Bazz and Boat

[superjohn]

Watching some highlights of these two and it's truly remarkable what they were able to do here on the court. It got me thinking, are they the smallest two best players/backcourt to win a national championship in the modern era? Ever? Bazz is 5'11, Boat is 5'10.

The other one that immediately jumped out to me is Louisville with Siva and Russ Smith in '13 because they were a rival. Siva is 5'11.5, Russ Smith is 5'11.5.

It's pretty wild there were sub 6'0 backcourt national champions in consecutive years

 

[Dove]

 

[Hunt for 7]

It takes special skills to compete at that size against division 1 opponents. How many sub 6’ players have we seen dominate in high school and then get to high division 1 and all of a sudden they can no longer finish at the basket. When that happens it becomes much easier to guard them as they only have one/two options drive and dish or drive and kick out.


If you are sub 6’ and can’t finish at the rim basically that makes you a real good division II player.

Boat was a world class athlete so at times he could still jump over 6’3” guards but Bazz relied totally on basketball savvy in college he was playing chess and everyone else was playing checkers.


Add in Kemba and Khalid and we may have had 4 of the best small college point guards in the last 30 years.

 

[ucp990411]

I recently watched a couple of games from the 2014 tourney. My goodness Boatright was a tremendous defensive player.

 

[caw]

It takes special skills to compete at that size against division 1 opponents. How many sub 6’ players have we seen dominate in high school and then get to high division 1 and all of a sudden they can no longer finish at the basket. When that happens it becomes much easier to guard them as they only have one/two options drive and dish or drive and kick out.


If you are sub 6’ and can’t finish at the rim basically that makes you a real good division II player.

Boat was a world class athlete so at times he could still jump over 6’3” guards but Bazz relied totally on basketball savvy in college he was playing chess and everyone else was playing checkers.


Add in Kemba and Khalid and we may have had 4 of the best small college point guards in the last 30 years.

I don't want to completely dismiss what you are saying about Bazz, but he also had some really great range on his three and some of the quickest hands I've seen on defense.

 

[Umami Zen]

Bazz-Boat-Kemba all had the ability to create space and separation from bigger guards so that they could utilize their extensive offensive tool kit(s) to get off shots despite their size. It was their kryptonite.

 

[Hoophound]

Bazz also tested very well. He had a much, much better vertical than expected.

 

[JakeTheDog]

Put Boat on the wall.

 

[jibsey]

Watching some highlights of these two and it's truly remarkable what they were able to do here on the court. It got me thinking, are they the smallest two best players/backcourt to win a national championship in the modern era? Ever? Bazz is 5'11, Boat is 5'10.

The other one that immediately jumped out to me is Louisville with Siva and Russ Smith in '13 because they were a rival. Siva is 5'11.5, Russ Smith is 5'11.5.

It's pretty wild there were sub 6'0 backcourt national champions in consecutive years

Talent equals Bazz. Every listing for Shabazz that I have seen, multiple ones, list him at 6’1” or 6’. The true height of players is always debated in and out of their shoes but if Bazz is 5’10” we can likely assume that we also reduce the height of the rest of our current roster by an inch or 2, and that of most college basketball players. That would mean that Solo is 6’1”, Karaban 6’5” and Tarris 6’8” barefoot.
Players should be measured and weighed without shoes and in clothes kinda the same way we are when we go to the doctor’s office and get on that scale with the height stick.
I celebrate Bazz as one of my favorite players but this shortest guy thing is funny because it doesn’t apply to other players because maybe he was playing against a 6’4” guard who was really 6’2”.

 

[SwampYankee]

Talent equals Bazz. Every listing for Shabazz that I have seen, multiple ones, list him at 6’1” or 6’. The true height of players is always debated in and out of their shoes but if Bazz is 5’10” we can likely assume that we also reduce the height of the rest of our current roster by an inch or 2, and that of most college basketball players. That would mean that Solo is 6’1”, Karaban 6’5” and Tarris 6’8” barefoot.
Players should be measured and weighed without shoes and in clothes kinda the same way we are when we go to the doctor’s office and get on that scale with the height stick.
I celebrate Bazz as one of my favorite players but this shortest guy thing is funny because it doesn’t apply to other players because maybe he was playing against a 6’4” guard who was really 6’2”.

Karaban is 6'6.5" barefoot

Day 1 NBA Combine highlights and recap (video)

Full highlights and measurement/shooting numbers

storrscentral.com

Bazz is 5'11" on the nose

2014 NBA Draft Combine Measurements - NBADraft.net

Specializing in drafts with top players on the NBA horizon, player profiles, scouting reports, rankings and prospective international recruits.

www.nbadraft.net

 

[WrenchFan69]

Put Boat on the wall.

Without a doubt should be the next one up. And it should be this year.

 

[80shusky]

The things that always stood out to me about them is that they were both tremendous on-ball defenders and they were both obscenely clutch. That's why they're champions at any height.

 

[FlakeyFoont]

The Bazz to 5' 10" Boat alley-oops were always mind-blowing.

 

[Mike Honcho]

I don't want to completely dismiss what you are saying about Bazz, but he also had some really great range on his three and some of the quickest hands I've seen on defense.

There was a reason he was called the Reach-around Bandit.