Basketball Friday promotes the search for advantage. Successful players, coaches, and specialists in any field find edges. They become their own coaches seeking and developing tools of refinement.
Nolan Ryan overcame a propensity for blisters by plunging his pitching hand into salt. Bo Jackson did pushups and situps. As a child, Cuba's volleyball standout Mireya Luis jumped to pick fruit out of trees.
Her only fear was catching a foot in the net with her nearly 48" vertical.
Drill. Alan Stein's Stronger Team shares video drills to improve lateral quickness.
Lateral quickness helps ball containment...but don't neglect one-on-one against the live dribble.
Concepts - Find training edges. Bargain basement tools work. "Necessity is the mother of invention."
1) Kyrie Irving worked on his handles dribbling a ball in a plastic bag.
2) I worked on shooting during cold Boston winters shooting while wearing gloves.
3) To simulate shooting over a defender, I duct taped a tennis racquet to a six-foot step ladder.
4) You don't need cones. Clear plastic milk bottles filled with water are good substitutes. Coming off a screen to catch and shoot? Use trash cans.
5) Build your own jump box with stacked newspapers and duct tape. Girls can jump, too.
Set Play. The pandemic changed the landscape of Massachusetts high school basketball this season. There won't be baseline out of bounds plays., Coaches should work on developing scoring options off sideline out of bounds (SLOB) actions.
Basketball Immersion shares a plethora of SLOBs including returning the ball to inbounders for threes (above).
Lagniappe: Our effort defines our results.
— Patrick S. Tomlinson (@stealthygeek) December 4, 2020
Lagniappe 2: "Hard work is a talent." - Garry Kasparov
Lagniappe 3: Tristan Thompson stops the drag screen PnR with "drop coverage"
I love everything about this defensive possession from Thompson.
— Adam Taylor (@AdamTaylorNBA) December 4, 2020
Reads the floor well, switches into a drop style defense, and rotates with the ball to get the block.
These are the plays Boston will need from him, and what they were lacking last year. pic.twitter.com/0nEvnWJOF6
