SLU players open practice in game shape with different approach to conditioning
Josh Schertz went along with the crowd when he started coaching, putting his players through a "boot camp" type of regimen during the offseason to expedite conditioning.
There were early mornings with running and other requisite challenges that fed into the concept of "shared suffering" as a team.
"I did it because everybody did it," he said. "We were doing backboard touches, lane slides and sprints — all these things to mimic what you're doing in basketball when really guys would rather condition with the ball."
Schertz switched his approach in 2016. Since then, his teams have conditioned through practices and nothing more.
When the Billikens held their first official practice under their first-year coach Monday, he was confident everyone on the roster was close to or in game shape.
SLU has practiced off and on since June and does a considerable amount of full court work that prepares players for game conditions.
"I think they're close because we're playing all the time in shorter windows," Schertz said. "We finish practices with 20 minutes live, up and down. I don't worry about them being in shape to play. We could play a game today. Some could play 30-plus minutes today, and that will just build as we get into longer practices."
Schertz has relied on a short bench in recent years and said he never has had trouble with conditioning. He pointed to last season's tight rotation at Indiana State as an example of how players remained strong through 39 games.
Gibson Jimerson has averaged more than 34 minutes over the past three seasons in 100 games at SLU. Yet, even he thinks he has taken conditioning to another level.
"I personally am not a fan of running just to run," he said. "I'm in the best shape of my career because we play a lot, compete a lot and it's fast paced. When you do that every day, you're going to be in good shape. I prefer that. I think it's a lot more effective."
SLU's Robbie Avila and Isaiah Swope were part of the Indiana State teams, averaging 31.2 and 33.5 minutes while starting every game they played in 2023-24. Every Indiana State starter played more than 30 minutes per game.
"There's no better conditioning for basketball than playing basketball," Schertz said. "To me, if joy is one of the pillars and we want to create an environment where guys like coming to work, well, no one enjoys getting up at 5 (a.m.) and coming in for running.
"There's a benefit to that, but if I can create shared suffering in practice, create drills that really push them to condition and have the ball in their hands, the guys are more excited about that. They don't feel like they're conditioning."
Swope started his college career at Southern Indiana, where he said players had to run extensively as part of conditioning. When he was recruited to Indiana State, part of the pitch was that players would get in shape through playing.
He wasn't sure he believed it until it happened that way.
"It was definitely a shock," he said. "Any player in the country would love to play up and down. It's the quickest way to get in basketball shape. Any time you can retire those sprints, I'll take that."
Schertz will lengthen practices now that teams are allowed 20 hours a week instead of the previous eight.
During the season, he will continue to have the Billikens play full court, five on five, without letting up until the season ends. He doesn't believe in taking it easy in February and March.
His approach during the season is a little different as well. The Billikens will have full practices, not just final prep, the day before every game. The day after games, they will review game film before those getting less than 15 minutes per game go through a practice while rotation players are dismissed.
"That allows us to pour into the young guys and guys who aren't playing as much," he said. "They get to play three on three, four on four, and we're drilling our system."
All players were relatively healthy to start practice Monday, which was six weeks before SLU opens against Santa Clara. Schertz said he has started to get a better feel for who might take the majority of minutes without locking himself into those decisions.
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