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High-flying Jeremy Evans brings back the vertical threat to Dallas

Jeremy Evans 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Champion Highlights

Jeremy Evans won the 2012 Sprite Slam Dunk contest, defeating Houston's Chase Budinger in a tight race.

For as much attention being paid to floor spacing in today’s NBA, one element of stretching a defense has gone somewhat unnoticed: verticality.

That might not be so, at least, with Steve Kerr, Erik Spoelstra, and surely other coaches, who do not underestimate the effect big men with long arms and impressive verticals have on defense. “I think (Spoelstra) calls it vertical spacing, which was a great term,” Kerr said in Dallas last season.