Larry Nance Jr. story

[Lakers4Life]

We didn't know anything about this guy on draft day. But now he has become a fan favorite! Could he be our Kawhi Leonard? He seems to think that he can extend his game out to the 3-pointers line. (Kawhi couldn't shoot neither his first year in the league)

Read this interesting story on Larry Nance Jr:

AT HIS PRE-DRAFT workout with the Lakers, Nance Jr. kept jumping so high, team officials thought something was wrong.

On the first attempt to measure his vertical leap, in fact, Nance, in a stationary position, sprung skyward off two feet and cleared every bar all the way to the top of the Vertec measuring device. Then he says officials placed that device on a box, raising the entire apparatus about another foot off the ground. He took a running start and jumped off one foot.

"I cleared that, too," the 6-9 Nance said.

Officials were stunned by the implication that someone so tall could so easily jump well over 40 inches, which would be one of the highest verticals they had ever recorded, regardless of position.

The numbers Nance posted were so "abnormal," Lakers assistant athletic trainer Marco Nunez says, that they assumed they calibrated the device wrong for someone of his height, or had made some other mistake along the way.

"We must have written it down wrong," Lakers assistant coach Mark Madsen said at the time.

But there were other prospects to test, so team officials told Nance to complete his hour-and-a-half workout on the court, during which they double-checked the device and their figures.

"I realized, no, I did everything right," Nunez says.

After Nance's workout, officials tested him again, and again he soared.

"This is after an hour and a half of work," Scott says. "I was kind of sitting there with my mouth open. It's the first time I've seen somebody 6-8, 6-9 jump that high and was that athletic."

"He tested off the charts athletically," Kupchak says.

Officials averaged the results of all his jumps and declared, according to Nance, that his vertical leap that day measured 44 inches -- just shy of the Lakers' pre-draft workout record of 46, set by high-flying Minnesota Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine in 2014.

But there was still disbelief.

"They didn't believe me at all," Nance said. "I saw them talking about it -- 'Is it wrong? Did we measure it wrong?' "

Nance offered a solution.

"Do you just want me to run up and put my head at the rim?" he asked. "I'll hit my head on the rim if you want me to."

"That's not necessary, but you can do that?' the officials said.

"Yeah, if you want me to do it, I can do it."

And he did.

"All right," the officials agreed, "I guess he's not bluffing."

Today, Nunez admits the team still doesn't have an accurate measurement of how high Nance jumped that day, that the figure they ultimately came up with was a rough estimate and that it's possible -- "very possible," Nunez says -- that Nance jumped at least as high as LaVine.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/pre ... basketball

[3Peatkb24]

Great stuff Craig. I like Nance a lot. I think he's better than Randle.

[NuggetsCountry]

Great stuff Craig. I like Nance a lot. I think he's better than Randle.

Lots better attitude, for sure!

[3Peatkb24]

Great stuff Craig. I like Nance a lot. I think he's better than Randle.

Lots better attitude, for sure!

Nance is impressive!

[Lakers4Life]

Great stuff Craig. I like Nance a lot. I think he's better than Randle.

Lots better attitude, for sure!

Nance is impressive!

I'd take Nance hands down over Randle right now if I had to choose. But Randle has 2 things over Nance that you can't teach. Randle has that "dog" in him (as the kids say). And #2 he has a chip on his shoulder. And that chip might rub people the wrong way right now. But wait until (if) he starts playing up to his potential. That chip will give him an edge over the competition. (Think Russell Westbrook or Kobe Bryant). So that chip and that dog might eventually make him better than Nance. Time will tell

[KobeMVP888]

The fact that they play the same position but are vresatile in different ways is exciting news for our power forward position looking ahead, especially given the "small ball" mentaility of the NBA. Both of these guys will expand their games in different ways. Julius WILL develop a right hand and he WILL develop his mid range game and eventually stretch that range beyond the 3 point arc and, yes, he WILL learn how to move his feet better in the low post defensively and become a rock down there, too. Nance WILL also stretch his game beyond the 3 point arc and WILL become that kind of defensive player who WILL be able to effecively guard the opposing team's best player, 1 through 5. I like all 5 of our young players a lot, including Anthony Brown.

[Lakers4Life]

Speaking of Nance, he is now 3rd (1.3) in win shares behind KAT (3.5) and Porzingis (2.5) in the 2015 NBA draft.

[KobeMVP888]

Speaking of Nance, he is now 3rd (1.3) in win shares behind KAT (3.5) and Porzingis (2.5) in the 2015 NBA draft.

WTF are win shares?

[Lakers4Life]

Speaking of Nance, he is now 3rd (1.3) in win shares behind KAT (3.5) and Porzingis (2.5) in the 2015 NBA draft.

WTF are win shares?

I was hoping you knew HaHaHa!!.... (I just saw this on the net)

[3Peatkb24]

What is win shares?

[Lakers4Life]

Ok. I had to look it up.....

What is Win Shares - WS?

A metric that estimates the number of wins a player produces for his team. This is done by finding a player's Offensive Win Shares and Defensive Win Shares, and adding those together.

[Lakers4Life]

http://www.thescore.com/nba/news/430681

[KobeMVP888]

Thanks, Craig. Seems like the eye test to me, the only analytics that really matters. This sophisticated NBA fan prefers to be dumb, naive and uninformed in this arena. As I see it, all three of this season's draft picks were "analytics" picks anyway. Randle and Clarkson were old school picks. The front office is in adjustment (can't beat 'em, join 'em) mode.

[Lakers4Life]

Thanks, Craig. Seems like the eye test to me, the only analytics that really matters. This sophisticated NBA fan prefers to be dumb, naive and uninformed in this arena. As I see it, all three of this season's draft picks were "analytics" picks anyway. Randle and Clarkson were old school picks. The front office is in adjustment (can't beat 'em, join 'em) mode.

No problem Kenny. I understand the reasoning behind analytics. But there's nothing better than the good old fashioned eye test. You can't just count on numbers all the time. Sometimes your gut just tells you if there's something special about a particular player (West drafting Kobe) or not special (Mitch not drafting Okafor)

[3Peatkb24]

Thanks Craig. They have it all don't they!