Strength Program the Key
October 24, 2003 10:23 AM | General
You may have a hard time recognizing this year’s West Virginia University basketball team. Even though the players are the same for the most part, Coach John Beilein has made a concerted effort to get his team bigger and stronger.
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| Center D'or Fischer went from 220 pounds last year to 245 pounds at the start of preseason camp. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Almost every returning player has put on weight in strength and conditioning coach Mike Barwis’ training program.
Guard Patrick Beilein went from 195 pounds last year to 205 this fall, Joe Herber is 10 pounds heavier at 215, Kevin Pittsnogle has added 15 pounds to his 6-foot-11 frame, Tyrone Sally increased his weight 15 pounds from 195 to 210, Drew Schifino is 10 pounds heavier and now weighs 210, and transfer D’or Fischer went from 225 to his current weight of 240.
B.J. Byerson (6-foot-7, 250 pounds) and Frank Young (6-foot-5, 215 pounds) are two freshmen already coming in with Big East-type bodies.
Beilein believes this extra muscle will help West Virginia down the stretch in February and March. Last year the Mountaineers started off the season great. They were enthusiastic and had great momentum which was tremendous. But by the end of the season West Virginia just didn’t have a lot of players available and the team struggled to get to the finish line.
That changes this year because West Virginia has more players, more depth, and physically, the team is much stronger.
In my opinion, weight training in basketball is a tricky proposition.
The old school of thought was too much weight training could negatively affect a player’s shooting touch. Today, most coaches believe weight training is a necessity.
I think it’s about taking the body fat off and making yourself stronger. Just think: how many times did Tyrone Sally out-jump someone last year, come down with the ball, and by the time he hit the floor did he have the ball because some one took it from him?
Because Tyrone has now gotten considerably stronger, people aren’t going to be able to do that as much. There is also a psychological benefit to having a stronger team, too. Kids are more apt to feel good about themselves when they see themselves getting stronger.
When I look back during the time I played up through the 1960s and 1970s, basketball players couldn’t pick up a weight. What we did was play tennis. Coach Fred Schaus was a big proponent of his players doing that to work on their hand-eye coordination and agility.
Players then weren’t going into the weight room because there wasn’t a weight to be found. Nowadays you see these athletes in great physical shape and you see them lifting all of the time and that passes all the way down.
If you watch Willie Mays play you want to play like Willie Mays … if you can. Today you want to be like Shaquille O’Neal if you can.
One other thing to consider about weight training is the fact that it also builds up discipline. That’s all part of building a program from the ground up.
And while I’m excited about what West Virginia can do this year, I really think next year the Mountaineers will be ready to rumble.
If you want to count Nick Patella because he’s a walk-on, there are eight freshmen and sophomores on this team. Is that good enough to throw up 18 or 19 wins against this schedule? To me it’s not but I could be wrong. Now I can see the possibility of eight or nine non-conference wins and maybe seven, eight or nine Big East wins which would be a very, very solid season.
Next year, you are looking at a predominantly juniors and seniors and that includes the addition of 6-foot-4 St. Bonaventure transfer Mike Gansey, a very solid and athletic player who is sitting out this year.
The reason John Beilein didn’t want to petition and have Gansey play this season is because he wanted Mike to get adjusted to Morgantown, get adjusted to West Virginia University, get ahead in the classroom and take a year to learn his system before playing.
I think it’s a shrewd move and it’s another example of Beilein not getting ahead of himself. He knows exactly how he wants to build this program and he’s not going to take any shortcuts to get there.
