The Basketball Jump Stop

A few weeks ago we talked about the most ridiculous "fundamental" of the game. And last week I saw the result of this archaic thinking come to the fore. It could have cost someone a game. Here's what happened:

A kid got a steal and broke free on the dribble. There was one defender back. The dribbler had help on his left wing. There was a defender running right behind the dribbler. It was going to be a bang-bang play, but the offense had a 2 on 1 going and they should score out of it. I would have been tough, but a good team should make this work.

So the dribbler came down to about the free throw line and his wing was a couple of steps ahead of him. The dribbler came to a jump stop at the free throw line - JUST AS HE HAD BEEN TAUGHT - from first grade until now, a varsity player. Remember when I first broached the subject of the jump stop? I wrote that when one does this one becomes immediately weaker. His defender, splitting the difference between the dribbler and the wing, instinctively knew this. He dropped down to guard the cutting wing. And the guy behind the dribbler caught up to the play and stuck a hand into the passing lane and knocked it away. Turnover. What should have been 2 points turned into a turnover.

Because someone along the way taught him the jump stop because he had been taught it before by his coach who had been taught it before by his coach.

Here's my guide: if you jump stop, you had better be shooting.

Two Hand Chest Pass? Did You Read It?

I was expecting a flurry of comments regarding my post about the two hand chest pass. Really? All you guys that read this blog agree with my opinion?

If so, how come I see minutes and minutes and hours and hours of wasted practice time used to teach the two hand chest pass?

Shooting and Dribbling - You Must Dream It

There are two things that should take up 90% of your practice. No, I'm not using that figure as a hyperbole. I really mean 90%. Dribbling and shooting. Your guys need to learn how to make moves, get to the basket, create a shot for themselves or others, and they need to be able to shoot it.

To that end, at some point you must demand that your players move their pocket up so that they can get a shot off under pressure. That is a must.

Last week I witnessed a great example where a youth coach effected the outcome of a game years later. A team was down three with seconds to go. This team had one pretty good perimeter shooter and she was certainly their best 3 point shooter. So the play went to her. But she never got it off. Why?

She still shoots from her waist, exactly where she shot from as a youth player. No one along the way demanded that she move her pocket up and shoot a perimeter jumpshot. In all the coaches she had as she progressed, no one took the trouble to demand this from her, becauseI would have been difficult. She would have spent the greater part of a summer missing everything.

That's where you come in. You have to think long term. Do you want immediate success so you can look like a good coach? Or are you willing to give that up to actually be a good coach.

Hoops and Drums

Last week I was at a game and the home team had a female drummer for their performing jazz band. As you follow this program, these ideas, your going to encourage your guys and gals to be drummers.

What do I mean? Let's be honest here, girl drummers are uncommon. Not unheard of, but uncommon enough where a girl from a small town might think twice about playing drums. But at some point this girl said to herself, "Heck yeah, I'll go play drums." And that's the kind of attitude you are encouraging, that "heck yeah, I can go do that."

When you teach your guys to pull off an ankle breaking crossover or between the legs dribble you are also encouraging them to be drummers, and engineers, and veterinarians, and anything else their dreams tell them.

 In fact I asked her how she came to be their drummer. She said, "When I started the class they already had a saxophonist and my teacher said they needed a drummer. I thought it would be cool for a girl to be a drummer." Exact words. I wrote it down. Because that's what we're doing here. Remember the coaches from a few posts ago that criticized their players for throwing a behind the back pass and making some dribble moves to beat her girl? Those are the same guys that would tell a girl she can't be a drummer.

The Best, Easiest Drill To Start Your Practice

I have a great drill that you should do every single day of practice. I'll post it soon on the website, but what this drill does is get your guys in the frame of mind to practice like a player. See, I've always believed that if you think like a player, you will play like a player. And the reverse is true. If you act like a player you will think like a player.

There are two things great about this drill. 1 it's terribly easy and it will positively effect everything you have your guys do. 2 you can get this drill done in under a minute. At first you may need to take 5 minutes and really get it done right. But after only a couple of practices you can knock this out in under a minute.

But let me emphasize that the added benefit of getting your kids in the frame of mind - and in the physical presence - is priceless. It just sets the mood of "oomph" it's time to get after it. That can not be minimized in any way.

Star Passing Drill

I happened by a youth team practice the other day and I was struck by a huge mistake this coach was making. Now let me state AGAIN that I get to make these evaluations because I have made EVERY SINGLE MISTAKE THESE GUYS ARE MAKING.  I've been where they are, I've done the dumb things they are doing. So I'm taking some license here because... well... you get the idea.

Anyway, they were running that star passing drill and finishing with a layup. The drill is fine. Nice little warmup and the kids pass the ball four times before a shot. All of that is fine. I don't like it, but that's okay. Different style.

No, what struck me was that the coach would cheer (as we need to do with little kids, cheer at every opportunity) when they made the layup. No, no, no. The layup is not the point. The point of the star passing drill IS THE PASSING AND THE LAYUP.

Here's what I saw. The kids were passing standing straight up, throwing a two hand chest pass (see previous post) catching it standing straight up, and jumping for their layup from too close to the basket.  The point of the drill is the passing: passing from an athletic position (and I would incorporate going off the dribble), catching it the same way, and shooting from the right spot on the floor. NOT THE LAYUP!

Behind The Back Pass

Something like this has happened twice in the last few months. One of our guys got in trouble with his other coach for throwing a behind the back pass. The coach said, "Stop showing off." This is INSANE. A behind the back pass is a key component of your player's entire arsenal of passing strategies. Your players should be able to dime a behind the back pass, between the legs, underhand flip, running bounce pass, and a baseball bounce pass.

Here's what happened the other time - and it's strange but both coaches said the exact same thing. I had been working on getting our guys to freeze their defender with some shimmy-shammy dribble moves then blow by him. So our kid was practicing with another team and he put some moves on his defender and went right by him and scored. What did the coach say? Nice shot? Nice move? Nope. He said, "Stop showing off." That is ridiculous. This coach wants this kid to play hard and play to win (I'm assuming, but one might wonder) but he won't give him the freedom to play the game? Craziness.