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I'm 30 and my basketball conditioning is horrible!

I played high school, juco, and on a couple traveling teams in my earlier days. I was lean, quick, and explosive. Kids took me away from the sport for about 4 years. When i stopped playing hoops, i went onto nothing but weight training. Went from 205 to 225, much bigger but stiffer and heavier.

About a month ago, i just decided to start playing again. Joined a local league in town. 1st game last sunday, 2nd game today. All i can say is my body has totally forgotten what it once use to do. I got tired fast. I couldn't do any repetitive jumps. I would jump once, and couldn't get right back up a 2nd time, like i use too. Timing is way off, The jumps would fatigue me, and i would end up walking up and down the court. Had no explosiveness whatsoever, lateral movements suck. It was just bad! I felt so heavy, that i was feeling that i couldn't move.

I'm looking for a way to get my conditioning back up and again, and get my body doing what it once use to do all the time. I have no injuries, knees and back are in great shape. I feel that my legs are pretty fresh due to the layoff, but my legs just forgot. I know the best way is to keep playing, but there are other ways? I picked up the VJB, if that would help any, and i could lose 15 pounds which would help as i'm around 15% bf.

any suggestions would greatly be appreciated

best thing is to actually play basketball at intense and nonintense levels consistently

There's really no other way to get into basketball shape other than to play basketball. 

I'd say there's no -better- way to get in shape for basketball than to play it, but there's definitely other ways.

Think back to when you were in elementary and middle school. Remember all those drills you used to have to do in practice? Slides, wallsits, sprints, suicides, rebound/tip drills, dribbling drills at game speed through chairs? Those things actually had a purpose. Mostly it was conditioning with skill work thrown it, but again; mostly conditioning. Spend 30-45 minutes running through those again. You'd be surprised how much that little bit of work would help.

Suicides and interval sprinting. Fuck running and cycling for basketballc conditioning. When was the last time you ran a couple of miles at medium pace in basketball without a sharp change of pace or direction?

While its obvious he needs to train in the HR intensity zone similar to what he will compete in, no one should forget the importance of developing the cardiac system as a whole, especially someone who has not been that physically active(im guessing this guy) as summed up by Mark M on elitefts:

"Cardiac development is important for many reasons; cardiac power, good parasympathetic tone, and lower resting HR to name a few. For instance the muscle fibers in the left ventricle stretch to increase stroke volume. This is done through low intensity work, HR between 100-120. When you are looking to Strengthen the walls of ventricle it is done through HR of 130-140. The faster heart rate the stronger the wall around the ventricle. All sports are somewhere in between the type of hypertrophy (strength) vs. the type of regulation (efficiency). So all athletes should be doing this type of work almost every day through different methods. This is why using a heart rate monitor is so important. "

(source http://asp.elitefts.com/qa/default.asp?qid=82855&tid=)

with that said, there are a ton of ways to accomplish this. The average basketball player gets this type of work in when hes simply doing easy shooting. I would recommend do it in a dribbling sequence. If that does not work for you, resort to a treadmill or a easy weight room circuit

Again its not going to turn you into superman, but don't forget about the most important muscle in the body

I'm 30 and my basketball conditioning is horrible!

I played high school, juco, and on a couple traveling teams in my earlier days. I was lean, quick, and explosive. Kids took me away from the sport for about 4 years. When i stopped playing hoops, i went onto nothing but weight training. Went from 205 to 225, much bigger but stiffer and heavier.

About a month ago, i just decided to start playing again. Joined a local league in town. 1st game last sunday, 2nd game today. All i can say is my body has totally forgotten what it once use to do. I got tired fast. I couldn't do any repetitive jumps. I would jump once, and couldn't get right back up a 2nd time, like i use too. Timing is way off, The jumps would fatigue me, and i would end up walking up and down the court. Had no explosiveness whatsoever, lateral movements suck. It was just bad! I felt so heavy, that i was feeling that i couldn't move.

I'm looking for a way to get my conditioning back up and again, and get my body doing what it once use to do all the time. I have no injuries, knees and back are in great shape. I feel that my legs are pretty fresh due to the layoff, but my legs just forgot. I know the best way is to keep playing, but there are other ways? I picked up the VJB, if that would help any, and i could lose 15 pounds which would help as i'm around 15% bf.

any suggestions would greatly be appreciated

Looking at you personally, I would say for getting your body and conditioning back in the most effective manner:
1. play intense ball
2. shoot and practice at intense levels (kills two birds with one stone: skills and conditioning) 
3. jump rope (helps conditioning and quickness)
4. lift heavy shit (don't ever stop doing this.)
5. eat clean ( simple but hard)
6. stretch
7. Plyo's should be covered with playing*

If you are so TERRIBLY out of conditioning, do the beginning plyo of VJB with whatever strength and you will be straight

i wouldnt reccomend traditonal cone drills per se. Main reason is that they are a pre-determined change of direction, which is not at all what change of direction is about. Instead I would think of other drills that are more reaction and game- like. And do a ton of sprinting.  To paraphrase what Charlie Francis said, to get "quicker" in a team sport such as basketball, the best way is to practice your moves/efficiency and SPRINT.

Sorry, but in my opinion all change-of-direction should be pre-determined. If I'm dribbling the ball down court, it's not like I accidentally decide to change my direction to go around a defender. And if I'm on defense, it's not like I'm hoping that I can make the player I'm guarding dribble into my help-defense. It's all about forcing the player with your movements into your help and it's all about using your change-of-direction purposefully with the goal of getting to the spot of the floor where you or your team will be successful. Yes, some times reactions are instinctual, but you shouldn't be relying on instincts alone to play this game.

As for cone drills, they're not needed. Just pick lines on the court, start sprintings/sliding and every time you get to a spot just change direction or speed. Simple as that...and doing it a lot.

jello thats kind of what i mean- change of direction that directly correlates to your gaming- not just pre determined cones..

Ah, gotcha. My bad.