The Difference between the Pro’s & the Joe’s

I had the privileged of traveling down to Miami and helping out Irving Roland (Blueprint basketball), who is a very sought out NBA skills trainer in the summer time. Being a trainer myself I was eager to analyze how the pro’s trained and to see if I could pick up any special tips for the younger hoopers.

Before I speak on what Intrigued me on the court, let me start with their actual strength and conditioning off the court which was led by Manning Summer of Legacy Fit. Everything they did was sports specific. While I was there I never saw them touch a weight, it was all agility, jumping (plyometrics), sled pulling/pushing and it was extremely intense. That is key for the younger generation to understand because that is called working smart & hard oppose to just working hard. Just lifting & throwing up a bunch of weight is not the type of training that takes a basketball player to the next level. Yes some people need to put on weight and bulk up and weight training is important but even with that, majority of your overall workout’s for the summer should be basketball specific.

Moving on to the court:

First thing they did was warm-up with a few different types of drills and then they proceeded to play 5 on 5. I was really interested in watching how the guards created scoring & play making opportunities so that was my main focus. There were 3 things that stuck out the most when thinking about the difference between young hoopers & seasoned pro’s:

1)    Point guards bringing the ball up the floor & getting into the offense:

–         Most the time when I see young players advance the ball up the court it’s almost like seeing a display of who has the most handles & moves. The defender is turning them, so there going behind the back, between the legs & crossing over with every turn. Too many times this leads to losing the handle or the ball getting ripped. Pro’s take more of a less is more approach. They make one hard move to gain the advantage, push the ball up court & the rest of the time they just keep you on their hip. They use their arm bar to protect the ball & to keep your hands at a distance & then they proceed to get into the offense. A defender trying to crowd and apply pressure, doesn’t rattle them. They keep you on their hip & when need be, they act like they’re going to attack with a quick move, which makes the defender react to beat them to the spot & then they step back to gain space. If you’re not in the pro’s you need to master the fake attack, step back so you can proceed to get into the offense when you’re ready also avoiding the 5 second count.

2)    Creating offense in a one on one situation or coming off a ball pick:

–         This sounds simple & obvious but it’s something that young players tend to forget to do, especially when there being pressured. Change of pace. Never did I see a player go off the screen at one speed nor did I see them create a one on one scoring opportunity going one speed. Every time they read the Defense, threw in some pauses/hesitations and then they exploded into their scoring move. They never second guessed the move either. Going one speed is just too predictable even if you’re extremely fast & quick. You must change the pace & tempo to keep the defender guessing & wondering which way you’re going to go.

3)    Counter & Finish:

–         Once they made that great scoring move whether it was in a one on one situation or it was off a ball screen, like I said they never second guessed, they attacked with all they had. The reason being is because all of them had a counter if the first move was stopped. They made a hard move and if it was stopped they fluently switched directions on a dime with a counter. Younger hoopers might make a strong first move but usually once they get bumped, feel some contact or are cut off they usually either force a bad shot or they have to kick it out. A lot of times they jump in the air to pass out which is always risky. The crazy thing is, the pro’s make a hard move and if you stop it they counter and switch directions and usually if you stop that they have the ultimate bail out which is a strong step back to create space & get off a mid range jumper. It dang near felt like it was impossible to get a complete stop. These are things that separate the pro’s from the joe’s. Another huge plus for the pro’s is all the different types of way’s they can finish. They finish great with both hands no matter if it’s a finger roll or a reverse lay-up. The deeper in the lane they got with the big’s coming over to block the shot you would see precise floaters and high off the glass lay-ups. Runners, one-foot leaners going away from the basket & etc. etc. They literally made it where just about at anytime they could get off some type of shot and rarely did it seem like it was a bad shot.

Here’s another video provided by Blueprint basketball of Joe Johnson & KD training:

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Staying Relevant as a player, gives a trainer who already has knowledge of the game, the best of both worlds & unique insight.

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2012 TEAM USA

Summer Time AKA “Killin Season” Pt.2

Pick-Up Ball

Playing pick-up ball is a GREAT way to take your game to the next level in the off season but it has to be done in the right way. Going out there playing recklessly can easily have a negative effect on your game as in pick-up ball, it’s easy to pick up bad habits. So below I made a list and speak on a few things for you to keep in mind regarding playing pick-up ball so you know your getting the most out of it and taking your game to the next level.

1. It’s not how much you play, it’s how you play (Conditioning) – In my opinion pick-up ball & leagues are the best way to get in game shape during the off season. You can run sprints and stuff like that but at the end of the day, the best way to condition for a basketball game is…playing a basketball game. So there are some things you have to keep in mind to make sure your getting in the best shape as possible. (a) Always play HARD. In pick up it’s easy to play into the flow of the game. So that means if everybody is kind of playing lazy, you start playing lazy to. Negative!!! Make sure your picking up your man full court and running the lanes on fast breaks. When it comes to defense, play it just like you would in a real game. Seeing man and ball, fighting over picks, contesting shots, closing out on your man, getting run-thru’s and crashing the boards. Basically, you want to be as active as possible and create a hostile work environment for yourself. On offense, same thing applies, play it like a real game. Make sure your making hard game cuts, moving around staying active, setting picks, pushing the ball hard and fast up the floor and etc. If you do this a few times a day for a summer, you will be one of the best conditioned players on your team.

2. Take Over your Gym – Plain & simple, during the summer time your NOT trying to make friends your trying to make significant improvements in your game. Find a gym, seek out the best players and try to prove every time you step on the floor that your the best player. Get to the point where it’s pretty much known amongst your peers at the gym that you are hands down the best player at that gym.

3. Don’t Hibernate – Once you’ve taken over a gym and it’s understood that your the best player there, move around to the next gym. Staying at a gym because your the best player there slows down the process of you getting better. You need to always be looking for new challenges and better talent. This is what allows you to keep on getting better. Definitely seek out the spots with the hardest workers and the best defenders.

4. Play in Different Environments – Another thing about playing in the same gym is you get comfortable at that gym. You start to know everything everybody does, there tendencies, what you can get away with and etc. Move around and play in new places that you’ve never played in before with people you’ve never played against before. What this does is it takes away your comfort zone and it makes you adapt to this new environment. Just like in the regular season when your playing an away game and you have to adjust to wherever your playing. In the summer time you want to put yourself in heinous, uncomfortable situations and master those situations to where there not heinous or uncomfortable anymore.

5. When to build comfort and confidence – Any time your at the gym and you see it’s one of those days where the competition isn’t going to be to great, that’s when you go into training mode. Those moves that your not comfortable with making against better competition, this is when you work on those. Everyone goes into the summer wanting to upgrade there game and add a few new things. You work on them during your training session but then you get into a real game and you never use it or your afraid to pull it out. Well, when competition isn’t great, that is the next step after you’ve worked on it in training. Acclimating a new move into your arsenal is a process. Introduce it in training. Try it out, make adjustments and get comfortable with it against novice competition. Once you have it down and the confidence is there, try it out against the big boys and the best defenders. From there you just make adjustments on how to make it more consistent and effective. So don’t turn down a run just because the competition isn’t great. Work on your weaknesses and build confidence.

6. Discipline – Like I said, in my opinion running pick-up/league games is the best way to improve your game and to get in game shape. At the end of the day, you can practice all you want but you eventually have to put that practice into game time action. When I say the word discipline, that means you need to have a clear understanding and purpose when your stepping on the floor (even to play pick up). Never lose site that the summer time is THE TIME for improving your game. Sometimes you have to put pride aside to make sure your working on what’s going to improve your game and your weaknesses instead of what’s going to get you a win (in pick up). Realize the big picture. So make sure you have enough discipline to work on your game when playing instead of resorting to your go-to moves just to get a win.

7. Be yourself – THIS IS CRITICAL – One of the biggest pick-up ball sins committed is the player who knows they play one position but since there isn’t a coach around they want to play out of position. This could go in Discipline as well. Whatever position you play in organized ball when your being watched by a coach is the same thing you should play in pick up ball. If your a 7 ft. Center, don’t try to run the point guard position just because your not under supervision of a coach. Your pick up game should pretty much mimic how you play in a real game with a few respectable adjustments of attributes and moves your trying to add to your arsenal. So if your a bang em type big man & your trying to add some face up moves and finesse, that is 100% okay as it still pertains to your true position. Now on the other hand if your a bang em type big man & all of a sudden you want to dribble off picks and shoot 3’s like Bynum, that’s when your playing yourself. Basically ask yourself, would my coach let me shoot this shot & you can pretty much gauge whether you should be doing it or not?

8. Don’t get it twisted – Pick up ball is a great way to improve your game and take your game to the next level and you should strive to be the best in whatever you do but…..REALIZE….Being the best pick up ball player DOES NOT mean your the best player period. In other words, the main objective is still to be the best when it counts the most which is an a organized setting (ex: College, Overseas, NBA). Everywhere you play pick up you should strive to be the best player, nothing is wrong with that, that’s just being competitive. There is something wrong with being the best pick up ball player but just a below average to average player when it counts, playing in a organized setting. So keep things in perspective!!!!

Stay Tuned for more!!!

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Summer Time AKA “Killin Season” Pt.1

It’s SUMMER TIME AKA the most pivotal time period for a basketball player. The season is where you show your worth, the summer time is where you create that worth. Summers are critical for improving and tweaking your game and at this point you should have a good idea of the exact things you need to work on to raise your game another notch next season. So over the next few months I will give advice & tips on how to improve your game and take it to the next level. So when I call this post Summer Time AKA Killin Season, it’s simply talking about pushing your self to the max and taking no prisoners. We all have 24 hours in the day but it’s about how you use that time, that makes the difference. Let’s get it!!!

 

DON’T WASTE TIME!!!

Back in the day it was cool if you said you worked out 5 hours straight in the gym but at this point that’s just non-sense and a waste of time. How can you seriously convince somebody your going 100% shooting game shots, at game spots, at game speed if your in the gym for 5 hours straight? That’s just not realistic. Instead of going half speed for 5 hours, go hard for an 1hour 30 min. – 2 hours. Remember, the objective isn’t to see who can stay in the gym the longest, it’s to see who can get the most out of there time in the gym.

EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM

When People use to tell me they worked out at 6 am in the morning, my first thought was, ” Why is working out at 6am any different from working out at noon”? The honest answer is, there isn’t a difference, you can go hard at 6am just like you can go 100% at noon. As I got more knowledgeable about the game I realized it’s not the fact that your working out at 6am, it’s the fact of what working out at 6am presents. What it presents is you give yourself more time to get in more workouts throughout the day. Just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about I will make a mock schedule:

6am – On court skills workout

10 am – Strength & Conditioning

1pm-4pm Pick up ball (Live runs)

7pm – Shooting workout

The way this mock workout is spaced out it gives you plenty of time to rest & recover before the next workout. It gives you plenty of time in between workouts where you can go 100% on each individual workout. You never want your workouts so close together where you go hard on one and then your dragging and performing mediocre on the next. So this is why it’s important to get that early workout in, it gives you a chance to get in that extra workout that your competition probably isn’t getting in. Plus let’s be honest, we all have other things going on besides basketball, this ensures you at least get that one good workout in because not too much is going on around 6am. Now 6 am is the example I used but it’s known that Kobe would get up at 4 am to get up shots although I doubt your local gym opens up that early. Getting up that early in the morning takes discipline and that’s why most athlete’s don’t do it, so if you can establish a routine getting up that early your definitely on the right path!!!

Stayed Tuned for more!!!!

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Do you have “Money” Mayweather Confidence in your Hoop Skill’z?

Floyd “Money” Mayweather. One of the most controversial sports figures of all time. Let’s be honest he is probably one of the most hated athlete’s of all time as well. Why am I bringing up a boxer in a basketball post? Keep reading and you will get one of the best messages that is not only for basketball but life in general, let’s get it!!!

Floyd is a controversial figure due to his flamboyant lifestyle, braggadocios attitude and being extremely outspoken. In all honesty, I don’t co-sign any of those antics but it is what it is, that’s Floyd being Floyd. What I do co-sign is Floyd’s supreme confidence. Of course you’re going to have the people who say it’s cocky and some of it is but in the sports world cocky is being over-confident, so if you’re backing it up more power to you. After that I hear the rebuttals and chatter about him being scared to face Pac man and at this point there is just too much uncertainty to even touch that subject. So I base this post off of what I’ve seen thus far oppose to why hasn’t he done this and that?

Floyd does something that many people don’t do but wish they could and that is not only talk with supreme confidence but actually have enough belief in yourself to project and exercise supreme confidence. Let me break it down:

Floyd talks a lot of trash, say’s how he is the best ever, no one can beat him and so forth and so on. Please believe me when I say the only people who put themselves out there like that are the people who are putting in the work to back it up. It’s just too risky to make such bold statements if you’re not prepared to back them up. If you make bold statements like that and don’t back it up, you instantly lose credibility so it’s an easier path to just keep hush and fly under the radar. When you make bold statements like that, you know without a doubt your about to get your opponents best shot and they want nothing more to prove you wrong, shut you up and show you are less than what you claim. My Hooper’s, when is the last time you walked into a gym with good competition and said, “Hey listen up, I’m running this gym today and nobody is going to stop me?” Most players are too scared to make a statement like that because they know what comes with it. Everybody going at you, more physical and intense play, literally people doing everything in their power to show you otherwise. So when I see Floyd do all these antics that most people take as cocky, all I can think is, man that boy must be putting in some work for his confidence to be that high. When you put yourself out there like that you have to prepare a different way. You have to change your mindset and be as mentally strong as you are physical. Like I said, this topic isn’t just about basketball, it’s about life in general. When your very passionate about succeeding in something, do you let everyone know your going to succeed at it or do you shy away from that subject because your scared of peoples feedback and the fact that you actually have to show and prove? If you are hesitant to put it out there, it’s probably because there is some doubt in your abilities to deliver what your pitching.  So marinate on this topic and apply it in your life. Don’t be the best player while flying under the radar; be the best player while getting everybody’s best shot. Put in the work, time and effort and then have supreme confidence in your abilities and skills. You can only say you’re the best, if you’ve proved time and time again that you’re the best while getting everybody’s best shot. Peace!!!!

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History in the making

#THUNDERUP

Food For Thought Friday

“Don’t wait for an opportunity, create an opportunity”

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The Truth About High School Hoopz Pt.3 (Last Part)

In the last installment of The Truth About High School Hoopz, I’m going to throw out and briefly discuss a few things to keep in mind concerning High School Hoopz.

Strength and Conditioning:

Point blank, these days the top high school seniors at top programs in the nation already have a college (body) build. When I was coming up Strength and conditioning wasn’t something taken very serious because you could get away with being skinny and still be the best offensive and defensive player on the floor. I’m not saying that still can’t exist to this day but it’s not the right way to approach things if your trying to give yourself the best shot at gaining maximum attention from scouts. What I am saying is, sometimes college coaches judge a player right off the bat by the eye test. The eye test basically boils down to do you look and move like a college player? So you may be the most skilled player in the world but some coaches can’t get past your skinny complex. I’m no expert by any means on when you should start lifting but I would say you should definitely look at putting on some muscle and changing your physique to look more college ready by late junior year at least. The guys who get away with the skinny complex coming out of High School are usually 6’5 and up.

Receiving Letters:

Receiving Letters are great, wonderful and definitely something to be proud about and something you should enjoy while your in High School. With that being said, there is a difference between receiving a letter and a coach showing maximum interest and asking you to come take a visit. Usually coaches send out a bunch of letters for every position but as you know only 10-12 people are actually making the team and usually only like 8 are getting  full ride scholarships. So here is what you do, if you get a letter from a school that you wouldn’t mind playing at, send that coach a letter back expressing your interest in the school. It’s a simple gesture that may go a long way. Receiving a letter simply means that school knows who you are that doesn’t mean they are necessarily thinking about offering you scholarship, so sometimes you have to be pro-active and give them a reason to give you a second or third thought.

Understanding your options (a):

I didn’t know anything about this option when I was playing high school ball but I wish I had of. If you’re a junior or a senior and you see your not getting near the attention you would of hoped to have by colleges, do some research on prep schools. A lot of prep schools recruit but who knows, you may be able to send in your “highlight reel” and gain some interest by prep schools that way. We already know some of the players who are playing in the NBA now who went the prep school route.

Understanding your options (b):

Don’t be afraid to walk on at a school to get your foot in the door. The sitting out option is rarely ever I good idea. There are plenty of schools that if you walk-on but by a certain period of the time during the season you become part of the regular rotation they will scholarship you. A more common situation is you prove yourself as a freshman and they scholarship you your sophomore year. In addition to that, sometimes it is better to walk-on at a good 4 year school you like, than to play at a suspect junior college on a full ride scholarship.

That’s all folks!!!

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Post Player Paradise

“If you want to learn how to be more athletic and fit, pay attention to the athlete’s of today. If you want to improve your skills and fundamentals, study the old school players”

– James Teal

Check out how crisp Hakeem “the Dream” Olajuwon’s moves were in the post:

Notice how he always had a counter for his initial move if it was stopped. Sometimes he would counter off of his counter but he always stayed poised, never panicked!!!

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There is a reason Kobe & Dwight inquired The Dreams help