"My rule was I wouldn't recruit a kid if he had grass in front of his house.
That's not my world. My world was a cracked sidewalk." —Al McGuire

Friday, October 19, 2007

Marquette: Heavy Breathing?

In an interesting article in this morning's Boston Globe, it's reported that Marquette is fidgeting with the team's lungs.

Inside an altitude chamber that simulates conditions at 9,000 feet above sea level, Marquette University guards Wesley Matthews and Jerel McNeal start pedaling stationary bikes. Realizing the challenge ahead, they look less than thrilled. Within minutes, Matthews and McNeal experience shortness of breath. Heart rates rise quickly. In five minutes, Matthews and McNeal have stressed their bodies far beyond what they could do on a bike outside the chamber.

After purchasing a customized altitude unit this summer for $41,700, Marquette became the first college basketball team in the country to integrate the hypoxic chamber into its training regimen, following the lead of professional sports franchises such as the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Pistons, Miami Heat, and Phoenix Suns.

16 comments:

Gene Frenkle said...

When I was at alumni weekend this summer and they gave a tour of the Al Center, they showed the unit off. It doesn't look like much. Some kind of unit ventilator inside this glass-enclosed area abouyt 10 or 12' x 12'. A couple bikes inside and a treadmill I think.

It's pretty nuts.

Anonymous said...

I bet the kids hate that thing.

Anonymous said...

I bet Georgia Tech does not have one....Thanks TC

Anonymous said...

The things we are absolutely WASTING money on in our basketball program are embarrassing and out of control. We need an AD who will rein this kind of thing in. It hasn't lead to post season success, it's not pulling in recruits, it's just paying to get articles written about our head coach.

Crean flies all over creation to see recruits (or is it be seen), yet our best players are all within driving distance (James a little further). It's nonsense!!

Anonymous said...

I'm in total agreement with the need for an effective AD SOON because of the very reasons you state about TC.

Gene Frenkle said...

If those last two posts were actually serious and not sarcasm, it just shows:

a) The anti-Crean crowd will find anything to rip on him about.

b) You are insane.

c) see A and B

Anonymous said...

The biggest news in this string of posts is that gene frenkle is kind of guy who takes tours of the practice facility while his fellow alums were partying it up and getting reacquainted.

Kevin Buckley said...

Did you guys even read the article?

This isn't some crackpot invention. High Altitude training has been around for ages. And MU is only the first NCAA team to try it .. look at the pro teams that use it .. the Pistons, Heat, and Suns.

$41k for that device is a paltry sum for a device that'll last 10+ years. And that's a pittance to pay for our guys to be 10% less fatigued at the end of a game.

It's asinine comments like that why we turned off the anonymous comments for a while. Maybe it's time to go back, so you trolls don't have a place to post.

Anonymous said...

This is absolute BS...the majority of schools in the rockies have been doing altitude training since their inceptions....albeit natural.

;-)

Anonymous said...

Let me get this right: investing in equipment and techniques to help the program is a bad thing. Silly coach.

Some of u folks need to take a break and decompress.

Or, read today's WSJ article about Ohio State athletics and gain some healthy perspective.

Anonymous said...

Gene: Take a breath. I assume all of us are MU grads, and are pulling for the program. The frustration is TC has 0 NCAA wins w/o D-Wade, yet draws a salary over $1 million, and when my daughter filled out her application, the tuition closes in on $40K a year. So we want some accountability, and a bit less koolaid consumption. No one is calling for the return of Mike Deane or BD, or Kevin O'Neil for that matter, but stop acting like Crean walks on water when in fact Bo Ryan has a much better track record, as frustrating it is to admit that sad fact.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I love MU basketball as the next guy... but this just seems downright frivolous. Marquette has more important things to spend money on than some vacuum chamber. Just tell these kids to hold their breath. Seriously.

MUWarrior71 said...

Good to see TC is on the leading edge in training. I doubt it very much if the players hate 'this thing." They are committed to doing whatever is necessary to come out on top. Better to have tried and failed (with this) than to have never tried at all.

Anonymous said...

Here's a tip, Tom.... save the $$$ on the chamber and go find a hill for the boys to run. If you can't beat'em, join'em.

Anonymous said...

We really need an actual basketball game to talk about.

This whole string is rediculous.

Anonymous said...

TC did not drop a ridiculous amount of money on this thing, all things considered. Give him a break, MU is going to tear it up this year, wait and see.