Tony said it on today's Locked On with David Locke
It's THT szn bitches
It's THT szn bitches
It may not have been the biggest limiting factor but if he has less bad weight it will help everything. You can get to your spots with a little more speed it can improve your decision making in that you have more options or more clean passing lanes. May not help the jumper a ton but shooting starts with legs and having less strain there may help with consistency of mechanics... its a bit of a stretch but it can't hurt.I'm hoping he had time to work on his jumpshot. I don't think his body was ever a limiting factor for him. His jump shot and improved IQ will be the the make or break factors.
Not sure it applies to NBA guys but man when my weight fluctuates 5-10 lbs I feel it in my jumper... I also think it will help turn some of those impossible layup attempts into something that resembles a normal basketball play. Losing some of the bad weight does not hurt THT in the strength department (as some have suggested) and will make a little quicker... might make those spins a little more tight too.THT already greatly improved his jumper by just setting his feet more often in the 2nd half of the season. He's about to be unstoppable
Man that first half must have been REALLY rough if he was good for the second half of the season and finished the season at 28%.THT already greatly improved his jumper by just setting his feet more often in the 2nd half of the season. He's about to be unstoppable
Pre AS was 26% from 3... so yeah... he had some room for improvement.Man that first half must have been REALLY rough if he was good for the second half of the season and finished the season at 28%.
It may not have been the biggest limiting factor but if he has less bad weight it will help everything. You can get to your spots with a little more speed it can improve your decision making in that you have more options or more clean passing lanes. May not help the jumper a ton but shooting starts with legs and having less strain there may help with consistency of mechanics... its a bit of a stretch but it can't hurt.
I mean these things are not mutually exclusive but Kevin Love dropped the fat and ended up and became a lights out shooter. Julius Randle also got shredded and his skill level increased. Jokic is another example.Meh...his weight is not even in the top 5 things I think he needs to work on. His body and athleticism are the only things keeping him in the league in the first place. Yeah, he's a bigger dude but I think people are just obsessed with calling NBA players fat/lazy whenever they can. Seems a little weird to focus on that stuff when his shooting/decision making is so poor. If he can develop just one or the other, he will likely be a long term player in this league. Of course he can get into better shape, almost every player can, but a little skill development would go a lot further than him getting in picture perfect shape. Getting to that point where he can either 1) be a reliable ball handler/decision maker or 2) good enough shooter where he can play off the ball is paramount. Can't think of a single time where a player had a major skill development and his weight loss was ever considered as a key factor in that development, so yeah I'd say it's a stretch.
Man that first half must have been REALLY rough if he was good for the second half of the season and finished the season at 28%.
Post-ASB he shot 39% from 3 on C&S with 2 attempts per game.I mean these things are not mutually exclusive but Kevin Love dropped the fat and ended up and became a lights out shooter. Julius Randle also got shredded and his skill level increased. Jokic is another example.
I don't think it was because of the weight loss that they got more "skilled" but it helps them be better at basketball... its also a sign that they are putting in the work everywhere. Body transformation and weight loss are much less fun than skill dev. If true I would not discount the weight loss as a "meh". Part of being "skilled" is doing things better... but you can also do them faster and stronger. Less bad weight will help and it likely has more to do with diet than activity level... I mean if his body and athleticism are what is keeping him in the league why not improve on those things? Like Steph worked on his shot but also improved his body tremendously and that is part of what has made him more "skilled".
I mean these things are not mutually exclusive but Kevin Love dropped the fat and ended up and became a lights out shooter. Julius Randle also got shredded and his skill level increased. Jokic is another example.
I don't think it was because of the weight loss that they got more "skilled" but it helps them be better at basketball... its also a sign that they are putting in the work everywhere. Body transformation and weight loss are much less fun than skill dev. If true I would not discount the weight loss as a "meh". Part of being "skilled" is doing things better... but you can also do them faster and stronger. Less bad weight will help and it likely has more to do with diet than activity level... I mean if his body and athleticism are what is keeping him in the league why not improve on those things? Like Steph worked on his shot but also improved his body tremendously and that is part of what has made him more "skilled".
To be fair, 70 lbs of muscle would slow almost anyone down.I remember when CJ Miles added 10 lbs of muscle and was ready to make the leap that year. . . .for 7 years straight.
this is unprovable... and I don't think you can just rule it out. Look at the jump in Jokic's numbers specifically... weight loss played a clear role in his improvement. He is more nimble and able to do weird one foot jumpers in part because he's not carrying around extra bad weight. In the other cases it might just have been part of what they were working on. In all cases its a good sign they have their **** together and are working on all the things.Personally, I would not attribute those skill developments to losing weight. Fairly clear case of correlation not being causation.
Better 3 point shooting? Probably not... but better overall shooting? Sure. Being a half a beat faster turns a circus shot into a normal contested layup. Sooooo much of shooting is in the legs that I don't think you can truly just say being in better shape doesn't affect the jumper. Being able to consistently have your legs under you is key. AD has added weight/muscle and his jump shot has gone in the tank. Could just be coincidence.A lot of guys get more skilled as they get older even as their athleticism gets worse, I actually think this is the most typical case. Being in better shape does make you better at basketball, I don't think it makes you a more skilled player. It may make you need less (or more) skill, but it doesn't increase or decrease the skill itself. I suppose you could say the result is the only thing that matters, but I really think you're reaching if you're looking at weight loss as a sign for better shooting.
I get it... and the improvements aren't mutually exclusive. I just think 20 lbs is significant and should be treated with more than a "meh" if true. We aren't talking about Ochai losing 3 lbs of fat so he has an 8 pack instead of a 6 pack... we are talking about a guy who did good things with the weight he had... now he supposedly has shed 20 lbs of bad weight and those good things will be better. Like if he ends up shooting 10% more of his shots at the rim... and is shooting 10% better on those shots it opens up other things for him and others. Players may play so far off him that his pullup becomes more of a catch and shoot opportunity. Just because something is a strength doesn't mean it can't be improved and in fact it might have more ability to be improved.It also goes both ways. If you increase your skill level and technique, you can be a better athlete at the same exact weight and body composition. Sure, if you're a split second faster or marginally more explsoive you may need less "skill" to complete the play. But in THT's case, it's so clear and cut what he needs to work on. His body/athleticism are his best attributes whereas his shooting is awful and his decision making is not up to snuff for a lead ball handler. Weight loss isn't a bad thing, but what will make or break his career is his skill development. He's not going to get to that 35% 3 point shooting by shedding weight, for example.