Summer programs reinforce core concepts, build skills, create continuity, enhance teamwork, and advance teaching. Share life lessons about personal growth, competition, and productivity.
Core concepts...
General:
- TEAM comes first.
- Our goal is to get more and better shots than our opponent.
- Basketball success comes from executing fundamentals well...doing what we do consistently well.
- Good teams must apply and handle pressure. Every good team finds ways to apply pressure and defeat pressure.
Offense:
- Movement kills defense. Passing and cutting beats dribbling and standing.
- Fail fast. "The game is meant to be played fast." She who gets the most quality shots comes out ahead.
- "Possession and possessions." Possess the ball. Have quality possessions; value the ball.
- Execution is everything. “The game is about MAKING plays not RUNNING plays.” - Mike Krzyzewski (Duke coach)
Defense:
- No easy baskets. (Hard 2's, one bad shot)
- Pressure the ball. Attack, create chaos and discomfort.
- Deny penetration, deny the lane.
- Good defenses communicate. Silent teams lose.
- Contest shots without fouling.
- One bad shot. Rebounding finishes the defensive stop.
Summer ABCs :
Advanced Teaching. At "Orange School", use tape to illustrate core basketball principles. These include short videos and high school edited game tape. They feature premier basketball educators. Share instructional video on shooting and shot creation from elite NBA players. Ideally, translate lesson to the practice court and ultimately game play.
Build skills. Twice-weekly outdoor sessions focus on fundamentals with additional emphasis on team offense, especially small-sided games (e.g. 3-on-3). Work against pressure with advantage-disadvantage and constraint (no dribble) play.
Address shooting with home shooting program including 100 free throws daily.
Continuity. Strengthen and diversify existing special situations (BOB, SLOB, end-of-quarter, tap plays) with offense-defense-offense (3 possession scrimmaging).
Additionally, review and improve core offensive concepts such as pick-and-roll, spread offense, backdoor plays, horns sets and off-ball screens, and dribble handoff actions.
Enhance Teamwork. Teamwork and toughness are skills. Help and want teammates to succeed. Good teams and good players communicate...this is a habit under construction.
Lagniappe: from Radius Athletics
Spacing and ball movement lead to opportunities to attack the closeout, difficult against quality offensive players.