I'm crediting Stackpole and his staff. The modern, proven techniques and science they bring to the table is clearly working. I truly feel that our old strength and conditioning staff was from the old dark ages, and they were causing more harm than good. I've seen it before in my experience, people 20-30 years behind the times, always saying, "It's worked for me for 20 years, so it must be right." Meanwhile, what they learned 20 years ago was proven a incomplete knowledge at best, or horribly wrong 19 years ago, and they just chose not to get with the times because of ego/laziness. I like seeing the articles on the gadgets they are using now, to ensure symmetrical body engagement. A lot of people don't realize how something as simple as having good balance effects injury prevention. That bit on Lillard talking about the sensors telling him that he was putting more weight on one side of his body than the other while exercising was a great example of something seemingly so simple, having a major impact in the long run.
I hope they can all stay this healthy all season, so far I'm encouraged by the results. The best part is there hasn't been a conditioning letdown so far. I remember specifically last season, but the halfway mark, LA was gassed all the time. It was talked about constantly. Even if he started off strong, by the second half he was noticeably exhausted. Guys like Matthews and Batum had a gradual loss of energy as the season went on, and everyone attributed it to too many minutes wearing the starters out. While we've cut down on minutes per starter this year, it's not a big difference. I credit the conditioning program they have in place now, keeping these guys playing at a high level all of the time.
It's funny now, LA used to sputter in the fourth last season. Now, the fourth is usually when he comes alive.
All in all, I see a lot of factors this year coming into play to keep the Blazers healthy and successful. Refined offense/defense, Lopez, Mo, Stackpole, confidence, etc. So many things have gone just right to make it all happen.
