How Tall is Anthony Randolph?

Copyright NBAE 2008 (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)

Media Day is always fun, players across the league return to camp with extraordinary tales about muscle gain and weight loss.  Occasionally, in the case of young players, like the Warriors’ Anthony Randolph, they also claim to have grown taller.

The NBA is interesting in that player measurements are rarely if ever up-to-date or accurate.  Kevin Garnett, who came into the league as a 6’10” 18 year old, is listed at 6’11,  but has admitted to reporters in the past that he is in fact  6’13″(i.e. 7’1″.)  Randolph at the age of 20, is claimed to have grown anywhere from 2 to 4 inches over the summer from his listed height of 6’10”.

To put his claim to the test, we’ll use the latest NBA photograph of Randolph available, taken Monday during the Warriors’ Media Day.  To find Randolph’s height we need a reference, and the orange roundie he’s holding makes a good one.  A regulation NBA basketball has a diameter 9.55 inches.  The basketball in the photo has a diameter of 74 pixels.   From head to toe, Randolph is 644 pixels tall, or 8.703 basketball talls.  Translated into familiar terms, this makes Randolph 83.11 inches tall, or 6’11 going on 7 feet.  It’s evident that Randolph did grow some from his listed height of 6’10, but he didn’t make any fantastic leaps in height and he is certainly not anywhere near 7’2″.    Still, if this growth spurt keeps up, by the end of the season, maybe even the end of the calendar year, the Warriors will have a bonafide 7 footer.

Can Mark Price help Rondo?

Rondo Fires Up A Shot (Photo by Lisa Hornak)

Comcast SportsNet New England reported last night that Rajon Rondo has been working with former Cavaliers guard Mark Price, on fixing his shooting mechanics.

This is an important change. In the past, Rondo stated that he believed  that practice alone would improve his shot and that he could keep his awkward mechanics.   In the first day of camp, Rondo’s shot has already wowed Doc Rivers:

“I’m impressed with the way he played,” Rivers said after practice yesterday. “He shot the ball really well. He ran the team well.”Providence Journal

Price’s talent that may help Rondo the most is Free Throw Shooting.  Rondo is a  poor FT shooter, but has the talent to draw fouls at a very high rate.   If Rondo is able to convert his FTs, he will become even more confident playing inside, and instead of avoiding contact as much as possible, he may actually begin to complete some And-1 opportunities.