bart Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Given our woeful shooting, several of us posted that we hoped one of our "shooters" would take about 500 jump shots a day in the off season in hope that some improvement would result. That may not be enough in this day and age. I'm hanging in the Miami area on vacation and have caught several of the Orange Bowl roundball tourney games on TV. Louisville has been down here playing. Taquanh Dean was interviewed. He spent the summer at the Jersey shore - running several miles in the morning in the sand wearing a 30 pound vest. He then went to the gym for weight training and later to the court for 1,000 shots while wearing extra weight (after running and lifting). A couple days later I read an interview with Pitino in the SUN SENTINEL and he was asked about Dean - "he worked his tail off in the offseason ahd came back with 15 more pounds of solid muscle, EIGHT more inches to his vertical leap, and a determination to prove he is more than just a jump shooter." Having had Billiken season tickets for over 25 years, our weight program speaks for itself. It has been woeful. I don't remember anyone picking up 8" in thier vertical in 4 years much less one year. Now I fear that our hope that someone will take 500 shots in the offrseason is only half a workout for the workout warriors in big time DI programs. My fear is that our level of expectations in the program general will not lead to a consistent top 50 program which is what we supposedly aspire to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 to claim a high level player like Dean added 8 inches to his vertical leap in one off-season training period sounds like a bit much to me. Do I think Rick Pitino would stretch the truth several inches..........yes, I do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Maybe he bought those special shoes they sell in the back of sports magazines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 kramer wore those jimmy shoes and he got to sing for mel torme, so maybe something could come from that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Majerus Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Men have a reputation for lying about number of inches...:+ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Those vertical leap training programs are absolutely brutal, but they work if you stick to them. A list of them are available here: http://www.powerbasketball.com/jump_revised.html I actually tried the Air Alert program for a few weeks a number of years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taj79 Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 While I agree that the 8-inch vertical leap claim has as much validity as some listed program heights do, the tangent here has taken over the substance. I think what bart was expressing was concern over a significant difference in "workout" programs ... the Bills and just about anyone else's in the higher D1 programs that we aspire to be. I could share that concern as well knowing the long-bemoaned state of our weight-training program but just don't know if I'd believe a shyster like Slick Rick. I think it will take a super human effort on anyone's part ... no matter who steps up to the plate. Be it Lisch, Polk, Liddell, Maguire, whomever. I jsut hope for the most part that its supervised in some way. Went to a golf clinic once and the guy discussed the practice range. Asked who in the audience hits 'em 300 yards. If there were 50 folks there, about 45 or 46 hands went up. He then added "consistently" to his question. Surprisingly, one two or three hands dropped down. Then he asked the questions about who did it consistently on the course. Every hand went down. Then he raised the question what if what you're doing is wrong. So you're out there, with the huge bucket of balls, constantly hitting and rehitting the shots THE WRONG WAY. What is that reinforcing in your swing? Same thing with shooting. I hope these 500 or 1000 shots are taken the right way. Dean will play at the next level. His work ethic does not surprise me. Running in that sand is making money for him later on. I doubt 17- to 19-year old kids see it that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crymdg2 Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 David, I too tried the Air Alert program. It was incredibly demanding and very difficult. I do think though if one was to follow the program throughout the 12 week schedule that 8 inches is definately possible. Even with dad pushing me very hard on it, I think the furthest I got on it was 5 or 6 weeks. If the dedication is there I don't see why 8 inches on someones vertical jump is so ridiculous. On a side note, our own Larry Hughes actually promotes the Air Alert program, he jumps pretty well doesn't he? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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