The demise of the captain has been greatly exaggerated

[Roy H.]

Folks, I don't play professional sports but yet, I use the exercise bike, 5 or more times a week, lift dumbbells 3 times per week, and cable row 2 times per week. And on my off days, I basically stretch and do some basic yoga calisthenics.

So I don't understand this being out-of-shape off season nonsense from professional athletes.

Swas
  I'd say those guys could exercise significantly more than you and still be out of shape. Do you think KG and Paul are running around with beer guts out there? The term "out of shape" means something different for them than for you.

I think you've completely missed my point. I am not a professional athlete. I have no incentive to work out, besides my own personal pride in not looking like a typical office worker.

If I were independently wealthy, meaning that I didn't have to work at a desk, 50 hours per week, I'd be doing martial arts, lifting weights, yoga, etc, probably 2 hours per day, and be ready for C's training camp. I don't believe numerous professional athletes, aside from let's say Kareem (see the Bruce Lee comment) or certain members of the armed forces, have this type of dedication in getting themselves in shape, ready to take on the world.

And remember, b-ball games are only 48 minutes per contest. The Army Rangers and Navy Seals brigades have to endure a lot more, just to complete an ordinary mission, carrying a ton of equipment. I don't believe that during the off season, that these athletes are dedicated to getting themselves into top shape for the regular season. I think they basically slack off, hit the beaches, and then use the threadmill during the final week or two, before the season.

Really what is so hard to understand? If you have played competative sports before its pretty obvious, if not, well I guess it isn't so obvious.

Its in game shape not just in shape. You get it by playing in games, not practice and not by training for a marathon. Unless he had the opportunity to play in 48 min basketball games with nba bball players you aren't going to be in shape. Not to mention that pierce was completely out with an injury anyway.

Yeah, there are two different types of "game shape".

One is conditioning.  I tend to agree that there's no legitimate excuse for a healthy player to be fat and/or sucking wind on the court.  If they had to recover from injury during the off-season, fine, but otherwise their conditioning should be there.

The other type of "game shape" is more the mental aspect.  Readjusting to the speed of the game, the timing, the instincts, etc.  It seems like every season there's a lot of rust that needs to be knocked off, and I'm not sure that anything other than playing professional basketball prepares you for that.

[TitleMaster]

Really what is so hard to understand? If you have played competative sports before its pretty obvious, if not, well I guess it isn't so obvious.

Its in game shape not just in shape. You get it by playing in games, not practice and not by training for a marathon. Unless he had the opportunity to play in 48 min basketball games with nba bball players you aren't going to be in shape. Not to mention that pierce was completely out with an injury anyway.

Yeah, there are two different types of "game shape".

One is conditioning.  I tend to agree that there's no legitimate excuse for a healthy player to be fat and/or sucking wind on the court.  If they had to recover from injury during the off-season, fine, but otherwise their conditioning should be there.

Yes, I was primarily referencing this, and we've seen quite a number of winded players during Nov/Dec time frames.

And even a person, with an injured leg can use one of those seated arm bicycles for cardiovascular.

The other type of "game shape" is more the mental aspect.  Readjusting to the speed of the game, the timing, the instincts, etc.  It seems like every season there's a lot of rust that needs to be knocked off, and I'm not sure that anything other than playing professional basketball prepares you for that.

This is where adjunct training, like martial arts, archery, fencing, etc, keep the mental juices following, along with the overall physical conditioning. Yes, there's always rust, along with the body simply not cooperating in tandem but the fact of the matter is that the mind-body connection can be trained and enhanced off season.

Here's a side note on that notion ... why hasn't Rondo gotten a hypnotist for his free throws? I guarantee that along with brain wave training (alpha/theta plus gamma), that Rondo's contribution on the stripe will go up. If your subconscious mind believes that you can hit free throws, you will hit free throws.

[Boris Badenov]

Right on cue, here is the Big Ticket's view:

"You have no idea how hard it is to get ready for an NBA season -- to prepare, drills, sand hills, sand dunes, lines, running, weights, beach, 4:30 [a.m.] workouts, two-a-days [but] it still is not an NBA game. You can do all that stuff, you can do all the conditioning and stuff, and all the shooting that you want. It's still not an NBA game."

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4688878/pierce-and-the-amazing-expectations

[TitleMaster]

KG:   ...drills, sand hills, sand dunes, lines, running, weights, beach, 4:30 [a.m.] workouts, two-a-days [but] it still is not an NBA game. You can do all that stuff, you can do all the conditioning and stuff, and all the shooting that you want. It's still not an NBA game....

Hmm ... word has it that Pierce was at a Poker tournament during the off season ...

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4685620/pierce-ousted-at-wsop

Holding up a hand of cards doesn't qualify as a mind-body exercise.

Sorry, I'm not buying this *Navy Seals workout*, not helping one's NBA season, esp considering that many players don't have such an arduous routine.

And waking up at 4:30AM, instead of 7-8 AM, is not a great idea esp since b-ball games are played in the evening. This isn't a college rowing team, where everyone's in the boat at 5AM.

[Celtics4ever]

There is basketball shape and in shape.  The two are entirely different things as I see it.   

[SHAQATTACK]

Captn...is getting his wind back I'd say, but he still looks pudgy to me . Shoulda been training and eating right instead of screwing around with that lockout situation.

Long as his injuries are minor , Paul can improve and be respectable force yet.

KG is a different story , he moves like grandma Moses.

GO GET EM CAPTN !!!!

[TitleMaster]

Ok, I'd a chance to speak with a semi-prof tennis player. She'd studied a form of martial arts/qigong called Ba Gua. Much of that east Asian training involved working close to the ground and moving in circles, with a myriad of spins, while exacting focused upper body biomechanics.

Her experience was that Ba Gua, in effect, made it possible for her to not only achieve instant mental focus in tennis, but was able to react to her opponents better and in grueling matches, she never ran out of steam. She attributes her martial arts conditioning to various matches, where she'd beaten better tennis players on endurance alone.