Other 2008 NBA Draft Thoughts…. The Miami Perspective

By Don Kelbick

Obviously, everyone here was focused on the Heat. I can’t believe teams were having parties to celebrate being in the lottery. The Heat need Derrick Rose and may have taken him with the first pick. Nothing changes a team quicker than a point guard (Chris Paul, Deron Williams) Teams that select bigs come around in time and because they take longer to develop (Dwight Howard, Andrew Bogut).

There are a lot of factors other than making your team better. Things like salary cap, future free agents, future drafts, types and number of contracts probably carry more weight than talent. That is why front offices have personnel dedicated to solely those things.

The Bulls are interesting. Not having access to all that type of information, I would draft Beasley. The Bulls have a good talent level and have back court players in Hinrich, Gordon, and Duhon. I was never a Hinrich fan (even in college) and they may not be upper echelon guards but they did take the Bulls a couple of rounds in the playoffs last year. They need some front court scoring and Beasley will give them a lot more than Noah.

I think Beasley makes them better immediately. Drafting Rose (with no other moves) would not address their primary issues, I don’t think.

The players that come after that are not as exciting. Brook Lopez, Jerad Bayless, OJ Mayo are players that can be found in every draft. If you don’t get one this year, there will be one next year. I think that if you have one of those picks (3 or below) I would try to trade it for established NBA players who will help right away with favorable contracts and look for free agents and see what next year’s draft brings.

I never understood teams in the lottery that draft for the future. If you are in the lottery, you are a bad team. If you can’t draft a player who can help you today, trade for one. Picks 20 - 30 are for development.

Everything else should be either impact or trade bait.

2008 NBA Draft - Should the Chicago Bulls take Beasley or Rose?

By Joe Haefner

I am a Chicago Bulls fan and last year was a disaster for me.  Projected to take one of the top 3 spots in the East, and they didn’t even make the playoffs! 

They don’t have any superstars, so when the team chemistry and team hustle was slacking, you just knew it was going to be a long season.  If you’re looking at this long-term, this year could now be a blessing in disguise for the Bulls after A LOT of luck in the NBA lottery. 

The Bulls got the number 1 pick and now the real question is:  What should they do with it?

Well, the Bulls have a lot of great role players and they have their great compliment player in Luol Deng. They are missing that Superstar. We’re hoping this draft will answer that need. Their instant need is a low-post threat (Michael Beasley). They also need a true point guard with leadership skills (Derrick Rose). 

Here are my thoughts… I love Derrick Rose and I really really really like Michael Beasley.  It’s almost like Derrick is 1 A and Michael is 1B.

I live in Kansas City and my girlfriend happens to be a K-State alum, so I was able to go to a few games and see quite a bit on TV.  The kid is extremely talented and can make very-tough shots!  He also has very good hands and snatches the ball out of the air quite easily, hence the high rebounding total. 

Now, here are my concerns. Occasionally, Michael seemed to dog up and down the court, so I am concerned about his hustle.  He also seemed to get frustrated when he didn’t get his points.  At times, it also seemed like he wasn’t dedicated to the defensive end. There are also questions about his character and maturity.

I’ve also read that he attended 6 high schools in 5 years.  I don’t know what happened there, but it’s still a concern. 

Now that I’ve dogged Beasley a little bit, let me say this.  His team did depend on him to carry the load and he may have had to pace himself to keep himself in the game, hence the jogging up and down the court and not showing a lot of intensity on the defensive end. He also may have been extremely tired.

In regard to his character questions, I read a story about how on how he helped a little boy get a better seat at a K-State women’s basketball game after the usher told the boy to move out the aisle. The boy also happened to have cancer. Michael and a few of the teammates happened to be walking by as the usher was asking the boy to go back to his seat and Michael spoke up and said, “No, he’s with me.”  He then took the boy down to some good seats and watched the game.  He signed some stuff. This definitely made the boy’s day, if not YEAR!  We all know high school kids often have maturity issues, so that could’ve easily been the case for Michael in the past.

If the Bulls select Beasley, he will bring the Bulls some instant rebounding and scoring! Now, will he hustle, play D, and bring good character?

Now, I’ve been able to see and read a lot more about Beasley than Rose, so maybe that’s why I don’t have as many concerns about Rose.

Here are my thoughts on Derrick Rose…

The kid can flat out fly down the court and jump out of the gym. He’s 6’3 Point Guard with the strength of a Bull (no pun intended). He can pass, rebound, play defense, and seems to have great leadership skills. The knocks are that he has limited range and can’t shoot free throws. Things I believe he can improve.

We all have seen the way Chris Paul and Deron Williams have affected play in the NBA. They have also escalated the play of their teammates. Maybe, Rose can make Tyrus Thomas look like Tyson Chandler.

Either way, it’s great problem to have!

Handling End of Game Basketball Situations – Should Cav’s Take Three?

By Don Kelbick

Sometimes you can learn by watching how end of game situations pan out in the NBA.  Here’s my opinion on what happened the other day…

Yesterday, with 14 seconds to go and the Cavs down 5, TV anouncers said, “of course they have to raise up for an early 3.”   Why? It is a 2 posession game and at some point they have to get a 2. Why not get it first?. The two most important things in that situation are: the ball has to go in the basket (it makes no difference where you shoot from if it doesn’t go in) and score as many points as you can with the clock stopped. Both of those situations (including getting fouled) scream “layup” to me. Score, get fouled, make the foul shot. Now you’re down 2 with 10 seconds to go - different game.

What do you think?

The Easy Way to Teach Basketball Offense

By Don Kelbick

Coaches constantly complain that they can’t get their players to remember their plays. They want an easy basketball offense.

Over and over again I hear, “My guys are thick. I can’t get them to remember anything.” Once in a while I might hear, “How can I teach my offense better?”, but I don’t hear it often enough.

I don’t have all the answers, but I do have an opinion. Since this is my space, here is my opinion.

Lack of Background

First and foremost, if you continuously have trouble getting your team to remember their offense, the first thing you should think is that it is too complex or you have TOO MANY PLAYS. I know that it is difficult for a coach to look at himself that way, but he has to.

You have to remember two things…

First, your players don’t have the background that you do. Your past experience will allow you to be much more adaptable than your players.

The second thing is that you came up with the basketball plays. They have to be second nature to you before you bring it to the court. You will know all the positions and all the adjustments long before your players are comfortable with even one aspect.

To draw an analogy, I teach players that a “good pass” is a pass that your teammate can catch. It doesn’t matter where or how you throw a pass if your teammate can’t catch it. Passes that one player can catch, another one can’t. You have to make allowances for that when you pass the ball. When you teach a basketball offense, it doesn’t matter how simple you think it is. If your players don’t get it, it is too complex. It is not important what you think, it is important if they get it.

Drills, Progressions, Dummy

These are the three magic words of teaching offenses…

Drills

When you decide on the drill you are going to use in practice, what criteria do you use?  Do you run drills that you think are expected of you (such as three-man weave) that really have no purpose — or do you select drills that have relevance to your team?

TIP:  I believe that the best way to construct basketball drills for your team is to take pieces of your offense and turn those one or two passes and one or two cuts and make them drills. If you are running the “Flex,” the back screen is one drill, the lane duck-in is another drill, and the weakside down screen is another drill. You can work these every day. It will not only make your players’ skills better but it will help them recognize situations.

Progressions

Before you run, you have to know how to walk. Before you walk, you have to know how to crawl. Those are progressions. As you construct your drills as pieces of your offense you drill first cut, second cut, third cut. Once you are comfortable with how your team runs the drills, start putting the drills together. Your first drill is now first cut, second cut. The next drill is third cut, fourth cut. When you are comfortable with that. Your first drill becomes first cut, second cut, and third cut. Before you know it, you’ve practiced your offense.

That doesn’t mean you can’t run single cut drills as well, but players learn better in pieces.

Dummy

No, I don’t mean your players. Dummy refers to running your offense without defense. Again I ask you, “what do you do to get your players warmed up?” Do you just run up and down in a useless drill or do you do something relevant?

TIP:  Might I suggest that you run “dummy offense” as a warm-up drill instead of 3-man weave and lay-up drills? And I don’t mean just the half court stuff either. Dummy your fastbreak and your press breakers as well. You will work up a sweat, get in some relevant shooting, some ball handling, conditioning and most importantly, you will be running your offense and reinforcing its principles and philosophy over and over again.

I am a firm believer that you have to remove competition from teaching. When in competition, players’ thoughts are to perform and survive, not learn. Remove the competition, people learn better. Once you are comfortable that your players know what is expected of them, you can introduce competition. They can then go back to their drills, progressions and dummy for reinforcement.

Basketball Tips: How to Get a Basketball Scholarship

By Jeff Haefner

Every year, thousands of high school and junior college basketball players compete to get one of the few basketball scholarships that are awarded each year. Here are some basketball tips on how to increase your chances of being selected to receive one of those coveted positions.

Talent and Ability

First and foremost, you have to maximize your basketball skill. Every day you are not getting better, someone else is getting better than you. You have to work and work to become the best player you can be. Work on your skills, be in condition and get stronger.

The jump from high school to college is a big jump. Players are bigger, stronger and more experienced. The game is longer, faster and more physical than anything you have experienced so far in your career. Don’t fall into the trap that you are doing enough to get yourself ready. Without exception, when new college players report for their first workouts they are surprised at how different it is compared to high school. Work to be ready.

The Value of Summer Basketball

Basketball recruiting has changed drastically over the last 15 years. Rules that colleges have to abide by have become more restrictive. The pressure to get commitments from players has resulted in players deciding earlier and earlier on what schools they are going to attend. It is no longer sufficient to be a good player with your high school team. Your senior year in college has almost become irrelevant! Colleges need to identify prospects earlier and earlier in their career. Coaches now go to places where they can identify and evaluate multiple prospects at one time. The places for that have become AAU tournaments and high profile “recruiting summer camps.”

AAU (or Amateur Athletic Union) is an organization that sponsors amateur sporting events. In basketball, they sponsor spring, summer and fall tournaments in multiple age groups. The age brackets are usually 19 & under, 17 & under, 15 & under, etc. The advantage of that system is that you can play up a bracket to get in better competition (a 15 year old can play in a 17 & U tournament but a 17 year cannot play in a 15 & U tournament). The tournaments are usually played during “live” college recruiting periods so college recruiters heavily attend them. If you can find an AAU basketball team in your area and it is an appropriate age bracket it would be well worth your effort to join the program.

High profile “recruiting camps” are camps that are held during the summer that attract high-level players, which in turn, attract college recruiters. Most of these are private camps, not camps owned by universities, colleges or high schools. They usually offer excellent instruction and very competitive games. Call a couple of colleges and find out what camps they attend to evaluate prospects and make plans to attend.

Summer basketball has become the most significant aspect of recruiting. At no other time can a college coach go to one spot and evaluate 300-400 players at one time. If you want to get one of those scholarships, you have to be where the coaches are.

Be Pro-Active

Don’t wait for a college to find you, go find them. If there are schools that you are interested in, contact them early, and let them know of your interest. Visit the campus, invite the coach to come and see you play. Have your high school coach contact the schools you are interested in. Be sure they have the information they need to evaluate you. Things like game schedules, summer schedules, etc. should be sent to all schools you are interested in. Return all questionnaires and comply with all the requirements that they have for acceptance to school.

Take Care of Your Schoolwork

Believe it or not, college coaches want athletes with good grades! Players in college are “student-athletes.” They attend class, write papers, and do research. Coaches really don’t like to take chances on academic risks. Get good grades; take your standardized tests (SATs, ACTs) as early and as often as possible. Unless you are truly a great player, coaches will not wait for you.

To get a scholarship, you have to register for the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse. This is the organization that will evaluate your grades to determine whether or not you are eligible to play. Even if you are in junior college, they will go back to your high school grades to determine your eligibility (there are different rules for “qualifiers” and “non-qualifiers” coming out of high school and junior college). Take care of your registration as early as possible.

There used to be a saying, “if you can play, they will find you.” That is NOT true any more!! Being able to play is not enough, now. You have to be out where the coaches can find you.

For more basketball players tips, check out our free ebooks and resources on this site…

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/toptips.html
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/basketballfundamentals.html

Basketball Weak Side Defense and Help Positioning is Important!

By Jeff Haefner

We posted a NEW article about basketball defensive positioning and weak side help.  Everybody knows that guarding the ball is important, but GREAT defense happens AWAY from the ball…

Weak side help positioning is critically important for your defense.  In this new article we review key elements to proper positioning and provide you with some simple rules that make teaching defense to players SO MUCH easier!

Check it out and let us know what you think…

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/defense/help-positioning.html