Vault: Basketball Skills

Closeouts vs. Contesting

A good coaching friend is hunting for a “sticky” term to offer up to his players for how they should contest shots. How would you answer his query? Searching for a “sticky” adjective to #teach our players how they should contest shots…? @PGCbasketball @CoachBobWalsh @coachwoodley @DrewHanlen @CoachBobStarkey @BCCoachStevens @SefuBernard @CoachJimBoone @kawhileonard @UVAMensHoops — Sam Ferry …

Knowing vs Believing

Separating fact from opinion is one of the hardest challenges coaches face. It’s human nature for perspective to be clouded. And, notions of effective coaching are not immune to the myths of success (e.g. falling prey to it’s always been done that way and struggling to distinguish between because of and in spite of.) “Stay down in your stance… Don’t cross your feet when …

The Genealogy Of A Vicious Move

Check out this video from NYtimes.com’s video archive… It’s a tribute to the crossover and neat video and useful teaching/learning video for athletes and coaches. /sef. #thankthepasser: Shoutout to @dena10 and @GlideHoyas for the share!

Ettore Messina: On Dribble Penetration

“A gifted athlete with poor understanding of the game will be slower to react than a slower player who better understands the game.” —Ettore Messina The more dribble penetrations that are allowed, the more help is required and subsequently, more susceptible your team is to offensive rebounds. In an ideal world, each player on your …

Start In Stance. Move In Stance. Finish In Stance.

Here’s a video that I picked up from Swedish coach and friend David Leman’s blog: Leman Coaching. (BTW – If you can translate Swedish, let me know. I know he’s got more nuggets on his site, but I just can’t understand them!) In the video, Lithuanian coach, Evaldas Kandratavicius, takes a young basketball player through …

How The Shot Clock Improves Player Development

One of the things that I enjoy about FIBA basketball is how skilled the players are. Since beginning to study and learn more about international basketball, the differences in style of play, rules, and player development structure, the one thing that jumps out is how the shot clock impacts how the game is taught, played …