I just finished my 2nd Practice of the AAU seasOn and I'm having trouble finishing against the bigger and stronger players during one on one drills.

I grew one inch over this winter so I am now 5 foot and 85 pounds.

Thanks,
Ben

Hi Ben,

Good to hear from you again...... we don't get to see what is going on so these are my best thoughts:

Work on your quickness so you can beat them off the dribble and go strong to the basket..... get a foot / shoulder past their foot and you should be able to beat them. Show no fear, kind of like D Rose of the Bulls.
Last year I saw a freshman play on a Varsity team, about your size, maybe 5'2 ..... he took the ball right at them and didn't avoid contact.... he got knocked down several times and many times he didn't get the call.... many times he did. ( I don't know how your refs call the game )
Protect the ball with your inside arm and shoulder.... IF they are going to block it, they are going to have to go thru you.

Keep working on your strengths... I know you are a good shooter, develop a mid range pull up jumper and the three as you get comfortable at shooting and making that shot. This will help you as you can shot fake and go past them since everyone wants to be a shot blocker, especially against a smaller opponent...... good luck and stay in touch with us.

How are things going in school?

Ok I 'm going to looks at some Derek Rose clips today after school and practice that.

School is going pretty well. On my school team we got to the championship and lost against one my aau teammates team by 6 points. I scored 10 points and had 5 assists. Though the season I scored 7 points a game and 7 assists per game.

Thanks,
Ben

You're the point guard, right Ben?

Those are pretty good stats for a point guard.

Tell me something about your shooting - 1 do you have a mid range jumper 13-16' ? How about threes? Are you shooting those with any consistency or is that not part of your game?

- Quickness... would you say that you are pretty quick or average? This is a very important part of a guards game... being able to beat someone off the dribble, getting into passing lanes, penetrating to break down the D etc. The important thing at your height is to know where to penetrate and how deep, so you can dump, kick out or get your own jumper off.

I always told my players... be strong with the ball... limit your turnovers ..... we can always play D if you get a 5 second call and they take the ball out of bounds...... hard to defend breakaway lay ups. Try to keep yourself out of the trap spots and be smarter than the guy defending you.... have confidence in yourself.

Tell us what is happening when you try to finish against those bigger - stronger guys.

When I am going to the basketball i usually try to draw contact but then I get blocked very badly.

Clean blocks or are they fouling you?

I think I remember sending you a video about creating some space last year..... drive, make contact to freeze them and then step back for your shot?

Tell us about this part of your game -
Tell me something about your shooting - 1 do you have a mid range jumper 13-16' ? How about threes? Are you shooting those with any consistency or is that not part of your game?

- Quickness... would you say that you are pretty quick or average? This is a very important part of a guards game... being able to beat someone off the dribble, getting into passing lanes, penetrating to break down the D etc. The important thing at your height is to know where to penetrate and how deep, so you can dump, kick out or get your own jumper off.

There is nothing you can do about your size, you will grow, don't sweat that... you CAN get quicker and you are a smart guy, use it to your advantage... use shot fakes and pass fakes to get your defender to move and then attack his weaknesses...... IF you can knock down a few mid range jumpers, they will STILL want to block your shot... shot fake and go by them. If you are already dribbling - then use a hesistation move on them... fast, slow down and then when they are slowing down, blow by them. Hope some of this helps.

Mostly clean blocks.
I think my mid range game isthe best part of my game but I don't take advantage of it. Three Pointers in a game I could probably hit about 40%. I would say I'm pretty quick and I usually get by my man. Most of the blocks are I get by my man I try to out jump them so I need to get in the mindset that I need to put the ball up quick.

Thanks,
Ben

Ok Ben,

You pretty much answered your own question here.... the mid range part of your game.... play to your strengths... and if you can shoot the 3 ball at 40 % thats pretty good too.

I asked another coaching friend of his opinion on this.... this is what he said -
I would tell him to learn to jump stop at the end of his drive to the basket, then give a ball fake. This will get defender off the floor and he can jump upwards and into him and draw the foul. When a player becomes proficient at the ball fake at the end of the dribble, it becomes very difficult for the defender to guard him.

So, this is just another weapon for you.... don't drive yourself nuts trying to do too many things... if you are quick thats a good thing.... that can get you out of a lot of trouble and make it easier to create things for yourself. Play some 1 on 1 / 2 on 2 games with some friends... some bigger and stronger... that way you can experiment with some of these things and get better at your game.
I think the ball/head fake is going to be your best friend for awhile... I know you are working at your game and can shoot it... pick a couple of moves that you can work on, be comfortable with and then use them in competition. You can always add things to your game as you get older.

Here is something about playing the Point Guard position... its a lot more than just scoring... thought you might find this interesting.


1. Vocal Leadership – If your PG isn’t vocal, they can’t command the team. It’s not enough to just “lead by example” on the court; the PG must be able to control the game and keep their team organized (calling out sets, etc)…

2. Lead by Example – We all expect our PG’s to be leaders, so they must lead by example on and off the floor. They have to have leadership qualities to be able to run a team. One good “on-the court” example would be their defensive stance and on-ball pressure as the ball moves up the floor. If they are a ball-hawk and showing extreme pressure to the ball, there is a good chance the rest of the team will also buy in to being in a stance.

3. Have a good relationship with the coach. We all say that the PG must be an extension of the coaching staff on the court, so there must be a solid relationship between the coach and PG so they can always feel comfortable communicating with each other.

4. Not a “Shoot-first” player . They don’t necessarily need to always be a pass-first PG, especially in high school where the PG might also be the best scorer, but they can not be a player that typically will bring the ball up the floor looking to go one-on-one and creating shots just for themselves. The offense will become stagnant and other players will shut down, because they know their chances of being involved offensively are low.

5. Have a high IQ for the game / feel for the game – They have to understand special situations, the flow of the game, the time & score, when to attack, when to pull it out, etc.

6. Have a high conditioning threshold – if the PG isn’t in shape and is expected to play big minutes and minutes at the end of the game, they will break down mentally once their body breaks down, so it is huge for them to be in great shape.

7. Make the easy pass, and not always the “assist” pass – Sometimes PG’s make foolish passes because they know the ball will be in their hand much of the time. Have them keep it simple. The reason Steve Nash can make the passes he can make is because he works on it every day and he is the best in the world. There aren’t a lot of Steve Nashes out there, so use the KISS principle – “Keep It Simple, Stupid”.

8. Be able to knock down the open shot – I couldn’t shoot, and I played a lot of minutes, and it definitely hurt my team at times. The PG typically won’t get a ton of shots off of set plays or screens because he or she is setting up others, but the PG must be able to hit the open shot in transition, on post-feed kick-outs, etc.

9. Have “Gears” – I’m talking about a change of pace in their game. The toughest PG’s aren’t the ones who are extremely fast, but the ones that are always playing at different speeds. They have deception in their game.

10. Have a “Motor” – summarizes a lot of the points already made, but the PG has to play extremely hard, and be eager to do all of the dirty jobs. The PG must be willing to guard the full length of the court, push the ball in transition, be vocal, and play with a tremendous amount of energy.