Playing Undersized

One thing my Dad thinks I need to work on is shooting,passing and defending against bigger and stronger players.
Any tips.

Hey Ben -
The easiest way to defend a bigger player is to stop him from getting the ball - I know, easier said than done.
Take him out of his comfort zone.... make him receive the ball further out from where he usually wants to get it.. make him do something he doesn't want to do.... know his favorite move and make him do sometihng else... IF he likes to go right..... force him left. Go to school on him and learn what he does and then make him do what you want him to do....... I used to call that "picking your poison" IF he is going to beat you its going to be your way.
I'm not sure how quick you are, but IF you can get in his face (even with him having a live dribble) and still stay with him... you will be his worst nightmare.... and once he picks up his dribble - lock up on him, don't give him any breathing space.... and you will know when you are in control when he pivots away from you to alleviate your pressure.
IF he is trying to feed the post from the wing... get in his face and make him put the ball on the floor... its a lot harder to feed the post when you are dribbling. IF he POSTS you up, my philosophy would be to DEAD FRONT HIM and lean on him (keeping your balance) IF he gets the ball in the post .... get in his face and take away his pet move ... force him to use his counter and hope you get help. Challenge his shot WITHOUT fouling, you don't want to bail him out and put him on the line.

Thoughts? Is that clear enough?

Forgot something.... as for shooting and passing... use your qucikness to create space. If you lose your dibble and he is close.... bump him and step back to create space... you can do the same thing if your dribble is available... bump him, create some space and when he tries to recover, blow by him. The crossover move is a smaller players best friend and I know that you use that move.

You are a smart kid... use your intelligence on the court too...... I had some small point guards on my varsity teams.... they knew how to avoid problem areas... trap zones.. when they saw another playing coming up to trap - they would back out and pass the ball.

Ben,

Can you clarify the problems you are having shooting & passing vs bigger and stronger guys right now? Or at least how your dad sees it.

Thanks

balls getting tipped on passes, not being able to get my shot, guys running over me when im on defence

Well, nature will take care of this Ben.... be patient.... lets talk about the things you have control of..

Passing: Utilize a lot of pass fakes... fake high, pass low, fake low, wrap around pass or past the ear.

Shooting: Let the shot find you..... but if you are in a position to shoot and of course everyone loves to block the smaller guys shots... so use that to your advantage... give a good head and ball fake... get them up in the air... if your dribble is live, go around them... if its dead..... and you want to shoot it... lean into them, that should draw the foul. If your dribble is live (here is something else you can do) bump them and step back, when they close out to recover, go past them.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by being run over on D - don't the refs call that IF you have a good defensive position? I don't know what your personality is like... and I sure would hate to try and change that - meaning - I don't want to make you mean.... but you do have to protect yourself... even on defense you can keep your forearm out along with your elbow... let them run into that a few times .

What does your dad think you should do regarding getting run over on D? What does your coach say? I don't want to go against anything that either one of them want.

What do you think so far? And let me know what they say. Stay in touch.

on d like bigger guys will just run over me and they still call the block even if theyre forearm is out

So, IF you take a dive they call the foul on you? Give a little voice into that fall.... OHHHHhhhhh!!

I could say to go for steals as long as you are going to get called for a foul.... but I sure hate to see you create bad habits.... Keep playing good position, as you get older and play at a higher level the refs will be better and then you WILL get the call.s

Hang in there.

Ken: Ben needs to know and in a matter of fact way that not all men are created equal. We cant all be blessed with height, strength, quickness and jumping ability. I am 5'8" and weigh a paltry 180 pounds but played semi-pro hockey for several years. Did i get bumped, stuck with sticks, cross checked, boarded, out muscled out skated and had my ass kicked in several fights???...... of course, but if you are not given those God given gifts, and you want to survive in this very rough and fast game of hockey or basketball or even life, you MUST find a way to get the job done or just simply roll over and let the gifted walk all over you. Its called being resourceful. Find a way my young friend..coach Sars has given you sound advice on how to do the things the smart way given your limited abilities, now its up to you to use your intelligence your court sense your awareness and what is being said to you to get the rest of the job done. We can give you fundamental advice and psychological advice but we cant play the game for you. You made this team with grit and determination are you going to give the coaches that selected you any reason to think they made a mistake??? remember this, coaches are not interested in excuses, they are only interested in results. Coach Mac

Ben,

Mac has given you some sound advice... be a little more hard nosed, I know you can play the game... show your coaches that. Look up Norm Van Lier from the Chicago Bulls.... he had a nasty part about him.... he didn't take and garbage from anyone.
Maybe this is a good lesson for you.... that to make it against those kind of guys... you have to get down and dirty.... HARD NOSED.
I hope the suggestions I gave you will help... let us know if they are working... by the way, you can use your dribble to give yourself a better angle for passing too.

How are things going Ben?

Ben,

I know we were talking about dribbling some time ago.... saw this on you tube....


YouTube - Mr Crossover - Tim Hardaway Mix

Talk about a Killer crossover move. Check that out. Hope things are going well for you. Are you still playing or are those seasons over now?

Sorry about not posting in along time so I had my first AAu tournament 2 weeks ago and did well. Then this weekend I have the championship game of a tournament in about an our and a half

Glad to hear that you are playing well... keep up the hard work and you will do just fine. Good luck in the tourney Championship game... hope you get the W.

When you get a chance take a look at the Hardaway crossover and let me know what you think.

I am trying to upload one of our games from several years ago... a friend is trying to help me with this... I'll let you know.

We lost the game today I got barely any playing time because Im one of the new guys on the team. Im going to work harder than everyone at practice to try to get some more playing time. The whole tournament I went 1-2 and 2-2 on free throws and 4 points. I think I only had 2 turnovers the whole tournament(3 games) but not sure how many assists. I had 2 rebounds and 2 steals.

The new guy on the block always has to prove themself - bust your butt in practice - show him that you DESERVE more playing time. Those are good stats for limited playing time..... I hope you can earn a little more time for your next games.

Did you check out the Hardaway video? Talk about being quick! How is school going? Shouldn't be too much longer and summer vacation will be here. What are your plans for the summer?

I think ive seen that video before He probably broke so many peoples ankles. I have straight A's still and we're going to sacramento in 2 weeks for another AAU tournament.

He is amazing! I don't think I could have done that WITHOUT a ball. :-)

Ben, Keep up the good work in school.... straight As, I was a C student until I went to college later on in my life. I had some excellent students on my teams in the past... they are doctors, lawyers, engineers etc. I was very proud to have been part of their lives growing up...... I bet your parents are very proud of you.

You do a lot of traveling with that team..... thats fun too. Stay in touch.

ok will do.
But one question,
In one of my games I had somewhat of a breakaway layup but the defender was coming up from the block to meet me at the basket and I tried to just take it at him, I missed the contested layup but I kindof layed it up from behind of my body. wat do you think I should of done in that situation.

p.s. the guy was probably half of foot taller than me.

Ben, Tough situation to be in when someone is so much taller than you are.... I was there at your age.

I don't know if this can work for you, but what I have seen shorter players do in games that I watched this year was to take the ball right at the guy - take it right into his body and let the Ref make the call. I've seen those kids take it to the D and get knocked down and no call..... but at least you are doing something aggressively. Sometimes you might get the foul call, sometimes you wont. I have never seen any one get called for a charge because most of the time the big guys want to block shots. You might surprise yourself and make a few.

I don't know how the refs call the game where you are playing.... what are your thoughts on this? Like that idea? BTW, as a coach I don't think I would have liked you laying it up from behind your body.... but then again.... its hard for me to picture that.

Ben: A break a way in the open court being defend by a guy that was much taller and probably not as quick as you. In that situation I think you made the right choice to take it at him. OK, so you missed the lay up don't beat yourself up about your decision making. There are many things to take into account in that situation: the score, the time left in the game, did you need the basket, was it one on one or did you have a teammate coming with you to create an odd man situation? Your a straight A student son, and straight A students rarely make poor decisions. Take care young man, good luck in Sacramento. Coach Mac