Classic Outlaw

would spend the summer on the two balls at once drill. Nobody needs it more.

Though four workouts per week in the off-season without playing internationally or in the summer league don’t sound that amazing. Track stars work out twice per day to prepare for the summer when they compete. And a few NBA players do train once or twice each day as well (Arenas, Durant, Allen, Nowitzki, sometimes Kobe comes to my mind), often running or lifting weights early in the morning and then doing shooting drills in the afternoon.

When it comes to suspect ball handling, e.g. Beasley has the same problem. He can’t dribble the ball confidently more than twice while driving to the rim with his off-hand, only for him it’s the right. And he is a rookie. Travis, we will be watching your left hand skills.

the antithesis of a gym rat. I thought the most telling was Monty Williams’ comment, ””He’s so talented, man. He has no clue just how much,” Williams said. “I told him once that he is going to get to be my age and wished he would have worked. I think that sunk in. “

Does that kind of thing “sink in”? Or are you born a gym rat?

I wish they had been able to motivate him earlier ; then I might believe in his dream to be an all-star. It sounds like he dreamed it, but thought it would come without effort.

I hope it works, i hope it works, i hope it works.

I think the thing that impressed me most about Travis last year is that he used actual basketball moves by finally using a few head and ball fakes rather than relying purely on athleticism.

Also, I remember an article about Samaki Walker and how he didnt work on his game enough when he was in the league. Maybe someone could find this and forward it to Travis.

Maybe he should watch that movie so he can see how much work it takes to be a fisherman and then apply that to basketball. I would even be willing to pitch in on a metronome for him.

To agree with other posters…working out 4 days a week does not seem that impressive. Although the workouts may be really hard.

I think Travis Outlaw only has a few more little kinks to work out in his game and he’ll be set. There’s all this talk about how good Travis COULD be or COULD HAVE been (All-Star, maybe). But do we really need that? Granted, he should come to camp in shape every year, and its too bad that hasn’t been the case, but even if we want Travis to be our starting SF, he’s still going to be more or less a role player for us. If he is the starter at the spot, he needs to be able to stay in front of faster small forwards, but do we need him to be another guy that can create his own shot off the dribble? That one dribble pull up jumper seems like an enough of a go-to move to me. I do agree that final auditions are upon some guys on the team (I wonder if Sergio is even gonna get a read at one) and that Travis is one of them. But I do not agree that he has a long way to go.

An added incentive was drafting Batum.
He will push both Webster and Outlaw to broaden their games.
Outlaw should not lapse back into cruise with Batman flashing all the skills needed at SF.

Great choice in the draft.

“He is as big a part of this team as Brandon, in the sense that he is a guy who can score against anybody,” McMillan said. “So when you talk about guys you’d hate not having for a game, he’s right up there for us. And I think he can get even better. He still has some untapped talent.”

I mean, Manu Ginobili couldn't guard him, he gave Carmelo Anthony fits, and when we played the Lakers, they had Kobe on him.

Considering the comments made by Nate and Williams, I think some are being way to critical of Outlaw. Give him some credit. He’s obviously already developed into a tremendous offensive threat … maybe the 2nd best on our team. I very much appreciate everything about him.

“He is as big a part of this team as Brandon, in the sense that he is a guy who can score against anybody,” McMillan said. “So when you talk about guys you’d hate not having for a game, he’s right up there for us. And I think he can get even better. He still has some untapped talent.”

I mean, Manu Ginobili couldn’t guard him, he gave Carmelo Anthony fits, and when we played the Lakers, they had Kobe on him.

Travis gives our team that human element so rare nowadays in pro sports. Good grief, the fishing stories, the genuine “Aw Shucks” personality, he is just so gosh darn loveable. If he were ever to be traded, man oh man would he be sorely missed by so many of us.

It simply Travis being Travis. Just that now he is speaking up (or finally being asked questions because he is an important piece of the Blazer pie ), I don’t know which came first.

Yep, Outlaw and Roy are like peas and carrots.

is a lot better than 0 times a week he was presumably practicing in the past.

Just sayin’.

“You can already see his body changing,” Williams said. “And he’s talking about lifting more. Part of that is vanity, but who cares? If it gets done, it gets done. The bottom line is, he is taking that step, and it’s going to be tremendous for him.”

Outlaw wants to be on the cover of GQ baby! Whatever works.

That LA and Channing have been in the weight room as well.I have the same type of build and I know how hard it can be to but on beef. The politically correct term for persons with this condition is horozontally challenged.

Has Travis seen the interviews with Jerryd Bayless and realized that his rookie teammate will be all over his posterior if he is not in shape? I think it has just taken a few years for Travis to transision into maturity, That is pretty common for youngsters who grew up in safe environments. Bayless seems the anomaly at his age. Both are great.

Many still consider Wilt the most gifted basketball player ever. There is good evidence to support this. But Alex Hannum was the coach that convinced Wilt to defer to his teammates and Wilt won his first championship that year (1966-1967) despite being 30 years old and all NBA (1st or end team) all previous 7 years in the league. He averaged 21.7 points, 29.1 rebounds and 9.0 assists in the playoffs that year. It was the first year he did not average 30 points per game (and he never did again).

Michael Jordan (the other candidate for the above) changed his game in later years and no doubt wished he had the perception earlier to use all his gifts. Same for Dr J.

And I am not putting Travis into the company of these other-worldly talents. Just pointing out that nobody gets it all at age 19.

Putting the mental aspects of the game aside for the moment, excelling at basketball requires certain physical givens combined with highly developed skills. The physical givens-things like height, reach, jumping, speed & quickness-have an established range beyond which even the most dedicated player cannot exceed. Work in the gym and weight room can help some in realizing their potential, but even the most dedicated gym rat confronts his genetic limits. There’s nothing more you can do to significantly grow taller, run faster, reach longer, jump higher, move laterally more quickly. It is precisely in these given physical attributes, what we most often call “athleticism,” that Outlaw is blessed.

When it comes to basketball skills, however, it seems to me that there’s a much less certain, preordained range for each player. Skills are taught and learned. That Outlaw has succeeded as far as he has without learning some basic basketball skills: dribbling with the off hand and dribbling with the head up is a testament to how extraordinary his athleticism is. He had the opportunity before to learn these skills and either did not not understand that he lacked them or did not think they were important and necessary. According to Quick, Outlaw now understands and he is determined to do something about these deficiencies. And what is so encouraging is that, unlike athleticism, these deficiencies can be fixed.

A number of people have conjectured that Outlaw peaked last season. Quick’s article suggests, to the contrary, that the best of Travis is yet to come.

It definitely does not thrill me to realize that this will be Travis’ first offseason where he has attempted to stay in shape throughout. Taking six years to do something that it appears most players do after one or two is a bit discouraging. But perhaps SOME leniency can be granted by the simple fact that he didn’t necessarily have the best group of mentors during his first few years on the team. Last offseason’s fishing derby can be attributed to the fact that he was up for a new contract, and likely received such advice from his agent.

Sure, I wish Travis had taken this attitude from the beginning, but what’s done is done. He is working hard in the offseason NOW and considering the positives he brought to the court last year, it indicates a potential breakout year (again) this season.

Let’s not forget that Trout also has asthma. This is just conjecture on my part, but he may have spent some of the off-season in the past giving his body and lungs a rest. Asthma (unfortunately, due to a 7-mile bike ride in L.A. during a Stage 1 Smog Alert while I was in grad school, I now have a smog-induced variety) can really take the starch out of you.

Przybilla improved his free throw shooting (can you say fundamental?!) in his what, 7th summer in the league? And immediately increased his value. So Travis improving in a fundamental skill late isn’t necessarily an indication of lack of hard work but rather an indication of maturing late. The Blazers knew he was a late bloomer, and he has demonstrated that. Even if he never gets any better he will be a good spark off the bench, and probably worth $4 mil a year to the Blazers.