I’ve said this probably 100 times but Allen Iverson is easily one of the most talented basketball players the world has ever seen. How many players at 6*0 and 170 pounds can do what he did in the league? Imagine if Iverson were 6*6. If Iverson were 6*6 he would have been considered one of the top 3 players ever based on skills alone. He was always guarded by bigger, taller and stronger opponents and it didn’t slow him down. He played hurt and led his teams to a lot of wins based on his will and effort alone. I have a great respect for him as a talented player.

Is he done? Have we seen the last of this guy? I hope not because I still think he has a lot to offer and you can’t tell me that he wouldn’t still score 25 a game on the right team. I’d love to see him in New York but now that looks like it might not happen. Memphis was a good fit on paper but that’s about it. I’ll tell you what though, Iverson is better than Mike Conley, Tinsley and Marcus Williams. Where does he go? He can’t play for Larry Brown again I’m sure. He isn’t really needed in a lot of settings or rather teams aren’t willing to play Iverson and risk the chemistry of the team or a young player not getting time.

If we have seen the last of Iverson then I’m proud to say I got to watch him play because he’s one of the best ever to dribble and shoot a ball.

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Great scorers are usually very good foul shooters. Imagine how many points Shaq would’ve scored throughout his career and his prime if he were an able foul shooter. Kobe and Carmelo, in today’s game, are players that know that they can get 10 plus points a night shooting foul shots but to do that you need to be good at getting to the basket.

What sets Carmelo apart from other offensive threats is his ability to shoot the ball whether off a pass or a dribble or a screen. He’s amazing so defenses need to focus on him and keep him from getting the ball. Once he gets the ball the defense needs to crowd him so he can’t get off an uncontested shot. The next part is the secret to Carmelo getting so many foul shots…he takes a direct path to the basket.

When I mention a direct path to the basket understand that I’m talking about a straight line. When you are in math class you’ll learn over and over about the shortest distance between two points being a straight line. Now you can say that math helped you in basketball because that’s a key. The shortest distance to the basket and where you are with the ball is a straight line and that’s what Carmelo does so well. I’ll explain further.

Defensive players are taught and trained to knock the offensive player off his path. It’s common sense that if the offense is slowed down then they will have to work harder and try harder to get where they want to go. When Carmelo drives to the hoop and is bumped or knocked off course he simply keeps going straight and it leads to a large amount of fouls called on the defense. For example, how many times have you heard a defensive coach yell to beat a man to the spot? We’ve all heard it. The defense is coached to knock a man off path and then beat him to where he wants to go. That’s only possible because the defense now has the best angle because the offense isn’t going in a straight line. If the offense goes in a direct line once they have even half a body/step on the defense then it is over. Either help needs to arrive or a foul will be committed.

To truly understand this watch Carmelo Anthony on drives to the hoop to really see this in action. It’s no wonder he shoots so many foul shots.

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I’m a huge proponent of full court pressure defense especially in the women’s game but in general also. In the high school women’s game very few teams have multiple players who can handle the ball and beat a press so it is extremely effective and the best teams press consistently in women’s basketball.

Overall though lets look at some reasons why coaches employ a press and why it works:

1. CONTROL FLOW OR TEMPO: Controlling the speed of the game is very important for some teams and coaches because they have players built for the system. If you look at MIke Anderson at Missouri you’ll see a coach who recruits kids who can play this style so it is crucial that he controls the tempo of the game because it plays to his strength.

2. FORCE TURNOVERS: This is the most common thought among players and coaches but a press should force turnovers and create easy shots for the team who created the turnover.

3. CHANGE THE TEMPO: Great coaches realize that something has to be done to change the flow/tempo of the game and a press is a great way to do it. It gets all players involved and changes the way the game is currently being played. When you are younger and the games are shorter these adjustments are even more important for the coach to notice and make.

4. TEAM MENTALITY: Coaches really want to control the mentality of their players and for the players to want to press is a great thing. Ideally the team mentality needs to change from having to create pressure to wanting to create pressure. When that happens you’ll have a great pressing team.

5. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: The more teams press and practice pressing the better they get it. If your team is pressing a lot they feel comfortable playing that style and they learn to love and enjoy it. It also teaches them to always play hard.

6. PRACTICE TIME DEFICIENT: Teams today aren’t focusing enough practice time for beating presses and pressure defenses. While most teams work on man to man offense and defense your team is working on several different presses and having that be your style. It is a serious advantage because kids don’t like to be pressured while dribbling the ball or while players are running at them. It causes confusion and uncomfortable feelings. If that happens enough you’ll create turnovers and easy baskets.

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I’m looking at this team and I see a team that is much better than they were last year. Bynum is playing great, Kobe is playing within himself. Odom is doing well again and Pau Gasol has yet to play a game. They have lost once so far and are looking really good.

If you are going to beat them then beat them now while Gasol is out because when he comes back you’ll have Odom more than likely coming off the bench and combined with Walton and Farmar they will have a really strong bench unit. Talk about a deep team that was built really well. Kobe is now playing smart enough that he can really conserve throughout the year. They beat the Suns last night easily with Kobe scoring but doing little else. The reason why was Bynum and Odom were dominating the board and the paint and the Lakers were able to easily control the game. If the 8-1 Suns can’t give the Lakers a game then who can? To get to 72 wins they are only allowed 9 more losses the rest of the year and that seems very difficult and it will be but this team is deep enough and solid enough that even an off night by Kobe can produce an easy win against the lesser teams.

Do I think they’ll win 72 games? No I don’t personally but this team has the best chance of anyone we are going to see for a long time.

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Sorry it’s been a little bit since I’ve written but I’ve been extremely busy with things. I’ll make it up over the next couple of days I promise.

Today I want to discuss the proper shooting mechanics and the 3 things that I focus on with each shot or when I’m evaluating shooters.

1. Footwork is undervalued when it comes to shooting. One of the most important things a shooter can do is make sure that his feet are aiming at the basket. The feet square up your entire body and play a role in everything else. I make sure that my front foot or ’shooting foot’ as i call it is pointed directly at the front rim. Thinking about my feet also takes pressure off of everything else for me because that’s what I focus on first thing.

2. Elbow being straight: If your elbow is straight the ball will travel straight. To test this out, just take a ball and with one hand shoot some shots. Make sure your elbow is straight and aiming at the target. If your ’shooting’ foot is pointed at the target and your elbow is straight then the ball will travel straight. Only one thing can mess up the path of the ball.

3. THUMB Shooting: It’s the 3rd thing and the most common mistake that beginning shooters can make. Understand that the shot is something that can be done right if it is consistent and some of the best shooters in the game are thumb shooters. Ray Allen is a thumb shooter and he’s amazing but he’s also extremely consistent in his release while others aren’t. Thumb shooting occurs when the off hand thumb comes into play to help propel the ball towards the basket. Why i don’t teach it is because of the fact that the thumb can mess with the flight pattern of the ball because it can push the ball on your shooting hand off by an inch or less and that’s all it takes to create an inconsistent shot. Most thumb shooters are very very streaky because they can dial in the release for a stretch and be very good and then minutes later you’ll see them get very very bad.

When practicing or starting out make sure that you point that foot at the basket, keep your elbow straight and don’t allow your thumb to push the ball at all. Only use your off hand as a guide.

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Screening is a key in many basketball offenses. If you can give a player some space to get his shot off uncontested it will increase that percentage by a good amount. Let’s cover some of the types of screens that are done and how they work.

1. Downscreen: This is a screen done when a player comes down toward the basket to set the screen and has a couple key components. First if you are the person who is setting the downscreen you want to bring your man up high with you and then go down to set the screen. The screen is set by making a wide base and grasping your left hand onto your right wrist or vice versa. Don’t move the shoulders or anything but make sure that solid contact is made. The offensive player needs to go close enough that he literally rubs shoulders with the screener. This is called shoulder to shoulder. The person setting the screen needs to really watch the defense to see what happens. If at any time the screeners defender goes to help then the screener needs to abandon or ’slip’ the screen and go to the basket. He’ll get a layup.

2. Flarescreen: As an offensive player this was my favorite to get shots from. A flarescreen takes place when the player benefitting from the screener flares to a spot because the defender is trying to go over the top side of the screen. The principle is the same in that if you are the screener you need to focus on your feet and hands and make sure your base is solid and that your hands are tied up. Don’t give the ref a chance to call a foul on you. As the screener you need to be aware of the players defense again and if he goes top side over you then let him go top side over you because a flare will be open. If the defender guarding the screener goes to help out then roll to the basket or slip the screen and all will be well again.

3. Backscreen: The most effective type of screen for a layup. This type of screen is set up by the cutter in bringing his defender into the screener. This is called a blind pick in some areas of the country because the cutters defender often runs or turns right into a wall. For a backscreen to be effective the screener must be set and not moving when the defender hits him because this type of screen is the most often type that is called for an offensive foul. The cutter should set his man up by taking him to a spot and waiting for the pick to be set up before cutting to the basket. If help defense is done then the screener should slip and roll to the basket.

If these types of screens are taught and done correctly then they will lead to good open shots. For coaches, don’t let your players practice screening either lazy or sloppy because they’ll get in games that way. A good screener should get 2-3 layups a game off either slips or rolls and sometimes that can make all the difference.

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How does a coach motivate players? How did Coach K get the olympic team to gel into the gold medal winners of old? What are some secrets of successful coaches in this area?

I spoke with Coach Morgan Wootten yesterday for nearly an hour and could’ve talked even longer and I can’t tell you how impressed I was when that call ended. He did an interview for our www.hoopskillsacademy.com members and it was amazing. I asked him what some of his ideas were on motivating players and he gave many ideas and I’ll only cover a couple of them here.

1. COMMUNICATION IS KING: Successful coaches take the time to sit down and talk with each player at least once a week and go through a sort of interview with them. How’s home life? How’s school? How’s basketball going? All these questions will lend the coach an ear to what is going on with the player. Basketball is just a part of each kids life and playing poor in practice might be a result of something else entirely.

2. Each Player is different: What works with one kid won’t always work with another kid. One kid might need and enjoy being pushed while others will feel like quitting when this happens. You can watch body language to see how the message is received. If you are coaching and get on a kid and his shoulders slump and his head goes down then the message isn’t received. That player will not work harder for you to correct his behavior. If you are coaching and get on a kid and he remains fixed on your eyes and he’s taking it all in then the message is received and the player will work to correct his behavior. For players who put their head down, take the time to talk to them individually in a quiet calm voice and express belief.

3. LIFE GOES ON: Mistakes happen in life and mistakes happen in basketball. How we deal with those mistakes is what determines playing time. Kids will make errors but the kids that play are the ones that put those mistakes behind them and realize that the most important possession is the one right now so don’t blow it worrying about 30 seconds ago. Let kids know that you won’t punish poor play unless it compounds itself with worse play. Play hard, have fun and put mistakes behind you.

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