Just when it looked like the Los Angeles Sparks would walk away with the home win, they let it all slip away with crucial turnovers and some bad decisions down the stretch. Credit to the New York Liberty, they made some big shots, including a few big 3-pointers for the comeback victory.

I want to look at these 2 critical plays with less than 3 minutes left in the game. The Sparks had a lead heading into the 4th quarter, but squandered it away with costly turnovers. At this point, 3 minutes left, the Sparks are behind by 7, then 5. But Coach Michael Cooper makes the ill-advised decision to press the Liberty. The problem, is they don't have the fast guards to keep up with Lelani Mitchell. Take a look,



Don't Press if You Don't Have the Quickness:

I maybe a little harsh on Coach Cooper, but it's actually something I see a lot of at the lower levels too. You cannot full-court press a team that has superior speed to you. It just won't work. You need players, specifically guards, that are at least as quick as your opponent. Take a look at these pictures, in both cases, Mitchell has already passed hip-to-hip and the defenders are in a trail position,

In this picture, Tameka Johnson can't keep up with Lelani and unnecessarily fouls her, putting the Sparks over the limit and 2 FTs which Lelani hits.


Nothing is more demoralizing then after you've just executed nicely on offense to cut to lead to 7 or 5, to see opponent, cut through your defense like a knife through butter and score an uncontested layup; or foul 50 feet away from the basket and allow your opponent to make free-throws.

Summary:

I said earlier in the year, the problem with the Sparks is the lack of footspeed in the backcourt. Coach Cooper wants to push the ball, but they don't have the speedy guards to be able to play that way. Unless that changes, against quicker teams, they will instead need to rely more on a half-court game and use their superior size advantage in Candace Parker and Lisa Leslie.

For a brand new video on press-break techniques, check out Blaine Taylor's DVD on Scoring Against Pressure Defense. Coach Taylor is the head coach at Old Dominion, one of the teams that I loved to watch last season. As always, please check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk hoops and exchange notes and ideas.

• 0 comments »

I'm big on anything that will help players become better rebounders, especially drills. This is one that I found going through an old drill book.

2-on-1 Rebounding:

Setup: 3 players lined up facing the basket equally spaced in the lane.

You have a coach, or player, throw the ball towards the basket. The player who secures the rebound will attempt to go back up and score, without dribbling. The other 2 players play defense. No fouls called, the offensive player must play through contact.

If the shot is scored, the ball is returned back to the coach and you repeat. If the shot is missed, whomever secures the rebound attempts to score and you repeat until the ball is dead.

You can keep score among the trio, whomever scores most doesn't have to do lines, wall-taps, etc.. To keep it competitive.

For more great competitive rebounding drills, check out Skip Prosser's DVD on Rebounding Drills. As always, please check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk hoops and exchange notes and ideas.

• 0 comments »

I was watching a video the other day, Tony Pappas and the Art of Shooting. It had some great tips on developing better shooters.

3 Core Shooting Concepts:
- technique
- repetition
- mental aspect

I've always said that to be a good shooter, just requires practice. But shooting is like golf. There are a bunch of guys that have unorthodox swings, but play in the PGA, because they practice so often. But if you have a good swing technique combined with practice, you'll be that much better. Jim Furyk is a great example, terrible swing form, but because he practices, he's good. Tiger Woods, perfect swing form + practice = best golfer in the world.

The other concept here is degrees of difference. Sometimes there are different points of emphasis, or slightly different ball/body position. However, the fundamentals stay the same.

Body Position:
- 10 toes pointed to the basket
- hips + shoulder squared
- feet placed directly underneath shoulders, not too wide, not too narrow

Ball Position:
- hand placement on the ball in the center
- check for air b/w ball and palm
- ball should be on pads of fingers, never too high, never too low like on resting on the palm
- thumbs should form a T (can touch or not)
- palm to the sky, arm should form a 90-degree angle

The Shooting line:
- toe, knee, elbow, ball
- There should be an imaginary line that goes from the floor, to the toe, thru the knee, up to the elbow and to the ball

The Shooting Pocket:
- shoulders, elbow form the shooting pocket
- tight and tucked, very important
- eyes over the ball, see the rim

Eyes Thru the Window:
- Eyes focused on the rim as the ball goes up looking thru the arms
- Don't follow the arc and path

Push, Down and Out:
- with middle finger first, then forefinger, hold the release

Release:
- finish with the elbow at the eyes
- finish on top of the toes then back down on the heels

Another neat concept is to use tape and make lines, both on the court, and a big one on the ball. That way, you can see if the shooter is in the right alignment all the way through.

Here is what the proper ball position should look like, or at least resemble,


Summary:

I see all kinds of bad shooting form from most kids these days. I see a lot of staggered feet, elbows flapping around, and head cocking. Sometimes, kids get good at shooting despite the bad form, but I've always felt it was better to shoot worse with proper form and correct it over time, then to let bad habits linger. Remember, you could be a Jim Furyk and play in the PGA with a funky swing, or you could be a Tiger Woods, the best golfer ever with the best swing ever.

For more great info on shooting technique, take a look at Ed Palubinskas's DVD on Becoming a Great Shooter. Coach Palubinskas has worked with professionals such as Lisa Leslie, Shaquille O'Neal and recently Lauren Jackson. To discuss this and many more of your favorite basketball topics, head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk with other coaches from around the world.

• 0 comments »

Caught the first half between Germany and Poland in a FIBA friendly this morning. It wasn't a very good game, score was like 19-17 at halftime. Apparently Germany was missing a couple of their best players (besides Dirk) so that may be one reason.

I did catch a couple of nice clips of Dirk Nowitzki making some nice passes. If I was the German coach, I probably would've wanted Dirk to take a few more shots, especially at his sweet spot, the high elbows. But still, Dirk is getting his teammates involved which is a good sign that he is a team-player and wants to contribute more than just scoring. Take a look,



Dirk Attracts a Crowd:

I like what Dirk does in these plays. This first one, Poland is in M2M, but everyone is so focused when Dirk has the ball, the German forward just does a basket cut and Dirk finds him wide open down low. It's just a blown assignment by the Polish defender,


In this second clip, Dirk is able to penetrate the lane (with the help of a no-call forearm). Once that happens, it's a 2v1 to the hoop because the Polish help-side has to come up and take on Dirk. In my opinion though, Dirk should've elevated and dunked this one,


If you've got the best player on the floor, there is usually so much attention focused by the defense on that one player, that it should be able to get easy opportunities for the other offensive players. Problem is, on this night, Germany's other players weren't able to take advantage.

Summary:

The FIBA wildcard qualifying tournament starts in 2 weeks to determine the final 3 spots. It's a 12-team tournament, and Germany is one of them. Based on today's performance, they won't make it. But with the exception of Brazil and Croatia, I think Germany has a shot at getting that 3rd and last spot (sorry Canada).

If you want to learn to make passes like this, take a look at Ganon Baker's DVD on Passing Drills. Discuss this and the rest of your favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.

• 0 comments »

Found this great clip from earlier in the NBA season with a behind the scenes look at the New Orleans Hornets Training Camp from last season. One of the great things about watching NBA practices is how individually focused they are. Each player is broken down and analyzed and practices are designed specifically to maximize each player's potential.

Now, obviously as a high school coach or lower, you don't nearly have the coach to player ratio to be able to emulate that kind of attention, but there are some cool things that you can try to incorporate, especially for individual development. Take a look at this 2 min clip,



Using a Training Harness:

I love using the training harness. I've used it for football in the past, and it's a great way to incorporate resistance training into everything that you do. We usually use it for RBs, QBs and LBs but as shown here with Tyson Chandler, it can be very effective for explosion training for rebounding and jumping,


Other Thoughts:

- 20 suicides in 20 minutes, pretty standard conditioning drill for beginning of season to build up endurance.

- Bobby Jackson, says he always shoots 100 3s, then 100 mid-range after practice. "You have to always work as a shooter. You can't think that your jumpshot will always go in. You have to work at it. It's my 11th year, and I still work on the little things."

- Byron Scott, "Biggest thing about our team, if you don't work hard, you don't get respect. Not just from the coaching staff, but from the players."

For more info on improving your speed and conditioning, check out Alan Stein's new DVD on Reaction & Quickness Drills for Basketball. Coach Stein is the conditioning coach for Montrose Christian, famously for having worked with Kevin Durant. Be sure to check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to discuss your favorite coaching topics.

• 0 comments »

I was just reading the latest Xavier Newsletter that the great staff of Sean Miller produces every other week. I've run similar passing/defense combined drills before, but this one looks awesome especially if you run any kind of 5-out or 4-out motion offense. Here is the lowdown:

USC - MAN DRILL

"Can you do conditioning with a ball in your hand instead of just running?" This drill evolved from this question.

Drill involves 10 players - 5 on offense vs. 5 on defense. It is executed for :45-:60 seconds in the NBA and :90 seconds in college.

Rules: No dribbling, no screening, no shooting. Emphasize passing! As one player has the ball the other four offensive players make 10-15 ft. cuts - no 3 ft. cuts are allowed. The drill is initiated by a coach or manager who is out of bounds. This initial pass does not count.

From this pass forward every time a pass is completed the receiver yells the # on the catch. A coach always encourages offensive movement. Anytime that you make a pass as a player you then cut. On any deflected pass or turnover pass a manager or coach who is out of bounds quickly passes the ball to an offensive player to keep the pace of the drill moving. This pass is not counted.

As a defender, your responsibility is to NOT allow your man to receive a pass. Deny everywhere. At the end of the allotted time you count the number of catches by the offense as a unit, or the number of catches by individual players. The drill flip flops with the offense going to defense and the defense going to offense. Use two rotations.

Great conditioner, very competitive, high accountability. Beware of "brother and law" deals happening. Make players guard different offensive players.

Learn to improve your offensive skills, the Sean Miller way. Sean Miller's DVD on Offensive Improvement has some great info on 1v1 play. How to use your feet, explosion series, very relevant video in the modern dribble drive era. As always, please check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk hoops and exchange notes and ideas.

• 0 comments »

Nothing gets me going more than watching a team play great defense. In their win last night against the Detroit Shock, the Connecticut Sun played some great man-to-man defense against the Shock and was the main reason why they won the game, their first in over 10 tries.

There wasn't one thing specifically, but I put together a few plays which showed what a good M2M defensive team looks like. They got their hands into the passing lanes to deflect and steal lazy passes, they had great help-side defense to stop penetration, and finally I liked the way they played tough against the Shock by bumping Katie Smith and making her work for her points. Take a look,



Deny Defense, Deflections:

In good help and recover M2M, it's important for your guards to get into good deny position 1 pass away. Facing the check, 1 hand outward with thumbs pointing down. Here, the Shock just make a lazy pass from the inbounds and Lindsay Whelan is in great position to jump the pass and turn it into a fast break bucket,


Help-side, Stop Penetration:

Now, regardless of whether you advocate fighting through screens, or switching all screens, the ultimate goal is to stop penetration. In this clip, the Sun do a great job of forcing baseline, then the help-side switches and forces the penetration all the way to the baseline and forces the turnover over,


Bump the Cutter:

The Shock run some great plays for Katie Smith and Deanna Nolan, their best shooters. In fact, I'd say, they run a lot of stagger sets that resemble what the Pistons ran under both Flip and Larry for Rip. One of the ways to disrupt that kind of offense, is to teach your help-side defenders to bump the cutters. What you're teaching is impedance, and not to actually initiate contact which is a foul. In this play, Katie is bumped preventing her from receiving a pass to her on the block. So instead, she ends up going back the other way off some more stagger screens, and takes a much longer shot which she misses,


Summary:

I watched the Sun last week when they beat my Seattle Storm and was very impressed with their toughness. After watching them beat the Shock last night, I was even more impressed with their attention to the little things. They rebound extremely well, they shoot a good percentage, they're patient on offense, they close out well, they stop penetration, they stay down on defense, etc... They play the game the right way, and that's a direct reflection of their coach, Mike Thibault.

For a unique video on defensive philosophy, take a look at Larry Shyatt's DVD on 7 Ways to Develop a Defensive Mindset. Coach Shyatt is an assistant on Billy Donovan's coaching staff at University of Florida. Talk about your late game situations over at the X's and O's Basketball Forum with other great coaches from around the world.

• 0 comments »