Can Blanka Vlasic dunk??

Considering I could dunk at 5'11" with small hands and only high jumped 6'2"; I would say there is almost no way Stones could not dunk.

Dwight Stone could certainly dunk.

Stefan Holm's vertical was way, way over 23''

These are facts.

I'm not 100% sure about Blanka dunking, but I'd bet he would have a shot.

I don't know too much about the HJ, but I have spent quite a bit of time with some really good female basketball players. Women -- even the good ones -- have a suprisingly small vertical leap. I don't know if it's their Achilles or what, but they have very little "bounce" to their step.

I'm 6'1" with a 77" wingspan and below average hops. In college, I was a designated scrimmage opponent at a good D-I school (glamorous, I know), and I could routinely block the shot of any girl 6'5" or under. They were lucky I'm so leadfooted -- any 6'1" guy who could dunk would absolutely destroy every single female that has ever played ball. They just can't explode of the court fast enough.

(And if you think that they aren't dunking in games but they're going crazy with dunks in practice, you're dead wrong. I bet Rebecca Lobo never dunked in her life, in or out of a game.)

A 23 inch vertical for a woman would be crazy ups. I suspect that woman have a disproportionate ability to HJ (relative to their vertical leaping ability) as a result of their long legs and hip placement. I don't know if she could dunk or not, but my guess is that the 6'10" HJ number is throwing a lot of you off.

I coached a fabulous high jumper once and we would do 15 minutes a week of trying to dunk a tennis ball. She was at most 5-9. She never could get to the rim but got really close by the time she was a senior.

Blanka is what 6-4 and can probably stand and be damn close to touching the net?

She also happens to be one of the best High Jumpers ever. I bet she could do it. Here is her 2.08 from a while back

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wlQN8uH8Bk

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The only reason a few women have dunked in a game is because they are trying to dunk in a game. To get an even rhythm going in a game situation is tough. It needs to be a perfect storm.

chikin wrote:

Dunking is the easiest way to score a points because it is the shot that is the shortest.

You present this as some sort of accepted fact. It is not. You are confusing the highest % shot (and a layup may have a better %) with "easiest way to score points". You have completely ignored the concept of the team on defense.

I concur, tell me that these are less than 23".http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVZ3ZcorTF0&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG3_I3zFB0U&NR=1

Mtn Dew wrote:

Dwight Stone could certainly dunk.

Stefan Holm's vertical was way, way over 23''

These are facts.

I'm not 100% sure about Blanka dunking, but I'd bet he would have a shot.

Can Venus Williams dunk?

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2007/08/28/amd_venuswilliams_2.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j278/scorpiad/2006_04_20_working_out_with_venus_w.jpg

Def. of vertical leap

A vertical jump or vertical leap is the act of raising one's center of gravity higher in the vertical plane solely with the use of one's own muscles; it is a measure of how high an individual or athlete can elevate off the ground (jump) from a STANDSTILL. (from wiki)

Nobody said those hurdles are less than 23". And no one said he couldn't hurdle whatever that height is. It's obviously more than 23". Just because you can hurdle 42" (110H), it doesn't mean your vertical is 42".

By the way, any reference or proof of those two facts?

Dunk FG% less than layup%.....really? IF you can dunk, a dunk is the easiest shot. How can that be disputed? If women could dunk, they would do it. However, virtually none of them can. That's the point.

This is the single stupidest thread of all time on LRC.....yes of course she could dunk.

For starters, everyone talking about HJ vs. vertical jumping ability, wtf? You get to run when you dunk, so she gets a running start. The only difference is that she doesn't flop and has to put a ball in a hoop. We already had a video showing that Acuff could do it, and it looked pretty easy for her. Vlasic can surely do it too. Not in a game, maybe not off a dribble, but put a ball in her hand and tell her to run and jump to put it in the basket and she could do it,easy.

His center of balance is rising way more than 2 feet. I can hurdle a 36" hurdle by lifting my center of balance about 3 inches. If I could hurdle a 66" hurdle, I would probably be raising my center of gravity about 33". I'm 6'2" and Stefan Holm is 5'11"

What you're saying isn't making sense to me. Not trying to be a jerk.

I agree, his center of mass is rising 2-3 feet. What does that have to do with his vertical leaping ability from a STANDSTILL? What does his HURDLING 66" (I'm assuming you're referring to the hurdle heights) have to do with his VERTICAL LEAP?

chikin wrote:

What you're saying isn't making sense to me. Not trying to be a jerk.

I agree, his center of mass is rising 2-3 feet. What does that have to do with his vertical leaping ability from a STANDSTILL? What does his HURDLING 66" (I'm assuming you're referring to the hurdle heights) have to do with his VERTICAL LEAP?

What does his vertical leaping from a STANDSTILL and his VERTICAL LEAP have to do with DUNKING A BASKETBALL?

And in case you don't know what dunking a basketball is, refer to this youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8M2NgjvicA note how in every single dunk MJ had a running start.

deraylicious wrote:

And in case you don't know what dunking a basketball is, refer to this youtube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8M2NgjvicA

note how in every single dunk MJ had a running start.

You're not getting it. Forget the running start part of it, and follow along:

There are two kinds of jumping events: (1) those that involve getting your upper torso as high as possible (volleyball, basketball), and (2) those that involve getting your lower torso as high off the ground as possible (hurdling, high jumping).

Although there is certainly some correlation between the two categories, they don't necessarily go hand in hand. Category (2) tends to be very technique oriented, so if you don't know the art of that sport, you won't succeed even if you can jump out of the building.

Conversely, just because you are skilled at clearing your hips off the ground doesn't mean you have a similar ability to jump straight up. You'll notice that good hurdlers and high jumpers never have their upper bodies pointed vertically when their hips are at their apex -- there's a reason for this...

Methinks you don't know what geometry is...

Read the WHOLE thread. No one doubts he can dunk. I doubted his vertical was as impressive as some might think (23" was the number I had seen before; there aren't any records of his vertical). The person I was responding to submitted youtubes of him hurdling as proof that his standstill vertical was way more than 23". It's possible it is more but

I have doubts that Vlasic can dunk based on the incredibly low #'s of actual female dunkers, especially among basketball players. You would think they would be the one's actually trying to dunk considering it's part of their game. Some in this thread think there are more non basketball players who can dunk than there are in the world of basketball. It doesn't add up.

We might get a definitive answer very soon....

Follow along:

Amy Acuff dunked easily. Vlasic is taller and better and HJ than Acuff. Therefore, Vlasic can dunk easily.

The rest of the discussion is pointless in my opinion, especially the point about vertical leap from a standstill because dunking does not require a standstill.