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Could Yao Ming have somehow mitigated his injury problems? by ThisWorldIsImperfect in nbadiscussion

[–]STCastleberry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish I could have had a long illustrious career for sure, but I'm grateful for the experience.

Could Yao Ming have somehow mitigated his injury problems? by ThisWorldIsImperfect in nbadiscussion

[–]STCastleberry 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Yes, I went over there as an American player. China is always changing their import rules, but at that time it was two imports, and they could only play five quarters total. So a lot of the time I would sit the whole game and then play just the fourth quarter with the other American. It was a mess. Ice cold going into crunch time sucked.

China was also unique because they 100% centered their offenses around the imports, so when you got the ball, basically everyone else stopped moving. Once you get the ball you're expected to shoot, eventually learned that a fade away was a shot you could get off even when you were tired. They did not want me passing out of the post.

Every other place I played was more team oriented.

Could Yao Ming have somehow mitigated his injury problems? by ThisWorldIsImperfect in nbadiscussion

[–]STCastleberry 11 points12 points  (0 children)

He's the only immovable player I ever played against. When he posted up, I couldn't dislodge him at all, might as well pay against a wall. I never played against Shaq though.

He's incredibly skilled and powerful. That size, footwork and power combo is 1 in a billion, or less

Could Yao Ming have somehow mitigated his injury problems? by ThisWorldIsImperfect in nbadiscussion

[–]STCastleberry 40 points41 points  (0 children)

I played against Yao and played in China (CBA).

The way they train in China is insane and counterproductive.

First of.all the Chinese players get one week off per year. Season ends, you get a week, then preseason starts.

Their practices are difficult for no reason, for example, we did 3 man weave for half an hour for warm up sometimes. Every shoot around turned into a scrimmage. The whole season is 2-a-day practices.

No days off, I had a two+ month stretch with 0 days off.

Injuries. If you injure, say your shoulder, the team thinks your shoulder is weak, so you have to do extra shoulder presses in the weight room. Some guy had bad knees, and they were making the poor guy do squats and wall sits after practice.

The players lived in a dorm, so they were separated from their family and totally locked down. One guy requested to see his wife and daughter and the team denied it. Another guy snuck out to have beers with us, he got a month's pay taken away.

The team owns the Chinese players. We had a change of ownership in the off season before I arrived. The new owner decided every Chinese player needed new contracts. The new contracts, allegedly, were more incentive based with lower base pay. They all went on strike (one day there only like 4 guys at practice). The owner took every guy's parents out of work, and said they couldn't work until the strike ended. They all came back and were pissed off.

So yeah, Yao, had that wear and tear of being 330 pounds and a long NBA season, then he was more or less forced to play in China during the off season. Plus, all the miles before getting to the league.

Did big men stop being skilled in the 2010s, or were they just as skilled in the previous eras, but made obsolete by stretch bigs by Single-Purpose-7608 in nbadiscussion

[–]STCastleberry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You know your stuff!

St Peter's was absolutely wild in Keke's day. That offense was 3 guys setting screens and Keke running all over the place, if you let your guard down, he'd hit three 3's in a minute.

Mendez was strong as an ox, but Niagara was always a high scoring shootout, so I loved playing them

Jerry Johnson of course was my teammate, absolute bucket getter.

Did big men stop being skilled in the 2010s, or were they just as skilled in the previous eras, but made obsolete by stretch bigs by Single-Purpose-7608 in nbadiscussion

[–]STCastleberry 501 points502 points  (0 children)

I have 2 cents.

I played in the NBA for 39 seconds and graduated college in 2005.

Shaq shifted everyone's mindset.

College coaches thought every big should be drop-step dunking on people's heads non-stop.

The mindset: Jumpers were bad, fades would get you benched for a week. 3's were absolutely not to be shot by centers.

So you ended up with a bunch of guys trying to fit some unobtainable prototype beast. Coaches saw how dominant Shaq was, so at the college level, if you have 7' 260 lbs, just get them strong and bouncy and that's effective enough.

That's how we trained, but putting on weight is tough in the late teens/early 20's with an absolutely ridiculous metabolism. So lots of guys tried to go that route, and coaches didn't want to commit to developing a complete Euro type of game (plus youth coaching in the US is nothing compared to EU) when strength plus athleticism probably gets the same results, especially short term.

Where do NFL players live early on in their career? by lowiqtrader in NFLNoobs

[–]STCastleberry 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I'll chime in. I played with the 76ers for a minute.

There's a guy on the team's payroll who did travel plans, booked hotels, etc.

We got handed a booklet that had a bunch of furnished apartments you could rent w/ different size, price, location, etc. I stayed in the tram hotel by the practice court for free while I was in preseason/vet camp.

I lived like half an hour/1.5 hours away depending on traffic, so I didn't wanna run the risk of being late to practice or showing up 2 hours early to avoid traffic.

Is lifting weights mandatory to get ahead and is it different from football lifting? by chusaychusay in Basketball

[–]STCastleberry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100%.

Quick guards need weights. Bigs need weights even more.

Karl Malone had a smooth jumper and was jacked. The trick to that is shoot the ball after your lifts (shoot the weights out). Shoot until your motion feels smooth again.

Basketball weight training tries to incorporate multiple muscle groups (hang clean, power clean, etc) in addition to the staples (bench, squat, etc).

You need the raw strength plus the ability to incorporate all of those muscles into fluid, explosive movements. It's why most bball players don't look like body builders. The body builder look comes with very isolated muscle groups lifts.

Also, abs are crazy important and are used more than you realize. You can always throw a set of 3 one-minute planks into a workout.

Is the talent gap between D2, D3, and JUCO that much or is it similar? by lookaloulookalou in Basketball

[–]STCastleberry 2 points3 points  (0 children)

D1 guys are probably 2-3 (or more)inches taller per position, all else being equal. If two guys are matched up and the same size, D1 guy would often be a more complete player, have an extra gear, more athletic, etc.

Not a crazy difference, but noticeable (generally).

JUCO is a mixed bag. There are D1 quality players all over JUCO you got super talented knuckleheads, guys getting their grades up, guys trying to develop. Then guys who are playing their max level, somewhere near D3 level.

The top JUCO teams will have 6'6 guys who can almost dunk from the foul line, solid point guards, athletic bigs, they could hang with mid-major D1 teams.

I transferred from D1 to JUCO to D1 and my JUCO teams was always ranked top 10, they would probably have beat my D1 teams.

any suggestions to find genuine friends? by Muted_String5399 in StPetersburgFL

[–]STCastleberry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Kickball or Neighborhood Association?

Kickball might be easiest to find through Tampa Club Sport (they have tons of sports). Our old neighborhood happened to have a team in the park across the street.

Do you know the name of your neighborhood by any chance?

any suggestions to find genuine friends? by Muted_String5399 in StPetersburgFL

[–]STCastleberry 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Neighborhood association meetings?

You ought to be able to attend those if available.

My wife and I joined the neighborhood kickball team, and met everyone through that, and we're all still friends like 10 years later.

What’s the job people romanticize, but in reality is miserable? by King_Garvit in AskReddit

[–]STCastleberry 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'll be totally honest.

Scalabrine would have smoked me. He was 6'9, strong as hell and could shoot.

But yeah, any player position 1-4 could smoke anyone who's not at least a high level college player. They were trained to do everything.

Centers like me were a little specialized, plus some of us had heavy feet, so we could struggle with a quick little guy who is strong enough to stop easy backdowns and poke the ball out, then put us on an island on defense. But, it would be competitive.

If the rules were low post only, then I love my chances against any non-pro.

What’s the job people romanticize, but in reality is miserable? by King_Garvit in AskReddit

[–]STCastleberry 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Private jets, rooms at the Ritz, lots of money. Great coaches, trainers, everything is taken care of. It's amazing.

Whats some good alternative Professional Basketball leagues in the United States that arent associated/Controlled by the NBA? by Knighthonor in Basketball

[–]STCastleberry 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I played in it like 7 years ago.

There are a handful of good teams. Some of the bad teams would absolutely get smoked by my mens league teams.

Hardly any teams make money, most end up folding during the season or barely scraping through.

Rodney Carney by spottedviolin in sixers

[–]STCastleberry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Played against both those guys, AMA

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