These drills help dribblers handle the ball against a physical defender. The drills were also posted on Canada Basketball’s GamePlan site. Create Contact (Phase A) Learning Goal: Execute ball moves & draw contact. Points of Emphasis: Stay balanced & low, drop hips, explode through pads. The ballhandler self-passes the ball outside the arc and catches the ball in a balanced stance, squaring up & looking at the rim. A coach stands in the key with a blocking pas. The player pounds the ball twice to start the drill. The dribbler executes a ball move and drives their inside shoulder into …
Post Move Workout
I was at a Toronto Triple Threat workout to work with bigs and put in some of these drills. I also put the drills online on Canada Basketball’s Game Plan Site. Post Move Building Blocks (A) Learning Goal: Develop footwork for basic post moves. Point of Emphasis: Keep the ball high. Rip through above head. These are five basic post moves that are part of every Team Ontario practice. Perform each move three times from both sides of the court Players pass the ball to the coach on the wing and establish position inside. If coaches are unavailable to pass …
Building the Spurs Culture
Gregg Popovich Explains How the Spurs Select Players: “For us, it’s easy. We’re looking for character, but what the hell does that mean? We’re looking for people — and I’ve said it many times — [who] have gotten over themselves, and you can tell that pretty quickly. You can talk to somebody for four or five minutes, and you can tell if it’s about them, or if they understand that they’re just a piece of the puzzle. So we look for that. A sense of humour is a huge thing with us. You’ve got to be able to laugh. You’ve …
Raptors BLOBs
The Toronto Raptors have executed some intriguing baseline out of bounds sets this year that feature a number of diverse actions. Running plays with different actions from the same setup all the way until the end is typical of playing at the next level. Flex Action: Bismack Biyombo backscreens for Cory Joseph and pops to receive the inbounds pass from Kyle Lowry. Joseph sets a flex screen for Lowry. Biyombo passes to DeMar DeRozan in the pinch post and downscreens for Joseph. DeRozan passes it back to Joseph as Lowry and Biyombo set a staggered screen on the baseline for …
N.B.A. ATO Plays
The first play after a timeout is an opportune time to re-establish stability on the offensive end and return to the team’s core principles. During play, the philosophy can become lost as emotions take over but coaches can take advantage of the break provided by the timeout to get back to basics. For some teams, basics means getting the ball inside to the post. Recent Toronto Raptors opponents the San Antonio Spurs (Tim Duncan, LaMarcus Aldridge) and Sacramento Kings (DeMarcus Cousins) have exceptional post players so they chose to counter a Toronto run by getting the ball inside. Little adjustments …
The Secret Play
Larry Bird and Dennis Johnson developed a special chemistry on the floppy/pin down action during their time with the Boston Celtics. Using a pin down is as much about the fundamentals of cutting, passion and shooting as it is reading the defense and reacting to their moves. When opponents would overplay his use of the screen, Bird would cut backdoor for the layup. Note how Bird pushes off his own teammates Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish and takes his man into a bunch of traffic to create space for himself. Johnson throws a variety of passes off the bounce, one …
Spain Early Offense
When coaches design actions that involve everyone on the court and allow them to play, there is the potential for a very dynamic offense. By developing the skills utilized by the sets and teaching players how to read the defense, teams can generate many effective options out of the same play. Out of transition, Spain gets everyone moving and puts the defense on its heels. Sergio Llull brings the ball up the court, passes to Pau Ribas and cuts of Nikola Mirotić as he fills the corner. Ribas reverses through the trail Pau Gasol and uses a back screen from …
Follow Your Shot
“Don’t get caught watching the paint dry.” Wilbur “Shooter” Flatch A screen and roll play continues after the shot is released. The defense must still secure the ball and the offense still has some high percentage scoring opportunities on the offensive glass. Defense: Cory Joseph goes over the screen so Facundo Campazzo cuts back and uses Luis Scola as a rescreen. Anthony Bennett stunts to stop the drive and Campazzo must pass the ball. Scola pops and Kelly Olynyk, who was playing under the screen closes out the shot but does not make contact on the box out. After the …
Reduce Mental Errors
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Josh Donaldson hits a fly ball to Anthony Gose in right-centre field. Gose catches the ball but fogets the number of outs and does not throw the ball back to the infield promptly. Ryan Goins tags and scores from second base. The mental error provided the Blue Jays with an extra run and demonstrated how players, teammates and coaches can work together to stay focused. Players: Goins knows that he will tag up on a fly ball and notices correctly that the ball will not go over Gose’s head so he returns to …
Learning from Losing
It was an eye-opening loss for me. Some losses you’re angry about and some losses you learn from. That loss, I think I learned the most from in a long time. I got so much better after that loss. I was able to improve a lot. I worked on things. I didn’t see the results straightaway. But months later, I started seeing the results, more and more. Serena Williams, reflecting upon her loss to Garbine Muguruza in the 2014 French Open.
Duke’s First Practice
Mike Krzyzewski talks about building a team culture with the 2014-15 Duke Blue Devils. Concerns for the coach included developing leadership on the court, planning and periodization with only ten scholarship players (which later became eight) and creating a team identity after a summer spent training in smaller groups. The team is seen working on fundamentals – such as a variety of passes and footwork – and defense, two excellent building blocks for any team. Even on the first day, the team is shown getting after it on double teams in the post and downing and hedging screens. Read and …
Duke’s Summer Workouts
Duke won a National Championship and made three first round drafts picks during their offseason work. Basketball players need to train in order to push themselves to the next level. The Blue Devils developed: strength in the weight room explosiveness using plyometrics agility and footwork on the court foot and ankle stability on the beach toughness on the stadium stairs core strength by doing functional movements togetherness by working out as a team
Being Tony Allen
Guarding Klay Thompson and the rest of the Golden State Warriors, Tony Allen has demonstrated tenacious effort and modelled solid defensive skills for younger players to follow. The Grizzlies have played competitively so far and forced the N.B.A.’s highest scoring team into some poor shooting performances. Guarding the Ballhandler: Allen turns Thompson to the left and keeps his hands active. However, he is not riding his man or reaching down. Instead, Allen reaches for the ball between Thompson’s hand and the floor. He pops it loose from below as it is on the way up, avoiding a foul. Allen is able to tip it …
Do Things the Right Way
If you do this job half-way, then you’ll be a half-way basketball player, you’ll be a halfway-student. You have to do things the right way. Earvin Johnson Sr. to his son about rushing through his part-time sanitation job and the importance of working hard.
Make the Most of Gym Class
To maximize the benefits a period or workout, teachers and students (or coaches and athletes) have responsibilities to keep the class (or team) focused and engaged. Teachers must design meaningful activities that develop athletic abilities and simulate game situations. Students should perform the drills as best as they can, in order to improve their personal fitness and prepare for competitions. Part of this focus comes from understanding the purpose behind the exercise. Ideally, a teacher would clearly explain their reasoning beforehand but sometimes students must think critically and figure things out for themselves. Teachers and coaches rarely fill classes or workouts …
Raptors Execute Details
Raptors Execute Many Little Things to Create Game-Winning Shot Down 1 vs. Orlando, Toronto ran an interesting SLOB to create a drive and kick situation. Lou Williams finally made a corner 3 because the team understood the details. First of all, the best time to shoot a three is when you don’t need one. The defense is more concerned about stopping penetration towards the rim than sticking to a shooter or running them off the ball. Greivis Vasquez inbounded the ball, Lou Williams started on the strong-side elbow opposite Patrick Patterson and DeMar DeRozan was on the weak-side wing. Kyle …