Adarq.org

Yeah $200 is pretty pricey for gym shoes. On the other hand it's a 1 off investment that'll last for a long time and will defs help with squats. Let us know when you get em

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1bSrHiBU4U" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1bSrHiBU4U</a>

Your back squat is 'lighter' than your front squat because you have been front squatting almost exclusively for the past several months. Than when you do back squat it looks like you usually do it after you front squat so your legs are already fatigued a little plus the movement feels weird coz you've just been spending your time doing front squats. I experienced the same thing over a year ago when I was doing front and back squats in the same session. It feels awkward to back squat after you front squat so weight that should feel light feels heavy.
If you spent as much time doing back squats as front squats than your back squat would be higher than your front squat. Also think about it this way. You've back squatted 140+kg before but the most you've front squatted is 120kg. So that's a 20kg difference right there. If you've back squatted that much before than you're capable of doing it again if you practice the movement.

Bad luck on losing the game. At least it was a qualifying final though so your team got another chance.

Wind/Altitude Sprint Times Calculators

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/sprints/altwind.htm
http://myweb.lmu.edu/jmureika/track/wind/index.html

I'm not surprised you're feeling it in your back with 5x5 deadlifts. Most people just do 1x5 with deadlifts and work up to that max set since deadlifts are a pretty stressful lift for your CNS.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48rtmCKLvvU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48rtmCKLvvU</a>

fwiw charlie francis was a big proponent of lower back strength as key to fast sprinting. i think it's in "speed trap" where he describes ben johnson's erector spinae as "the size of a man's forearm."

Guess I'm a bit late on the convo but I remember seeing this vid ages ago talking about the key to a cheetah's speed and one of the characteristics was the cheetah's spine.
This was the vid.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-zcA_mOa94" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-zcA_mOa94</a>

"Within 3 seconds it's reached 90km/hour. As it closes in it hits maximum speed- 120km/hour. A wide range of factors effect an animals speed. Environment, body type, predation, and more. And every one of those factors has come together in the evolution of the cheetah to create the ultimate sprinting machine. The head. Smallest relative size of any cat, it's aerodynamic design cuts through wind like a bullet. The collarbone reduced and free floating it's like a tiny axle for quick tight turns. A massive chest holding a huge heart and lungs to pump fuel to the muscles. Legs. Long and light with extended achilles tendons for superior shock absorption. Claws. Non-retractable like a dogs they dig into the earth with every stride providing traction. And the heavy tail, which helps the cheetah steer.
Speed is really generated from strides. Once every foot has touched the ground once. Any running animal to increase its speed needs to increase its stride length or its stride rate and cheetah's have managed to increase both of those. Scientists studying humans have shown that runners need powerful leg muscles for long strides. These muscles bring the leg down hard launching the runner into the air for long leap like stride. But the cheetah's legs are thin and fragile so how do they achieve long strides? Most people assume that cheetah's speed is generated from their legs. They must have really powerful legs. It's actually their spine. About 60% of a cheetah's muscle mass is packed onto its spine. So if you combine that with those long gaited legs you get an animal that has an average of about a 23 foot stride length and that's incredible. Flexing its spine like a coiled spring, the cheetah's body flies out airborne for a distance more than 5x it's length at a top speed of 4 strides per second the cheetah can cover an entire football field in a fraction over 3 seconds. The cheetah's speed is the secret to it's survival an asset that evolved sometime between 3 and 5 million years ago.
Every feature of the cheetah says speed. Bones are lightweight. A long flexible spine spring rolls each stride, which can cover almost 30 feet in a quarter second. To sustain this incredible speed the cheetah sucks in oxygen through oversized intake valves. Large nasal passages. It's lungs, liver, heart and adrenal glands are supersized to kick its metabolism into high gear".

Good job on getting back into basketball as well. You'll get back into basketball condition just by playing more games and getting used to it again.