Manu looks gassed...

[wildbill2u]

Nikos I am glad you are not an exercise physiologist or a doctor. Upper body strength has nothing to do with cardiac or aerobic fitness, in fact a case can be made that the reverse is true.

The guy just gives it his all every second on the floor period. He has the body of an athlete just more of a soccer type, lean long muscles which are often surprisingly strong = power from the speed they generate as much as the mass. Don't under-estimate his leg strength, few players can hand in the air as long as he can to do reverse dunks etc. at times.

Upper body mass isn't particularly good for speed & endurance because of the extra weight although it is useful for other things. Forget the BS about he 'goes all out' because he's been doing that for his whole career without being physically depleted.

Frankly, I'm a little concerned because he hasn't been bouncing back to full physical condition even after a three day layoff. Most well-conditioned athletes, especially basketball players, are rejuvenated after a few days off. I worry that there might be some underlying medical condition that hasn't been diagnosed--like anemia or mono.

[Nikos]

I am not sure how upper body strength relates to endurance, but if it does have an adverse affect, than I further cannot understand why Shawn Marion and Dwayne Wade can exert the same energy as Manu for 40 minutes and not be as physically exhausted as Manu.

If less upper body mass works in Manu's favor, then why is he so darn tired? Is it just natural lack of endurance, or could he just be really expressive and honest about his physical shape, whereas other players keep quiet about it?

Or is it just the extended period of not having rest since December/January of 2002-03, the point in time where he was coming off injury?

[boutons]

"Most well-conditioned athletes, especially basketball players"

And he said last October he basically did nothing, got out of shape between Athens and training camp. (And remember how he amazed everybody at the start of this season?) That should be more than enough time for an uninjured pro athelete in his prime to "recover from Athens". And remember, he probabbly didn't do much between getting blown out by the Lakers in May and a few Olympic practices in July, and watched over by Pop.

As I've said elsewhere, if Manu can't keep up with a low pace of only 2.5 qtrs per game, then something is really screwed up somewhere with Manu.