Would BBD be much better if he lost 25-30 LBS?

[clover]

I don't understand what the fuss is all about. IMO, This thread is 2 years too late. Now not so much. If anything its insulting to call Big Baby FAT. Is this what an Overweight person looks like? 



Big Baby is one guy I never question his dedication to his craft. To go from where he was his rookie season, and now potentially NBA 6th man of the year. He has a great track record.

Yes, he looks overweight.  Whether he'd play better slimmed down is another question.

[BASS_THUMPER]

his plus to his game is his size..it helps make room for rebounds and keep taller post players at bay with his weight..

he cool where he at

[dmopower]

Yes he would be better if he lost 20 to 30 pounds.
 Barkley was a much better player at 265 than he was at his draft weight of 316, loseing girth dident hurt his game at all, helped in the exact way it would help Baby.
 Lose strength because he lost FAT, you are kidding me right.
I cant believe anyone actually believes this with all of the advancments made in conditioning the last 2 decades.

[mmbaby]

There are a lot of good arguments here either way. I prefer him the way he is, but what does he care what I think?

[Celtics4ever]

The correct answer is he'd be a different type of player.   Right now his bulk allows him to bang even with Centers but he definitely lacks lift.   It would help his defensive range and footspeed but I think it would hurt his ability to post up.   Personally, I think he is ok as he as a player now.   If this is over his missed dunk there is a lot more to basketball than flushing it.  Right now he sets a monster pick, too.

[ScoobyDoo]

Losing 20-25 pounds of pure, upper body fat off of a body that is 6'8" and 290 lbs, is going to have exactly "ZERO" impact on Big Baby's ability to move people around in the post, hold them off for rebounds or to generally hold his ground in the post.

Hang on, I take that back. That's not true.

The truth is, that if Baby dropped another 20 lbs and got even more cut he would no longer just be holding his own down there in the post with the other guys, he would likely have:

1. Increased lift
2. Increased foot speed
3. Increased agility and "strength". Yes, more strength.
4. Increase stamina
5. And instead of just holding his own down there, you might see Baby start actually "tossing" guys around.

The better shape that guy gets into, the more damage he'll wreak. He'd be leaner, stronger and more aggressive the better and better his body felt.

20 lbs is "nothing" off that body, especially if we're talking about pure fat. I mean look at the guy when he runs, you can see it jiggling under his shirt for ****. And I love Baby, as a player and a personality, always have and I hope he stays with us long term. He'as a gamer, he makes big plays and shots.

But even with the improvements he's made so far, he's still a fat Edited for profanity.  Please do not do it again. right now.

Even if he looses 20 lbs, he'd still be 275 - heaveir than 98 % of all NBA players, if not 99%  

To say it would hurt Baby if he lost 20 lbs would be like saying it would have hurt Shaq if he played at 330 his whole career instead of 350. Even at 300 lbs, shaq would have been a far more dominant player over the coourse of his career. He still would have weighed more than everyone else and would have been that much more cat quick and with that much more speed and stamina...

The Barkeley analogy is perfect.

Sorry for rambling on, but this is a fun discussion...

I'm a huge Big Baby fan, but I don't think he's even sniffed his full potential yet, and he won't until he gets into Karl Malone / Kendrick Perkins shape.

When he does that, we will know what his true celing is as an NBA player. I say it wold be sniffing 20 & 10 on a pretty regular basis.  

[droopdog7]

Losing 20-25 pounds of pure, upper body fat off of a body that is 6'8" and 290 lbs, is going to have exactly "ZERO" impact on Big Baby's ability to move people around in the post, hold them off for rebounds or to generally hold his ground in the post.

Disagree.  290 is 290.  And 265 ain't 290.  There are a lot of guys in that range that are much taller than BBD and would eat him alive.

[mmbaby]

That's an excellent post, Scooby and makes sense. The only thing I would add is that 98% of players don't have Baby's body frame. When Baby first came on the scene in college everyone was so amazed that this football player could be so good at basketball. It's very rare.

You may be right about everything, but I'm not sure I see 20-30 lbs on his stomach. He doesn't look fat to me; merely a little padded. His lift could probably be better with less to carry, but I'm not so sure.

One of the ways he's gotten around being shorter than average PFs is by just walling his way to the basket with his body and quick feet and hands. Do you really want to tear down that wall?

[ScoobyDoo]

Good points and this might be a discussion that's subjective, based on your body type or something.

For example, I weigh about 205 right now. I'm 5'10", waste is about 33. I'm heavy built naturally and I'm not "fat" but I could easily drop about 20 pounds of just "extra fat" hanging around. And I do it intermittenly, it takes me about 2-3 weeks of good eating and fairly regular trips to the gym.

The result? I'm much faster, quicker and a helluva alot stronger at 185 than at 205. The reason is because I'm a better athlete, in better shape. I'm not as slow and lethargic, the muscles are better defined and tuned and I'm just leaner and meaner mentally.

I look at Baby and I don't think to myself "If only he was a little fatter, he'd be that much more effective in the post".

I think the extra fat is a hindrance for him. Strength isn't based on fat or basic weight, it's based alot on your natural build - your natural frame, your natural muscle mass, the natural width of your chest, size or your wrists, natural strength of your hips, the natural size of the muscles in your legs and ass, etc.., It's why two guys who may weight the exact same weight can be miles apart in "natural strength" levels. Havent' you ever played against guys who are 20 pounds lighter than you who are tossing you all over the place? Or that you just can't move? They are just built that way...

I think Baby is just a naturally very powerful guy. He's a huge, powerful guy, naturally. I think there is an easy 20 lbs in there to "tone" off that body. Hell, you might even replace some of the fat loss with with muscle if you want and stay at around 275 I guess. That might be ok

But one thing for sure, the fat has to go and we won't see Baby's best unless he pulls a Perkins on us re his weight and training.

[snowball]

The theory of this thread is flawed.
Really don't know what you guys know
about human anatomy and skeletal structure
variations, but Big Baby is not going to lose
that much weight.
He can't. It's not fat. It's bones and muscle.
Look at his shoulders. Look at his legs and hip.
The guy is big boned.
Baby could probably only lose another 10 pounds
and still be a strong athlete.

[rondohondo]

The theory of this thread is flawed.
Really don't know what you guys know
about human anatomy and skeletal structure
variations, but Big Baby is not going to lose
that much weight.
He can't. It's not fat. It's bones and muscle.
Look at his shoulders. Look at his legs and hip.
The guy is big boned.
Baby could probably only lose another 10 pounds
and still be a strong athlete.

yea its all his big bones, that's it ......

go back in the thread and read some of the posts on his eating habits. If he is admitting on camera that he eats crispy cream donuts and they show him ordering food service ( pancakes and spaghetti) how much other crap is he eating off camera?

He can easily get into better shape and remain strong as a bull.

[mmbaby]

Snowball, I agree and I guess that's kind of what I was trying to say - just didn't want to be jumped on here. My son was a very big man and his bones were large, heavy and solid whereas my bones are like a birds and I can really look skinny. My son could never look thin, even when he was because of the sheer size of his bones.

Scooby, once again, your arguments are good and concise and you could be right. Maybe he would have more lift and endurance without the little bit of padding on the front.

So arguments are good both ways. I just get tired of some fans getting so down on him when he's been such a help to this team. If Baby hadn't been here, we'd have had no center, backup center or pf or backup pf in a lot of games and because he played well when called upon, he is a big part of why we are number one in the east today.

[mmbaby]

OMG, Rhondohondo, can't believe it. I didn't think it would happen so fast, though. Believe it or not, large and heavy bones are a fact and not an 'excuse'.

And God forbid any player in the NBA should ever eat a donut. Are you serious?

If you go back and take another look at that room service meal, you will realize that 1. all players eat room service when they are on the road. 2. all players have a certain meal they eat before games to give them carbs and strength and he was displaying what meal he uses for that. 3. The portion sizes were small for a man his size...3 pancakes and a salad size plate of spagetti and meat sauce. That's a small meal even for me and I'm 5'3".

Are you serious? Maybe we should forbid all players from eating regular food and they should only be allowed to eat granola. Baby knows, like all nba players, the best meal to eat before a game for him, and he was brave enough to show you, especially knowing there are those out there who will make fun of him for it.

NEXT.................

[rondohondo]

OMG, Rhondohondo, can't believe it. I didn't think it would happen so fast, though. Believe it or not, large and heavy bones are a fact and not an 'excuse'.

And God forbid any player in the NBA should ever eat a donut. Are you serious?

If you go back and take another look at that room service meal, you will realize that 1. all players eat room service when they are on the road. 2. all players have a certain meal they eat before games to give them carbs and strength and he was displaying what meal he uses for that. 3. The portion sizes were small for a man his size...3 pancakes and a salad size plate of spagetti and meat sauce. That's a small meal even for me and I'm 5'3".

Are you serious? Maybe we should forbid all players from eating regular food and they should only be allowed to eat granola. Baby knows, like all nba players, the best meal to eat before a game for him, and he was brave enough to show you, especially knowing there are those out there who will make fun of him for it.

NEXT.................

Sorry Pancakes and spaghetti isn't a great pre game meal. That's a bunch of sugar and sodium between the pancakes , syrup/butter on the pancakes and spaghetti sauce .  That stuff makes you crash after and initial bump in energy .  

If he wants to eat some good carbs before the game he could easily have a nice grilled chicken sandwich on some wheat bread with lettuce, tomato or something like that with a side of vegetables and some almonds or something like that .

That would provide him with all the good carbs he needs and wouldn't have a sugar crash .


Look I am not trying to bash BBD , I like him as a player a lot , but I just think he could be more effective with a better diet and losing a few LBS .

It's my opinion so if you don't like it don't read it

Next......

[nba is the worst]

I'm not sure why anyone thinks 20 extra pounds of fat makes someone stronger or more immovable. I'm not in any great shape and I can curl 20 lbs 30 times with one arm every few minutes, no problem. It's not alot of weight.

Taking twenty lbs of "upper body fat" off a 6'8" 290 lb body is going to have absolutely zero effect on Baby's strength or ability to maintain his position in the post.

To the contrary it will probably make him stronger: you'd be on the way to turning a doughboy into a physical house, with that much better foot speed and agility as well due to less weight slowing him down.

The extra 20 lbs of upper body fat Baby is carrying around isn't why he can hold his position against the biggest guys in the league.

It's because the guy is an unusually strong guy, naturally due to his frame and muscle mass. Not his "fat mass".

And could easily lose another 20 pounds of lose hanging fat under that shirt - even with all the noticelable improvment in this area he has already made.   

Agree 100%.

Good rebounding has nothing to do with weight - ask Dennis Rodman!