That article comparing Ben to Dalton Knecht aged like a banana. Hope the young man figures it out.
Pregame: Illinois vs Chicago State, Sunday, December 29th, 1:00pm CT, BTN
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Both are areas that need attention. And soon. And I don't think one is more imperative than the other. The turnovers are not all KJs; it's a team thing.
I have to wonder how well they would do in a quality D3 conference like the CCIW.
sacraig
- The desert
Does it, though?
Any competent trainer is going to know how to train their team in a way that is good for the relevant sport. Weightlifting is just a convenient scapegoat for people's problems. It's harder to admit you're struggling against better competition. And less satisfying to just say you're slumping with no real cause and just need time.
After destroying CSU and covering the spread, the Illini will have a 7 - 2 non-conference record (Duke in Feb).
At the beginning of the year, I'd take that record in a heartbeat.
At the present time, though, 8 - 1 should've been the record. But, we move on!
At the beginning of the year, I'd take that record in a heartbeat.
At the present time, though, 8 - 1 should've been the record. But, we move on!
So much this. Anyone who has gone though it at any of those levels will get it. And, Fletch and staff are pros at this, so I guarantee you they are making sure to balance the weight training with shooting time to keep things level.
And I'll add this, Ben needs to gain strength, especially in his lower body. A big part of his struggles on defense are because he's so easily moved off his spot. Case in point in the last game, the post player for miznoz just gently moved Ben out of the way so Perkins could glide in and dunk on him. So many times you see Ben just been moved backwards with little to no resistance and ultimately giving up point blank looks in the paint. He needs to live in the weight room and at the training table if he wants to see time on the court.
Plus your shot is always a work in process, that could be a reason they have practice.
I weight trained for several years while playing basketball and never seemed to affect my shot. In fact I could get in a groove where I could tell if it was going in the second it left my fingers. Then I went about 5 years of hard-core weight training while not playing basketball when a friend asked me to start playing bball with them one night a weak. Let me tell you my touch was completely gone. I had no idea what the ball was going to do when it left my hand lol. I was embarrassed of how much my shooting skills had diminished, but hey with the bulk I had gained I could push people around on the floor easier. The thing is as long as you don't overdue the strength training while playing it should not affect your shooting. I have heard players say that they got carried away with the weights and noticed it was affecting their shots and had to back off. Once they did their shooting went back to normal.
sacraig
- The desert
I might argue the 5 years without playing basketball had something to do with the loss of touch.
That was partially my point. The other being I added on 25lbs of muscle, well mostly, over that same time period.
DICKnaggie
- Champaign
No. It really does not, if you understand exercise and sport science like the incredible professionals who guide our program.
Chad Fleck
- Eureka, IL
I've gained 30 pounds of mostly muscle in the last 10 years, but I've played basketball 2-3 times per week for my cardio portion of exercise. I don't think my shot ever was really impacted.
As long as you keep everything in balance like you have. It shouldn't be an issue.
Illinicpa14
- Chicago
I think the killer from our fan base is if we either close out NW or finish off Tennessee we’re really cooking as a top 3-4 seed.
That said we won relatively close against Wisconsin and Mizzou so it kind of evens out…
Following up from my last post, I don’t think it’s outrageous to think that a dramatic change in strength training can affect a player’s shot, especially from deep.
Ben doesn’t even look like the same guy as he did a year ago. Doesn’t take a lot of mental gymnastics to think that being leaner and stronger could make the mechanics of shooting different. The difference between the amount of effort put into a 22’ three point attempt going in versus being a couple inches off isn’t much.
People here have said that it’s the competition and speed of the game that is the problem, but I’ve seen him standing wide open missing these shots. Could be confidence, could be rushed. Could be all of the above. But dismissing a complete body transformation playing into a complete shooting transformation doesn’t seem out of line to me.
Ben doesn’t even look like the same guy as he did a year ago. Doesn’t take a lot of mental gymnastics to think that being leaner and stronger could make the mechanics of shooting different. The difference between the amount of effort put into a 22’ three point attempt going in versus being a couple inches off isn’t much.
People here have said that it’s the competition and speed of the game that is the problem, but I’ve seen him standing wide open missing these shots. Could be confidence, could be rushed. Could be all of the above. But dismissing a complete body transformation playing into a complete shooting transformation doesn’t seem out of line to me.
I don't really buy it unless you just stopped playing basketball for a significant period of time and only worked on strength training.
You're not getting stronger overnight and these guys are basically shooting everyday so it's just a gradual adjustment not something that's going to throw a shot off.
It's also not like anyone is gaining so much weight that they're losing flexibility. Id also highly doubt that they're working hard enough close to games that they are sore or fatigued for a game.
I would guess Dee's jump shot issues as a senior would more be the result of being the focal point of the offense and far worse ball movement without Deron and Luther which lead to more contested shot attempts. Also just a higher volume season.
Also, it gets lost a bit but the college season is short so each season is a fairly small sample size and even guys that shoot a lot might put up only 120-150 3pt attempts during a season. Short cold or hot streaks that last a few games can drastically impact a shooters overall percentage and how they are perceived.
Basically you're not necessarily seeing the true shooting talent of you're just looking at percentages over a small sample size.
All I know about shooting is, we need to get Ben and Riley in gear from deep. Both of them, as we know, can be very dangerous 3pt. shooters. If it's a matter of confidence, Chicago State could help us out. The game will be like a practice session. Expecting quite a few more minutes from Booth; I haven't given up on this guy.
That's a good point about sample size.
I don't know if bulking up too much was the cause of Dee's slump. But Dee thought so and he knew a little bit about shooting basketballs so I'm not going to dismiss it.
In general, building the wrong kind of muscle is bad for jump shooting. There's a reason you don't see many elite jump shooters who look like Shawn Kemp or Blake Griffin.
Fletcher knows this which is why I doubt BH's specific struggles are caused by lifting.
I am not an expert on this issue but I do remember they bulked Efrem Winters up and he lost his shooting touch.
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
The Northwestern game sticks for me. When you have a game on the road where you are the better team, you have to win it. Road games are just too precious to let slip away.
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