Apparently this is what BallinEurope does when no international tournaments are on, the preseason’s not quite begun in earnest, and even the rumor mills are trudging: Watch workout tapes while wondering about the upcoming NBA season.
What did Goran Dragic do this summer as Team Slovenia played no ball while the former Houston Rockets PG jumped to the Phoenix Suns? Worked it with seemingly quite intense training sessions on the beach.
Talk about proud (or perhaps he’s doing some clever advance marketing of the EuroBasket 2013 tournament to be hosted in his country): Whereas an American ballplayer would typically describe his drive as emanating from his roots, family or god, Dragic makes it clear that he’s utterly conscious of his status as a Slovenian NBA player.
Slovenia stat of note: For the 2006-07 season, five Slovenian nationals (Primoz Brezec, Bostjan Nachbar, Radoslav Nesterovic, Beno Udrih and Dragic’s old rival/teammate Sasha “The Machine” Vujacic). Five years later, that number is down to two: Udrih and Dragic.
Of note is the regimen itself, essentially required viewing for European basketballers seeking to play in the ‘States – and worth a look by any player, as the two continents’ styles continue to more and more greatly resemble one another. Trainer Tom Vachet is no dummy, fully cognizant that what must be addressed is that old bugaboo always discussed in reviewing Continental prospects: Size. Specifically, upper-body strength to go with that sick European skill set.
The trailer for the series – no really – runs directly below. Folks at The NOC informed BiE that new episodes in the “NBA’s Goran Dragic Training Days” will be uploaded to YouTube today and Friday.
But wait! Want to see something really scary? Check out the well-described “Insane 5-Minute Plank Challenge,” an incredibly simple and thorough bit of workout that he (and BiE) dare you to try – plus you get to learn a couple of excellent terms: “proximal stability” and “distal mobility.”
“Can you outlast Goran’s killer ab workout?” runs the YouTube description, “Post your video response below.” Yeah, surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre. All BiE’ll say is that i should cut down on the smokes…
