WW.NET hooked up with Joe Abunassar for a quick Q&A on a variety of topics.

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WW.NET: Tell us a little about yourself and how you got to where you are today.

Joe:
I started as a coach, actually a manager for Coach Knight at Indiana from 1989 – 1993, then on to coaching for 4 years at the University of Wyoming. From there, I combined my basketball experience with my experience, knowledge, and interest in strength, conditioning, and nutrition to begin training individual players. From there, they say the rest is history as I kept adding more players and ending up with my two facilities today in LA and Vegas. In 2001, I started the Basketball Academy at IMG Academies in Bradenton, FL and this is really where everything began to take off even further.

Personally, I have dedicated the last 10 years of my life to developing players, and, by a mix of luck and other things, have been fortunate to work with many of the best players in the world. It’s been a great run, coming from where I had 4 – 5 guys 10 years ago, and now to see over 50 players training with me and my team each off-season. This year, we had 20 of the 60 players selected in the draft who prepared and trained with us and that is a very rewarding thing. We have focused on developing the COMPLETE player and our programs extend down all the way to young players in middle school who are looking for the higher level training. It is a proven system that basis everything around basketball, but provides the support in areas of performance, conditioning, therapy, nutrition, and anything else involved with the athletic process, in order for the player to achieve on-court goals.

Now, I have 2 facilities, both which I run in conjunction with Mark Verstegen and his company, Athletes’ Performance.

We just finished getting over 50 players ready for the NBA season, which was a big task, but a very rewarding and exciting one. I will travel for much of the NBA season, visiting with my players and making sure they stay on task to having great seasons. The guys we train are focused and serious, or they wouldn’t waste their time spending two months in Vegas working hard every day! they would find better things to do with their free time

WW.NET: Which Warrior players trained at your facility this offseason?

Joe:

On Baron Davis:

Baron Davis is looking great. He did a good amount of traveling during the later part of the summer after spending a lot of time with us in Vegas, but Rico Hines, a great friend of mine and a great coach and trainer, spends a lot of time working with Baron in the off-season, and has been with him on the travel, so I am sure he has maintained his form and is ready for a great season.

On Al Harrington:

AL Harrington also looks great. Al is one of my long-time clients, a great friend, and actually the god-father of my 6 year old, Jack. He is a warrior in many ways – no one works harder than Al and no one has a better focus and intensity to improve his game. We spend a lot of time getting Al fit and in shape this summer and making sure he can run with his teammates. We also spent a lot of time getting Al back to being sharp and very difficult to guard on the mid-post – which is an area I think he is very, very tough to defend in. His shooting looks solid s I am sure he will fire up some 3’s this season in the Warriors offense. Al’s looking to have a great year and help GS back to the playoffs and going even further.

On Patrick O'bryant:

Patrick O’Bryant was with me from early May until Summer League and for a few weeks after - we were able to put some good weight on him and work on his inside game. I think the Warriors personnel feel that he needed to be up in Oakland, working with them and learning more of their system and style of play, so he has been up in Oakland since mid-August, working with the coaches. For Patrick, it’s about being aggressive and playing hard and getting used to providing what Coach Nelson and the rest of the organization needs from him. He has a ton of talent and a great body and athleticism. Now he just needs to put it all together.

On Monta Ellis:

Monta Ellis did not make it down to work with me this summer in Vegas – he had some minor injuries he was working on in Mississippi.

WW.NET: Besides the big name players, who has impressed and improved the most this summer at your training center?

Joe:
Besides the obvious choices of KG, Billups, and Prince, a few guys really had great summers. Mo Williams is someone I think is a terrific player and will just get better as he is only 24 now. An amazing PG. Antoine Wright had a great summer and is someone I think will continue to grow in the league and be a big help for New Jersey this year. Cuttino Mobley wins the award for the most focused and detailed workout guy I have ever been around – he is impressive in his professionalism and approach and it’s no wonder why he has averaged 18 ppg for his entire career. Corey Maggette was also tremendous this summer. A young guy I had for the draft who also stayed until mid-september who I think will grow into a solid player is Jared Dudley from BC. Another guy who had an amazing summer was Sebastian Telfair, who moved to Vegas in early may and barely missed a day until he went up to Minnesota in mid-September. Really, everyone was impressive – Chris “the Birdman” Andersen was also terrific. He has been working with us since last December and will be a force when he returns to the league later this year.

WW.NET: Do NBA teams give you specific workout plans for their players or is it strictly between the player and your trainers?

Joe:
We work very closely with the teams, so yes, many of the teams give us specific goals for the players. Our goal is that the player returns to camp a much improved player who the team is very happy with, and that involves communication with the teams to find out what it is they need from each guy and what they think they need to improve on.. We don’t work for the team, we work for the players, but it is critical that the team knows how the guys are doing and that they are working hard in the off-season.

WW.NET: Walk us through a typical day for you

Joe:
A day for me is a long one, starting with the first workouts at 8 am or earlier. When KG is in town, we start at 7, since he likes to get it done early, before anyone else comes in. From there it is over 30 players in between then and 12 noon for on-court workouts, strength and performance training, therapy, and anything else they may need. We then have more individual session between noon and 2, then we play 5 on 5 at 2 every day until about 4. At 4, they guys get treated and get their nutritional post-workout drinks. Most night, many of the guys take a little break, then come back at 6 or 7 for more shooting or specific individual work. We have specific things to work on for different players – and we focus in on these during the night sessions. It’s non-stop action for me from April, when the pre-draft begins, to October 1, when the guys go back to camp.

WW.NET: How competitive are the pick-up games?

Joe:
Every day was a battle during the games. The guys wear jerseys and we have refs and everything. No one wants to lose and it makes for some great verbal battles and incredibly intense play. When you have a group of guys as talented as these guys and as proud and committed to winning, anything can happen. Watching guys like KG and Billups for one day compete in battle in a pick-up game will give fans a good idea why they are all-stars!

WW.NET: Did you catch any of the Warrior playoffgames and what are your thoughts on Marco Belinelli?

Joe:

Of course I watched the Warriors run last year – it was great to see and I really enjoyed it.

Marco Belinelli was terrific in the summer league and if that is any indication of how he will play this year, the Warrior fans will be in for a treat. He is a true scorer and seems to play with maturity and confidence beyond what is expected from a rookie.

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Special Thanks to Joe Abunassar for making time for WW.NET.

To get more information about Abunassar Impact Basketball, Please visit:

www.impactbball.com

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