Departing strength coach applauds Flyers’ attitude in summer workouts

Like everyone associated with the team and all the fans who follow it, Streit’s excited to see what the future holds for the Flyers.

“(The Lakers’) schedule came out yesterday,” Streit said Tuesday, “and I’m looking up days to see if I’m going to be crossing paths with the guys, either in Chicago or Phoenix, anywhere. It’ll be really cool because out here with the time difference, (Dayton) games will start about 4 p.m., so there’s usually a nice chunk of time when I’m in the weight room pregame from about 3:30 to 7. You know the Flyer game will be on.”

Streit worked as the strength and conditioning coach at Dayton on head coach Anthony Grant's staff into last week, finishing one year on the job before handing the reins back to Casey Cathrall, who returned to the team after one year with the Miami Hurricanes.

Streit worked with the Chicago Bulls earlier in his career and now will work for a much-improved Lakers team. Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are among the newcomers joining LeBron James in Los Angeles.

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“Long term, (the NBA) is where I wanted to be,” Streit said. “I think that’s why me and Anthony (Grant) kind of meshed so well. He has some NBA experience. Obviously, he has a lot of other great college experience. (The NBA) was something we talked about a little about early on in my employment there. It happened a lot sooner than both of us expected, but to have the opportunity to work for the Lakers, one of the most prestigious basketball teams and sports teams in the entire world, I couldn’t really pass that up.”

Still, Streit will miss working with the Flyers. He say players made progress toward their individual goals in “leaps and bounds” this summer. Here are his impressions.

On how he handled the offseason schedule: "We had the short bench last year, so we gave the guys some time away. I think they had two weeks away with no scheduled activity. Then we got them back in the weight room until they left. They were gone for (the first summer session). We kind of gave them a program to do at home — whatever weight room they chose to do that in. Most of the guys all handled their business. They were professional about it. They did their home work and showed up in a really good place, and we hit the ground running as soon as we got back on campus from a strength-and-conditioning standpoint."

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On redshirt junior center Jordy Tshimanga: "He came in (last August) at 300 pounds and 20 percent body fat. Now he's 273, single-digit body fat. I think 9.2 was the last I had him at.

On junior point guard Jalen Crutcher: "He has put on solid size and muscle. It's going to definitely make him more durable and stronger the next season."

On redshirt sophomore Obi Toppin: "Obi put on some muscle mass. His goal was to get stronger, which he did. He's genetically inclined. He can walk through a weight room and get stronger."

On freshman center Moulaye Sissoko: "He's one of the most genetically-inclined freshmen I've every worked with. We chatted with him before he got on campus because we wanted him to hit the ground running because he was going to be our only new face. We had somewhat of a program for him, but it was kind of open for him. We weren't keeping tabs on him or anything. He did his work and showed up in great shape. I would say a lot of that is pure genetics. I would love to be the guy to take credit for that, but I'm not going to."

» OBI UPDATE: Toppin participates in Nike Skills Academy

On redshirt sophomore forward Chase Johnson: "He's strong and healthy. He's honestly one of the most athletic guys on that team. This goes back to the genetic part. He is such a great athlete: jumping, sprinting, lateral movements. He is fun to watch and gets off the floor quick. He will definitely have an exciting year."

On sophomore guard Dwayne Cohill: "He's made great strides. He's probably put on eight to 10 pounds of lean mass. He still has very low body fat: 4s and 3s. He had a pretty good base, too (as a freshman). Lower body, he was ahead of where freshman usually are."

On redshirt junior guard Rodney Chatman, who missed time in the summer with an eye injury: "It was unfortunate that he did miss some time, but I would say it's not going to really set him back the way he handled it. He made so much progress in season that he really didn't lose that much. As soon as we could, we got him back lifting and working out, so he's already back in a good spot. He's one to watch out for. He's a very cerebral, smart point guard. Plus, he's got like a plus-7½ (foot) wingspan. He's going to be a point guard's nightmare. He's going to be locking guys up. He's one of the best defenders on the team."

On the team aspect of workouts: "One of the biggest things we did as a team was just (work on) the camaraderie and the cohesiveness. The culture took a huge step forward. Guys were a lot more competitive. Guys really got after it and approached everything with a great attitude. As a strength coach, you throw some really tough stuff at them, and they attacked it and did it without issues."