[valentine]

 When will they be tested for it/when will the results be released?  I am one unpatient person.  I think Patric Young will own it, but my homer outside pick is PJ Hairston.  

[TarHeelRavenParticipant]

 Patric Young is absolutely made for the bench press test.  That guy is jacked.  I think he got too big though and it affected his agility.  Of course strength is important in the NBA but I must remind you guys that Kevin Durant couldn’t do one bench press and he turned out pretty well.  Being super skilled can mask a serious lack of strength.  

[TarHeelRavenParticipant]

 Patric Young is absolutely made for the bench press test.  That guy is jacked.  I think he got too big though and it affected his agility.  Of course strength is important in the NBA but I must remind you guys that Kevin Durant couldn’t do one bench press and he turned out pretty well.  Being super skilled can mask a serious lack of strength.  

[CameronCrazy11Participant]

I know they did it but never saw the official results. A tweet I saw said that Patric Young got in 25 reps, Jarnell Stokes 22, Johnny O’Bryant 19, and Marcus Smart 19.

[CameronCrazy11Participant]

I know they did it but never saw the official results. A tweet I saw said that Patric Young got in 25 reps, Jarnell Stokes 22, Johnny O’Bryant 19, and Marcus Smart 19.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

Patric Young apparently got 25, 2 short of the combine record:

http://www.onlygators.com/05/15/2014/florida-gators-center-patric-young-at-the-2014-nba-draft-combine/

The "other site" (DX) said that Marcus Smart went for 19 reps, which is beastly even for a guy whose strength is well known. I know most people think the bench is "useless" in the NBA Combine, though I still find it interesting. As this article shows, benching zero reps is not necessarily the end of the world. It also points out the first real "star" you see is Blake Griffin at 22 bench reps. Even beastly bigs like Andre Drummond (10 reps) and Dwight Howard (7 reps) did not necessarily killing it.

One thing I will say is that while Kevin Durant famously getting skunked when he went to lift, his most glaring weakness still seems to be getting position against physical defense on the block. He has obviously gotten stronger and gained weight, though imagine how unstoppable he would be if he had more of a post game? Bench meant very little for KD, just saying that most players mentioned with 0 reps sometimes do struggle physically. It is hard to use it as an indicator of a guys real strength on the court, much less as to your overall success as a player, though I still am interested to see who did what when they choose to do the bench and compare it to past prospects who might have been somewhat similar.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

Patric Young apparently got 25, 2 short of the combine record:

http://www.onlygators.com/05/15/2014/florida-gators-center-patric-young-at-the-2014-nba-draft-combine/

The "other site" (DX) said that Marcus Smart went for 19 reps, which is beastly even for a guy whose strength is well known. I know most people think the bench is "useless" in the NBA Combine, though I still find it interesting. As this article shows, benching zero reps is not necessarily the end of the world. It also points out the first real "star" you see is Blake Griffin at 22 bench reps. Even beastly bigs like Andre Drummond (10 reps) and Dwight Howard (7 reps) did not necessarily killing it.

One thing I will say is that while Kevin Durant famously getting skunked when he went to lift, his most glaring weakness still seems to be getting position against physical defense on the block. He has obviously gotten stronger and gained weight, though imagine how unstoppable he would be if he had more of a post game? Bench meant very little for KD, just saying that most players mentioned with 0 reps sometimes do struggle physically. It is hard to use it as an indicator of a guys real strength on the court, much less as to your overall success as a player, though I still am interested to see who did what when they choose to do the bench and compare it to past prospects who might have been somewhat similar.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 I feel like Marcus Smart has worked his way back up the draft charts after the infamous shoving incident.  

A top 10 lock and I can see him making a play for the fourth or fifth pick.  

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 I feel like Marcus Smart has worked his way back up the draft charts after the infamous shoving incident.  

A top 10 lock and I can see him making a play for the fourth or fifth pick.  

[JoeWolf1]

I have enjoyed strength training since I was introduced, as a high school athlete, and still enjoy lifting and experimenting with different types of training to this day. I’ve done Olympic lifting, Power lifting, plyometrics, all sorts of stuff, so I am always curious about the bench number. A well trained lifter, should shoot for 1.5 X their body weight in bench, 2 X in squat and 2.5 X in deadlift.

A lot of basketball players are not lifters, less and less these days, though with the increase in training in the past 10-15 years. However, these guys are well proportioned, well trained athletes for the most part. I don’t know if you guys saw the before and after pics on TV in the Final 4 of Florida’s athlete’s…let’s just say, these guys put in a lot of work and are strong all the way around. If a guy, like Patrick Young reps 185 lbs 25 times, he’s gonna be a beast on squat too. When Kevin Durant can’t bench 185lbs, well, I’d be shocked if he could have put up 250 lbs on squat back in the day. There is no room for guys who just do bench, or just do squats in an all around sport like basketball. No, bench isn’t the most on court applicable movement, but you can tell more than you think about a player’s overall strength level.

When young guys post low numbers, I think it’s less big a deal than when a 22 year old does. Andre Drummond only repped 10, but he was 19 and has super long arms. Howard did 7, and now he benches over 400 lbs. A low number isn’t the end of the world because unlike height or wingspan, guys can get bigger and stronger, and nature is actually on their side when doing so. Same with Lebron, he had muscles, but he wasn’t near the beast he is at 29.

The funny thing is, that being really strong doesn’t exactly give you a better chance of on court success. 

I checked bench numbers out a while back, and there’s certainly no correlation between being one of the strongest guys and any sort of NBA success. Like Mikey pointed out Blake Griffin is an All-Star level player, as is Al Horford, but they’re the only two to make a All-Star team after recording 20 or more reps in the combine, out of 59 players, which is 3.3%.

Kevin Durant is the poster boy that the bench doesn’t matter, but I found 110 players have measured 1-4 reps in the bench press, and Durant, Tyson Chandler, Josh Howard and Andre Igoudala were the only players who made an All-Star team, which is 3.6%.

There seems to be a sweet spot, where a guy can be strong and maybe not sacrifice any speed in the process, as with added muscle mass, many humans can’t generate as high of jumps and as fast of speed outbursts. I think in the NBA speed and skill trumps strength, but being on the low end of the strength end, doesn’t really seem to be something to scoff at either. 48 players active players have at least one ASG under their belt, and only two had elite strength coming into the league, while only 3 ( Howard is retired ) succeeded to that level coming in weak. I really think from a strength standpoint, when looking at NBA players, that level where a guy is still able to be quick and explosive, but not get pushed around. The best athletes have body types that are condusive to be good at strength, speed, and agility without sacrificing much speed. ( Lebron, Howard, Griffin, Rose and Westbrook ) come to mind.

 

[JoeWolf1]

I have enjoyed strength training since I was introduced, as a high school athlete, and still enjoy lifting and experimenting with different types of training to this day. I’ve done Olympic lifting, Power lifting, plyometrics, all sorts of stuff, so I am always curious about the bench number. A well trained lifter, should shoot for 1.5 X their body weight in bench, 2 X in squat and 2.5 X in deadlift.

A lot of basketball players are not lifters, less and less these days, though with the increase in training in the past 10-15 years. However, these guys are well proportioned, well trained athletes for the most part. I don’t know if you guys saw the before and after pics on TV in the Final 4 of Florida’s athlete’s…let’s just say, these guys put in a lot of work and are strong all the way around. If a guy, like Patrick Young reps 185 lbs 25 times, he’s gonna be a beast on squat too. When Kevin Durant can’t bench 185lbs, well, I’d be shocked if he could have put up 250 lbs on squat back in the day. There is no room for guys who just do bench, or just do squats in an all around sport like basketball. No, bench isn’t the most on court applicable movement, but you can tell more than you think about a player’s overall strength level.

When young guys post low numbers, I think it’s less big a deal than when a 22 year old does. Andre Drummond only repped 10, but he was 19 and has super long arms. Howard did 7, and now he benches over 400 lbs. A low number isn’t the end of the world because unlike height or wingspan, guys can get bigger and stronger, and nature is actually on their side when doing so. Same with Lebron, he had muscles, but he wasn’t near the beast he is at 29.

The funny thing is, that being really strong doesn’t exactly give you a better chance of on court success. 

I checked bench numbers out a while back, and there’s certainly no correlation between being one of the strongest guys and any sort of NBA success. Like Mikey pointed out Blake Griffin is an All-Star level player, as is Al Horford, but they’re the only two to make a All-Star team after recording 20 or more reps in the combine, out of 59 players, which is 3.3%.

Kevin Durant is the poster boy that the bench doesn’t matter, but I found 110 players have measured 1-4 reps in the bench press, and Durant, Tyson Chandler, Josh Howard and Andre Igoudala were the only players who made an All-Star team, which is 3.6%.

There seems to be a sweet spot, where a guy can be strong and maybe not sacrifice any speed in the process, as with added muscle mass, many humans can’t generate as high of jumps and as fast of speed outbursts. I think in the NBA speed and skill trumps strength, but being on the low end of the strength end, doesn’t really seem to be something to scoff at either. 48 players active players have at least one ASG under their belt, and only two had elite strength coming into the league, while only 3 ( Howard is retired ) succeeded to that level coming in weak. I really think from a strength standpoint, when looking at NBA players, that level where a guy is still able to be quick and explosive, but not get pushed around. The best athletes have body types that are condusive to be good at strength, speed, and agility without sacrificing much speed. ( Lebron, Howard, Griffin, Rose and Westbrook ) come to mind.

 

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

I read somewhere that KD can now bench 300 pounds. So don’t believe that he actually ever competed at the NBA level unable to bench 185 even once. The trainers probably got on him immediately after he was drafted and I’m sure the guy did what was asked of him.

Joe, thanks for the anaylsys. It kind of confirms what I suspected which is that of all the things in the draft combine, the bench is probably the least predictive of NBA success. Also good to point out that long arms makes the bench harder. Of course being big helps in general, so there is a counter. But the farther you have to push the bar the more energy it takes. While on the court, long arms is very helpful and, I think, gives on leverage that physically stronger guys can’t match. In my regular run I push around a former DIII offensive lineman. I’m sure he would kill me in the bench, but I’ve got a few inches on him and he is basically physically overmatched. When I guard him he drifts to three point line. Probably to cut down on the odds of me blocking his shots.

 

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

I read somewhere that KD can now bench 300 pounds. So don’t believe that he actually ever competed at the NBA level unable to bench 185 even once. The trainers probably got on him immediately after he was drafted and I’m sure the guy did what was asked of him.

Joe, thanks for the anaylsys. It kind of confirms what I suspected which is that of all the things in the draft combine, the bench is probably the least predictive of NBA success. Also good to point out that long arms makes the bench harder. Of course being big helps in general, so there is a counter. But the farther you have to push the bar the more energy it takes. While on the court, long arms is very helpful and, I think, gives on leverage that physically stronger guys can’t match. In my regular run I push around a former DIII offensive lineman. I’m sure he would kill me in the bench, but I’ve got a few inches on him and he is basically physically overmatched. When I guard him he drifts to three point line. Probably to cut down on the odds of me blocking his shots.

 

[redone1Participant]

 I’m sorry but I would bet absoulutely anything that Kevin Durant can NOT bench 300 lbs. Ridiculous. 

[redone1Participant]

 I’m sorry but I would bet absoulutely anything that Kevin Durant can NOT bench 300 lbs. Ridiculous. 

[JoeWolf1]

 It’s not out of the question. He’s a 235 lb professional athlete. 300 is about 1.27 X his body weight and that’s good strength for his size, but by no means elite. 300 lbs may seem like a lot to the everyman, but at 235 lbs and for a guy who has been focusing on adding strength for 7 years it’s not as like "holy crap" strong. Seems like a reasonable number.

 

[JoeWolf1]

 It’s not out of the question. He’s a 235 lb professional athlete. 300 is about 1.27 X his body weight and that’s good strength for his size, but by no means elite. 300 lbs may seem like a lot to the everyman, but at 235 lbs and for a guy who has been focusing on adding strength for 7 years it’s not as like "holy crap" strong. Seems like a reasonable number.

 

[ncballer]

So are they ever going to release the bench press results?  I know it’s close to meaningless, but nonetheless fun to look at.

[ncballer]

So are they ever going to release the bench press results?  I know it’s close to meaningless, but nonetheless fun to look at.

[Author]

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