Curry Tells Sheed to Get in Shape

Shapecity · Sep 23, 2008

AUBURN HILLS -- It's not unusual for the Detroit Pistons' Rasheed Wallace to begin training camp in great shape.

But maintaining it for an entire season is another story.

Keeping Wallace's body in tip-top condition beyond the first couple months of the season was a topic of discussion between new Pistons coach Michael Curry and Wallace this summer.

It's too soon to tell how that will play out this season, but Curry said he likes where Wallace's physique is heading into training camp, which begins next week.

"Arnie Kander (Detroit's strength and conditioning coach) we feel is the best in the business," Curry said. "I don't think we've taken full advantage of him over the last few years. (Wallace) has done a really good job of that this summer."

The benefits of a better-conditioned Wallace can pay off in many ways for a Detroit team that is again among the handful of serious title contenders this season.

As a starter, a well-conditioned Wallace gives Curry the flexibility to play the 6-foot-11 big man for longer stretches, if needed. Improved health would be especially beneficial for Wallace and the Pistons in the playoffs, which, in recent years, has been a time when Detroit collectively played some of its worst basketball.

Wallace's scoring in the postseason compared to his regular season averages have been slightly higher the past two seasons. But in the playoffs, Detroit needs him to be more than just a scorer.

Because of his size and versatility, the Pistons look for him to not only be an inside scoring force and solid defender, but a rebounder as well.

However, rebounding has been the one area in which Wallace has not been as effective in the playoffs as he was in the regular season. In three of the past four postseasons for the Pistons, Wallace's rebounding numbers have been lower from his regular season average.

"I know a lot of people talk about Rasheed going down in the post," Curry said. "I talked to him a lot about that last year. We're going to call more plays for Rasheed -- not only Rasheed, but other guys to get down in the post because getting points in the paint is going to be one of our main focuses.

"But it takes a lot of conditioning, especially as you get older, to get down in the post."

However, Wallace's ability to maintain in good condition throughout the season won't necessarily mean he'll log more minutes.

In fact, Curry said he wouldn't mind seeing Wallace's playing time reduced.

"What we want to do, is be more efficient in the minutes that he plays," Curry said of Wallace, who turned 34 years old last week. "We can reduce his minutes, but we want to do that with him being more efficient with the minutes that he does play, being a bigger post presence for us and continuing to be good defensively."
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Source: MLive

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Curry Tells Sheed to Get in Shape

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Curry Tells Sheed to Get in Shape

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