Gotta be ready for the rope-a-dope imo...doesn't happen a ton but baiting guys with your dribble or pass is solid with no shot clock imo. But, you can also level them by pretending to fall for it and then not fall for it, or time the steal better after "missing" it a few times and letting them cut it too close.

12/3 log

Pickup bball

So I somehow forgot pickup bball started ~1.5 months ago. Iirc last year it was less crowded to start for the first few sessions and then it started getting tons of people. Well, there were tons of people there so I didn't play too many games considering I was there a full two hours. I think I played 5 games but I don't think I'm going to keep track this "season" of record or anything.

Some observations I had:

- I definitely need to get into better shape for running the floor. But, w/e, who doesn't when they haven't played full court in a long time

- More concerning is that I seemed a step slow in certain situations....I'm hoping playing more fixes this and that I'm not just slower due to weighing more

- My defense is still my bread and butter of pickup. I outscored the guys I was guarding not b/c I scored much, but b/c I think I only allowed 1 or 2 points throughout 5 games. And I scored at least 1 or 2 points each game I played in. Tbh I didn't always guard the best scorer on the other team but I definitely guarded 3 guys who I've seen score in bunches on unsuspecting defenses.

- My court vision is solid but I'm making lazy and/or just bad passes. For every nice pass I make that results in a high % shot, I'm making a pass that gets stolen. The good news is that since it's pickup, there are tons of crappy passes getting thrown all over the place.

- My shot selection could be improved. But, having said that, I should force myself to take shots to get better and more comfortable....this is such a tough call for me. I really try to maximize my effectiveness and value (even in pickup) but I really need to chuck up more shots if I'm ever going to get used to scoring in traffic or spot up jumpers given limited space in 5v5.

- I hate moving screens (although I'm sure I set them too) so I generally just go through them....which is maybe too physical and quasi dangerous. OTOH, I've toned down any reckless play and am holding back for sure in terms of straight banging with my body every play which in pickup can be a bit too much I've found.

12/4 log

My lower back was hurting on the right side after basketball. My fiancee massaged it and before my DL session I actually rolled it () - I tried to be very careful and it seemed to help.

DL week 3, cycle 7 (360 target)

243.75x5
276.35x3
308.75x5 (361.75 est.) - I failed my 4th rep but then took a few seconds and then got 2 more. The last one I for sure was losing upper back tightness - my lower back seemed to be fine though so I will assume I protected it enough.


FS 95x5, 108.75x5, 123.75x5 - no sure why but FS is the only lift where I grunt on hard reps. Maybe I should start doing that on all tough reps.

Box squats 125x10x3 - this was probably harder on my lower back than the DLs given the massive fatigue at reps 8-10 each set. But my lower back felt fine afterwards more or less.
Ab wheel bwx10x3

I may roll my lower back a couple more times.....both sides definitely seem like they need it - there are soft tissue isues for sure but afaik it doesn't seem connected to my spine or any discs.

12/6 log

45 mins of bball. Played 3v3 with little kids and scrubs. Got probably about 80% of all rebounds, so almost every single one I went after. I had to stop shooting layups (I did shoot a reverse layup after this) and shooting altogether. My team crushed anyway. Then I shot around for a while.

Sooooooo, I snapped a pic while getting ready for work. I don't look very happy about having to wake up and go to work, but perhaps I can get SM, Loco, etc. to give me a visual body fat % estimate:

my estimate is that your phone is gay

also that your facial hair marries perfectly with your handle

carry on

But how gay? 20% gay? 22% gay? 16% gay?

Hopefully you mean my 2p2 handle and not love handles, .

based on no ability to guesstimate these things I'd say 18ish

but i'm horrible at this sort of thing

Well that's one questionable data point of humor error, which is something, . My own I don't trust at all so I won't share it. But I do know what my new scale's data point is and I'm trying to get a better understand of how far it likely is off...

I am going to guess 16-17.

Your are definitely much leaner than that fattie snitch. That guy is 21-23. I wouldn't be surprised if you are 15. I just can't tell with one pic. Get tested, maybe we are all off.

Thanks for the guess loco.

My newish omron scale/handhold thing keeps spitting out 21.6-22% just fyi. I knew it'd be off but yeah, I guess when ppl say it could be drastically off they weren't kidding.

I was thinking I was 16%, but then tried to be more objective and decided I was probably 18%. Then I figured I might as well take a pic and ask some of the bros. At some point I should slow bulk again to help my strength numbers, I don't have the patience to get down to 10-12% bf% until I'm at least intermediate level (according to Martin Berkhan lol) in all my lifts. Although....if I cut down to 10-12%, maybe I *would* be intermediate. Hmmmmm, didn't think of that before!

playing pickup is great for practicing the stuff that you can only practice in a team setting, but as for the shots you want to get good at- practice those by yourself, get confidence to the point where you know that if you can take that shot in a game(whether it be an open jump shot from a certain location, a floater from a few feet out, a layup after a certain move such as a spin move, etc.) that its +EV for your team, and then start taking them in the game. I don't think that you should be working on practicing different shots much during games.

I'd guess 17-18 based on looking at lots of naked dudes.

Assani - the issue is that I practice on my own, then do it 1v1, but then in a game the shot no longer feels comfortable b/c spacing isn't the same. So in-game I'm a bit liable to spaz out and go through the move but be tight on it, or fumble the dribble or something.

I guess what I'm saying is that I think I need to force myself to try the things I'm practicing - they are maybe +EV, I dno, they certainly are +EV vs. a chair, but I mean, I do great against the chair with most of my moves, .

You will always be scientist #1 in my book bro.

12/7 log

Bench week 3, cycle 7 (185 target)

126.25x5
142.5x3
160x6 (192.5 est.) - not a 1rm estimate PR but tied with last week. Definitely a rep PR for that high a weight though. Felt good. I decided not to try a 7th rep since the 6th was quite hard and my fiancee doesn't really feel comfortable spotting. We need to find a solution to that - for now she's just going to try and be okay with straddling my face (and touching it) so she can get close enough to help me move the bar up....TR at some point maybe, lol.

Then I dod 160x2x2 to just get a few more reps in at that weight.

Incline Bench 97.5x5, 112.5x5, 127.5x5

Chinups bw x 8 x 6
DB rows 65x8x4
Tricep Extensions 85x6x4


12/8 log

Basketball shooting and dribbling.

Man, I think I finally learned how to shoot a 3 pointer! When I shoot, everything feels kind of fine except at the 3 point line where I feel like I have to lean forward and really almost push to get the ball past the rim. Like it's the end of my range. which is weird, b/c I'm not an 8 year old and seems like I should be plenty strong to shoot a ball that far without problems.

I was watching the Wolves play a few days ago and noticed that Love stacks himself often when shooting 3s. He isn't actually facing the basket straight up, but at a slight angle, with his feet diagonally pointing towards the rim, stacked one and then the other. I've known for a while now that I shoot a lot better when my right foot is further in front of my left, but I never intentionally stacked them or shot at a bit of an angle. When shooting around I'd always try to shoot as straight-on as possible with my right foot a few inches in front.

But I tried stacking my feet and the ball magically could get to the rim without me almost touching the 3 point line and leaning forward heavily. I still needed to be balanced to shoot it, but I was able to at least shoot even 25 foot shots (not well, but they weren't just super short air balls).

I'm not really sure if this is a good technique or why I'd need to shoot with my body at an angle with the rim...but I hope I'm on to something. It seems like it could help my 2point shooting too potentially, making it easier for me to get the ball the correct distance.

Any thoughts on this?

12/9 log

LBBS week 3, cycle 7 (275 target)

186.25x5 - felt easy
211.25x3 - felt good but sometimes I was leaning to the left for some reason
236.25x7 (292.5) - ummmm, the first rep felt good and I was able to really power through it. On the 2nd rep, my weight shifted to the left more than I've ever felt....like I was going to tip over maybe. After that each rep was a huge struggle as I think I stopped sitting into the squat with my butt back far enough and I had a lot of knee cave issues. The 7th rep was pretty ugly I think but I really didn't want to get fewer than 7.

I'm not really sure what's up with my squat...I keep forgetting to take video but something is still wrong with it. It's not just a strength issue...it's that at the moment when it's tough in the hole and you need all systems to fire at the same time, it's like I have 90% of systems going but 10% randomly doesn't go, or goes in the wrong way or something, throwing it all off. Not a problem for lighter reps and sets, but a big issue as soon as the weight gets kind of heavy.

RDL 165x5, 190x5, 215x5
Box squats - 125x7x5
Ab wheel - 10x3, 8x2

Ok I've been thinking more about what it takes to improve offensively. I've thought back and noticed 2 main things that have seemed to help.

- play against poor competition. Obv your results will improve there, but mine have def carried over to real games with good competition. There are a few reasons, I think. If the competition is weak, you can try a lot of things out that you can't by yourself and would seem dumb to do against good players.

Like ball handling. I never tried to do any ball handling than was necessary in tough full court games. It would just be dumb, result in a turnover, accomplish nothing, etc. but against weak opponents you can try stuff like breaking your man down on the dribble, initiating offense, playing the PG role. Sometimes I end up playing with jr highers so I opt to do this instead of just get in the paint and score every possession to make the game more competitive.

You can also try various forms of iso moves that result in a (not very) contested shot. Step back, fade away, hook shot, there are a bunch of different plays that I wouldn't dare pull in a tough game at the park, but against weak competition you can always get your board. I've found a couple that come easy to me (step back, and one sort of crossover, cross back and slide over and shoot).

Even things like back down into the paint, draw the double team and kick it out to the open shooter. I never, ever let up on defense against weak players, tho.

Another thing that I've found helping my offensive game is playing a lot of 21.

I guess this is obvious but it really helps to know what your job is. Part of what I've struggled with is not knowing my role on the floor. What should I do when I get the ball? Pass? Drive? Give a go? PNR? I used to run into this a lot in pick up games when I started.

I used to rebound and kick it out a lot, almost never trying to put it back up. But for good reason. I used to be awful at it (still not great) but I could almost always find someone close and open for a much easier basket. But my team always would yell at me as soon as I got the board 'go up with it strong!' Yes that would be optimal but I suck so its not.

Playing 21 you're pretty much always getting a different look from the D and have to try and be creative with how to score. I mean, I've played with people who are just athletic enough to drive it right and put up a tough shot and make it enough, but that's not me.

My usual play in 21 is to break down my defender on the dribble and then try and get a closer shot before the backup D that's waiting around the rim and fully close on me. It's probably effective like 40% of the time depending on how good the opponents are. But you may have seen I wrote about the other day I was playing, both dudes just camped in the paint and I basically had no chance at driving. But they left me wide open from mid range so I had to force myself to take those shots.

All this talk is making me wanna go play some ball! But I probably won't til tomorrow

what do you mean by the bolded?

Can you shoot with only one hand? I think getting good with just one hand and then adding the off hand to the shot is a good way to get good.

As for range, one thing I like to do to work on range is to shoot some FTs then back up a few feet and shoot FTs from farther out(without jumping, like a normal FT). Keep backing up as far as you can go. I did this in college often and got to where I was shooting FT-style shots from like 10 feet behind 3pt line. Then when you do a normal jumpshot it feels a ton easier to have good range.

I mean that when playing 5v5 there are defenders very close to me so I spaz out and rush. When I play 1v1 (it's better but still not great) I pound the ball for quite a while every possession, probing and taking my time to set up whatever it is I'm going to do to try and score. But, against one opponent, it's pretty easy to keep the ball safe. But playing with a bunch of other people, especially if your team isn't spacing the floor well - it feel really congested and I never feel comfortable executing almost any offensive move.

That's a good question. I seem to be good at weird hook/spinny one handed shots. But it's a bit illusory since they are not easy shots and thus can never be too high %. Kind of like Antawn Jamison. I mean, he just could never shoot 60% b/c all of his shots are weird junky in-betweeners (I'm not necessarily saying my game is like his, just using him as an example).

Perhaps I should try shooting set shots when shooting around one-handed as I think this is what you mean.

Hmm.....Anything past FT range without jumping feels like I have to lean way forward and kind of "oomph" the ball to the hoop. But I could try this.....wouldn't it likely make shooting actual FTs tougher?

agree completely with these 2 things being of great help when learning/practicing new moves.

Dang I'm extra bummed you won't be in Vegas AF. It would be a fun matchup of an unstoppable force (u) meeting an immovable object (me)

Do you have access to a power rack - can you bench using one of those?

If not, can you set up those plastic step things on either side of the bench so fiance can stand on them and basically DL if you fail a bench press?

Otherwise start coming over here Fridays at 6:30*. You wont have any problem pushing yourself to failure benching safely over here.

* - assuming I dont have TWolf tickets that day.

Cha - nope and tried, didn't really help. But yeah, benching at your place would solve the spotting issue for sure .

Yugo,

I'd try having her spot you with just the bar first to make her feel comfortable. The girl I coach spotted me without issues when I did 180 lbs after a few tries with lighter weight. She's prob gonna be surprised how little effort it requires to spot a failed rep once she gets used to it.

Though the face straddling sounds more fun.

SM - she's spent over a year spotting me....it's not for lack of practice. But it's very hard for me to coach her since I can't see what she's doing when I'm lying on the bench. I think it's a combination of her being 5'2" and the way the bench is constructed it's a bit hard to get over someone. It's not like a rack where you can completely straddle someone - there are cross bars right where she'd ideally stand. Plus, the bench is high enough that she can't really straddle me with much clearance, which is why she isn't sure about doing that.

But we'll see. She has only had trouble once or twice spotting me when I've gotten really stuck and am gassed, unable to really help push the bar up too much. Most of the time it's apparently awkward for her but somewhat okay b/c she doesn't have to take much weight.