Sunday, August 1, 2010
Workouts are going well. This week we were greeted with some good news.
Anthony King, who was selected as MVP of his league in Cyprus, has resigned in Cyprus. After spending some time this summer with the Heat and hoping for an NBA break, he decided to accept an offer that doubles his salary. Anthony is now the highest paid player in the league.
Denis Clemente, who spent time this summer with the Charlotte Bobcats and played summer league for them, has signed a 2 year contract with Maccabi Rishon in Israel.
Workouts are going in 2 groups. My emphasis on footwork and the way the workouts are structured, allow me to work with players of different positions and ability levels at the same time. Jonathon Rodriguez has been working on increasing his arc and his footwork. He seems to be coming along. He has much better rhythm in his shot, due to the footwork and the increased arc has allowed him to stretch his range. Whether he can do it in competition remains to be seen. When confronted by stress, we invariably revert to what is comfortable for us. He needs a lot more repetitions to ingrain the changes he has made.
Anthony King is a great example of that. He has increased his range a good 5 feet and is now comfortable a big step behind the 3 point circle. His footwork has been solid since we started working 3 years ago, and now, I no longer have to say anything to him regarding the height of his shots. The results have been impressive.
Raja Bell continues to work to recapture his playing form. In the past, he has come with a shopping list of things he wants to improve. But, after missing almost the entire season last year, he feels that he needs to recapture his intensity and conditioning. Workouts that in the past covered specific things are now more universal, combining a number of skills at once. And every drill involves a cardio aspect to challenge his conditioning.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Workouts are significantly more intense and challenging than they were just a couple of weeks ago. Players need to be rounding into better shape now so there are more repetitions and less breaks during the course of the workouts. They are not longer workouts (I try to keep them under an hour and 15 minutes) but there is much more work in each one. Training camp for European players starts much earlier than here in the States. Anthony King leaves Sunday for Cyprus, Guiilermo Diaz leaves for Italy on August 23.
Guillermo Diaz is recovering from a deeply pulled groin muscle that hampered him in Italy and in the tail end of his Puerto Rican season. He is just now returning to form. He has played in the NBA with the Clippers and the Bobcats but feels he can carve out a great career in Italy, so instead of trying to catch on with another team, he is committed to becoming an Italian favorite. Always a great shooter, if he can stay healthy, he will become that.
Jonathon Rodriguez continues to come along. Corrections have become less and less in regard to his footwork and shot. I am now concentrating on trying to have him become more efficient but moving in straight lines and eliminating any drift in his shot. Slowly but surely, he is stretching his range, which he must do to have success at the next level.
I have begun to introduce some competitive work into the workouts with the second group. I don’t usually do that. Because Raja Bell missed most of last year, he wants to work on his instincts and recognition. So, we play some 2 on 2, starting with some type of pro action (zipper cut, ball screen, etc.) and play a few games. After that, we do a lot of pure shot repetitions. Before we play, the work is very heavily cardio intensive. Before we play, within about 40 minutes, we try to get about 250 shots per player with a 3 man group. Afterwards, we try to get in about 100 shots more.
Carlos Arroyo is once again in Puerto Rico training with the National Team as team captain. They will be playing in the World Championships in Turkey at the end of August
To view coaching products from Don Kelbick, go to Don Kelbick Products.
For more information on Don Kelbick, go to www.DonKelbickBasketball.com.
Nicely done!!