Blazers adjust their snoozing -- to stop losing

[worzel gummidge]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindbla...op_losing.html

By then, the players understood McMillan's reasoning. He wanted the team to stay up late in order to keep their bodies, and sleep patterns, on Portland time. It was all part of the Blazers' new approach to how they travel, and more specifically, how they sleep when they travel. Flight departures were altered. Morning shootarounds canceled. Curfews relaxed. All so the Blazers players could get better sleep. At the seed of the changes was Dr. Charles Czeisler, a gray-haired professor who works at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and heads Harvard Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine. Czeisler, who has also worked with NASA astronauts and the U.S. Olympic Committee, stresses the importance of getting enough sleep each night and keeping the body's internal clocks in sync by maintaining consistent sleep patterns. Inside the Blazers locker room, he has become known simply as "The Sleep Doctor." And although he has never made a basket, or set any screens, many on the team feel The Sleep Doctor has played a major factor in the Blazers' drastically improved play on the road this season. ...Roberts suggested Czeisler, with whom he attended medical school with at Stanford. After Jensen heard Czeisler's prediction that he could improve the Blazers' performance by 15 to 20 percent, he was transfixed. ...Czeisler was taken aback. It was the classic scenario for sleep deprivation. "It immediately became obvious that their approach from the moment they left Portland was very disruptive for sleep," Czeisler said. ...Online: To view a documentary on the relationships between sleep, health and performance by Harvard Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine, visit www.understandingsleep.org

[thelasik]

Should have posted the whole article, you cut out a lot of good stuff.

[baller4life315]

Interesting read but if I see one more thread about the Blazers i'm going to start hurting people!!

[Spacemoth]

15-20% is absurd.
It reminds me of a college schedule, and realistically is not much different for a lot of these NBA players, many of whom skipped college entirely. Portland especially since they're so young.

What happens if you switch from 8am classes to noon classes? Yeah you will sleep a bit more, but you'll also stay up a lot later too . It's a dangerous tradeoff with players that like to go out a lot, since they now have a lot more time to do so. Maybe this is why Portland tried so hard to get rid of anyone that would have resembled belonging to the former Jailblazers.

[Crush]

Originally Posted by Spacemoth 15-20% is absurd. It reminds me of a college schedule, and realistically is not much different for a lot of these NBA players, many of whom skipped college entirely. Portland especially since they're so young. What happens if you switch from 8am classes to noon classes? Yeah you will sleep a bit more, but you'll also stay up a lot later too . It's a dangerous tradeoff with players that like to go out a lot, since they now have a lot more time to do so. Maybe this is why Portland tried so hard to get rid of anyone that would have resembled belonging to the former Jailblazers.

Except that when traveling, they have to wake up EARLIER than 8am. That's what you're missing.

And, if they do get better sleep, 100% great sleep, 15-20% will be there. Easily. Sleep is extremely important. Take this from a recovering insomniac. I see you seem to have some experience with that too. But trust me, once I'm well rested, I feel and achieve like a superhero

[Shroopy2]

You see snoozing as the subject and think boring, but the full article is a decent little read. Even if its all placebo effect, the sleep doctor might have been the difference from Portland being in our out the playoffs. Or if they play well enough the rest of the season, getting possible home court in the 1st round.

You can tell its a young team by how eager they wanted to improve their sleeping techniques. Older guys dont care so much about that stuff

[roslolian]

Damn, and we thought WE were cutting edge. That team has moneyball for scouting, a body mass doctor determining ideal body weight, a psychologist and now a sleep doctor? What's next? A ballet instructor to teach them to be graceful on court? A feng shui expert to dispel bad vibes? Four leaf clovers all around for that extra lucky shot?

Still the benefits of good sleep cannot be disputed. Having a good rest results in a more alert mind, enhanced reflexes and more energy. You really have to hand it Pritchard and his crew for their open-mindedness. These Blazers have everything-overflowing youthful talent, a franchise star, a great coach, a savvy GM and a blank check for an owner.

LOL too bad they picked Oden over Durant. Pritchard probably still has nightmares about that :D

[Crush]

Originally Posted by Shroopy2 You see snoozing as the subject and think boring, but the full article is a decent little read. Even if its all placebo effect, the sleep doctor might have been the difference from Portland being in our out the playoffs. Or if they play well enough the rest of the season, getting possible home court in the 1st round. You can tell its a young team by how eager they wanted to improve their sleeping techniques. Older guys dont care so much about that stuff

Oh boy, trust me it is no placebo effect. There is no need to cite no studies, sleep makes everything better. Makes you strong and smart. Not sleeping is why I'm flipping out here in this thread in the first place!

Of course, that begs the question, I probably feel this way only because I regularly go without. But then, who better than someone with experience with just how important sleep is?

Besides, if you find no benefit from sleep you are probably not too bright anyway and kind of girly so there's nothing to restore :D