GRIII > Gravity

Submitted by JimBobTressel on

http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/10/legend_of_michigans_glenn_robi.html

Will be team MVP over McGary, write it down

Michigan assistant Jeff Meyer related the latest of Robinson’s can-you-believe-it feats on Tuesday morning. During an interview with WTKA's Michigan Insider, Meyer explained that U-M players’ vertical leaps are measured on a Vertec. The apparatus is a straight pole with movable tabs on one side. Players jump alongside the pole, reaching for the highest tab they can touch. The highest tab moved accounts for the individual’s vertical leap.

Michigan’s Vertec measures up to 12 feet, 3 inches.

Michigan needs a new Vertec.

“We’ve not had anybody inside our program get all 12 feet, 3 inches -- that was until Glenn Robinson,” Meyer said.

Robinson stands 6-feet, 6-inches tall. He has an expansive wingspan, but is not a pterodactyl. He’s always had a lengthy reach and shake-your-head leaping ability (just ask Minnesota). This latest feat, though -- reaching 12-foot-3 on the Vertec -- is a product of Robinson’s offseason work.

True Blue Grit

October 23rd, 2013 at 5:03 PM ^

2.25 feet above the rim from a standing start?   In my prime, on a good day, I could just touch the rim with a running start.  Now I'm just an old white guy with a bad knee. But,  It will be fun to see GRIII's high flying act this year.

TRAILofVICTORY

October 23rd, 2013 at 5:07 PM ^

If standing straight up his reach extends to 8'9'' (complete guess based on my 5'9 self reaching 7'6''), a 12'3'' jump would put his vertical at about 42in (12'3 = 147in, 8'9 = 105in). NOT TOO BAD

oriental andrew

October 23rd, 2013 at 5:47 PM ^

That's assuming he was only able to reach the 12'3" mark.  My assumption was that he exceeded that mark.  Assuming he did do a 42" vertical though, that would be 8th best in combine history.  Either way, he'd be top 10 by either measure.  For a guy his size*, that's Vince Carter territory.  Pretty darn impressive.  

*Per your link, it looks like it's generally the smaller guys who have the higher verticals, what with less mass to carry.  At the link from draft express, the only guys 6'6" or taller (with shoes) to have a 42+" vertical (out of 18) are Vince Carter, Jamario Moon, Patrick Ewing Jr, and Rodney Willams.  Also, only 5 of them weighed over 200 lbs.  

B-Nut-GoBlue

October 23rd, 2013 at 5:15 PM ^

Dan Patrick was talking today about athleticism &/v.s. "being a good basketball player".  He brought up some good points, mainly about Kevin Love of the NBA, and how he may not be the greatest "athlete" in dunking ability and things we classify as athleticism these days but at the same time is a very, very good basketball player (who honestly is also pretty damn athletic in his own right in his ability to rebound, shoot the three, etc.).  Anywho, regarding this post and news out of the Michigan Basketball camp, I hope all of this hype translates into GRIII being a better Basektball Player this Winter and into next Spring.  The athleticism was already there (with potential even)  for the most part but he needed to work on a few things regarding his "game": shooting, moving without the ball, utilizing an off dribble more.  His new-ish position alone, though, I think will help him in ways.

I don't mean to be critical or downplay GRIII and his abilities, whatsoever.  I am hoping he comes out improved from last year in more than leaping ability.  I am also expecting it and don't doubt he will.

Jeff09

October 23rd, 2013 at 5:31 PM ^

I hate to be negative nancy but I think a lot of the football players on the team would classify frank Clark as the best athlete on the football team, and he's nowhere near the best football player...

Mr. Yost

October 23rd, 2013 at 5:48 PM ^

Nowhere near?

Let's say out of 15 guys, you're telling me he's not top 4? I'd say 4 out of 15 is "near" the top.

By nowhere near, you're implying that he's like the 8th or 9th best player on the team at best.

Relax with the exaggerations. GRIII he certainly one of the top and one of the best players on the team. It's kind of hard to showcase your skills with 2 first rounders who are basically upperclassmen AND neither is a big man. On most teams a big man is at LEAST going to be top 3 on the team in touches, just so you can run your offense. So that automatically put he and Stauskas at 4 and 5. 

That changes this year.

And by the way, have you watched Frank Clark the last 3 games? He's come ALONG way from the first 3. He's been unblockable at times. Hell, I'd say he's having a better year than Clowney.

Is he an All-B1G world beater like he was hyped up to be? No. At least not yet. But Clark has been playing extremely well as of late (in comparison to early in the year).

GRIII will be just fine, especially now that he's one of the main 3 options on the team. There's only one basketball, when your PG is your scorer and your SG is #2, that doesn't really allow for much else.

That's almost like saying our WRs were awful during the Denard era...not really, but when your QB runs 20 times a game, that affects everyone else's numbers.

Jeff09

October 23rd, 2013 at 8:14 PM ^

Ok, since you asked. Players I think are better at football than frank Clark, though they may be 'less athletic': Taylor lewan, Michael schofield, Fitz toussaint, Jeremy gallon, Devin Gardner, drew Dileo, Devin funchess, q Washington, jibreel black, James Ross III, Desmond Morgan, Blake countess, raymon Taylor, jarrod Wilson, jake Ryan, and Thomas Gordon. That's damn near all the starters.



My only point is pure athleticism doesn't equal skill in a sport. I think GRIII will be excellent, but prob not the best player on the team.

Shop Smart Sho…

October 23rd, 2013 at 6:23 PM ^

Because:



Dennis Norfleet

Devin Gardner

Devin Funchess



Dymonte Thomas



Channing Stribling



All of those guys are freak athletes.  One of them could easily be more athletic than Gallon.  I don't think it would be far out of the realm of possibilities to just assume that all but two of them are stronger than Gallon, just because they're bigger.

jmblue

October 24th, 2013 at 3:08 PM ^

I'm not quite sure why 1) you're comparing GRIII to football players (definite apples/oranges there) and 2) talking about him like he's some unknown quantity, when we have a season's worth of information on him.  We know already that he's really good.

 

Tater

October 23rd, 2013 at 5:39 PM ^

If GRIII is being guarded by a 3 and his release point on a jumber is close to 12 feet in the air, the chances of success are pretty high.  

Sllepy81

October 23rd, 2013 at 6:28 PM ^

sinks and fast breaks from him. I don't recall him doing much one on one drives and I want to see his handles before I name him mvp. Caris Levert is still my guy, insider info( a team manager) told me he is the best player he's seen.

Sllepy81

October 23rd, 2013 at 7:06 PM ^

last year. He didn't show all of his game but there was a reason he didn't redshirt. I can see us having multiple scoring leaders this year not one player doing all the work. I cousin moved on to grad school and isn't there this year, shame I never managed to get to AA to sit behind the bench while he was there.

The2nd_JEH

October 23rd, 2013 at 6:45 PM ^

I worked at the basketball camps this past summer, and GRIII, Caris, Mitch and Jordan Morgan put on a little dunk contest for the kids. GRIII did a 360 windmill without even warming up. He easily won the contest lol

AC1997

October 23rd, 2013 at 6:51 PM ^

Isn't it wonderful that our basketball team has reached the point where we are arguing whether our starting forward (6'6" NBA legacy, records for jumping, projected lottery pick, etc.) is the best player on the team or just a valuable role player?  My guess is that GR3 is going to improve quite a bit this year but won't be the dominant scorer the NBA thinks he can become. 

Mr. Yost

October 23rd, 2013 at 6:56 PM ^

I haven't see that anywhere.

I think he's so high because he's an all-around player. That's a very valuable asset to a team with a star.

I'm not saying he'll be Pippen, one of the NBA's greatest players...but think about Pippen. He did everything for the Bulls, but he was never the star and even without Jordan his game didn't dictate himself to being "the star" in a Jordan/Kobe/LeBron kind of way.

GRIII's got to get A LOT better defensively to ever truly be compared to Pippen.

mgobleu

October 23rd, 2013 at 8:19 PM ^

...here we are, smack dab in the meat of the football season and I'm already getting pumped for peach basket chuck-it-up. Down is up and up is the new down.

Prince Lover

October 23rd, 2013 at 8:59 PM ^

Let's wait and see halfway through the B1G season how much he has improved. I want nothing more than to see the second coming of Calbert Chaney, but I am curious how his second go around through that league goes. Hopefully much better than his first.

Michigan4Life

October 23rd, 2013 at 10:09 PM ^

His jumper, his ability to drive to the hoop effectively.  He doesn't have to deal with playing against PF on a daily basis.

He has the athleticism to be a great player and he was already productive as a role player.  He can't take over as the #1 option with Trey Burke and THJ on the team but was willing to take a backseat to be the 4th option which tells you a lot about his character especially when he was a highly rated recruit and was a son of a NBA player.

There is a reason why he was and still is projected as a lottery pick.  I can't remember who said this but it was an ESPN guy who traveled around to see practices and said GRIII was the most impressive player he saw.  He saw Andrew Wiggins and Marcus Smart, the two players who are projected as a top 5 pick with Wiggins a near lock to get drafted at #1 overall.

JB has a really good track record of developing players and there's no reason why GRIII making a huge jump to an elite college player should be out of the question.

Ty Butterfield

October 23rd, 2013 at 11:12 PM ^

"Gravity" was really good. This is one time you actually want to shell out the extra for IMAX 3D. You won't be disappointed. Also I hope for big things from GRIII. I hope he steps up and becomes a leader on this team.

Section 1

October 24th, 2013 at 1:45 AM ^

I was just thinking how remarkable it was, that an MLive reporter would use, and spell correctly, the word "pterodactyl."

Anybody want to guess on the percentage of MLive readers who know what a pterodactyl is or was?

1464

October 24th, 2013 at 5:45 AM ^

Sounds to me like one of those there sex moves.

Pterodactyl  (noun) - a maneuver of the night which consists of you drawing tight a sheet behind your back, flapping your arms, and pinching a lot.

(verb) - "I totally pterodactyled that girl at the party last night, bro."

RyanParrill

October 24th, 2013 at 8:06 AM ^

Can't let this slide.



"Hell, I'd say he's having a better year than Clowney."



Sometimes you just have to stop typing. Before getting to this sentence would have been a good start. I hope others don't believe this.