NBA Combine Stats!

Draft Express has put up all the numbers from the NBA Draft Combine and that is exactly where you can find some delicious, delicious statistical goodness.  Do these numbers really mean anything?  Hard to say!  But come on, like you’ve got something better to do?  Yeah, that’s what I thought.  Let’s take a look at these numbers:

• No surprise on the tallest man in the draft: Consensus #2 pick Hasheem Thabeet at 7′ 2.5″ in shoes.  That’s a big boi right there.  There’s a tie at the bottom of the list, with Patrick Mills and Ty Lawson both coming in at 6′ .5″ in their kicks.  Lawson has the shortest wingspan at 6′ .75″, more than an inch shorter than Mills.
• The heaviest man in the draft is no surprise either: it’s Pitt big man DeJuan Blair at 277 lbs, who claims to have lost 40 lbs since the end of the season.  That means he was playing at roughly twice the size of the lightest guy at the combine, little Eric Maynor at 164 lbs.
• I suppose losing that extra 40 lbs did Blair some good, as he didn’t have the highest Body Fat percentage.  That honor went to AJ Price, who is 6′ .5″ and 193 lbs.  I’d say that’s not so bad, I’m about 6′ 1″ 185, but then again I’m blogging about the NBA Draft Combine and he was in it.  And he’s totally gonna get drafted and make more this year than I’ll see in my life.  AJ Price: 1 Jackson: 0.
• Johnny Flynn was the only player at the combine to hit the 40″ vertical, which is totally badass.  Being able to jump high is awesome, you can dunk, you can touch tall awnings to win bets with your friends…and you can make millions of dollars in the NBA.  See, told you it was awesome.  Austin Daye and Greivis Vasquez, meanwhile, could both only muster up 28″ verticals.  I’d make fun of them again, but please see the above bullet point, re: them getting drafted and making dollars no matter what I say.
• Luke Harangody, PF from Notre Dame, muscled out 23 reps of 185, more than anyone else.  Unfortunately, Draft Express doesn’t project him to get drafted- but he’s an underclassmen most likely testing the waters anyway.  At the bottom of the heap, we again find our friend Greivis Vasquez, who was only able to manage 1 rep :(.
• There may be some consolation for our man Greivis though, as below him, yet above all the guys who didn’t lift and got an NA, there’s a Mr Austin Daye with a blank for his score.  Does this mean he wasn’t able to muster up even one rep?  Owing to the fact that he’s got the measurables of a sturdy stick, he’s in the top five in height (6′ 10″) but the bottom ten in weight (190 lbs), I would be surprised to find out this guy isn’t exactly a bench pressing machine.  Then again, Kevin Durant couldn’t manage even one rep of 185 at the combine and I hear that guy is doing okay for himself.
• In the sprint, it was all TDT (Toney Douglas Time!) as the point guard covered 3/4 of the court in only 3.03 seconds.  Zoom.  Our new friend Austin Daye posted the slowest time at 3.55 seconds.

Whew.  That’s good stuff.  What?  More you say?  Okay, well let’s take a look at a few players of interest who might not have gotten top or bottom marks:

• First off, your favorite 12 year old assassin: Stephen Curry, who had what’s gotta be considered a pretty good work out.  The kid had a 35.5″ vertical and put up 10 reps of 185, which means I gotta deal with someone who looks that little being way stronger than I am.  Draft Express has got him going 8 overall, pretty good for the kid from Davidson.
• Second, we have James Harden, former leader of Arizona State’s Harden’d criminals.  One of the knocks on him coming into the combine was his athleticism and he obviously came in ready to answer some of those questions: he put up 17 reps, his 37″ vertical gave him the same max reach as #1 pick Blake Griffin, and he ran his sprint in 3.13, only a hundredth of a second behind noted speedster Ty Lawson.  Draft Express now has him as the #3 pick overall.  See, Ricky Rubio, that’s what happens when don’t work out.  People start to wonder why.

Whew, okay, I’m done here.  Sorry if I got carried away, but I do love me some stats.  Don’t you feel like you know all these players a lot better in ways that probably don’t have much practical application to how they’ll actually ball on the court?  I know I do.