Two basketball coaches, A and B, are talking.
A says to B: "Your tallest player is 6 inches taller than my tallest player!"
B says to A: "Yes, but your second-tallest player is 8 inches taller than my second tallest player."
A says to B: "Hmm. My second-tallest player is 4 inches shorter than my tallest player."
Make a drawing, and tell the difference in heights of Coach B's two tallest players.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer is There are several possible arrangements. One of these arrangements is illustrated by the figure below, which helps show that the difference asked for (BT vs. B2T) is 18 inches. (BT is Coach B's tallest player and B2T is Coach B's second-tallest player.) Students may assign an arbitrary number to the height of B's tallest player rather than rely on their drawing. Point out that they have unnecessarily (probably) ignored their drawing in arriving at their answer. <img src="https://d2lvgg3v3hfg70.cloudfront.net/TBMC1056/11eddf53_a38b_2c00_b94d_c1e81fc2f76a_TBMC1056_00.jpg" alt="There are several possible arrangements. One of these arrangements is illustrated by the figure below, which helps show that the difference asked for (BT vs. B2T) is 18 inches. (BT is Coach B's tallest player and B2T is Coach B's second-tallest player.) Students may assign an arbitrary number to the height of B's tallest player rather than rely on their drawing. Point out that they have unnecessarily (probably) ignored their drawing in arriving at their answer.  " class="answers-bank-image d-block" rel="preload" >

Two Basketball Coaches, a and B, Are Talking