Some nice behind the scenes video of Michigan State on their trip to Germany to face UConn a couple of weeks ago. Too bad for MSU, they lost, but good to see the players visiting the hospital there in Ramstein and talking with the troops there. Some nice clips of the game action at the end of the video too, anyways enjoy...



Michigan State Basketball - Armed Forces Classic from Micah Brown on Vimeo.

It's hard to think that even 10 years ago, producing good quality video content was still very costly and time consuming. Nowadays, the stuff that you can produce with a simple HD camera and iMovie are amazing. With the college basketball season in full swing, I went and found some of the best 2012-2013 trailer videos produced by college athletics programs to promote the upcoming season. My favorite one is probably this one from Marquette. I like it because they didn't just flash some stock images and put music in the background, they went out with a film crew and put the players in a few different situations (the bowling one was really good). Enjoy...


If I were to pick a number 2, it would definitely be this one from USC. This one is more generic, but the bass in the background really gets you in the mood and for some reason I really get motivated when watching and listening to it.


And finally an honorable mention goes to the Memphis Tigers for putting out this quality video:


Hope everyone is getting ready for their respective basketball seasons. There's always a giddy enthusiasm I get around this time as the thought of "what could be" awaits and there is a high level of anticipation and expectation of success in October. The good news is, everyone starts the season off with the same record, 0 wins 0 losses.

In any case, the folks at Duke Blue Planet are putting together an X's and O's coaching series (called Blue Print) with one of their coaches talking about a certain aspect of the game and with their current squad. In this inaugural episode, assistant coach Jeff Capel is talking about low post play and some of the keys to what they hope will be a productive season for Mason Plumlee.



Coach Capel talks about a lot of the basic fundamentals of low post play, which you can also get from Coach K's DVD on low post skill development. Namely:

1. Early post up. If your bigs rim run, they will probably get the easiest post position they will ever get. The jostling for position that happens in half-court is tough, but if you get out in transition, it's must easier to get that position. It's just a simple matter of first one to the spot.

2. Screening action. Be it, on ball, or off ball, if your bigs screen, they are moving, and thus harder to defend and keep out of a certain area.

3. Have a go to move. For Plumlee, he likes the sweeping middle hook (left and right).

4. Have a counter. When you feel the defender cheating to take away your go to move, make sure you have a counter to make them pay for over-committing.