Carlton's basketball skills | The Boneyard

Carlton's basketball skills

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There has been a lot of talk on here about Carlton's regression and it is hard to argue with. For all of Carlton's limitations athletically, he is long and has shown in the past to have some nice moves and nice touch near the basket.

For the most part, we haven't seen that this year. His touch looks worse than ever as do his post moves.

Ok, here's the question: Has Coach Sal's training program damaged Carlton?

Carlton seems to be Sal's pet project. He has dedicated himself to Sal's program completely and is often the star of his training videos. Carlton has definitely gotten stronger...But he's not a fast twitch muscle guy. He's gotten noticeably slower. He's not getting any lift. The problem is he was slow and not a jumper to begin with. He can't afford to get worse at those things. Should he have been spending more time working on post moves, developing a jump shot and doing jumping exercises instead of the power lifting? I know power lifting in general should make these guys more explosive, but like I said, Carlton is such a slow twitch muscle person that it appears hes gaining the strength and the weight but got even less explosive and his promising touch around the hoop has disappeared.

This thread isn't meant to disrespect coach Sal. I think he's great for UConn basketball...but maybe Carlton needs a much different training program.
 
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There has been a lot of talk on here about Carlton's regression and it is hard to argue with. For all of Carlton's limitations athletically, he is long and has shown in the past to have some nice moves and nice touch near the basket.

For the most part, we haven't seen that this year. His touch looks worse than ever as do his post moves.

Ok, here's the question: Has Coach Sal's training program damaged Carlton?

Carlton seems to be Sal's pet project. He has dedicated himself to Sal's program completely and is often the star of his training videos. Carlton has definitely gotten stronger...But he's not a fast twitch muscle guy. He's gotten noticeably slower. He's not getting any lift. The problem is he was slow and not a jumper to begin with. He can't afford to get worse at those things. Should he have been spending more time working on post moves, developing a jump shot and doing jumping exercises instead of the power lifting? I know power lifting in general should make these guys more explosive, but like I said, Carlton is such a slow twitch muscle person that it appears hes gaining the strength and the weight but got even less explosive and his promising touch around the hoop has disappeared.

This thread isn't meant to disrespect coach Sal. I think he's great for UConn basketball...but maybe Carlton needs a much different training program.

Carlton was never going to be a leaper. Maybe they just decided him being super heavy was his best bet. If we didn't have him 25 ft from the hoop on offense and defense it wouldn't be such a big deal.

Imo Sal's real test will be Akok. Can he turn him into a beast? You know Akok will do the work.
 
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Maybe he's like Toraino Walker and doesn't really like basketball, although last year he visibly showed emotion when he dunked or made a power move to score a layup or blocked a shot. He actually looked so good after the mid-point of last season that my expectations were he'd be a 15/10 guy at least this year. He just doesn't look as if he wants to be on the floor most of the time.
 
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Josh ability (or inability) to plant himself on the block & carve out space can not be attributed to Sal.
If this has anything to do with the staff, I’d have to assume Coach Hunters absence hurt more than any weight he put on.
 
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I think the kid is just slow of foot, not explosive and is always going to be limited because of it.
 
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hes a 6-11 Center that weighs 260 and averages 4.5 rebounds a game throughout his career. If putting on weight to keep up with other D1 bball centers has made him worse, then he should consider transferring to a D2 school.
 
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hes a 6-11 Center that weighs 260 and averages 4.5 rebounds a game throughout his career. If putting on weight to keep up with other D1 bball centers has made him worse, then he should consider transferring to a D2 school.
 
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hes a 6-11 Center that weighs 260 and averages 4.5 rebounds a game throughout his career. If putting on weight to keep up with other D1 bball centers has made him worse, then he should consider transferring to a D2 school.
Josh has not played up to expectations but he is averaging 10 and 7 so far this season. I think he'll have some big games for us starting today.
 
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The facts are very clear here. He got heavier (and stronger), and it has made him a slower, less effective player. I don’t fault sal, Carlton had a ceiling on him unless he got bigger and stronger. Sadly he just hasn’t learned how to use this new frame and it’s made him worse
 
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The facts are very clear here. He got heavier (and stronger), and it has made him a slower, less effective player. I don’t fault sal, Carlton had a ceiling on him unless he got bigger and stronger. Sadly he just hasn’t learned how to use this new frame and it’s made him worse

Totally agree. He should’ve been in a strength program that added strength without adding excess weight. The key word is excess.

That excess weight negated completely the benefit derived from having extra strength.

The end result of the strength training is he’s slower and can’t jump, but is stronger. Was a 25 pound weight gain intended? Did anyone (Sal?) measure his vertical while he put on 25 pounds?

Someone said Akok will be the real litmus test of Sals strength program. Ok. I like what Akok has done in his strength training. He added strength while only adding minimal weight.

You never ever, ever, ever want a basketball player to add weight, unless that added weight comes directly from building larger muscle mass.
 
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hes a 6-11 Center that weighs 260 and averages 4.5 rebounds a game throughout his career. If putting on weight to keep up with other D1 bball centers has made him worse, then he should consider transferring to a D2 school.
He was AAC most improved player last year was one of our best players and is worse this year.
That tells me he is/ was a legimate Div 1 5.and something negative happened.
Lets see Whats changed. Lugging an extra lbs up and down the court is a logical place to look.
He gained 25 lbs and although stronger is visibly slower ,which is further amplified by his mediocre athleticism. Trading a tad of quickness for additional strength could be beneficial for some however if you recall when Brimah and Nolan added weight one year they were both less effective.
Sal should be getting him quicker and add elevation both more important than raw strength . Maybe 245-250 is optimum for his body. We need him to be at his best .
 

Edward Sargent

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He was AAC most improved player last year was one of our best players and is worse this year.
That tells me he is/ was a legimate Div 1 5.and something negative happened.
Lets see Whats changed. Lugging an extra lbs up and down the court is a logical place to look.
He gained 25 lbs and although stronger is visibly slower ,which is further amplified by his mediocre athleticism. Trading a tad of quickness for additional strength could be beneficial for some however if you recall when Brimah and Nolan added weight one year they were both less effective.
Sal should be getting him quicker and add elevation both more important than raw strength . Maybe 245-250 is optimum for his body. We need him to be at his best .
We were screaming for him to throw down a shot under the basket but he doesnt
 
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06FB397E-9D78-46E6-BBD7-CEA00BDBADD8.jpeg
 
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He had some nice post moves last year and seemed to be making strides. What the hell happened?

We were getting him post touches pretty often early in the season. He looked pretty good, even against some of the tougher opponents. Not amazing, but decent.

Then one game, I forget which, we absolutely sucked getting him post entry passes. And he turned it over when we did get him the ball.

Then Hurley went away from the posts to Carlton. Seemed like the right move. But now he can't do anything else and the offense is struggling in entire.
 
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He was AAC most improved player last year was one of our best players and is worse this year.
That tells me he is/ was a legimate Div 1 5.and something negative happened.
Lets see Whats changed. Lugging an extra lbs up and down the court is a logical place to look.
He gained 25 lbs and although stronger is visibly slower ,which is further amplified by his mediocre athleticism. Trading a tad of quickness for additional strength could be beneficial for some however if you recall when Brimah and Nolan added weight one year they were both less effective.
Sal should be getting him quicker and add elevation both more important than raw strength . Maybe 245-250 is optimum for his body. We need him to be at his best .

Agreed.
We need to forget trying to make someone 20 or 30 pounds heavier unless they're 6'8" or better, have shoulders like Phil Jackson and weigh only 195 pounds.
I'll ask it again? How much weight training did we do with players in the past?
How much work was done to develop bulk versus merely enhancing their existing body types?
I don't remember any of our best players getting much bigger, physically, through living in the weight room.
They got bigger through the normal maturation process for their body types plus better nutrition and some weight training.
Look at Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, Donyell Marshall, and Jeremy Lamb. Even Cliff. They matured here and then all became a little bigger in the NBA. I'd love to see charts of their weights in HS, at UConn and in the NBA.
Does anyone believe Akok could bulk up to 240 or 250 pounds and be the next Elton Brand?
If he did put on that much weight he'd probably be as mobile as Carlton is right now.
 
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He was AAC most improved player last year was one of our best players and is worse this year.
That tells me he is/ was a legimate Div 1 5.and something negative happened.
Lets see Whats changed. Lugging an extra lbs up and down the court is a logical place to look.
He gained 25 lbs and although stronger is visibly slower ,which is further amplified by his mediocre athleticism. Trading a tad of quickness for additional strength could be beneficial for some however if you recall when Brimah and Nolan added weight one year they were both less effective.
Sal should be getting him quicker and add elevation both more important than raw strength . Maybe 245-250 is optimum for his body. We need him to be at his best .

Where’s the head coach in this? He can’t see the guy is less efficient and slower? This is not on Sal.
 

David 76

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He was better this year before he wasn't. Sal is not the problem
 
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Yeah I was wrong about yesterday. Josh has completely lost any touch around the basket.

he used to have a soft touch near the hoop. Even his freshman year he had some beautiful post moves from time to time. It’s sad what has happened. Most of it seems like lost confidence but it makes you wonder if he didn’t focus enough on refining his skills in the offseason and just focused on lifting.
 
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I want to see Carlton getting stuffed by the rim. At least then he’s trying to dunk the ball. Just try big fella!
 
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forget Sal, carlton needs to go to Fat Camp with Ben Stiller
 
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It isn’t his training with the S&C coach. It’s mental for this kid. He’s not mentally tough at all. This kid is limited in his offensive skill set. if he can’t get going early then it’s a wrap for him during the game. Think about it, DH was pushing hard for another big last year. He knows best what this kid can and can’t do. He’s nowhere near the most athletic big in this weak arse conf. He’s all we have for a legit big.
 
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It isn’t his training with the S&C coach. It’s mental for this kid. He’s not mentally tough at all. This kid is limited in his offensive skill set. if he can’t get going early then it’s a wrap for him during the game. Think about it, DH was pushing hard for another big last year. He knows best what this kid can and can’t do. He’s nowhere near the most athletic big in this weak arse conf. He’s all we have for a legit big.
The really scary thing is we could be in the same exact boat next season. I like Javonte's upside but he isn't ready. Hurley thought he was getting Kofi, we desperately need Cliff and if he can't get him we desperately need another good big.
 

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