Shinobi said:
Oh yeah, I remember that post. Last year Kobe didn't have a chance to prepare for the season as well as he'd hoped with all the court stuff surrounding him. I guess he was able to put in that extra work this past summer.
I dunno-- preparation can't really make you much faster than you normally are, as long as you're reasonably in shape. That's more of a physical cohesion thing; when you hit your physical prime, your coordination and body cohesion (don't know a better word for it) improve, and this usually occurs from age 25-30, depending on the athlete.
I'm sure we've all felt this-- I know I have. Sometime early during my 19th year, I realized that I had just gotten
much quicker, much "tighter" and more explosive in my movements than I was just a year prior. This trend continued until I stopped playing a lot (I used to play every day). I'm sure if I got back in shape now, I'd be even quicker than I was (which was deadly
). So I just think he's maturing physically. I even saw it with Jordan-- he was fast when he came into the league, but from like 88-92, he was just
so explosive-- it seemed like every muscle in his body had the same intention when he made a drive...there was no wasted motion.
Kobe's just hitting his physical peak, and it will likely continue for the next 3-5 years, though the gains won't be so marked each year.