[giordun]

I don't believe that an NBA player would have stamina issues for running around a court like 35 minutes for 2 nights in a row. That's ridiculous. Why do people use back-to-back game as an excuse? Even for me I could probably do it and on the 3rd day be all sore but these are professionals. They get played million dollars to play the game.

[Hairy Midget]

Your arm gets tired and you start to miss shots.

[CaliCool]

Me, being non-pro and not close to really, really good, my arms do get tired after taking lot of shot attempts everyday during my basketball workout.

But I see where you are coming from, sometimes people (even commentators) say that the back-to-back has really affected them. I think you have to include the fact that they travel a lot too. I don't know. I drive 40 minutes daily to school and another 40 on my way home and it tires me a little.

[Diable]

If the other team's not playing a back to back then you're at a disadvantage,particularly if you had to travel.It's still the NBA but if one team has played a game and the other has not that obviously favors the rested team.I am sure you could find splits somewhere that would show you how much the winning percentage is effected,but it's obviously going to be effected.Playing in the first game of a back to back effects the coaching also.The losing team is more likely to pack it in if they're down big and the winning team wants to rest their key players for tomorrow night so they are probably more prone to blow a big lead.

[essbee]

Originally Posted by giordun

I don't believe that an NBA player would have stamina issues for running around a court like 35 minutes for 2 nights in a row. That's ridiculous. Why do people use back-to-back game as an excuse? Even for me I could probably do it and on the 3rd day be all sore but these are professionals. They get played million dollars to play the game.

i find it interesting that you think fatigue doesn't exist if you get paid a lot of money. Can you provide some of your super secret scientific information to back this up?

[futuristxen]

Also remember that the team you are playing are also high paid professional athletes competiting at an extremely high level. A back-to-back is nothing to sneeze at. Especially when you figure it's an 82 game season that goes from training camp in October to the finals in June, with summer league in between.

It's a grind. I don't care what they pay you. I wouldn't want to do it.

[Diable]

Actually this is one of the major reasons why an NBA player might be tempted to take steroids.Most people automatically assume that you only take them to bulk up like the incredible hulk,but the main advantage in many sports is that steroids help your muscles recover more rapidly than they do naturally.In baseball and professional basketball this would help your performance immensely by simply allowing you to maintain peak performance when normally you could not.

[IceMan23and3]

I don't believe that it's physical so much as mental. On back to backs, you don't get much time to prepare for your opponent, or rest if it's on the road, and often just can't get your head 100% in the game like you would if you had another day to prepare.

[croco]

I think travelling from one place to another is actually more demanding than the game itself at times, you hardly get any real rest, you might not get much sleep. Like IceMan said it's more a psychological thing than anything else.

[Pimped Out]

I think its equally psychological and physical.
I think it can be an excuse to not be as sharp, but its not an excuse to not look competitive.
yay for double negatives.