Summer Time

Some food for thought Ben -

Got this from a friend of mine.....

The road to becoming a good basketball player is not by any means an easy road. It is a road paved with hard work, sweat, skinned knees, and sometimes tears. Along the way you will find victory and defeat, encouragement and discouragement, disappointment and joy, praise and criticism, success and failure, but you should always retain the satisfaction of knowing you did the best you were possibly capable of doing. Success is this self-satisfaction.

Steve Nash Advice for Point Guards

Words of wisdom for point guards (presented by Steve Nash at the Nike Point Guard Academy

“You should always want your coach to be critical. It gives you an opportunity to learn and to overcome adversity.”

“You maximize your potential by being humble develop a work ethic, strive to be a good person, and to be the best teammate you can be.”

“Use your scoring ability to be a better passer, and your passing skills to become a better scorer.”

“You can’t be a point guard who gets into the lane and always passes. Capitalize on the real estate you have gained.”

“Point Guard must be able to pass with both hands equally off the dribble.”

‘”I am always thinking how can I get myself better.”

“On the fast break, after 2 or 3 hard dribbles you should see the whole floor and know where all your teammates are.”

Hey Ben,

How are things going? How did things work out with AAU team this summer? Here is a video I think would be worth watching - let us know what you think.

http://www.212movie.com/

Hi Coach Sar,

AAU went very well this summer.
Our team decided to go year around so that's what I'm doing as of now.
Also, during the summer I worked out with a coach from one of the local highschools.

Right now I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to score more so I can have the opportunity to get more assists.
I'm still always the smallest guy on the court at 4'11". So I think I need to get creative.
I'm always watching film of Rajon Rondo, Stephen Curry and Steve Nash to learn new things.
Do you have any advice on how to score more.

Ben

Hi Ben,

Glad to hear that you had a good summer, working with a high school coach gives you a little edge... you learn a few new things and are working at your game more than others are.

I understand the 4'11 part well, as a freshman thats how tall I was... and I didn't have the game that you do. I like your idea about needing to be more creative .... here are a couple of things that we talked about before, one being the floater that you really wanted to do. Look at this video and let me know what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB5SRyRlnSg
Did you watch the one video of that one team of mine? That point guard was maybe 5'7 - he was 4'11 as a freshman... he could shoot the three, handle it well and take the ball to the basket... no fear.......
Here is that game again... Brian drove me nuts but he could play... :-) We still talk once in awhile and he told me that he didn't listen enough when he was a kid... but he did LOG it all and is using it with his sons.
http://www.ihigh.com/school5105/video_886382.html

Here are some more -
http://www.hoopsking.com/point-guard-skills-drills-advanced-basketball-training.html

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/guardplay.html

Questions -

1- how are you getting your shots now? Threes? Pull up jumpers created by you? Are you coming off screens by your teammates? Being able to penetrate and dish out to a wing - dump to a post player - jumper in the lane - or your favorite shot, the FLOATER are all weapons that you need to have and I guess the Floater is a very important tool.... that shot takes a lot of work so be patient with yourself. I know that you have a GREAT WORK ETHIC.

See if you can get this DVD about Pistol Pete.... he played his first Varsity high school game at 13 and he was a lot shorter than the other guys... talent makes up for a lot of things...
A biographical movie, "Pistol: The Birth of a Legend", was made in 1990. This movie is based on his first season of high school varsity basketball (which he played when he was in eighth grade).[3]
http://www.iwatchmoviesonlinefree.com/movies/the-pistol-the-birth-of-a-legend-1991/

Some tips -

The Point Guard

The point guard runs the offense and watches the backcourt. His role is so important to the team that he is really an extension of the coach on the floor. He must have these qualities:

He must have an instinctive knowledge of the game.
He must be a good ball handler.
He must be a good passer.
He must possess speed and quickness of foot.
He must be a good dribbler with either hand.
He must be able to play good hard-nosed defense.
He must be able to hit the outside shot when left open.
He must be able to penetrate and dish off.
He must be able to read defenses.
Above all, his ego must not be so inflated that it interferes with his basketball judgment. Normally, the point guard receives little publicity for his fine play; but, his coach and teammates know his value to the team

Most of my shots are pull ups from a pump fake, one dribble then shot.
I actually don't use the floater a lot because I never really see the opportunity to use it.

From our past conversations it seems like you have a good mind for the game... a lot of weapons to use etc. I still think the crossover is one of the best moves a player can make. Are you trying to penetrate into the lane of have you found thats not a good move??

You are playing AAU ball year round or are you going to play for your school team? The season has to be getting close there, yes? Let me know how things are going for you.

I am going to play AAU and school at the same time later in December.
I use the crossover a lot and I was getting past guys pretty easily but when I get into the lane I have a hard time deciding what I should do. Pass, Pullup, Floater, Go all the way.

Thanks for your help,
Ben

Ben,

You're welcome. By the way, don't let anyone tell you that you CANT do something... to me, that was the best challenge/motivator that I could ever get. That would just make me work harder. :-)

The more experience you get a playing the game the easier it will become to make those decisions.... work on these moves in practice, see what works best for you right now and go with those in games. Then in practice work on the other moves that you want to incorporate into your game. Have confidence in yourself.... you know what you can do and of course all the bigger players love stuffing shorter players (and the big ones too ) maybe that kind of defender you take the ball right into his body and let the ref decide. Remember, at your level you wont always get the right call from refs, the higher level that you play at the better the reffing gets.

If you were to say right now what your best two moves are - what would they be? I can tell you this, you can be the post players best friend IF you can deliver him the ball for an easy shot...... even the wing that can hit the three because you forced his defender to help out. Be patient, all this stuff will come as you play more.... the game is made up of mistakes, the better players make less of them - so don't let a few mistakes get you down....
Basketball is a game of quickness and I'm not sure how quick you are but I do know that you are a good shooter and THAT will only get better. Work on your quickness as you practice - the higher level that you play at the bigger, quicker, stronger and better the players get....... you will get that way too...

Good luck and let us know how things are going.

when you say 2 moves do you mean dribble moves (crossover etc.)

Yes, what two moves do you get your best shots from? Crossover into a jump shot or take - fake crossover, step back to a jumper etc. You are still playing the point guard right?

Ok my favorite move is a pump fake one dribble pull up and my next favorite move is a texas two step by the defender and then give a bounce pass to my big man

Yes i still play pg

Your big man must love you then... they love to get the ball inside.

What is your second favorite move to get yourself a good shot? Are your teammates doing anything to get you open? (or is that not part of the offensive philosophy?) If you look at the one film of us we did a few things to get Brian open... he could shoot the three ball very well... which opened things up for him to take it to the basket.

Can you hit the 3 pretty regularly? What kind of range do you have comfortably?

Here is something from a very good coach in Italy... (retired)
Well, Europe still has some creators, like Ricky Rubio, but even he will do a Rajon Rondo every so often. So, the problem is not with Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Tony Parker, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, Jameer Nelson, or even Steve Nash. They can execute that style and do it perfectly. The problem is when you drop a notch from that level of supreme technical-athletic talent. Now you have point guards trying to play that way without that sort of equipment. Those are the ones that should be studying old Bob Cousy films to see how you can make a team hum even though you can't do the 100 meters in World Class time. That's a hard lesson to get across and a hard one to accept. Dan Peterson

I meant to ask you about your defense, we have been talking offense for a long time now. Being a great defensive player as a point guard is very important... and being able to shut someone down and help get you some easy shots.

So, how would you rate yourself defensivley?

To answer your first question i would say my second favorite move is to pull up in lane on a fast break. I would say i have pretty good range and i could. Hit the 3 better than 35 percent in a game but i don't ive shot a 3 this fall season.

As for the offense we don't run a lot of plays for the pg im going to say maybe 1 or 2. For my defensive ability i would say i was one of the better defenders on my team.

IF they let you shoot pull up jumpers in the lane off the fast break I would say that your coach has a lot of confidence in you. I didn't have many players that I were good at that or that I allowed them to do that. We usually wanted the first shot off of a ball reversal or inside out on the break. I've seen your shot and its very good... and it will only get better..... 35% from the arc is good, thats like shooting 50% from inside the arc. If they have a set play for you to get a shot, make sure you set up your defender well and come off your screens closely - and read how he defends you and react accordingly.

We always felt like we had a lot of pride in our defense and it all started with the point guard ....IF you can control the other teams point guard and take him out of his game, you are a huge assest to your team. You have a lot of UP SIDE to your game Ben, and its all going to improve as you get bigger and stronger.

You are playing AAU ball right now? How is that going for you? You must be having a good experience with that since you are still playing.

AAU is going good.
Getting ready for another tournament this weekend.

Good luck!