3
Years ago

Do Big Men Really Take Longer to Develop?

Do Big Men Really Take Longer to Develop?

It seems to be almost accepted wisdom in basketball circles that "big men take longer to develop". That is, they take longer to reach the peak of their development as players.

To me, this seems like somewhat of a myth. IMO, every player develops differently, no matter what their size. There are many factors that influence development:

- Work ethic
- Natural talent
- Athleticism
- Coaching
- Attitude
- Injury
- Opportunity

And so on.

I also think it's often used as an excuse as to why (for example) 'Young Big Man A' hasn't lived up to his full potential yet.

Anyway, I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on the topic. Feel free to give examples as well. Does size really matter when it comes to development, or is it just a myth?

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s vidmar
Years ago

I think true this is. I'm 6'7 and it me took longer to develop all life of my parts.

Once a big guy hits potential full though his or her limits are unlimited.

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Moses Guthrie
Years ago

I'll back Vidmar up on that one. It's not about them developing their basketball late. It's the fact that they generally grow longer and later. Long live the big man.

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Anon
Years ago

Does the commencement of puberty and testesterone influence the later growth spurt, ie if a 12 year old is already 6ft and is in the full throws of puberty will he continue to grow.

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Kriss
Years ago

Let's take the NBA for example guys?

How long are we talking when we say it takes big men to develop?

Hakeem, Ewing, Shaq, Zo were all very well developed when they were 23 yo or younger so i wouldn't say just becasue you are 6'10 it's going to take you 5 years extra just to learn a few more post moves or extra motor skills.

Having said that they were the cream of the crop but it would be interesting to see stats on all the centres in the NBA during the first 3 years in the L compared to the 3 years after that.

Might leave that to someone else though...

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Anonymous
Years ago

In general, yes, bigs take longer.

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Undersized Pf
Years ago

This often the case in particular local basketball because young big men in juniors are significantly taller than the oposition and they become accustom to this. as they get older and into seniors it takes time not only because they arnt the tallest and storngest anymore, its much more physical in the paint and subtleties within the key is more important (e.g with reading the board or seeing offensive opportunites)

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ankles
Years ago

few factors here - sudden growth spurts mean that coordination takes a while to catch up. Bigs have more of those. expectations are high on bigs (they're expected to be stars simply because they are tall) and we see them missing short shots all the time and you can hear the sighs of disappointment from the crowd. Yet most of those shots are taken under pressure and with at least incidental contact.

physical factors such as lever length mean they require more strength to move (which takes longer to develop).

and lastly, i don't think our referees do bigs any favours as (at least at junior level). they seem to want to stop 'big kids' dominating by taking the 'you're a big boy/girl, you can handle the contact, after all, look at the height advantage you've got' attitude. meanwhile, the fast kid isn't slowed down and the good dribbler isn't beaten up and the good shooter doesn't have to shoot only swishes, but its OK to beat up on the big kids! It's hard to develop quickly when you're always being targeted physically and mentally, particularly if you are not a very confident kid anyway.

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Hoops

Do Big Men Really Take Longer to Develop?

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