As I read the recent article from the Columbia Missourian Training puts Missouri Men’s Basketball Players on the Clock I could not help but smile.  The training routine that the Univeristy of Missouri’s men’s basketball strength coach David Deets puts the players through is just the type of rugged, no-nonsense training that I have been preaching on my site since I started it.  Missouri’s fast-paced and aggressive pressing style of play has forced Deets to come up with a strength and conditioning program that mirrors that style thereby ensuring that the players are in great shape, not only at the end of the game, but also at the end of the season.   However, this begs the question, why aren’t all teams training like this?

Being able to perform at the end of the game and the end of the season should be the goal of every team.  Deets feels that, “…other programs just want you to get strong so you can be strong on the court”  (Ruppenthal).  This is all well and good, but strength is not the only facet that basketball players need to work on.  Basketball players need be strong, powerful, and fast as well as change directions quickly and have great cardiovascular and muscle conditioning.  Thats why Deets says, “There’s not any standing around in the weight room. There’s not any sitting down.” and “signs such as ’40 Minutes’ and ‘No Excuses’ are written in large black letters on its weight room walls (Ruppenthal).  This is just the type of mentality that all teams should develop when training for their basketball season.  It pains me to see when players start pulling their cell phones out in the middle of a workout or a huddled together talking about some nonsense that does not pertain to the task at hand.  Texting through your workout will not get you to the championship nor will it get you in the shape that Deets and myself have been preaching. 

So, how does Deets get the Missouri men’s basketball players in tip top shape?  Primarily, by using a “shot clock.”  Using the clock means that all of his breaks are timed.  This limits the amount of time that the players can stand around and chat because the minute he blows his whistle, they must get back to there next set.  Not only is this a great technique for keeping your players on task (and one that all coaches can employ in their daily practices), but it is also game relevant since all timeouts are timed.  You have to admire this type of creativity and the creativity of some of his, as well as head coach Mike Anderson’s conditioning drills. 

“When they get to the court, players have to go through Anderson’s conditioning routine that he’s been running for years. It consists of running laps around the court, with sets of push-ups and sit-ups on the side in between series of laps. Once the second set of laps is complete, players do several sprints with their hands above their heads, which causes many of them to grimace” (Ruppenthal).

“The routine ends with a sprint-and-slide drill and a three-man weave, where players sprint down the court passing a ball and one player finishes the drill with a layup. Sometimes a ball filled with water is used, and the players have to throw it as high as they can as they pass it down the court. After the players catch the ball – which often knocks them back because of its weight – they have to lower the ball slightly and release it as if they were launching a full-court shot” (Ruppenthal).

This out-of-the box thinking that keeps the players in great shape but also focused.  In order to succeed, the players must commit themselves individually and also as a team to the intensity of this training.  Training through these adverse conditions will help build the mentality that together they can accomplish anything.  This is the type of mentality that good teams have, and since they have banded together through tough times already, they can draw on that mental strength to do it again. 

In creating his high-intensity workout for the Missouri men’s basketball team, David Deets has gone above and beyond the guidelines of normal training.  By utilizing a “shot clock” Deets is limiting the amount of down time his players can have and when combined with some of his creative conditioning drills the Missouri players are no doubt ready for their long and arduous season.  Furthermore, what Deets has done with his Missouri Tigers goes well beyond physically being able to perform at the end of a game but also guarantees that they will mentally be able to perform through the bumps in the road as well.  This is the type of training that all basketball programs should consider using going forward because it should be the goal of all programs to be able to withstand the rigors of the long basketball season.