Anloague, who also is a professor at the University of Dayton, welcomed four of the players to Orion earlier in the day — Trey Landers, Ryan Mikesell, Trevor Thompson and CJ Walker — and will work with the team all week in Dayton and then in Columbus.
The No. 2 seed Red Scare plays No. 15 seed BC Vahakni City at 3 p.m. Saturday at Ohio State’s Covelli Center. Anloague wants to keep them healthy and get them ready for potentially playing three games in four days.
“They’re all in different phases and different states of where they’re at, this being a particularly strange year,” Anloague said. “There’s been a lot of stop and start, so the first thing we’re doing is trying to get a good assessment of where they are and who’s got nagging injuries. We get them on the table and do some assessment of soft tissue.”
Anloague and his staff look at muscle quality, tendon health and joint mobility.
“We’re just trying to get them to move the way they need to move,” Anloague said, “and then also help them to recover. For some of these guys, it’s a little bit of a ramp up in activity.”
Former Dayton walk-on Joey Gruden, who’s coaching the Red Scare along with former Dayton teammate Jeremiah Bonsu, contacted Anloague about helping the team this week.
“He knows about my experience in doing just this, trying to keep guys on the court,” Anloague said. “With this kind of shortened period of time, you don’t know what’s going to pop up. How can we try to keep them healthy, keep them on the court and make good decisions? Because we don’t want to do something that’s going to cause problems for them in their pro careers.”
The members of Red Scare play all over the world. Mikesell announced Tuesday he’s returning to Germany after the TBT to play the Tübingen Tigers for the second straight season. Devin Oliver will play in Japan for the Sendai 89ers next season. Brandon Spearman has played professional basketball in Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Egypt, Finland and most recently Qatar.
Anloague has deep ties to Dayton athletes. He founded Orion Sports Medicine in Miamisburg with three former Flyers: former NBA player Chris Wright; San Diego Padres reliever Craig Stammen; and Mike Hauschild, a former big leaguer now pitching in Triple-A with the Iowa Cuts. The sports medicine facility provides a place to train for a number of local athletes at the high school, college and professional levels.
Anloague has also used his experience to branch out and work with NBA teams. During the season, he works twice a month for the Indiana Pacers for two to three games. Sometimes, he travels with the team, depending on how many injuries the team has.
Anloague also works before the season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets and Philadelphia 76ers.
“I’m there at training camp,” he said. “I do my clinical and functional assessments with everyone from the front of the bench to the end of the bench. In September, I’m already scheduled to head out to these clubs. We’ve been doing this for 11 years, so I’ve got a database that says, ‘What does a NBA athlete need to look like with regard to weight-bearing ankle mobility?’ So I can look at the players, and then I make recommendations. So and so needs to work on the hip. So and so needs to work on glute strengthening, whatever the case may be. We sit around with the entire team, and I write up reports on all the players.”
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