CSU basketball coach says XC practices are easy

Can the XC team beat the basketball team in a race? Of course. But what the coach says rings particularly true when it comes to the XC team participating in a basketball practice. It'd be an absolute joke. They're simply not athletes capable of pushing three hours of up and down and lateral movement, jumping, sprinting, and most importantly, physical contact (yes there's tons of physical contact in basketball), AND THEN go and spend another 2 hours in the weight room. Went to a top 5 basketball school and knew a kid who was a bit of a bench warmer. Practices started at 3 and ended no earlier than 8. This kid, who to a layman might seem average, was an absolute powerhouse in the weightroom, as were most of the players on the team. People who think XC runners are superior athletes are freaking morons. Running is great competition, but distance runners are about 1/5 the athlete that basketball players are.

What a joker. All I say is that the XC team needs to invite them to bring it on.

That was a point guard who said that, according to the article, right? Either way, misinformed.

I have a friend who runs there... I can assure you a basketball player could not do their practices

I played football and basketball. I'd say football was harder because of the contact. Basketball was easy and fun.

now running 50 mpw for myself (much of it at 6-7min pace) I'd say that running is harder, much harder, than basketball.

basketball drills and shooting, which make up the bulk of practices, are nowhere near as hard as running continuously for an hour at your tempo pace or doing a 90 minute long run.

In my opinion, Football and Cross Country are even on terms of difficulty. Basketball is somewhat easier.

I played HS basketball and ran track/XC. Basketball practices were much tougher on the whole. The lateral movement and physical contact have a huge impact. I would take the 400s or the 8 mile steady run over basketball practice any day.

I have seen data that show an NBA player runs around 3 miles in a game. Some is jogging, some is all out sprinting. During practice they would certainly run more (practices are longer after all).

The article did reinforce one thing that bugs me (and is often seen on T shirts): I hate that coaches use running as a punishment for mistakes. Why not bench press? or squats? or not allow them to practice for a few minutes?

sgrhshmdgbhmnx wrote:

I played football and basketball. I'd say football was harder because of the contact. Basketball was easy and fun.

now running 50 mpw for myself (much of it at 6-7min pace) I'd say that running is harder, much harder, than basketball.

basketball drills and shooting, which make up the bulk of practices, are nowhere near as hard as running continuously for an hour at your tempo pace or doing a 90 minute long run.

In my opinion, Football and Cross Country are even on terms of difficulty. Basketball is somewhat easier.

LOL. 5th grade rec-league basketball doesn't count. Cross country practice is as hard as football practice? Please. There are more concussions in your average football practice than in the history of XC. As for basketball, it's not as hard as football, but the athletes are far better than XC runners. Note that I'm not saying cross country is easy. The sports are entirely different. But basketball players are clearly better athletes.

luv2run wrote:

I have seen data that show an NBA player runs around 3 miles in a game. Some is jogging, some is all out sprinting. During practice they would certainly run more (practices are longer after all).

I don't buy that. Very few, if any, NBA players play an entire game. Most play sporadically with numerous substitutions. Need to see hard data for that claim. Heck, it has been debated how many miles soccer players actually run, and they have sub and your off rule, much larger field, and 90 minute games.

CSU Ram wrote:

"We probably run as much as a cross country team. I think if we went through a track and cross country practice, we would be able to come back in here and have open gym. I don’t think the cross country team would be able to go through one of our practices and survive."

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20131031/SPORTS0202/310310073/Conditioning-regimen-has-Colorado-State-basketball-looking-better-than-expected?nclick_check=1

the coach obviously has insecurity issues and doesn't understand the concept of running. he has an idea: "I'll use running as a punishment." oh. how original. I bet none of the athletes he's coaching ever had a coach do that. a 20 year old playing since he was 5 has been running as a punishment since 1997.

in reality, Octeus thinks the XC team just goes for a run and then that's it. He is comparing one of his practice sessions to one of their practice sessions, but does not have any concept of either team's micro/ macro cycle. He says this in one of the opening weeks of the season, while the team is still in a conditioning phase, yet the XC team is entering their playoff phase.

Congratulations Octeus, you're having to prove your privileged basketball masculinity by comparing your training to that of a Cross Country team.

The basketball team may be able to run the workout or complete the distance of the run of the XC practice. However, there is NO way they would be able to be up with the XC team hitting the paces that are expected of the XC guys.

What this moron said, is basically like me saying, I could make it through an entire lifting session with the football team and then go for a hard tempo run. Yes, I physically complete the lifting reps, but I would be lifting a fraction of what the football team does. Idiotic.

I ran in HS and college and coached HS XC and track for 4 years. This kind of stuff used to p*ss me off and I'd get defensive about how tough and punishing XC workouts are.

I think XC runners and basketball are both very fit athletes. But their fitness is different.

When I was about 35 years old, a friend invited me to a 6 a.m. basketball game two days a week with some other guys aged anywhere from early 20s to 50s. It was 5-on-5, full court basketball and the games lasted 45 minutes to an hour. It was all for fun, but the games were hard fought. At the time, I was running 35-40 miles a week with workouts and races thrown in and figured 'No sweat. I can handle this.' The first day my lungs were burning and gasping for air in the first 15 minutes and I had sore muscles all over my body the next few days.

Basketball players probably couldn't handle a 12 miler with 6 miles at hard tempo with the XC team. But if you don't think college level basketball players are fit, you've probably never played a full court game. They are fit as hell.

I know this is not running, but the guys who race in the tour de france spend more hours racing in the 22 day tour than an NBA player plays in an entire season including playoffs which covers a period of 6 months.

Basketball workouts and XC workouts are very different. If a basketball player does XC workouts, he will be tired and sore after. If an XC runner does basketball workouts, he will be tired and sore after. Both workouts would require the other athletes to use muscle groups they aren't used to using a lot.

Most basketball players couldn't do a tempo run at all. Most basketball players have a tough time running 2 miles at a decent pace.

Most XC runners can't jump worth crap.

It's because at age 35 you'd become skinny fat. You weren't in as good of shape as you were in HS or college. If you were sore and winded from running the court you were out of shape plain and simple. Skinny Fat!

Wrong. I failed to mention I also went to the gym at least 3 days a week at the time and have always done more lifting than the average distance runner. Still do. I was a specimen at 35 and still am at 48.

Run up and down a basketball court, jumping, sprinting, changing direction, using your entire body and see how you do. Unless you do that exact thing every day, you're not going to be ready for it.

This is the most correct answer

I've heard football / basketball / baseball / lacrosse coaches say things like this before. It seems to usually be coaches of "macho" sports. I've never heard a swimming coach or tennis coach say something like this.

I played basketball through ninth grade and have all of 16-mid 5k speed. When we played full court I could outplay anyone on mediocre bball skills and running fitness. I simply went full gas back and forth and no one kept up. Im sure the actual bball team was more fit than that, but you just sound like a pvssy

When we played in college, I should clarify

luv2run wrote:

I have seen data that show an NBA player runs around 3 miles in a game. Some is jogging, some is all out sprinting.

None is all out sprinting. Stop exaggerating.