My nephew is a health nut.  He’s 15 years old and a very gifted football player for his age.  He tries to eat healthy foods and is always working out so he can play well on the football field and earn a college scholarship.  He’s also been drinking certain kinds of VitaminWater for as long as I can remember.  He has his favorite flavors and can recite all the different things that they do for him.  I never took the time to actually read the label until recently and I’m a little stunned at what i found.

To make matters worse then I got online after hearing about a suit filed by a non profit organization claiming that VitaminWater is a hoax and that the drink really provides no real health benefits at all.  To make matters worse Coca Cola’s lawyers (VitaminWater is made by Coke) had this to say  “no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.” What is that?  The name of the drink is VitaminWater.  If I’m eating a ‘brownie’ I know exactly what to expect.  If I order a ‘brownie’ and someone brings me soup then I’m obviously going to be confused.  VitaminWater should be water with Vitamins in it.  If it isn’t that then change the name of the product because it is completely misleading.  My nephew has been spending good money on sugar water for years now. 

Coke has been shot down in their efforts to have the case thrown out and recently a judge stated that the product could easily be misconstrued by consumers into believing that the product contains Vitamins and Water.

Gatorade has never claimed to be a health drink, only to help you avoid dehydration and put electrolytes back in your body quicker.  People have grown to trust the product over the years and it contains plenty of sugar as well.  VitaminWater is soon going to be going away or completely revamping what they offer.  This is a complete bait and switch and something should be down to fix it.

Bookmark It

Something is just not quite right with the US basketball team playing in the world championships.  I know they don’t have Lebron, DWADE and Kobe but this team is missing something and it is getting a little scary. 

As Americans we tend to think we are the greatest in basketball and whenever we have assembled our greatest players we have always proven it.  However the team we beat today by 2 points was missing 2 of their best big men and good solid pro’s in Varajao and NENE.  You have to believe that they would have beaten the US with those two playing and they aren’t even the best country.  Spain with Pau would beat this team and I don’t know how close it would be.  I’m not impressed.

I watched today’s game and I know that Kevin Durant was the best player on the court.  I know that Chauncey played a good game but where I’m not sold is the play of the other wings.  Iguodala and Gay simply don’t take good shots or make good plays.  They have no inside game at all and that is bound to get exposed like it did today. 

What should I expect from these guys?  I expect them to represent the US and win the whole thing.  I don’t want teams to be close because basketball is our game.  I know that other countries will always bring their best against us but in the end I just want to win and win big.

Bookmark It

Each baseball season, yes baseball season, a group of 5-10 players will report to spring training in ‘the best shape of their lives’.  Those players come into camp having made big changes to their lifestyles and as a result have great seasons.  I’m a die hard baseball fan as well and this year Delmon Young is one of those players.  Delmon was the top pick of the draft several years ago and was considered a bust by the age of 23.  He needed a big season and a result made some serious life choices.  He changed his diet completely and started an exercise program to get in better shape.  He is now a serious MVP candidate and having a career year.  He claims it all starts with nutrition and it is the same with every sport.

In basketball players use bursts of energy throughout the game and is different than baseball.  Baseball players have longer seasons and play every day.  Their game involves completely different movements that usually come from a standstill.  Basketball players, good basketball players, are constantly moving.  What the players are eating should be a little different.  Basketball players need carbohyrdrates and should actually treat the game much like soccer players do.  Lots of fluids and lots of carbohydrates to sustain energy.  That includes pastas or any food that is high in starch or sugar.  Breads are good but can be considered heavy for players so if you eat them hours before the game you’ll be fine. 

The premise of this post isn’t to give you a list of foods to eat, it’s to get you to think of all that goes into being a good player and that includes what you put into your body.  Most of the people who follow the blog are younger players looking to get into college and this can be just the edge you need.  Eat good foods and decide today to live a better life.  Give yourself the best chance possible to be the best player you can be.

Bookmark It

The United States is in trouble when it comes to the upcoming world championships. I know they have a lot of talent but things just aren’t the same anymore.  If Spain was playing all their guys then i would predict that they would walk away with this thing.  I got alarmed watching last night when without Pau and a bad game from Rudy Fernandez the Spanish team nearly pulled out the win.  Sure it was an exhibition game and all but with Lamar Odom playing underneath it doesn’t look very promising. 

As a country we are very spoiled and we know that we have the best basketball players in the world living in our boundaries.  We know that we can assemble our very best and beat any other country at will.  It is when we decide play with our 3rd string that worries me and I’m worried right now. 

Kevin Durant is an amazing player and scorer.  Derrick Rose is proving that he’s an elite point guard but this team is a far cry from Kobe, DWADE and Lebron James.  I hope they win the gold and I expect them to win the gold.  Every game they play they are going to get the absolute best effort from the opposition.  We have a lot of good young players who have never played in this setting before and I hope they are up for the challenge.  I know that Coach K is as good as it gets and that if anyone can do it he can.  GO USA.

Bookmark It

Day after day I listen to stories of players who claim they never got a chance to be seen and day after day I get more and more disappointed in that statement.  I call them victim stories.  We all hear them in our every day lives constantly and when it comes to sports I get tired of them.  Some of my favorites are “I would’ve played but the coach already had his team picked” and “coach hates my family so why even try”.  Those are some common ones that are heard every day but one that I’m starting to grow tired of is “I could’ve played college ball but nobody gave me a chance or nobody came to see me play”.  Victim.

I know that not everybody is a victim and that legitimately they couldn’t afford to play AAU ball or travel to camps or what not.  I know that some kids don’t make highlight clips of themselves to get to coaches.  I get all of it.  I’ve been around a while and those times are coming quickly to an end.  Look at what we have now…

You tube, AAU, High school, player camps, team camps, recruiting services (endless ones of these) so the victim stories are coming to an end.  You want to play college ball then try using as many different resources as you can.  I had someone tell me once that if God wanted them to play then he would figure it out.  I am a believer in God but I’m also a believer in helping ourselves.  You want to play then go get it.  Exhaust your resources in every area and give yourself the best chance possible.  If you think just having a good high school season is enough it isn’t anymore. 

I was reading an article in ESPN the magazine this morning about Georgia ST’s football program.  I read about several different players who got their chance by simply asking for an opportunity and then being able to back it up.  Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and if you fail then fail because you aren’t good enough not because you didn’t try.  Be accountable instead of being the victim.

Bookmark It

With high school just around the corner or actually here in some cases it is time to say farewell to another great summer.  My father used to always tell me that ‘ballplayers were made in the summer’ and he couldn’t be more right.

How did your summer go as is comes to basketball?  Did you work out as much as you could have or did you sleep in and just hope that you get better as a player?  I’m hoping that you put a lot into it and that it was a priority for those of you looking for it. 

We deal with a lot of coaches also at hoopskills.com and with that comes the same talk.  As coaches we can never learn too much or even worse not be seeking to learn.  Every great coach is always looking for ways to improve and improve the team as well.  Summers for coaches should be spent learning from others who have had success or from solid programs.  I hope that each coach spent the time wisely and improved because the kids deserve it as well. 

As AAU season comes to an end it usually brings a rash of collegiate commitments and this summer was no different.  Players all over the country are getting their college choices out of the way very early so they can go into their senior year relaxed and ready to focus on the situation at hand.  The interesting thing is that with so many colleges taking commitments earlier and earlier it puts other players in a spot because they need to commit when they get the chance or they may get recruited over.  Coaches are offering multiple kids with a ‘first come first serve’ mentality and it is working for a lot of programs.  It used to be that kids could take their time to decide but now unless they are a top 15 player they are actually limited when they take their time because their dream school may already be filled up.  It’s sad really and I wouldn’t mind if the NCAA took some control over this area of college sports.

Hopefully you can look back on this summer as the summer that you earned your scholarship or coaches who earned themselves a championship at any level.

Bookmark It

Over the last couple days some very interesting stuff has happened on the college basketball front that has got me thinking.  How much is a recruit worth to a school?  I don’t know the answer but I’d love someone to figure it out for me because the stories that one hears are getting pretty ridiculous.

Yesterday an article was posted in the Chicago Suntimes about Anthony Davis.  Anthony is a top 5 recruit out of Chicago who is choosing between Kentucky, Ohio St and Syracuse as his final 3 schools.  He came out of nowhere this summer to jump from unknown to unbelievable and those that have seen him play several times think he is a one and done type player who is lottery bound in a couple years.  In the article, the reporter stated that rumors were circulating that Anthony was paid 200k to go to Kentucky and that he will be signing with them as soon as possible.  The reporter asked the father about this and of course it was flatly denied that anything out of the ordinary happened.

Now I’m not naive enough to say that this stuff doesn’t happen in college sports because I’m sure it does.  We are all sure it does, but the question comes in as to why.  Why would Kentucky pay Anthony Davis 200k to sign with them because it just doesn’t make sense to me.  Kentucky is a basketball powerhouse who can get kids that will win without giving any money in return can’t they?  Wouldn’t you feel the same about Duke or North Carolina?  I don’t think those schools pay the kids to go there because naturally want to go there because of the history and the coaches.  So why is Kentucky different?  Kentucky has always been the ’supposed’ center of college basketball and they’ve had several issues in the past.  They hire Calipari, who is a lightning rod for allegations, and the rumors start up again.  I don’t think Coach Cal has to give anything to get a kid but the perception of him is that he does. 

If Anthony Davis signs with Kentucky and happened to receive money to play there then does Kentucky get a return on that investment.  This is a team who is much like the Chicago Cubs in that they are going to sell out regardless of what they put on the floor.  How much more money does the program make if they bring in Davis as compared to someone ranked #20 in the country?  Sure, it helps the programs reputation as being able to put a winner on the court and it makes Cal look better but you are dealing with a person who doesn’t need to prove anything except one important thing. 

The only thing Calipari needs to prove is that he can win without cheating because the jury is still out on that one.

Bookmark It

How often are you watching a game and you hear someone yell ‘MOVE’?  It’s funny when it happens because at once all the offensive players look sort of like fish in water and start floating around the court somewhere.  They even can look confused but they feel like if they are moving then the coach won’t yell at them anymore.  Let’s cover 3 reasons why moving without the ball important and how it helps you as a player.

1.  Easy to guard a stationary figure.  It is so easy to guard someone who is just standing there isn’t it.  The defense doesn’t have to adjust to anything.  They just stand in front of you or they go help someone else while you just stand there.  Make it tough on the defense by moving in relation to the offense.  That leads into #2.

2.  Each player must know what the others role is in the offense.  It is a critical element to moving without the ball.  Players often will move for the sake of moving but each offense has some set spots where players should go and when they should go.  In a motion offense where so much is predicated on spacing and cutting players need to know when to cut to the basket.  There is nothing worse than having an open lane to the basket and then having an offensive player drag his defender to where the opening is.  When moving without the ball understand the situation and know when and where to cut.

3.  Forces help defense which leads to open shots.  Teams that move well without the ball often force defenses to gamble or double team or make risky choices.  When that happens usually open shots follow shortly after.  When players are active the defense doesn’t want to chase them the entire time so they take risks which lead to layups. 

For a great example of a pro player who does this is Richard Hamilton.  He is constantly running from baseline to baseline running off screens and doing anything he can to get an open look or force a defensive error.

Bookmark It

Each school year ESPN has started to show more and more high school basketball games but yesterday was the first time that I’ve ever turned on the tv and been able to watch a summer high school basketball game.  I was thrilled.  I follow recruiting very closely and was excited to finally get to see some of the kids i’d read about for a couple years now.  In fact, it’s amazing how much things have really changed.  High school kids are now like college players in that they have serious scouting reports on these players when they are 14 years old.  Players have reputations at 16 and crazy pressure to perform at such young ages and I’m not sure it is good for them.

Years ago we got to watch Sebastian Telfair go through some of this stuff and he has fallen flat on his face in the pros but he was a kid living in the limelight since he was 13-14 years old.  He’s made a nice living playing basketball but he’s never had that moment where he was just a typical kid growing up.  Someone was always watching.

Bradley Beal played on tv last night and is an amazing talent.  He had a very poor game but as a top 5 recruit nationally his best days are ahead of him.  The problem comes from people like me watching from home and expecting to already see a polished, poised player and not a 17 year old kid who is just going to be a senior in high school.  Austin Rivers is another kid that I’ve followed so watching him I had expectations that he didn’t live up to in my eyes.  That doesn’t mean he isn’t a great player or isn’t going to be a great college player but I had envisioned something other than I saw and it isn’t fair to those kids.

I’m all in favor of having more and more of these games on ESPN and watching the AAU tourneys because those are really the best players in the country playing each other every day.  I loved watching the kids who still have stuff to prove and were playing very hard.  It has come a long long way and I’m sure in no time we’ll have some high school sports channels that cover this for us.

Bookmark It

Many teams employ what the refer to as the Princeton offense which is run today by teams like Northwestern and Georgetown.  It employs a number of backdoor cuts and is fun to watch when running correctly.  Why don’t we see this more often in today’s game.  Let’s go over a couple issues with it and answer some questions as well.

1.  You need overly intelligent players to run the offense. 

2.  Too hard to teach to all the players

3.  It is a slow down offense that today’s players don’t want to run.

The truth of the above points is that none of them are true at all.  You don’t intelligent players to run this offense but you do need unselfish players.  Players need to be willing to run the offense all the way through and really be able to pass the ball. 

The offense is just as hard to get in place as anything else.  Some coaches run intricate motion offenses that can take over a year to get used to and this is no different in that the longer it is in place the easier it gets for everyone.

Just like in any other offense the players have freedom and the ability to make reads and cuts.  The best players can thrive in this offense because of overplays and mismatches.  Georgetown is loaded with players and talent and they’ll get kids to the NBA  because this offense showcases how players play in a team game. 

The reason I’m writing on this today is because we are working on a new feature at hoopskills that involves offensive and defensive sets and showing how those work.  I’m going to write on a few of these offenses and then very shortly be able to show you and talk you through how they actually work.  Should be great stuff.

Bookmark It