Nick Collison, 6-10 255, is a big wimp. From ESPN: Strength matters Each player is tested to see how many time he can bench press 185 pounds. San Diego's Jason Keep shattered the record this year, lifting the bar 27 times. BYU's Travis Hansen also shocked many observers when he benched the bar 17 times. Hansen was the real star of the combine. He also recorded a 38-inch vertical jump and set a Chicago record in a cone drill that gauges lateral quickness. Milicic got the bar up 14 times, a very impressive number for a big man. The longer your arms, the longer distance you have to lift the bar. Anthony did eight reps. But the big surprise was Nick Collison, who managed to lift the bar only four times, according to sources. That will hurt his stock come draft day. Many teams have him pegged as a tough low post guy. The lack of strength will hurt him at the next level. Ford was, according to sources the only player unable to bench press 185 even one time. Teams knew he wasn't very strong, but only a handful of players in the last decade have been unable to lift the bar once.
I think Ford definitely needs to bulk up or he won't make it in the NBA, even with his quickness and court vision.
From my experiences, a lot of people arent really weight lifting strong, but they make up for it with their technique, explosiveness or whatever it is. But I honestly expected Collison to be a little stronger than that.
I wonder if Iverson could lift 185. I'm surprised they got that many of the high profile players like Carmelo, TJ, and Milicic to do the testing. Those guys that are projected to go in the top 5 or 10 or so can only hurt their stock by agreeing to do these tests.
Speaking of bench press, does anyone know how much guys like Shaq, Karl Malone and Ben Wallace are lifting (max)? What are the record in the NBA in bench press?
I recall hearing that Avery Johnson could put up 400 lbs. I don't think many could top that mark. Maybe someone like Kevin Willis could give the little general a run for his money.
What are you serious???I know that Earl Boykins can bench press in the 300's. I think your mistaken Avery for Earl, but maybe not!
The strongest player in the NBA as far as I know is Gary Trent. He was supposely benching like 450+ when he was in Dallas.
I remember watching Inside Stuff, and they said Ben Wallace benches like 430. I remember when Kevin Willis was the the Rockets, he benched 400 lbs seven times.
UT has one of the best college strength coaches in Todd Wright. Bench press is not something that would be trained that much since it is not very transferrable to basketball. Basketball players focus more on squats, olympic lifts, and military press. Also TJ had supposedly never worked out until he came to UT. TJ was supposed to have one of the highest squats (400 I think) on the team, and with a legit 40+ inch vertical he definitely has the power and explosiveness. People put too much emphasis on bulk for basketball players. You don't even need to be that big for a post player, much less for a guard/wing. TJ will be just fine, but he does need to add some weight (Probably 10 pounds) but that shouldn't be very hard.
Shaq was fairly weak, relatively speaking, when he came into the NBA. I'm not sure if he could even bench 300 lbs. Greg Kite used to outlift him when he was in Orlando. I'm sure Shaq could do 300 lbs. now since he's umm... bulked up, and added about 50-60 lbs to his frame.
Bench press stats are overrated. It's hard for big men to bench a lot, because of their long arms. Collison can bang inside with the best of them, no matter what his bench stats say.
Ummm, no. Unless that 185 pounds has a trigger and shoots, or unless the end of it is small enough for him to inhale.
god some of these players are weak as hell, i'm 5'9 and 160lb and i can even bench 225lb once...and i haven't even stepped in a gym in years. For professional -or soon to be professional- athletes, that's sad.
I don't know if any of ya'll realize this, but in HS Iverson was a better FB prospect than BB prospect. I think he was a QB or CB if I remember correctly, #1 prospect in the country in both sports if I'm not mistaken. In other words, I would bet on Iverson being able to bench 185+, he's a lot tougher & probably stronger than he looks.
I don't know about the whole country, but he was the top player in both sports in Virgina. What's funny about that is, I'm pretty sure he missed most of his senior basketball season because he was in jail
I recall Sean Elliot talking about AI as an athlete during a telecast. Elliot said that Iverson ran a 4:30 mile. Elliot himself was in track and field at Arizona and he was able to run a mile in a little less than 5 minutes. Iverson is a freak of nature with his speed and ability, and I think there is no way that TJ Ford can be a quicker version of Iverson.
