Dear Coach,

 Which NBA players should kids watch as a way to improve certain skills?

 I might sound partial in this answer, but I think many people would agree with what I have to say.  My first scrimmage as a high school varsity coach, the opposing coach asked me if he could try-out one of his younger players on both the JV and Varsity that day to see how he fits in.  During the JV scrimmage, this player was much taller then all of the kids, but seemed to be "soft" during warm-ups.  He won the opening tap, went down the court and they threw him a lob and he dunked it in.  Then, he was the point man on their press and even handled the ball against my JV team's press as well.  The varsity coach quickly pulled him out and was now going to try him later in the varsity scrimmage.  In that game, against stronger and taller players he did the same and dominated on both ends of the floor and he was only a freshman.  This kid worked so hard on his defense and his positioning on offense, that you could tell he was something special at 14.  After the game, he shook everyones hand, including the officials and thanked everyone for opening the gym on a Saturday for his team.  Who was this kid?  Only Elton Brand!  His work ethic in games and in practices is legendary.  Watch him as he positions himself on offense, gets ready for an offensive rebound and is always there to be a force on defense.  Sure he can score 20 points a game, but it is all the other stuff he does that makes him my favorite to watch in the NBA.  Throw in his off court efforts of generosity to his hometown and high school, and he really makes up the complete player in my eyes!

Posted by Bill Sniffen at 02:37 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Coach Bill,

This weekend is our first practice for my son's rec team and even though I played in high school, I haven't been around an organized basketball practice in a long time and forget how to run a practice, etc.  Any suggestions?

Coach,

My first thought is to send you to our website and watch any of the videos posted there by the coaches.  They really give you great examples of simple drills to teach ball handling, shooting, etc.  I just had my first practice last night with my kid's team and we had to get to know each others names, so one of the things we do is get in a circle, and pass the ball to each other and we call our each others names as we catch and pass the ball.  Another thing we emphasized was pivoting.  To often kids travel because they don't know how to keep their pivot foot.  So, have them practice doing fakes with the ball while they pivot, so they get to use to that.  Don't jump into scrimmaging so fast.  Try building up to it, by doing 2 on 2, 3 on 3, etc., and show them how they can screen for one another and plus it helps them understand how to pass to someone when they are being guarded.  As always, keep if fun and make sure you work in some shooting drills where one group goes against the other.   

Posted by Bill Sniffen at 04:43 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)