Perspective on Tyreke Evans

[Chupacabra]

You can be born to be tall and coordinated but ive come across plenty of tall guys that play basketball who arent anything worth talking about. The greatest basketball player ever was cut from his highschool team. Then he went crazy and PRACTICED all the time and became the greatest ever. So, was Jordan born a special player? Was Kobe? Was Lebron? Im sure they were born with special size and athleticism but the basketball skills definitely came later. Until someone can actually prove that people are born with basketball skill my point of view will stand.

 

[Superman]

You can be born to be tall and coordinated but ive come across plenty of tall guys that play basketball who arent anything worth talking about. The greatest basketball player ever was cut from his highschool team. Then he went crazy and PRACTICED all the time and became the greatest ever. So, was Jordan born a special player? Was Kobe? Was Lebron? Im sure they were born with special size and athleticism but the basketball skills definitely came later. Until someone can actually prove that people are born with basketball skill my point of view will stand.

There's a difference between talent and skill. I think you're born with (or without) talent, but skill is cultivated from that talent with hard work. The Merriam-Webster definition for skill is "a learned power of doing something competently; a developed aptitude or ability".

So you can be born with a talent, but the skill comes with practice. You and I can't be Jordan or Kobe or LeBron (or Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Emmitt Smith, Wayne Gretzky, Derek Jeter, Muhammed Ali, etc.), because we don't have that talent that they had. With hard work and practice, and several years of training, we could be serviceable, maybe even good. But not the greatest. Just don't have it.

 

[Kingsguy881]

You can be born to be tall and coordinated but ive come across plenty of tall guys that play basketball who arent anything worth talking about. The greatest basketball player ever was cut from his highschool team. Then he went crazy and PRACTICED all the time and became the greatest ever. So, was Jordan born a special player? Was Kobe? Was Lebron? Im sure they were born with special size and athleticism but the basketball skills definitely came later. Until someone can actually prove that people are born with basketball skill my point of view will stand.

Jordan was a freshman cut from varsity. Stupid analogy, thats old and tired. Talent is something you are born with, if you are the most uncoordinated and shortest person on this planet you can practice day and night but someone who was born with the talent and has never practiced will always kick your butt. Thats how it is. The reason why there are always standouts, at any level, is because those kids/people were born with more talent, more innate ability for that sport than their peers. Its how it is. Thats why there will always be "The Best Kid" on every single juvenile sports team. Thats the one that was born with the most talent. From that point on they hone their skills by practicing to become the best they can be, achieve their POTENTIAL, but without being born with that POTENTIAL you can't achieve anything no matter how hard you try. The fat kid in 5th grade will just never be as good as the athletic since birth kid. Unfortunately, thats how it is.

 

[bajaden]

I think you came up with a good point to refute your argument. Billups. He's a combo. It took him a few years to get it and he was fairly successful after that. It may take Tyreke some time to get it also. It will be an interesting process. But given Tyreke's talent, it should be a lot of fun to watch. My expectations for Tyreke are pretty moderate for next year. But after about three year's time, they are very high.

The main thing that seperates Billups, aside from whatever talent he may have, is his leadership. And folks, that is one thing that your born with. All the players on the Denver team said they were impressed with the leadership abilities that Billups had. That included Karl.

Now, to say that you come out of the womb with the innate instincts of a point guard is a bit of a reach. There are things that your born with and if you don't have them, you probably never will. The ability to run fast, jump high, extraordinary hand to eye coordination, great peripheral vision, and hopefully, a high IQ. If you have all these god given talents and have the mind set to be a point guard, there's nothing holding you back but hard work.

You aren't born with the ability to pass the basketball. Your born with the ability to learn to pass the basketball. Just what is court vision? Does that mean you have 20/10 vision and you can see a dime on the floor from the other end of the court? No! I don't think so. It means you have the ability to see plays happening in your mind based on what you see on the court happening in a given second. And, none of that matters if your not on the same page as your teammates.

So if you've worked to become a good passer, and you know the plays inside and out, and you know your teammates inside and out, and you have the mindset of a point guard, which is based more on personal desire than being handed a basketball at birth, then you start to look like a point guard. Its a learned process. Not one, that everyone can accomplish, because of lacking certain skills that are necessary, or because they simply don't have the desire, or both..

When you get locked into a rigid concept of what something is suspossed to be, you start to stifle creativity. Just because something wasn't done a certain way before, or it failed before, doesn't mean it can't suceed with someone else at the helm.

When Orsen Wells made Citizen Kane, he did things with a camera no one before him had done. I won't go into the details, but its one of the reasons the movie is held to such high praise. When asked how or why he was able to do the things he did. He said he didn't have any formal training on the proper way to do it, so he just did what he thought would work to give him the results he wanted. My point being, that because he didn't have rigid rules telling him how it was suspossed to be done, he became creative and as a result, took things to a new level.

So just because Evans, at the moment doesn't fit the mold of the traditional point guard, and all the peices don't look like they fit together as well as one would like, doesn't mean it can't work. It just might take a little creativity. Are the odds against him? Yeah! Probably, but the great players are the ones that beat the odds. He has a lot of work ahead of him, as do the rest of the players. But can we at least wait and see him play at least one game before judging him. I'm sure one game is enough for the experts...

 

[bajaden]

Jordan was a freshman cut from varsity. Stupid analogy, thats old and tired. Talent is something you are born with, if you are the most uncoordinated and shortest person on this planet you can practice day and night but someone who was born with the talent and has never practiced will always kick your butt. Thats how it is. The reason why there are always standouts, at any level, is because those kids/people were born with more talent, more innate ability for that sport than their peers. Its how it is. Thats why there will always be "The Best Kid" on every single juvenile sports team. Thats the one that was born with the most talent. From that point on they hone their skills by practicing to become the best they can be, achieve their POTENTIAL, but without being born with that POTENTIAL you can't achieve anything no matter how hard you try. The fat kid in 5th grade will just never be as good as the athletic since birth kid. Unfortunately, thats how it is.

You and I usually agree on most things, but I must intercede on this one. I actually think you and Chupacabra are in agreement and just failing to recogonize it. In his Jordan analogy he was saying that Jordan was born with all the talent in the world, but until he actually started applying that talent he wasn't going anywhere.

Your saying that all great basketball players are born with the talent to become great basketball players. I don't see any disagreement with that on his part. I think the misunderstanding is simply semantics.

By the way. I don't think anyone is born to be a basketball player. I think their born with the god given abilities to become basketball players. In other words. I think Dwight Howard would have been a great Tight end in football if he had the desire to go in that direction. Great players are born with exceptional physcial ablilities. After that, its all about what influences they have in their life. If their father was a good or exceptional baseball player, its more than likely thats the direction they'll lean in. If they're a black kid born in a poverty ridden section of town, and all they can get their hands on is a basketball, then thats probably the direction they're going to lean in.

In the end, if they have all the abilities, it then comes down to whats between their ears. Work ethic, desire, winning attitude, understanding the game, leadership skills etc., all come from that gray matter area between the ears. By age 19 or 20 the foundation of those things is probably already in place. At first glance, Evans appears to have those qualities as well as physcial abilities. So, I'm not too worried about the outcome..

 

[Chupacabra]

Jordan was a freshman cut from varsity. Stupid analogy, thats old and tired. Talent is something you are born with, if you are the most uncoordinated and shortest person on this planet you can practice day and night but someone who was born with the talent and has never practiced will always kick your butt. Thats how it is. The reason why there are always standouts, at any level, is because those kids/people were born with more talent, more innate ability for that sport than their peers. Its how it is. Thats why there will always be "The Best Kid" on every single juvenile sports team. Thats the one that was born with the most talent. From that point on they hone their skills by practicing to become the best they can be, achieve their POTENTIAL, but without being born with that POTENTIAL you can't achieve anything no matter how hard you try. The fat kid in 5th grade will just never be as good as the athletic since birth kid. Unfortunately, thats how it is.

Hey, nobodies arguing that you cant be born with athleticism. We're arguing that you cant be born a point guard. Meaning nobodies born with the ability to run down a basketball court and see all the open teammates. It takes lots of practice, like all things. The point to the jordan analogy is that if he were born as the greatest basketball player ever he would have made the team no problem. It wasnt until he became obsessed with practicing that he became the greatest. If people dont think John Stockton, Mark Jackson, Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, Bob Cousy, Pete Maravich practiced more than everyone else then those people are mistaken.

 

[Kingsguy881]

You and I usually agree on most things, but I must intercede on this one. I actually think you and Chupacabra are in agreement and just failing to recogonize it. In his Jordan analogy he was saying that Jordan was born with all the talent in the world, but until he actually started applying that talent he wasn't going anywhere.

Your saying that all great basketball players are born with the talent to become great basketball players. I don't see any disagreement with that on his part. I think the misunderstanding is simply semantics.

By the way. I don't think anyone is born to be a basketball player. I think their born with the god given abilities to become basketball players. In other words. I think Dwight Howard would have been a great Tight end in football if he had the desire to go in that direction. Great players are born with exceptional physcial ablilities. After that, its all about what influences they have in their life. If their father was a good or exceptional baseball player, its more than likely thats the direction they'll lean in. If they're a black kid born in a poverty ridden section of town, and all they can get their hands on is a basketball, then thats probably the direction they're going to lean in.

In the end, if they have all the abilities, it then comes down to whats between their ears. Work ethic, desire, winning attitude, understanding the game, leadership skills etc., all come from that gray matter area between the ears. By age 19 or 20 the foundation of those things is probably already in place. At first glance, Evans appears to have those qualities as well as physcial abilities. So, I'm not too worried about the outcome..

I agree with this. Maybe I was wrong in saying that people are born basketball players. I like the sound of:

I think their born with the god given abilities to become basketball players.

That is a great way of putting it. I would even take it a step further and say "I think their born with the god given abilities to become GREAT basketball players."

 

[bajaden]

I agree with this. Maybe I was wrong in saying that people are born basketball players. I like the sound of:


That is a great way of putting it. I would even take it a step further and say "I think their born with the god given abilities to become GREAT basketball players."

There you go with the semantics again...

 

[bajaden]

Hey, nobodies arguing that you cant be born with athleticism. We're arguing that you cant be born a point guard. Meaning nobodies born with the ability to run down a basketball court and see all the open teammates. It takes lots of practice, like all things. The point to the jordan analogy is that if he were born as the greatest basketball player ever he would have made the team no problem. It wasnt until he became obsessed with practicing that he became the greatest. If people dont think John Stockton, Mark Jackson, Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, Bob Cousy, Pete Maravich practiced more than everyone else then those people are mistaken.

I remember an interview with Chris Mullins on the radio some years ago when he was still playing. He was asked what his practice schedule for a day was during the off season.

He said he got up at 6 am and had breakfast. He then put on his sweats and ran about 5 miles. When he got back he would go to the weight room and lift weights for an hour and a half. Then he showered, got dressed and went down to the practice facility. He would take 500 jump shots from different positions on the floor. After that he would practice at least 200 freethrows. He then would go to lunch. After lunch back at the practice facility he would repeat the shooting drills and then work with the strength coach for a couple of hours. He did every day. He said that he wasn't blessed with the same physcial abilities that some of the other players were, so he had to work harder than them to make up for it. He was a self made player. And he knew that if he let go of that level of acheivement for a moment, he might not ever get it back.. Personally I always thought Mullins would have made a better coach than a GM..

 

[Superman]

I remember an interview with Chris Mullins on the radio some years ago when he was still playing. He was asked what his practice schedule for a day was during the off season.

He said he got up at 6 am and had breakfast. He then put on his sweats and ran about 5 miles. When he got back he would go to the weight room and lift weights for an hour and a half. Then he showered, got dressed and went down to the practice facility. He would take 500 jump shots from different positions on the floor. After that he would practice at least 200 freethrows. He then would go to lunch. After lunch back at the practice facility he would repeat the shooting drills and then work with the strength coach for a couple of hours. He did every day. He said that he wasn't blessed with the same physcial abilities that some of the other players were, so he had to work harder than them to make up for it. He was a self made player. And he knew that if he let go of that level of acheivement for a moment, he might not ever get it back.. Personally I always thought Mullins would have made a better coach than a GM..

I believe Chris Mullin worked his tail off for the very reason you state: He wasn't blessed with the same abilities of other players, so he had to bust butt in order to play at a high level.

That said, I don't believe he took 1400 shots every day. It's not realistic. If you went for four hours straight, taking a shot every ten seconds, no breaks, you'd be able to take 1400 shots. That's with someone chasing shots and feeding you the ball. That's if you have arms of rubber, not to mention the feeling your legs would have after running five miles. Plus and hour and a half in the weight room?

It's just not credible.

 

[Bricklayer]

The being "born" or not argument is another strawman -- just semantics.

The only thing that matters is that by the time you reach the NBA you either have those instincts or you don't. You either have the ability to be great at one of those aspects or you don't. There is no drill to run to learn them. They either are or aren't, no different than my innate ability to string words together form a very young age. Does not matter if you were "born" with them, somehow abosrbed them from the way you were raised at 5, or headed down that path of development at age 12, whatever. Those types of skills just are by the time you are an adult, they can't be taught, can't be made. They can be made THE MOST OF, but can't spring into existence thorugh any amount of hard work.

And again, all that matters for this argument is that nobody develops them at 20, or 25 or whatever. Tyreke Evans will never, EVER, if he spends 24 hrs a day 7 days a week for the rest of his life practicing see the floor like Steve Nash. It is impossible.

P.S. And as an aside, you are "born", or pretty close, with at least propensities. The very first time I ever stepped on a soccer field, I could actually play pretty good defense. Never played soccer before. It just made sense somehow. Angles, spacing, timing. And that was true of the first time I tried any sport. The very first time my brother played soccer + pee wee football, he just had great hands. Nothing special at anything else. Did not practice anymore than anybody else. But just great soft hands + could catch anything no matter how hard you threw or kicked it (he played goalie/tight end). We were obviously opperating at much lower levels thna pro level guys, but athletic abilities and instincts are not remotely evenly distributed, and practice isn't going to make the difference unless you already have "it". MJ has a great story, but all across this country there have been thousands upon thousands of kid's cut form their JV teams who got pissed and decided I will show them! Only they didn't. Because they never had it. Practice let's you maximize what you've got. It doesn't let you develop what you don't.

 

[AriesMar27]

I remember an interview with Chris Mullins on the radio some years ago when he was still playing. He was asked what his practice schedule for a day was during the off season.

He said he got up at 6 am and had breakfast. He then put on his sweats and ran about 5 miles. When he got back he would go to the weight room and lift weights for an hour and a half. Then he showered, got dressed and went down to the practice facility. He would take 500 jump shots from different positions on the floor. After that he would practice at least 200 freethrows. He then would go to lunch. After lunch back at the practice facility he would repeat the shooting drills and then work with the strength coach for a couple of hours. He did every day. He said that he wasn't blessed with the same physcial abilities that some of the other players were, so he had to work harder than them to make up for it. He was a self made player. And he knew that if he let go of that level of acheivement for a moment, he might not ever get it back.. Personally I always thought Mullins would have made a better coach than a GM..

i didnt know that about mullins, thats a lot of shots to take by one person in a day though... how did he keep his arms from falling off? oddly enough iverson doesnt go to practice and is a borderline hall of famer... brad miller spends his off season smoking weed, fishing and drinking beer. to each his own i guess......

but you were right, they are born with the ability to be basketball players.

what was the point of this thread again? it was something about evans....

 

[bajaden]

I believe Chris Mullin worked his tail off for the very reason you state: He wasn't blessed with the same abilities of other players, so he had to bust butt in order to play at a high level.

That said, I don't believe he took 1400 shots every day. It's not realistic. If you went for four hours straight, taking a shot every ten seconds, no breaks, you'd be able to take 1400 shots. That's with someone chasing shots and feeding you the ball. That's if you have arms of rubber, not to mention the feeling your legs would have after running five miles. Plus and hour and a half in the weight room?

It's just not credible.

Going on memory dude. It was a while ago. I'm pretty sure about the first series of shots in the morning. Not sure he repeated the process exactly the same in the afternoon. All I know is that I got tired just listening to him. The point is that he was a hard worker, and thats what it takes to maintain a high level at whatever sport you attempt.

 

[Superman]

Going on memory dude. It was a while ago. I'm pretty sure about the first series of shots in the morning. Not sure he repeated the process exactly the same in the afternoon. All I know is that I got tired just listening to him. The point is that he was a hard worker, and thats what it takes to maintain a high level at whatever sport you attempt.

No, I understand. It's just that we always hear "so-and-so shoots a thousand jumpers a day in order to get more consistent", or "so-and-so shoots a thousand free throws a day to improve his percentage", and it's really not realistic.

 

[bajaden]

The being "born" or not argument is another strawman -- just semantics.

The only thing that matters is that by the time you reach the NBA you either have those instincts or you don't. You either have the ability to be great at one of those aspects or you don't. There is no drill to run to learn them. They either are or aren't, no different than my innate ability to string words together form a very young age. Does not matter if you were "born" with them, somehow abosrbed them from the way you were raised at 5, or headed down that path of development at age 12, whatever. Those types of skills just are by the time you are an adult, they can't be taught, can't be made. They can be made THE MOST OF, but can't spring into existence thorugh any amount of hard work.

And again, all that matters for this argument is that nobody develops them at 20, or 25 or whatever. Tyreke Evans will never, EVER, if he spends 24 hrs a day 7 days a week for the rest of his life practicing see the floor like Steve Nash. It is impossible.

P.S. And as an aside, you are "born", or pretty close, with at least propensities. The very first time I ever stepped on a soccer field, I could actually play pretty good defense. Never played soccer before. It just made sense somehow. Angles, spacing, timing. And that was true of the first time I tried any sport. The very first time my brother played soccer + pee wee football, he just had great hands. Nothing special at anything else. Did not practice anymore than anybody else. But just great soft hands + could catch anything no matter how hard you threw or kicked it (he played goalie/tight end). We were obviously opperating at much lower levels thna pro level guys, but athletic abilities and instincts are not remotely evenly distributed, and practice isn't going to make the difference unless you already have "it". MJ has a great story, but all across this country there have been thousands upon thousands of kid's cut form their JV teams who got pissed and decided I will show them! Only they didn't. Because they never had it. Practice let's you maximize what you've got. It doesn't let you develop what you don't.

I think your saying basicly the same thing I'm saying. I said that by the time your reach 19 or 20 the foundation is usually in place, if its going to be. At that point you just have to build on it. Refine it. I do think that some players have temporary roadblocks thrown in their way. They become victims of highschool coaches and their agendas. Matt Barnes was forced to play center in highschool, simply because he happened to be the tallest player on the team.

One could argue that he lost 4 years of development at his proper position. Some make light of this, but this is a very important development stage for a young player. In other cases growing spurts can affect how a player turns out, and can to a certain degree be benificial. Jason Thompson started out as a point guard in highschool, but grew 8 inches during that four year period. He then grew 3 more inches in college. The plus is that he has ballhandling and passing skills that most big men don't have. The downside is that he's still probably getting accustomed to his body and his position.

Excuse me. I have to go call Chris Mullins and see how many damm shots he took when he practiced. There's always something...

 

[Superman]

Excuse me. I have to go call Chris Mullins and see how many damm shots he took when he practiced. There's always something...

If he says he took anything more than 500, tell him SUPERMAN is calling bs, and if he wants to make something of it, he can fly me to a Golden State game and put me in his suite so we can hash it out. Otherwise, he's just a crew-cut havin' liar!

 

[fnordius]

Excuse me. I have to go call Chris Mullins and see how many damm shots he took when he practiced. There's always something...

From Bill Bradley's book, Values of the Game,

By the time most players reach the pros, they’ve shot a basketball a million times. To stay there they know they have to shoot a million more. Chris Mullin of the Pacers, with two assistants feeding him balls, regularly takes an incredible one thousand shots in a normal one-hour practice.

 

[Chupacabra]

The being "born" or not argument is another strawman -- just semantics.

The only thing that matters is that by the time you reach the NBA you either have those instincts or you don't. You either have the ability to be great at one of those aspects or you don't. There is no drill to run to learn them. They either are or aren't, no different than my innate ability to string words together form a very young age. Does not matter if you were "born" with them, somehow abosrbed them from the way you were raised at 5, or headed down that path of development at age 12, whatever. Those types of skills just are by the time you are an adult, they can't be taught, can't be made. They can be made THE MOST OF, but can't spring into existence thorugh any amount of hard work.

And again, all that matters for this argument is that nobody develops them at 20, or 25 or whatever. Tyreke Evans will never, EVER, if he spends 24 hrs a day 7 days a week for the rest of his life practicing see the floor like Steve Nash. It is impossible.

P.S. And as an aside, you are "born", or pretty close, with at least propensities. The very first time I ever stepped on a soccer field, I could actually play pretty good defense. Never played soccer before. It just made sense somehow. Angles, spacing, timing. And that was true of the first time I tried any sport. The very first time my brother played soccer + pee wee football, he just had great hands. Nothing special at anything else. Did not practice anymore than anybody else. But just great soft hands + could catch anything no matter how hard you threw or kicked it (he played goalie/tight end). We were obviously opperating at much lower levels thna pro level guys, but athletic abilities and instincts are not remotely evenly distributed, and practice isn't going to make the difference unless you already have "it". MJ has a great story, but all across this country there have been thousands upon thousands of kid's cut form their JV teams who got pissed and decided I will show them! Only they didn't. Because they never had it. Practice let's you maximize what you've got. It doesn't let you develop what you don't.

This proves nothing because there is a flip side to that coin. You have to practice the right way, which everyone doesnt do. If a kid gets cut from jv and goes home and practices on a 9 foot hoop in his backyard by himself that kid will be hard pressed to make significant improvements. If a kid goes and plays pickup games with superior players and works on the skills he/she lacks HUGE gains can be made. Its all Repatition and playing against quality guys. I dont buy being born with the ability to be a good basketball player at all. The idea someone will never have what it takes no matter how much work they put in is malarky. I said it, MALARKY!

 

[xyrin]

If he says he took anything more than 500, tell him SUPERMAN is calling bs, and if he wants to make something of it, he can fly me to a Golden State game and put me in his suite so we can hash it out. Otherwise, he's just a crew-cut havin' liar!

No clue why you're questioning this so much, 500 actually seems like a very reasonable amount of shots for a player to take in a day's worth of practicing. I'd expect them to take more, honestly. That's the kind of hard work you have to put on to become consistent in this league.

 

[AriesMar27]

even john hollinger thinks that evans will become a sg....

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/27811

I think he'll be a full-time 2 within two years. I've seen this movie countless times before, and every guard over 6-3 with "point guard skills" becomes a wing player unless they're an unbelievable passer, which by all accounts Evans is not. As far as Martin and Evans playing together, they probably can get away with it for long stretches in today's game as long as they play up-tempo, which under Westphal and with Sergio at the point they almost certainly will.

though i dont know how the kings will play evans and martin together with sergio at pg.... unless evans can somehow play sf, though he has a better shot at it than martin does....

 

[Gary]

even john hollinger thinks that evans will become a sg....

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/27811



though i dont know how the kings will play evans and martin together with sergio at pg.... unless evans can somehow play sf, though he has a better shot at it than martin does....

Same.. It's a matchup disaster waiting to happen. I have no doubt the Kings will try to play Evans at PG but I still don't think it will succeed either. Then you will see "Mad Gary" again when we trade Martin unless it was for a guy like Bosh or something.

 

[USNAVY15]

Evans will be seeing time at the 2, and the 1. Maybe even a little time at the 3. I classify a player based on where other players play when playing with that player. If a starting lineup includes Evans Martin Nocioni Thompson and Hawes. I have to classify Evans as a 1.

 

[Gary]

Evans will be seeing time at the 2, and the 1. Maybe even a little time at the 3. I classify a player based on where other players play when playing with that player. If a starting lineup includes Evans Martin Nocioni Thompson and Hawes. I have to classify Evans as a 1.

Of course, because he's the best ball handler of that group. No other player in that list could even be counted on to bring the ball up the court let alone hit an open man.. But it does make me shudder to think of all the turnovers that lineup will create lol.

 

[AriesMar27]

Of course, because he's the best ball handler of that group. No other player in that list could even be counted on to bring the ball up the court let alone hit an open man.. But it does make me shudder to think of all the turnovers that lineup will create lol.

thats why i think that sergio should start at pg....

 

[bajaden]

From Bill Bradley's book, Values of the Game,

Thank you!

 

[Superman]

No clue why you're questioning this so much, 500 actually seems like a very reasonable amount of shots for a player to take in a day's worth of practicing. I'd expect them to take more, honestly. That's the kind of hard work you have to put on to become consistent in this league.

You should go back and read the previous posts. Five hundred is reasonable and realistic. A thousand, not so much. Fourteen hundred? No way.

Chris Mullin of the Pacers, with two assistants feeding him balls, regularly takes an incredible one thousand shots in a normal one-hour practice.

That's one shot every 3.6 seconds. I just can't quite wrap my mind around that. Sorry.

 

[AriesMar27]

thats like 17 shots a minute... it seemed like a lot at first but with 2 people feeding him the ball it seems reasonable. rebounds be damned.... but it would depend on how many basketballs they had. there is no way that he could shot the ball that many times without a ton of balls and several people to rebound.

but man, my arms would be like jello half way through....

 

[Warhawk]

thats like 17 shots a minute... it seemed like a lot at first but with 2 people feeding him the ball it seems reasonable. rebounds be damned.... but it would depend on how many basketballs they had. there is no way that he could shot the ball that many times without a ton of balls and several people to rebound.

but man, my arms would be like jello half way through....

I was about to post the same thing. This is a pure shooting drill, like the All-Star 3-point shootout. Racks of balls and others getting the rebounds.

 

[bajaden]

Look folks, I was just trying to make the point that good to great players have to put in a lot of work to maintain a high level. I wasn't trying to start a debate over how many shots someone could get off in a minute. I was relying on memory of an interview that took place years ago. I have a bad enough time remembering what I had for breakfast yesterday, much less every detail of a conservation that took place probably 15 years ago. Sorry, but thats as good as it gets folks!

 

[Superman]

Look folks, I was just trying to make the point that good to great players have to put in a lot of work to maintain a high level. I wasn't trying to start a debate over how many shots someone could get off in a minute. I was relying on memory of an interview that took place years ago. I have a bad enough time remembering what I had for breakfast yesterday, much less every detail of a conservation that took place probably 15 years ago. Sorry, but thats as good as it gets folks!

No, I'm not taking issue with you, or necessarily with Chris Mullin. I know it probably seems that way, but that's not the point. Hard work = success. Definitely. No one disagrees with that.

I just don't think he shot 1,000 jumpers in one hour. Sure he worked his butt off, that much is obvious. But I don't think he took that many shots in an hour.

Somewhat related, I worked at a high pressure phone sales office once, and the recruiter tried to scare me during the interview by saying that every agent was required to make 500 phone calls a day. In an eight hour day, that's a call a minute. So when she called the manager in to talk to me, I told him that I wouldn't be able to do that because I'd be too busy selling to make more calls, and I hoped they wouldn't fire me for making too much money to meet the phone call quota.

That job was fun.