There’s been a lot of talk about last night’s Miami Heat overtime win over the Indiana Pacers but very people are mentioning the great sideline out of bounds play (SLOB) that was called by Coach Erik Spoelstra.

First of all, the exact same set was run at the end of the fourth quarter and the result was a wide open 3 point attempt by Ray Allen, which had to be in the back of the Pacers’ minds as everyone was getting lined up in the same set at the end of overtime.

Secondly, the play had multiple options – Ray Allen in the corner, LeBron at the top of the key, Chris Bosh coming off a back pick going to the rim, and even possibly Ray Allen isolated against the opposing center if the defense chose to switch the back pick.

Even the slightest hesitation by any of the defenders was going to result in a shot by one of the Heat’s three best players on the floor (Dwyane Wade had fouled out on the previous play) and that’s exactly what happened!

The players who successfully execute the plays get all the credit in situations like this, as they should. But let’s not forget that it’s often times the coach who puts those players in a position to succeed.

In the diagrams below Ray Allen is the 2, LeBron James is the 3, and Chris Bosh is the 5 as the play’s main options. Mario Chalmers is the 1 and Shane Battier is the 4.

The post Miami Heat’s Game Winning SLOB appeared first on HoopSkills Basketball Training & Coaching Blog.

1. Being relentless means never being satisfied. It means creating new goals every time you reach your personal best. If you’re good, it means you don’t stop until you’re great. If you’re great, it means you fight until you are unstoppable.
2. Greatness makes you a legend; being the best makes you an icon. If you want to be great, deliver the unexpected. If you want to be the best, deliver a miracle.
3. Why do I call them (ultimate competitors) Cleaners? Because they take responsibility for everything. When something goes wrong, they don’t blame others because they never really count on anyone else to get the job done in the first place. They just clean up the mess and move on.
4. Failure is never an option; even if it takes years, he’ll find a way to turn a bad situation to his benefit, and he won’t stop until he succeeds.
5. You don’t have to love the work to be successful; you just have to be relentless about achieving it.
6. All that matters is the end result, not the instant gratification along the way.
7. If you want to be the very best of the best, it’s the details that make the difference.
8. You train like a pro by committing to work at the highest level of intensity, every moment, in everything you do, constantly working on your body, your skills, your preparation, leaving no detail to chance.
9. The true measure of an individual is determined by what you can’t measure – the intangibles. Anyone can measure weight, height, physical strength, speed. . . . but you can’t measure commitment, persistence, or the instinctive power of the muscle in your chest, your heart. That’s where your true work begins; understanding what you want to achieve and knowing what you’re willing to endure to get it.

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It only takes one or two “cancers” on a team to completely destroy a season and sometimes an entire program!

The following list was put together from a series of tweets posted by Pure Sweat. Hopefully none of them sound familiar.

1. Players that care about individual rankings more than they care about improvement shouldn’t be on the team. #cancers
2. Players that don’t cheer on their teammates and don’t celebrate their teammates’ successes shouldn’t be on the team. #cancers
3. Players that care more about stats than wins shouldn’t be on the team. #cancers
4. Players that complain about playing time but refuse to put in extra work to earn more minutes shouldn’t be on the team. #cancers
5. Players that are more concerned about their image instead of doing what it takes to win shouldn’t be on the team. #cancers
6. Parents that tell their kids everything they WANT to hear instead of everything they NEED to hear are #cancers

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1. Start by standing on the baseline and flipping the ball out in front of you to the opposite elbow.
2. Catch the ball, square up and then drive down the lane line and shoot an underhand layup.
3. Rebound the ball out of the net and the flip it out in front of you to the other elbow.
4. Again, square up, drive down the lane line and shoot an underhand layup with your other hand.
5. Repeat the sequence until you have shot 6 different layups with each hand for a total of 12 layups.

Suggested layups:

1. Underhand
2. Overhand
3. Reverse
4. Jump stop and cross over
5. Baseline crab step and power dribble
6. Floater down the middle.

If you do this drill with your team, start in your regular two- line layup formation and play “follow the leader.” Every time the first player in line changes shots then everyone else changes as well.

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Here are the 5 defensive “MUSTS” that current Florida State’s Head Coach, Leonard Hamilton, preaches to his team:

1. Must Prevent Easy Transition Baskets

a. Take care of the basketball

b. Sprint back & get into “attack stance & mentality”

c. Communicate, find & stop ball

d. Establish position in relation to ball

2. Must Keep Ball Out of the Red Zone

a. Stop dribble penetration

• Guard ball
• Shrink the gaps (up line principles)
• Early help and recover
• Execute closeouts

b. Take away the post pass

• Pressure ball
• Front post: take away flashers and cutters
• Swarm to help on lob

3. Must Contest Every Shot

a. Defeat screens

• Communicate
• Man guarding screener responsible for stopping ball
• “Fight Like Hell” when screened
• Eliminate penetrate and pitch
• Contain dribbler

b. Shrink gaps (help and recover)

c. Execute closeouts & pressure the ball

4. Must Allow Only One Shot Opportunity

a. Block out at every position

b. Eliminate penetration into “Red Zone” which weaken your block out schemes

5. Must Create Offense with Defense

a. Ball pressure

b. Develop a “Swarm to Help” mentality

The post Leonard Hamilton – The Five Defensive Musts appeared first on HoopSkills Basketball Training & Coaching Blog.

Shula also holds the NFL record for most career wins by a coach and coached the Dolphins to the only perfect season in the history of the NFL.)

Praise. What gets praised gets done! It’s been said that some extrinsic rewards have little value to some people but those same people will crawl a mile over broken glass in order to hear just one sincere compliment.

Redirection.  We in the profession call this “coaching” – all the instruction, encouragement, reasoning, etc. given with the goal of getting the athlete or team to change or improve performance.

Reprimand.  While redirection is basketball related, reprimands are behavior related. Lack of effort, refusing to follow directions, and bad attitudes would all call for a reprimand.

Silence.  This is a common response when a coach becomes frustrated but unfortunately it is usually interpreted by the players as acceptance. For example, If one of my role players continues to take bad shots and I don’t say anything, he will think that I am fine with his shot selection. When it comes to behavior issues, silence can be interpreted as apathy.

All four of these responses are necessary at various times, but coaches should make a conscious effort to use Praise and Redirection much more than Reprimand and Silence.

The post 4 Ways to Respond (Advice for Coaches from Don Shula) appeared first on HoopSkills Basketball Training & Coaching Blog.

Grover, who got his start by being Michael Jordan’s personal trainer, now works with athletes such as Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and dozens of others.

Over the years he has discovered that there are some very distinct personality traits that separate the good, the great , and the unstoppable and this book is essentially a description of those traits.

Although it is not written solely for the basketball community, I really believe it is a book that should be read by every basketball coach and player who has aspirations of taking their careers to another level.

The language is a little rough in spots but that shouldn’t overshadow any of the ideas or principles in the book.

I think it might take a few blog posts to share all the highlights of the book, but I’m certainly going to try. here are the first several takeaways:

1. Being the best means engineering your life so you never stop until you get what you want, and then you keep going until you get what’s next. And then you go for even more.
2. It’s time to stop listening to what everyone else says about you. Let them judge you by your results and nothing else. If you’re relentless, there is no halfway, no could or should or maybe.
3. Decide. Commit. Act. Succeed. Repeat.
4. Being relentless means demanding more of yourself than anyone else could ever demand of you, knowing that every time you stop, you can still do more. You must do more.
5. Success isn’t the same as talent. The world is full of incredibly talented people who never succeed at anything. They show up, do what they do, and if it doesn’t work out, they blame everyone else because they believe talent should be enough. It’s not. If you want to be truly successful, you can’t be content with “pretty good.” You need to find an extra gear.

These ideas came from the first half of the first chapter – there’s lots of great stuff in there!

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1. Grab a basketball and face an unobstructed wall.
2. Start dribbling the ball with the fingertips of your right hand. Look straight ahead at the wall and keep dribbling the ball at eye level for 1 minute. After 1 minute move the ball up higher until your arm is fully extended and dribble off the wall for another minute.
3. Repeat the drill using your left hand.

If you consider yourself to already be an above average ball handler try dribbling off the wall using both hands at the same time.

If you are an intermediate level player, work on your ball handling by dribbling off the wall while running or sliding along the length of the wall.

Advanced level players can challenge themselves by running or sliding the length of the wall while dribbling off the wall with both hands at the same time.

The post Hit the Wall to Work on Your Handles appeared first on HoopSkills Basketball Training & Coaching Blog.

1. Pick a spot on the floor, spin the ball out to yourself  and shoot it.

2. Each shot you make gives you 1 point. Each shot you miss gives Ray Allen 1 point. First one to 5 points wins the first game.

3. Shoot a 1 and 1 free throw. If you make both you win the second game. If you miss one of the free throws then Ray Allen wins.

4. Repeat the sequences until either you or Ray Allen wins 10 games. (Pick a different spot on the floor for each set of jump shots.)

The post Beat Ray Allen Shooting Game appeared first on HoopSkills Basketball Training & Coaching Blog.

With that said, I’ve always been a big fan of Denver’s long time coach George Karl.

He doesn’t try to control every possession, is not boastful when he wins and is always gracious when he loses.

I was really hoping the Nuggets would complete their comeback last night and force a game 7.

After losing in the first round I’m sure there will be some who will want to see the Nuggets get a new coach but I hope that doesn’t happen.

Here’s some timeless advice from Coach Karl that was published in The Ultimate Coaches’ Career Manual by Pat Williams:

1. Communicate and connect. There is a difference. If you can connect you have an edge over just communication. Connecting involves a heart to heart relationship. It involves the human side of your involvement with your players.
2. Associate with people who will make you better.
3. Have a positive attitude every day. Forget what happened the day before and focus on the new day. All of your players are members of your family and they will be whatever your attitude is

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