Parsons puttin in work! <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4DDOdOhUSF0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Now...that is an improved jump shot form. Straight up and releasing, plenty of arc, no fade. Can he bring it to the game?
According to twitter, he's been on his grind... 6 am workout consisting of 4 miles of hills, stairs, benches, parks.
I admire his work ethic, but I'd wish he'd focus mostly on training on the court. Basketball isn't played on an incline.
I imagine that is only his morning workout... He probably does bball drills/etc in the afternoon. Last offseason, Lebron & Durant were doing a whole lot of cardio, agility, etc together. Explosiveness, agility, speed, stamina all translate to on-court success.
Not sure how much working out you have done in the past, but just to let you know that this workout is focusing on strengthening his muscles in his legs that allow for more "explosive" movements. I would say thats something a basketball player should try improve on, no? The dude is working out, and not tweeting about Madden 2012 all day long. This is a positive thing RV6.
You can gain all those things in other ways. My issue was with him doing so much incline work, like going up hills, stairs, and benches over 4 miles. That doesn't translate to on court production enough to put 4 miles worth or work in. I did say i admired his work ethic, definitely a positive, but it would be wrong to assume his workouts are perfectly designed just because he's pro athlete. As a 2nd yr guy, especially one without a ton of money, there's no guarantee he's got a top notch trainer on his payroll. Even Tmac, as an all-star, had a trainer who was not qualified to train him. Sometimes players get too comfortable or familiar with someone to realize that's not who they need to keep improving. That's not to say this trainer may not get him in good shape, but in shape for what, is the question. There's something called the specificity of training principle, which basically states your training should be specific to the sport you're training for. When you jump, like in basketball, you use triple extension of you hip, knee, and ankle. When you're going up an incline, you're using the hip flexors primarily to get up the next step. It's not the same movement. Yes, there's some hip flexion involved in jumping and running, but not at the same angle. This isn't a great example, but i'll use it to illustrate my point, if you're trying to get the arc right on your jumper, would you tilt the hoop differently from where it normall is? How would that help you get the correct arc? I can see some benefit in trying it just to get a different feel for the release, so that it may hep overall ball control, but you shouldn't spend a significant amount or time or reps on it.
Ok, I get what your saying now. If someone told me, I want to be Running Back for my high school football team, this would be a workout I might put him through on day 1 if I was training him. Pretty basic cardio blast for your lower body + working on your "exploding" muscles. Obviously this isn't the advanced plyometrics you would expect to see professional athletes take on in the offseason, but given the timeline where he is 3 weeks away from training camp(1 day away from being back in Houston) I would say that his trainer is probably putting him through a cardio blast type of workout for a week or so just strickly to focus on getting his cardio level back up to a level where he wont risk injury in training camp. Orlando Hoops seems to be pretty well recieved among the basketball community. I dont know the skill level of their training staff, but I do know that it is strickly basketball player focused. If Doc Rivers sends his son to train there in the offseason along with many other College players, Im sure they know a little bit about basketball specific workouts. I think he will be ok. Maybe next year he can "afford" Tim Grover. For now, Orlando Hoops will have to do.
"aw mane, somebody betta cover the paint, before I come through the lane, like Chandler Bang" Really, though? I mean, really?
I'm sure he'll be in good shape and this place has credibility, but it doesn't mean it can't get any better. Doc Rivers was never a great physical talent and neither is his son, so i'm not sure it's saying much that they recommend the place. It could just be a local place (i believe he still lives in orlando) someone else recommended. Don't get me wrong, money doesn't buy everything, but it helps. This place deals with younger players, not many pros. Parsons is basically their #1 client. Looking at their training staff, i'd say they are primarily in their early to mid 20s. Their lead trainer has a bachelor's in sports management, not physio, coaching, kinesiology, physical edu, etc.. The founder majored in computer engineering. He's working on his Phd, but in psychology. He has been in business since 95, so that's good, but what all this tells me is he's more like a youth coach, who's trying to help guys get to college and become NBA prospects. This may be enough for Parsons in the immediate future, since he's still in need of polishing some offensive fundamentals. However, i hope he finds a more versatile training gym/staff, with more experience and formal training, if he wants to reach and maintain his full potential.
I like how they have the net near the rim, forcing him to put arc on his shots. Parsons would often times fire a line drive shot reminded me of Eddie Griffin.
