• ACB.And the ball bounced again (between masks and gloves)

Shoot, shoot, shoot ... What is basketball without aim, without touch of the ball, without the basket between eyebrows? How many pitches can a professional player execute under normal circumstances during a week? "Petrovic did not go home without making 400 shots after each training session. More games, warm-ups ... I don't know, 2,500?" Warns Javi Juárez . Because for two months, the absolute nothing.

Endesa League players who have a basket at home, let alone one with the minimum requirements for the elite, are counted on the fingers of their hands. "Most of them live in small apartments on loan from the club, they don't have a garden like Pablo Iglesias, " jokes the former UCAM Murcia coach, who observes with concern and interest the phenomenon of lack of confinement, how in express time the teams must develop his pieces, which come from a unique situation in their lives. "Not even in the summer have they gone that long without shooting to the basket," he adds.

Because these obligatory 'vacations' with which a professional usually runs have had nothing to do, if his commitments with the national team on duty allow him beyond a couple of weeks. If there is time, he takes advantage to polish the individual aspects that the frenzy of the season does not allow. Doncic, Ricky ... so many have turned to a shooting expert . "Touch, for those with marksmanship, does not take long, there is the Navarro family [they published a video on their social networks showing their skills]. Another thing is touch to put in with little time and space, and that is connected to gestural speed, flexibility and strength in the legs, so that the entire kinetic chain returns to its normal processes. I don't think that in two weeks that will be assembled. For me, at least a month of intense training, "says Piti Hurtado .

"I feel like I'm getting worse. This is our survival mechanism: we shoot," said Jimmy Butler a few days ago , who, concerned about the break, contacted a Utah company and bought 30 portable baskets for his teammates and coaches from the Heat. In the NBA, some have mansions that include real basketball courts, but others, stars like Antetokounmpo, Chris Paul, McCollum or Jason Tatum have recognized that they have been unable to pitch for weeks. "The sensations during the first days will undoubtedly be strange," says Jota Cuspinera , who, however, is not so alarmist: "Throwing is like riding a bicycle, you never forget." He sees more worrisome, on the other hand, the recovery of the physical form, the high risk of injury: "The brain asks for another speed and the accumulated desire is many".

"Even those who have had the opportunity to shoot in the backyard or garden of their home ... The surface, the throwing outdoors, the type of basket, the height of it, if the ball is official. ... And above all the rhythm ", explains Hurtado, who remembers one of the most voracious scorers in national basketball:" Alberto Herreros said that the worse he was in the shot, the more he would physically crush himself. " "Because you need to launch in many ways to recover the habit: after a boat, after a boat and with a real defensive shot, after a direct front pass, after a side pass and pick-up, pumps or floats (with a normal canopy light and ceiling). . ", describes Hurtado, technician and main commentator of DAZN.

Shooting certainly has a lot to do with fitness, too. "The distance, the technique ... In two or three days a professional player can regain inertia from the free kick. But for the launch in motion, where they need to balance, get out of blocks, use force, I calculate three weeks of intense work, "emphasizes Juárez, who closely saw the recovery of Sergio Llull when he worked at the Real Madrid subsidiary. "In their first game almost a year later, I remember that against Panathinaikos in the Euroleague quarterfinals, they missed the first triples, but had no trouble hitting two straight in the decisive moments."

In that return job that many ACB teams have already started, with an eye toward the optimistic restart that ACB is proposing for the end of June, there are also fundamental nuances that are not acquired overnight. "Dribbling, handling ... Not to mention collective aspects, such as the process of re-understanding colleagues," adds Juarez, who points to those who will have an advantage in this strange scenario: "those who have talent." "Those who live more than their physique, need more time to recover their best level. Those who live on talent, intelligence and reading of the game, are able to perform faster. It shows a lot in World Cups or short tournaments", concludes.

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  • Sergio Llull
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