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Can practice schedule make Spurs dream team?
By Mike Monroe - Express-News
To sleep, perchance to dream; ay, there’s the rub — Hamlet
You need sleep. Sleep means recovery, mental and physical; your body rejuvenates — Popovich
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich announced to his team after its final preseason game that he was implementing a new practice schedule. Until further notice, he told his players, practices would begin at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, rather than 10 or 11 in the morning.
That very night, All-Star guard Manu Ginobili did something he hadn’t done in years: sleep for 12 hours straight, uninterrupted.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “Even the days we have off, I usually wake up at 8 or 9. That day, it just happened. That first day was great. I felt really good, and my legs were fresh.”
If sleeping in is what it takes for Ginobili to return to being the player who energizes the Spurs after a 2008-09 season in which he battled injuries and fatigue, you can be sure Popovich is going to give his new practice regimen a long chance to prove the scientific research that prompted his decision.
The study, authored by Cheri Mah, of the Stanford University Sleep Disorders Clinic, revealed that better-rested athletes, including some members of the Stanford men’s basketball team, made significant improvements in observed athletic performance.
For example, the six Stanford basketball players who participated in the study all saw their free throw shooting improve after switching to a sleep pattern that was more consistent and included more sleep than they previously had gotten.
That, in and of itself, may have been enough for Popovich to give the new practice schedule a try. But when the Stanford study was presented at the annual convention of the Association of Professional Sleep Societies, there was empirical evidence.
“This study ... showed that obtaining extra sleep was associated with improvements in indicators of athletic performance and mood among members of the (Stanford) men’s basketball team,” the report read.
With one of the NBA’s oldest rosters each of the past five seasons, Popovich has been acutely aware of the need to lighten the physical toll on his players. Two seasons ago, he scrapped the game-day morning shootaround, a practice implemented in the 1960s by Lakers coach Bill Sharman.
Other NBA coaches were envious of Popovich’s willingness to fly in the face of coaching convention.
“When I’ve got four (championship) banners hanging from the ceiling in our arena, I’ll stop having shootarounds, too,” Hornets coach Byron Scott joked.
In fact, a number of other teams have begun to skip morning shootarounds, too, including the Celtics. Their coach, Doc Rivers, added his first championship banner to the Celtics’ collection in 2007.
Now, Popovich is taking another step in the direction of rest and recovery.
“We’ve been thinking for several years now: How can we maximize their rest and recovery?” Popovich said. “The shootarounds were the beginning. The next step was actually giving them more time to get more sleep.
“You need sleep. Sleep means recovery, mental and physical. Your body rejuvenates. So we felt getting out of the morning practices was important.”
Popovich was thrilled when Ginobili revealed his long night’s journey into the next day.
“He couldn’t remember the last time he did that, and that recovery for the body, with the job they have, is more important than a shootaround that is not going to make them a better team,” Popovich said.
Adjusting to the new schedule hasn’t been easy for all Spurs players.
“That’s my rest time,” new Spurs forward Antonio McDyess said. “My body seems to shut down about 4 in the afternoon.”
McDyess said he was confident he could adjust to the schedule, particularly since he has no choice.
“I’m sure there are some guys who love it and some who don’t,” Popovich said. “It’s different for all of us. You change when you do things. You have to change what’s going on at home, and what’s going on in the office, but if it will benefit the basketball team without causing misery to people and their families, then that’s what will be done.”
For Ginobili and Tony Parker, who played professionally in Europe before joining the Spurs, the change is a return to routine.
“In Europe, that’s what we do — practice in the afternoons. So for me, that’s not a change,” Parker said. “In the morning, it’s nice to sleep. Sometimes you come in after a game, and you’re stiff and sore, so you sleep in the next morning, and your body gets warm.”
Ginobili said he had forgotten how much he had enjoyed late practices when he played overseas.
“For me, it’s good, because I’m not a great sleeper. Sometimes, I go to bed late, especially after our games, so it’s good to have a couple more hours.”
Team captain Tim Duncan, who has two young children, understands both the scientific underpinnings of the change and its potential to help the Spurs win. For now, he has given the new schedule a thumbs-up.
“It’s great to get your rest,” he said. “It’s a little different. I understand what Pop is trying to do, trying to get a little closer to game time where our bodies are reacting the same way they would on a game day. It makes sense.
“It’s obviously a big change, and we’ll have to get used to it. But so far, so good.”
bad ass
I love that they are never satisfied. Hopefully this will improve the shooting as the season goes on.
Too me it was like slap in a face again about professionals
They figure it out that sleep is good thing for human body?
I can assure you that any players with school-aged kids are already getting up in the morning and that they miss the fact that they could get their kids from school and have time with them.
Poor millionaires.
Never miss a chance to take a shot. This one is kinda silly. Take a look at the roster. This might affect 3-4 players in the way you suggest. Duncan, Manu, TP, Jefferson, Hill, Bonner, Blair, Mahinmi, Hairston, and Mason are not.
I love the way the spurs are always the ones going forward, experimenting, not beeing shy of trying something new.
Don't be sarcastic. They have made a serious study of 10 years, analyzing a sample of athletes, they created a mathematic model to compare curves, they have made blood sample tests, they have implemented cameras to study how guys were sleeping.... and you you sum up all this hard work with a "sleep is good thing for human body"... pffffToo me it was like slap in a face again about professionals
They figure it out that sleep is good thing for human body?
Ain't get no better than this
I was told sleeping more than 8 hours a day could be harmful...
Brazil
Was that your boss?
Correct.
But I just searched on Google and found this, maybe there're some merits in it.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/7333.php
Who told you that? Oh yes sleeping through breakfast time is certainly bad for your stomach.
Brush with greatness (he was one of the 50 greatest, I believe):by Lakers coach Bill Sharman
My wife and I, in 2006 - went through his house; were thinking about buying it - had no idea it was anything until we went into the basement; on the wall, in succession - signed jerseys: Magic, Bird, Kareem, Oscar - tipped me off; then the letter on the wall personalized and signed by Red A. sealed the deal.
We had kids, however, and the yard was too small.
As for the sleep deal; sounds logical, every edge can help.
Sleeping for more than 8 hours a day could very well be harmful, if you aren't an elite athlete.
After my brain surgery a few years ago, I felt a consistent, noted decrease in my health when I got more than about 9-10 hours of sleep. But, I was also stagnant for the part of the day when I was awake. I'm sure even your daily routine doesn't count as "activity."
But if you are going hard like these guys are going, sprinting miles on the court on game day and taxing their bodies with workouts on the off-days, I have a hard time seeing too much sleep being a bad thing.
I wouldn't be surprised if I did see noted improvements in the Spurs this year, and that sleep was a reason why. I just hope they are do enting this "experiment" for researchers later. It's a fantastic test..... I mean, why not?
After being physically active myself for 30 + years and having kids that have been in athletics...I didn't need scientific research to let me know how important giving your body proper rest would mean.
It makes all the difference in the world when it comes to performance.
Good for the team. Good that they are implementing it. It will make a significant positive impact. Especially for the older players.
I had always wondered why they practiced in the morning not because of sleep or rest but because of mental and physical memory. To me you play the majority of games and almost all playoff games in the evening so why would you get your mind and body used to morning work when you never play in the morning? The later the practice time the better suited they'll be for their games.
iverson what for?
^^^ Good point Whisky Dog
When you walk into an elevator, which way to you look? At the door. Because that's the way you've always done it.
When you put on your belt, which side the buckle? The side it's always been on.
The standard distance between rails on the railroad is 4' 8.5". Sounds like a weird number. And it's not scientific, either (in fact, trains would be more stable if the gauge was wider). Why isn't it 5 feet, or even 6? Because when people from England built our railroads way back when, "that was the way they always did it" in England.
Whisky Dog above me makes a great point, and the Stanford researchers did too. Pop did away with morning shootarounds, even though "that was the way they always did it." And coaches got jealous. Why? Because sometimes "the way we always did it" is wrong.
Pop is incredibly smart. But one of his more valuable attributes is that he isn't just a basketball mind. He thinks independently, and rationally, and when evidence presents itself that goes contrary to "the way we always did it," Pop isn't afraid to buck conventional thinking.
Good read. I'm always fascinated by these kinds of articles. I really hope it works... except I'm afraid that if we win, people might try to put an asterisk by this season's championship as well.
*denotes the way we haven't tried it
(kidding, that last part)
I'm callin BS....
Methinks Pop just wants time to recover from his late night forays into his wine cellar. You just know he's got one of these puppies at his house or just outside the AT&T center........
AT&T Center officials should be on the lookout for hollow sounding floors, or any other su ious looking barriers.
I have second-hand knowledge that his cellar is actually extremely extensive. Though I'd much rather go for the "cool" factor of one of the puppies you showed above.I'm callin BS....
Methinks Pop just wants time to recover from his late night forays into his wine cellar. You just know he's got one of these puppies at his house or just outside the AT&T center........
The change makes a lot of sense.
Now, the next thing I would definitely change is the habit to take a flight after a game, go to sleep in another city at 2 or 3 AM and expect to be fresh the next morning.
Unimaginable.
See the Chicago game, where the whole team was lethargic.
Go back home, or in a hotel if you are on the road, and take a flight the very next morning.
Fresh and well rested.
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