This topic contains 26 replies, has 11 voices, and was last updated by 
llperez 14 years, 10 months ago.
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- Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 6:04am #32268
providencefriars1ParticipantSo Howland tells him to lose weight and he ends up gaining more, he doesnt seem too coachable to me. We are 3 months away from the season and he’s 315, anyone think he could get to 325 by the start of the season.
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/33313/josh-smith-struggling-to-shed-weight
Even by the relative standards of Division I basketball players, UCLA center Josh Smith is a big, big dude. In many ways, this is an advantage. Smith’s girth allows him to push defenders into uncomfortable positions on the low block, which allows him compensate for any perceived disadvantages in the vertical leap department. Put more simply: He leans on people. And quite often, it works.
But there is such a thing as being too big. Smith was listed at 6-foot-10, 305 pounds as a freshman last season, and weight measurement is almost certainly on the generous side. (Don’t judge; you know you dropped 15 pounds off your frame at the DMV. I’m onto you.) Smith’s game would benefit from trimming down and turning some of that mass into muscle.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be happening. Instead, as Ben Howland told CBS’s Gary Parrish yesterday, Smith has actually gained weight in the offseason:
"Right now he’s about 10 pounds over where he was last season," Howland said matter-of-factly.
As Parrish writes, that’s not exactly the best sign for Smith’s progression in his sophomore year. No, the big fella doesn’t need to go all South Beach Diet. But he also can’t afford to pack any more pounds on to what is already an overly bulky frame.
I won’t lie: It makes me feel weird to write about this, because I don’t really like to criticize people for their appearance. But this isn’t about appearance so much as productivity, about the amazing potential the UCLA sophomore — who has the intuitively soft hands of a much smaller player — has flashed in his first performances on the collegiate level.
To put it another way: Smith’s potential is enormous. To fully reach it, he needs to be less so.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 6:40am #582158
JNixonParticipantI was hoping Smith would break out for UCLA. They have a bunch of depth on the frontline, but I think they would be *that* much better if he was more effective in a larger role. For him to play that larger role he will have to be in better shape than last year obviously. Him gaining 10 lbs doesn’t help at all, especially since he was at a disadvantage in the UCLA games I saw last season due to his frame. He got alot of fouls and things like that for basically being too big (he would have good fundamentals on D, like having his hands straight up, but he’d bump a guy and they’d go flying so the refs would give him a foul) so him being getting bigger isn’t a positive development. He does score easily and can seal to get rebounds because he’s immovable, but I think if he got to 275-280, he’d be so much more effective. He’d still have enough strength and girth to continue to be effective at that weight too.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 6:40am #582397
JNixonParticipantI was hoping Smith would break out for UCLA. They have a bunch of depth on the frontline, but I think they would be *that* much better if he was more effective in a larger role. For him to play that larger role he will have to be in better shape than last year obviously. Him gaining 10 lbs doesn’t help at all, especially since he was at a disadvantage in the UCLA games I saw last season due to his frame. He got alot of fouls and things like that for basically being too big (he would have good fundamentals on D, like having his hands straight up, but he’d bump a guy and they’d go flying so the refs would give him a foul) so him being getting bigger isn’t a positive development. He does score easily and can seal to get rebounds because he’s immovable, but I think if he got to 275-280, he’d be so much more effective. He’d still have enough strength and girth to continue to be effective at that weight too.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 6:43am #582160
providencefriars1ParticipantYa look at Glen Davis who was another guy who some people thought his size was an advantage. He lost weight, became more athletic and is a now more effective player
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 6:43am #582399
providencefriars1ParticipantYa look at Glen Davis who was another guy who some people thought his size was an advantage. He lost weight, became more athletic and is a now more effective player
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 7:57am #582411
JoeWolf1Yeah, Dexter Pittman worked hard to drop weight in his time at Texas and it also payed off. Smith, like Pittman, seems like a guy who is just going to have to battle weight gain for the rest of his life, but Pittman was right at 300lbs when he got drafted and in the process of his weight loss he managed to gain strength and muslce mass. I think Smith needs to do the same. I think it’s un realistic to think Smith will be any less than 285-290lbs, but there is no way he should be playing at over 300lbs if he is serious about going pro next season. He’s probably at least 25% body fat, and that isn’t even in the healthy range for an adult man, let alone a potential professional basketball player. No matter how talented he is, he’s not going to get serious looks in 2012, unless he can get right at or under 300lbs. If he takes it seriously and gets down to 285-290lbs I think he can sneak into the late 1st round if ups his production this year, but if he rolls into the combine at 315-320, hello mid to late 2nd round.
If you’re a fat 315 you’re still not going to be able to knock around NBA players like you can a 6’8” 250lb center in college.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 7:57am #582172
JoeWolf1Yeah, Dexter Pittman worked hard to drop weight in his time at Texas and it also payed off. Smith, like Pittman, seems like a guy who is just going to have to battle weight gain for the rest of his life, but Pittman was right at 300lbs when he got drafted and in the process of his weight loss he managed to gain strength and muslce mass. I think Smith needs to do the same. I think it’s un realistic to think Smith will be any less than 285-290lbs, but there is no way he should be playing at over 300lbs if he is serious about going pro next season. He’s probably at least 25% body fat, and that isn’t even in the healthy range for an adult man, let alone a potential professional basketball player. No matter how talented he is, he’s not going to get serious looks in 2012, unless he can get right at or under 300lbs. If he takes it seriously and gets down to 285-290lbs I think he can sneak into the late 1st round if ups his production this year, but if he rolls into the combine at 315-320, hello mid to late 2nd round.
If you’re a fat 315 you’re still not going to be able to knock around NBA players like you can a 6’8” 250lb center in college.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 9:42am #582470
hiphopismylifeParticipantNot a good sign at all. Would have been bad enough if he didn’t lose any more, but to actually gain when you’re already that big says he hasn’t been in the gym.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 9:42am #582229
hiphopismylifeParticipantNot a good sign at all. Would have been bad enough if he didn’t lose any more, but to actually gain when you’re already that big says he hasn’t been in the gym.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 9:43am #582472
iguapops420ParticipantI said at the end of last season to he reminded me of Eddy Curry. Unfortunately it’s not just his game that seems to be similar.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 9:43am #582231
iguapops420ParticipantI said at the end of last season to he reminded me of Eddy Curry. Unfortunately it’s not just his game that seems to be similar.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 11:16am #582516
kanyedabestParticipantyou would think when u have a chance to be a multi millionaire in a few years you would do everything possible to stay in shape and keep it off……. unreal how dumb and lazy some of these guys are, like were talking millions of dollars.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 11:16am #582276
kanyedabestParticipantyou would think when u have a chance to be a multi millionaire in a few years you would do everything possible to stay in shape and keep it off……. unreal how dumb and lazy some of these guys are, like were talking millions of dollars.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 12:04pm #582524
Malik-UniversalParticipantjosh smith can move really well for a guy his size when i saw him play
he has very good potential…
and is it with these guys who arent committed at all to there games?
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 12:04pm #582283
Malik-UniversalParticipantjosh smith can move really well for a guy his size when i saw him play
he has very good potential…
and is it with these guys who arent committed at all to there games?
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 12:18pm #582531
MagikKnickParticipantI cant stand these guys, Smith, Curry….
You were blessed with height and natural agility, your only job is to stay in shape…and you cant even do that.
Im a fairly skinny guy, but if i ever weighed like 300 pounds, and someone told me i’d get a million dollars every year of my life for the next 10 years, i’d come back looking like Brandon Jennings
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 12:18pm #582289
MagikKnickParticipantI cant stand these guys, Smith, Curry….
You were blessed with height and natural agility, your only job is to stay in shape…and you cant even do that.
Im a fairly skinny guy, but if i ever weighed like 300 pounds, and someone told me i’d get a million dollars every year of my life for the next 10 years, i’d come back looking like Brandon Jennings
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 2:54pm #582608
aamir543ParticipantMy dad saw him in one game at UCLA, and told me he was going to be a star……
That is why I post on here, not him, lol.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 2:54pm #582368
aamir543ParticipantMy dad saw him in one game at UCLA, and told me he was going to be a star……
That is why I post on here, not him, lol.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 3:16pm #582626
ChrispyParticipantOliver Miller
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 3:16pm #582386
ChrispyParticipantOliver Miller
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 4:41pm #582414
ChrispyParticipant"Josh Smith is SOOOO fat…
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 4:41pm #582654
ChrispyParticipant"Josh Smith is SOOOO fat…
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 4:54pm #582656
Malik-UniversalParticipant^ thats its akward
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 4:54pm #582416
Malik-UniversalParticipant^ thats its akward
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 5:37pm #582674
llperezhopefully it clicks and he gets serious about his diet. Hes gonna have a chance to play in the nba at his current weight but would be fighting an uphill battle and never reach his full potential. I see him getting about 16 and 8 next year and being a major force down low still
0 - Posted on: Mon, 08/01/2011 - 5:37pm #582433
llperezhopefully it clicks and he gets serious about his diet. Hes gonna have a chance to play in the nba at his current weight but would be fighting an uphill battle and never reach his full potential. I see him getting about 16 and 8 next year and being a major force down low still
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