Combine Test Results
- Thread starter kywildcats4life
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At UKs combine Dakari was in the best shape of his life. At the NBA combine, it was reported he'd gained weight and wasn't in good shape. In fact there were reports his agent shipped him to LA to get him in shape for individual team workouts.
Dakari will be drafted and will probably be late first round. He'll be in the league a long time as a backup.
Dakari will be drafted and will probably be late first round. He'll be in the league a long time as a backup.
If this is true, that's a horrible red flag. This is only the most important time on Dakari's life to have dedicated himself to being in great shape, and you're saying he wasn't in good shape at the NBA combine? Yikes. That is awful.
Yeah, not sure how true that story is, I find it hard to believe Dakari would let himself get that out of shape right before the NBA combine. If true, that's as dumb as it gets.
Honestly, it looks like the more likely explanation is that something screwy may've been going at that UK combine to help our guys look better, because frankly, Dakari was NOT the only one whose numbers there seemed rather hard to believe. For example, I believe Dominique Hawkins supposedly registered a 44 inch vertical at the UK combine, which would rank him up there with the best leapers in the history of the game. Now I know Dom is quite an athlete, but I do not believe he has a legit 44 inch vert, and I don't believe for a second he could reproduce that at a neutral NBA combine. And it's worth noting that the other UK participants in this year's NBA combine, the Harrisons, also failed to match their UK numbers.
I remember a few posters here being plenty suspicious at how good some of the numbers at that UK combine were, and the results of Dakari and the Harrisons here suggest that their suspicions were justified.
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I would imagine that the UK combine was completed under optimal conditions. Coached up on technique. Multiple attempts. Basically, little pressure with every opportunity to produce the best possible result.
Contrast that with the under the gun pressure of the NBA combine.
I don't know that this is exactly right, but I suspect it is. With the UK combine we got best case scenario. With the NBA Combine, we got a snapshot in time, under pressure conditions.
Contrast that with the under the gun pressure of the NBA combine.
I don't know that this is exactly right, but I suspect it is. With the UK combine we got best case scenario. With the NBA Combine, we got a snapshot in time, under pressure conditions.
Just because DJ's numbers are off doesn't mean that Dom wouldn't jump as high as listed from the Pro Day. Hawkins is just built like a football player and there are guys jumping that high in the NFL draft every year. This past draft Chris Conley jumped 45 inches and a UConn player jumped 44 1/2 inches. DJ seemed like he was just out of shape. Might have also been a premeditated thing where he surprises teams when he performs well during individual workouts. Maybe Dakari had twisted his ankle a little bit before the combine and didn't say anything publicly? Never know what is going on because most of the other numbers are consistent.
Maaaan ... I'm not trying to be negative but I am being a realist. Premeditated so he'll surprise teams at individual workouts? That's the funniest thing I've read all day. You serious, Clark?
The alternative is that the staff is lying. If that's the theory you want to go with, be my guest.
As an aside, when I was 17, my vertical was in the 36+ inch range. I hurt my back at basketball camp - not so bad that I couldn't play, but my mobility was limited. That week my vertical only measured 29 inches.
So when I suggested that he might be nursing an injury, I was speaking from experience. Lower back issues can wreak havoc with your jumping ability, as can knee issues, etc.
Fair enough. I would assume if a guy is nursing an injury, he opts out of these drills. He obviously didn't help himself any. Obviously a legit injury would hurt a guy's vertical leap.
Put me in the camp that never bough Dakari's reported 34" vertical leap I the first place, so the 25" at the NBA Combine didn't surprise me at all. Personally I think that's probably the real number.
Just saying there could be a lot of different of explanations for the discrepancy. DJ's position in the draft is going to be more greatly affected by his work in the individual workouts. He's not going to be a top pick where he only does workouts for a couple of teams at the top of the draft. He's going to have to go hard in workouts for a number of teams. Maybe he has a better understanding of how much energy that he can expend during the workouts and if he looks better in workouts than he did at the combine that would be better for him.
If he was injured significantly enough to lose nine inches off his vertical why would he even participate? It would do nothing to help his draft stock.
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