Yes, but his reach is under 9 feet. It is actually worse than Patrick Patterson's who was often said to be undersized even for a PF. I guess he has broad shoulders that make his wingspan good and his reach bad.
yeah, but despite having a 7'4.5 wingspan he has a short standing reach at 6'10.5, which is undersized for the PF position, not to mention the center position as well, and back up center is the only position available in our front court... --RB
6'9.75 in shoes, 7'4.5 wingspan, 8'10.5 standing reach, 31' no step vert, 33' max vert The way people are talking you'd think he was shorter than Landry, Dorsey, and Hayes. People that criticize him for a lack of measurables probably never saw Baylor play a game last year. When scouts criticize him for his athleticism it's usually with regards to strength; but hey good thing strength is the one thing that you usually improve on with age, right Dwight? Fact of the matter is, this is a really, REALLY deep draft for forwards. Whoever we select, if they are a PF they will probably be 6'10 and taller than any player we've got besides Yao and Hill. So yeah Udoh may be shorter than Sanders or Whiteside but he's still pretty darn tall for a PF, and he averaged 3.7 blocks last year to boot. So I'd say he can get it up there. Blocks from big men and rebounds from little men are how you gauge the good athletes in college based on the statistics, btw.
Dorsey actually has better reach than Udoh and is probably more athletic as well. Just saying, Kenny Thomas, btw, once averaged over 2 blocks a game in college, IIRC. It's about the same as for example Solomon Alabi's block numbers, but somehow Kenny Thomas was never considered to become a shot blocker in NBA while many will expect Alabi to be one. But sure, Udoh will probably block SOME shots. But expecting him to ever reach even half of his college totals could be too much.
The Rockets don't need a PF, so your points are moot. The Rockets will draft a PF/C, pure center, or a wing player with ridiculous upside. They don't need a "safe power forward" that's gets no PT behind Scola and Hill.
The more i think about it I don't see anyway the rockets draft Udoh. To me the rockets have 2 types of players. Players who can step into the rotation right now, or projects with big upside. Udoh is neither.
Udoh can play backup center. He has a knack of blocking and contesting shots. He had games in which he had 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, & 10 blocks. Plus, his jumper is pretty solid. I would be happy with him at 14.
Sounds like what we heard before Aaron Brooks and Landry were picked. If anything has been proven recently, it's that these Rockets don't draft for need, or at least not apparently. My money's on us picking at the position where the draft is deepest, because some of these talents would have been top 5 picks in other drafts. Jordan Hill in this draft would have been in the 20's given his body of work in college (I'd have had him just below Orton and Whiteside). Conversely a guy like Avery Bradley might not have even cracked the first round (I'd have had him just below Jrue Holliday). And just because a player is picked at this # one year doesn't mean he's equivalent in skill to the player picked that # the next year. Drafts vary in quality year in and year out based on who's declaring, and this year should by any measure be one of the best ones with every player trying to avoid the lockout of 2011-2012. I think Morey if he stays at the pick goes with BPA, and that's almost certainly going to be at the position of depth, PF/C.
Am I understanding this correctly? How can he have a 6'10 standing reach when his height is already 6'9? Does he have a foot long neck, or maybe 6-inch arms?
WTF? The Rockets didn't need a PG when they had Rafer? Nor a PF when they had Juwan Howard and Chuck Hayes? As has been pointed out before, the question is whether Udoh's game translates to the pros. Not whether he was a beast in college. Adam Morrison could score 30+ against any college competition easy. Yet he can't get off a single shot in the NBA. I'm not saying Udoh's Morrison. Simply that the question mark is his ability to produce at the next level.
Ekpe Udoh's standing reach in 8'10.5 by Comparison Hassan Whiteside 9'5 Soloman Alabi 9'5 Demarcus Cousins 9'5 Larry Sanders 9'4 Cole Aldrich 9'3.5 Daniel Orton 9'2.5 Derrick Favors 9'2 Craig Brackens 9'1 Greg Monroe 9'0.5 Ed Davis 9'0 Gani Lawal 8'11.5 Patrick Patterson 8'11 He is effectively the shortest big man projected near the 1st Rd. His good leaping ability helps, because his jumping reach puts him right in line with most of these guys, but raw length translates a lot better. Off topic but Derrick Favors numbers are sick, his jumping reach is higher flatfooted, than most guys max.
