2 Porzingis thoughts

[Amar'e_Juwanna]

1: regarding injury prevention: don't put on too much weight. Kareem was mad tall but was very durable... he was lanky af though. Obviously its important that KP develop strength, especially in his lower body, so that he can better exert his physicality on both sides of the ball, but I think adding too much muscle mass is a bad idea. With a body like his, I'd err on the side of slighter build and greater nimbility/agility for the sake of minimizing pressure on his bones. If you disagree, which areas of his game do you think require an immensely bolstered physique?

We've already witnessed how effective he can be on the boards. His height, length, and adequate technique (largely a lost art these days) diminishes the need for him to bulk up for the sake of rebounding. It's probably the most impressive facet of his game to my eyes so far. And while there is a significant precedent for the role of size and strength in establishing superior position to effectively board, a slimmer, quicker body provides alternative advantages. One of the reasons why he has been an effective rebounder so far is his understanding of how to exploit those advantages - a mental component to rebounding that will only continue to sharpen with experience.

In today's NBA where big men are required more and more to defend on the perimeter, a lankier build is certainly preferable. While he'll never be able to corral waterbug guards (he's already been crossed up badly a few times), he can close out on shooters pretty well. KP's sheer length factors hugely into his shot blocking ability both at the rim and on outside shots and to slow him down with burdensome muscle would diminish the efficacy of his deterrence. A developing understanding of defensive schemes and responsibilities, as well as increased comfort with the mental demands of the NBA, should ostensibly improve his game within himself.

I'm not saying he should not add muscle or get stronger. But I think that he needs to be extremely strategic, disciplined, and to an extent cautious about how he accomplishes that goal. Don't worry about appearance (Duncan knows whats up), strengthen the right areas, keep learning how to use his physical gifts to his advantage, and his opponent's size against them, and stay healthy! Historically, guys his size are at such high risk for injury from which full recovery is incredible difficult that IMO his physical development requires the utmost scrutiny and attention.

Fortunately, scientific and medical technology and information is improving exponentially as regards all aspects of athletic performance, from nutrition to conditioning to normal recuperative methods to injury prevention to treatment to rehabilitation, and, even more importantly, KP has thus far displayed a maturity, self-awareness, humility, discipline, focus, loyalty to and confidence in those who truly want what is best for him, Basketball IQ and foresight required to navigate this challenge... which brings me to point 2:

I get the sense from a lot of taller european players that they are just capitalizing on the opportunity presented to them because of their size. Porzingis, however, is hungry. He loves basketball. He lives to ball. This fiery desire fuels his life and I think because it is his true passion, the rest will fall into place on the court as well as off.

so stay healthy!

[FKAri]

I think you accidentally made a thread thinking this is RealGM. fucc outta here with analysis and actual discussion. :lol. Lebron = GOAT

I think his rebounding ability is being a bit overrated. I think he's getting boards not just by length but by quickness and beating guys to the spot. But he doesn't have the strength yet to handle contested rebounds. He gets it knocked out of his hands easily.

I think his ability to step out as a big is actually being underrated just cuz he got crossed a couple times. I remember vs Orlando he shut down Oladipo, Fournier, and Payton in iso situations resulting from a switch. Two of them drove past him and got blocked as far as I remember. If your big can do that...that's well beyond anything you would want from him.

As for how much weight he should add? I don't know. I hope the Knicks have trainers qualified enough to make that decision.

[theaussieguy]

I agree, you honestly sacrifice a lot bulking up too much. I know this from first hand experience. Lifting is great because it not only makes you stronger it trains your CNS and gives you explosion. The key is not too add lean muscle mass to areas you don't really need it such as the arms and upper body. Core and legs is where players should focus and I am sure they do.

[AintNoSunshine]

Where's your second thought?

[dhsilv]

A lot of training and building muscle is in part about building stronger knees and joints. All things you can improve. He doesn't need to carry 50 pounds more mass but he'll need to work with weights to help strengthen his joints and a few more pounds might be pretty good for him. Where the magic number is, well that's for the high dollar trainers I'm sure he's got.

[Amar'e_Juwanna]

Where's your second thought?

That what separates him from other iterations of "freakishly tall european import" is foremost the patent infinitude of his connection with the game of basketball. It seems that his love for the this game is the well from which all other streams of his life flow.

For he is not the opportunist simply capitalizing on having been bred large enough to earn ludicrous pay by learning to function well enough on the court, nor is he the archetypal

[bluechox2]

all he needs to do is get stronger...hes fine

[PsychoBe]

[QUOTE=Amar'e_Juwanna]That what separates him from other iterations of "freakishly tall european import" is foremost the patent infinitude of his connection with the game of basketball. It seems that his love for the this game is the well from which all other streams of his life flow.

For he is not the opportunist simply capitalizing on having been bred large enough to earn ludicrous pay by learning to function well enough on the court, nor is he the archetypal

[!@#$%Vectors!@#]

[QUOTE=Amar'e_Juwanna]That what separates him from other iterations of "freakishly tall european import" is foremost the patent infinitude of his connection with the game of basketball. It seems that his love for the this game is the well from which all other streams of his life flow.

For he is not the opportunist simply capitalizing on having been bred large enough to earn ludicrous pay by learning to function well enough on the court, nor is he the archetypal

[Amar'e_Juwanna]

put down the thesaurus and learn to actually apply the words being used before trying to use them in a sentence
yeah its verbose but w/e its 6am. i just personally believe deeply that he will develop because of his intense passion and love for the game. he's not strong enough now, but he will get stronger, and as he does he will learn what kind of player he should be and his strength will be developed to suit that. also i thinke he understands that he'll need to do it in the best way possible to ensure career longevity. he looks lost defensively sometimes, but he will learn. he will study the system, the opponents systems, himself, his teammates, his opponents, and he'll put himself in a position to do what he does best.

his talent is a function of a lot of things, size, coordination, athleticism, willpower, competitiveness, intelligence, willingness to learn, but what stands out to me is the depth of his commitment to the game.

imagine a chess position: someone who has never played chess before can derive very little meaning from this position, even less of that meaning pertains to the actual game (as opposed to, say, the appearance of the pieces and board). But to the grandmaster chess player, a position is literally an infinity of possibility, which he is compelled to contemplate.

an even more philosophical example is one inspired by socrates, the "wisest man who ever lived," who said, "I know that I know nothing." the wisdom of the statement lies in its crystallization of the basic irony of knowledge: The more you know, the more aware you are of all that you do not know. In other words, despite the accruing of an amount of knowledge, the process of accruing it reveals that amount of knowledge to be correlatively less - relative to all possible knowledge. to gain knowledge is to become aware of knowledge not yet gained, and to know more is to know how much less you know.

thus it is with Porzingis and basketball. The more he immerses himself in the sport, in mind, body, and spirit, the more he will become aware of all in which he may immerse himself. His spirit compels him, his mind instructs him, his body obeys him. Porzingod is nigh.

[SpanishACB]

[QUOTE=Amar'e_Juwanna]That what separates him from other iterations of "freakishly tall european import" is foremost the patent infinitude of his connection with the game of basketball. It seems that his love for the this game is the well from which all other streams of his life flow.

For he is not the opportunist simply capitalizing on having been bred large enough to earn ludicrous pay by learning to function well enough on the court, nor is he the archetypal

[Dresta]

[QUOTE=Amar'e_Juwanna]That what separates him from other iterations of "freakishly tall european import" is foremost the patent infinitude of his connection with the game of basketball. It seems that his love for the this game is the well from which all other streams of his life flow.

For he is not the opportunist simply capitalizing on having been bred large enough to earn ludicrous pay by learning to function well enough on the court, nor is he the archetypal

[DoctorP]

1: regarding injury prevention: don't put on too much weight. Kareem was mad tall but was very durable... he was lanky af though. Obviously its important that KP develop strength, especially in his lower body, so that he can better exert his physicality on both sides of the ball, but I think adding too much muscle mass is a bad idea. With a body like his, I'd err on the side of slighter build and greater nimbility/agility for the sake of minimizing pressure on his bones. If you disagree, which areas of his game do you think require an immensely bolstered physique?

We've already witnessed how effective he can be on the boards. His height, length, and adequate technique (largely a lost art these days) diminishes the need for him to bulk up for the sake of rebounding. It's probably the most impressive facet of his game to my eyes so far. And while there is a significant precedent for the role of size and strength in establishing superior position to effectively board, a slimmer, quicker body provides alternative advantages. One of the reasons why he has been an effective rebounder so far is his understanding of how to exploit those advantages - a mental component to rebounding that will only continue to sharpen with experience.

In today's NBA where big men are required more and more to defend on the perimeter, a lankier build is certainly preferable. While he'll never be able to corral waterbug guards (he's already been crossed up badly a few times), he can close out on shooters pretty well. KP's sheer length factors hugely into his shot blocking ability both at the rim and on outside shots and to slow him down with burdensome muscle would diminish the efficacy of his deterrence. A developing understanding of defensive schemes and responsibilities, as well as increased comfort with the mental demands of the NBA, should ostensibly improve his game within himself.

I'm not saying he should not add muscle or get stronger. But I think that he needs to be extremely strategic, disciplined, and to an extent cautious about how he accomplishes that goal. Don't worry about appearance (Duncan knows whats up), strengthen the right areas, keep learning how to use his physical gifts to his advantage, and his opponent's size against them, and stay healthy! Historically, guys his size are at such high risk for injury from which full recovery is incredible difficult that IMO his physical development requires the utmost scrutiny and attention.

Fortunately, scientific and medical technology and information is improving exponentially as regards all aspects of athletic performance, from nutrition to conditioning to normal recuperative methods to injury prevention to treatment to rehabilitation, and, even more importantly, KP has thus far displayed a maturity, self-awareness, humility, discipline, focus, loyalty to and confidence in those who truly want what is best for him, Basketball IQ and foresight required to navigate this challenge... which brings me to point 2:

I get the sense from a lot of taller european players that they are just capitalizing on the opportunity presented to them because of their size. Porzingis, however, is hungry. He loves basketball. He lives to ball. This fiery desire fuels his life and I think because it is his true passion, the rest will fall into place on the court as well as off.

so stay healthy!

I'm totally on board with this approach for all BBall players. Keeping the weight down helps the knees and keeps your agility up. There's trade-offs to bulking up.

[TaLvsCuaL]

I've said many times He should not gain weight, He can get more stamina and better muscle tone without gaining weight.

[SexSymbol]

Bulking up isn't really a positive in basketball. You can get rebounds by boxing out, you can be a good defender based on your stance and speed and you can be a good offensive weapon if you become more of a technical player.
Being overly athletic isn't necessary in basketball, you just gotta be willing to learn technical stuff

[Euroleague]

If the Knicks make him "bulk up", his career will be over very, very soon after that. Just like Yao.

[Pointguard]

Where's your second thought?
Barnes and Nobles

[oarabbus]

Well, this was a very good topic. Hats off to Amar'e Juwanna for the intelligent (if more verbose than necessary) posts.

Kristaps should definitely add 15-20lbs of muscle, no question. Nearly all players do, just look at rookie LeBron, KG, Durant, etc. I don't know if he needs to add more than 20lbs though.

[DoctorP]

Well, this was a very good topic. Hats off to Amar'e Juwanna for the intelligent (if more verbose than necessary) posts.

Kristaps should definitely add 15-20lbs of muscle, no question. Nearly all players do, just look at rookie LeBron, KG, Durant, etc. I don't know if he needs to add more than 20lbs though.

Any logic to your numbers?

[oarabbus]

Any logic to your numbers?


To be honest not really no :lol

He's listed at 240lbs right now. I think on that long ass frame, 15-20lbs wouldn't change his mechanics or mobility much, but would make him stronger for sure. Maybe the magic number is 30lbs, but I think adding 40+lbs is too much for him. He isn't thick like Shaq and doesn't need to be approaching 300lbs.

[DoctorP]

To be honest not really no :lol

He's listed at 240lbs right now. I think on that long ass frame, 15-20lbs wouldn't change his mechanics or mobility much, but would make him stronger for sure. Maybe the magic number is 30lbs, but I think adding 40+lbs is too much for him. He isn't thick like Shaq and doesn't need to be approaching 300lbs.

check out college shaq...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TM8FHHY0L.jpg

[Amar'e_Juwanna]

i'm still proud of this. that 2nd post is a doozy

[ISHGoat]

i'm still proud of this. that 2nd post is a doozy

That was some dope weed huh? Good shit. Good posts. Ignore the haters, they probably cant understand the more complex sentences :roll:

[Derka]

I'm with most of you in saying he needs to avoid bulking up. He can get stronger without putting on mass and his game is a lot more than playing with his back to the rim and muscling around in the post. He's got a good touch and good ball instincts and his length alone with some strength will help his rebounding tremendously.

Biggest thing is you don't want to see him go the way of Walton and Yao with foot injuries; guys his size lose their careers to that stuff.

[Amar'e_Juwanna]

That was some dope weed huh? Good shit. Good posts. Ignore the haters, they probably cant understand the more complex sentences :roll:
wasn't weed but yeah ish needs some more substance over shallow shit that gets regurgitated all day. and lol at teh guy who thinks any of the words were used incorrectly.

[oarabbus]

wasn't weed but yeah ish needs some more substance over shallow shit that gets regurgitated all day. and lol at teh guy who thinks any of the words were used incorrectly.

Drunk? Adderall? What were you on bro :confusedshrug:

[SpanishACB]

snort ritalin make the best posts

[smoovegittar]

Needs to get stronger. Some leg muscle would be good, but I agree on him not bulking. My biggest issue with him is his passing. Otherwise, I'm well pleased with this 4th pick.

[BuffaloBill]

Just from reading the title of this thread I imagined two porzingises on the same team



:eek:

[Amar'e_Juwanna]

Drunk? Adderall? What were you on bro :confusedshrug:
merely inspired by the grace of our porzingod