Two Games In And Todd Wright Is Your MVP

Good stuff. Definitely can see the physical improvements in Hamilton and Brown this season.

Over under on number of replies before someone suggests Wright walk down to Bellmont and take the fried chicken out of Madden’s hand is 2.5.

Over.

I won’t lie. It’s the first thing I thought of.

Seriously, could Wright take over the football team’s S&C program?

Enough already — move on.

How does he have eligibility? Dude is old, I remember listening to him years ago on ESPN radio. Doofus tried to steal most of Tony Bruno’s quips, then got a DUI and had to move to something like Sporting News Radio.

Oh. Nevermind.

When I first saw the “game atmosphere” at the Erwin Center, I wondered why a big-time basketball prospect would ever want to play at UT.

Todd Wright’s got to be one of the biggest reasons why. Texas develops players into pros as well, if not better, than any program in the country.

Hamilton’s transformation physically and between the ears is the most striking on the team.

He seems to have enough lateral quickness to stay in front of guys, and of course the explosion at the rim. He is also positioning himself better defensively and paying attention to the entire floor. He moves around on offense and tries to find the weakside of the floor to get open shots or easy rebounds away from traffic. Last year his offense was standing close to the ball in one spot holding his hands out. I saw at least four or five possessions last game where he go the ball on the wing and instantly moved it to the next player. Last year those would have been immediate jumpers.

Tristan Thompson has a huge ass. He can really move people around with that thing. Lower body strength is very underrated in basketball, mostly because most guys are rail thin and don’t have it. TT has a nice jumper collection that he uses, but I think with more upper body strength and more (yes even more!) explosive power in his lower body he can dominate around the rim. He plays 5-10 feet out and does well at it. He can be unstoppable 5 feet in with some work.

Just imagine how much better Hamilton would be if Williams was still around to push for PT!

Screw the football team. Can Wright come over to my house?

I need to develop some explosiveness off the sofa and to the gym.

Just imagine if the football team replaced maddog with this guy!

Trips – How much longer until we start getting some O/U action? We’re already 8 or so games into the season and nothing!

i often read references to Madden being terrible, but with little specificity in what he is doing wrong. I’m well aware of what has made TW good…just haven’t seen much on why Madden is bad (except for being fat). any help here?

Madden has been regarded as ‘muscle-ing’ up players with little regard to functional strength on the football field.

i.e. Players come in with explosion in lower legs but lose that explosiveness the more years they are in our program (See senior offensive lineman looking less agile than freshmen).

Regarding above:

Mad dog’s players don’t develop. Look at the offensive line. McWhorter has been bringing in athletic, lean offensive lineman under the premise they could put on weight and maintain their quickness. Instead, these guys have either stayed small or put on bad weight (think Poehlman, Bucahnon, etc.).

Why do our linemen flash so much potential early, and then fade as the progress? Think Snow, Hix, Huey.

When was the last time we had a player transform their body from potential to greatness? Most often, the opposite happens…Think Chiles who finally got it together this year. Think Cody Johnson. Think about Derrick Johnson his senior year. Think Larry Dibbles. Think Aaron Harris. Compare this to TCU, who routinely turns RB into pass rushers from hell.

Mad dog learned about nutrition from Oprah (I wish I was joking, but I’m not). He emphasizes weight lifting stats versus functional strength (think bench press vs. plyometrics).

He looks like Jabba the Hut. How can you have a conditioning coach in terrible shape? He loses all credibility the second he steps into the weight room.

I could go on.

Finally, compar

Todd Wright is the bomb. When I switched on the Navy game I could see that immediately, not just by looks but how guys were moving.

Seeing Hamilton pulling up for 15 footers. That takes power and will move him from OK to NBA prospect. I saw Lucas actually blow by a guy at the foul line in transition. That wasnt there last year.

BTW Oregons 53 year old S&C coach runs wind sprints with the best conditioned football team in the country every practice. I am sure its all for show though. Just sayin’

Once again, you want to rail on the football S&C (perfectly understandable) do it on a football thread — enough of the comparisions — we get it.

I agree with srr50.

The transformation is considerable in Hamilton. I think his smarter play during these two games is attributable in part to his physical improvements. I get the impression that increased quickness, agility, and balance enable Hamilton to execute more quickly or to create space for movement or jump shots more effectively than he could last year. So whether he ultimately executes a particular move or shot, his stamina and confidence to execute the move enables better decision making. Of course, some of his mental game must be chalked up to study and greater understanding of his role on the floor. Hamilton’s passing game — vision and execution — have improved, and this makes the entire team more dangerous on offense. His defense, too, great to see. It seems like the improvements in all aspects of his game prove that Hamilton has what has been described on this blog as “give a shit.” The whole team has this again, after a season of dormancy.

Can’t say enough about this Horn team. Hill looks more capable. Wangmene has demonstrated better hands. Joseph and especially Thompson look really damn good (I suppose we’re seeing what Barnes was so giddy about regarding Thompson’s stamina and completeness). JCB is fit and into the games. This is exciting, and it’s a huge relief for us to see these guys playing with purpose, drive, and skill.

Trips – I have to first disclose that I haven’t seen a second of Texas basketball this year. But do you really think J’Covan Brown has a legitimate chance to guard McCamey? Todd Wright may be fantastic, but I find that type of transformation just about impossible to believe.

This post and lower body discussion in the threat but not one striated glute reference. BC is growing up.

*thread

Hip, nope, but we’ll find out an awful lot about Brown and company against that backcourt.

One thing I noticed during the Navy game was that when they showed Hamilton on the bench, he was sitting next to and conversing with Wright. To me, another sign that he has bought in.

ESPN2 was showing Duke’s training sessions last night. A lot of bench press. High school stuff. Guess it works for them, well that and having one of the greatest coaches of all time.

There’s a difference between just piling on and piling up mindless “Madden sucks” comments. At least one of the people on this thread has sincerely asked whether Wright could function as the Conditioning Coach for both programs, and I’d like to know the same.

Would the schedules be incompatible? Is his knowledge base applicable to football? In an ideal world, is it even feasible for our football program to benefit from his expertise? And if so, how?

That’s not ruining a basketball thread. That’s just asking a question.

And to bring it back to hoops, here’s another: how tall is Tristan T, really? I want to see that guy after a year with Wright.

Ok, Todd Wright trains for functional strength, Mad Dog doesn’t. What I mean is that Wright wants his kids to do combo movements that simulate what they’ll be doing on the floor. Mad Dog makes his kids bench, squat, and deadlift when we should be doing power cleans, box jumps, and heavy rope work.

When I said Jordan Hamilton and J’Covan brown needed to do a thousand power slides a day to simulate staying in front of ball handlers I wasn’t kidding. Guess what, that’s exactly what they did. They look quicker laterally than they have at any point in time last season, and they look more explosive on the offensive end. Oh yeah, they’re both absolutely rocked in the upper body. Todd Wright is our MVP.

On Coach K, he’s the ultimate head doctor in today’s college game. He and Calipari are the top two. Coach K is great at getting his guys in the proper mindset to perform. He’s basically Augie Garrido.

I’m still amazed how Todd Wright went from a Boston area bartender to one of the premier S&C trainers in the country in such a short period of time.

So glad to see a man oc commitment and substance in the world today good luck todd wrignt

So glad to see a man of commitment and substance in today world good luck todd wright