kevin Mchale, Phil Jackson, Adam Morrison, and Shawn Marion also have the same built which allowed them to effectively play much taller than their listed height.
I also have the same extremely high shoulders built as those guys btw. Which is why I appear taller than I actually am (cause my shoulders are higher than most people of the same height).

[gpfanz]

They too short for his height.

How good would Kobe be if his balls were bigger?

[chocolatethunder]

I think that Yao is 7'6" tall. I believe that his wingspan is 7'5 1/2" or something like that. That means his wingspan is a whopping 1/2 inches shorter than his height. That means each arm is 1/4" shorter than normal. So essentially his wingspan is fine and he is considered to be in proportion.

[lefthook00]

I think that Yao is 7'6" tall. I believe that his wingspan is 7'5 1/2" or something like that. That means his wingspan is a whopping 1/2 inches shorter than his height. That means each arm is 1/4" shorter than normal. So essentially his wingspan is fine and he is considered to be in proportion.

Ya but ballers usually have much bigger wingspans than their height.

[supersmashbros]

Ya but ballers usually have much bigger wingspans than their height.

I am not sure if anyone has brought this up yet, but wingspan also measures the width of the shoulders. Yao has relatively very narrow shoulders. So his wingspan is gonna be shorter than somebody with the same (or even shorter) arm length but with much broader shoulders.

btw, it's also worth noting that neck length is based on the largely elevation of the shoulders (the actual length of the cervical proportion of the spine doesn't very much between individuals). Therefore, high, box-like square shoulders (like Andrew Bynum's) are commitments of a short neck, and low-sloping shoulders are associated with a long neck (like Yao Ming).