Mr. Basketball Not Too Fundamental

I recently went to watch a regional game between 2 teams that met last year in the regional. The same team won as last year, but this years game was a barn burner overtime win.

The best player on the winning team is being considered for Mr. Basketball here in Indiana. Don't know if he will win it, but he is talented. Personally, I feel he needs to improve his lateral quickness and change of direction ability (of course this is coming from the Speed Guy:) He has good strength and shoots the ball fairly well- very streaky though. Aside from this, he is a super high school player.

The one thing that bothered me with him is his lack of true fundamental play. I preach all the time about getting into a good athletic triple threat position when guarded closely. I watched him time after time stand too tall and not have the ball in an aggressive position to blow past, pull up, or make a quick pass.

He went to his right 90 percent of the time when making an offensive move out his poor triple threat position. If he would have been more patient, used the jab series, and read the defense, he could have left the defender in the dust time after time. I also think he lacked confidence in his left-hand dribble and that contributed to his decision to go right (need to fix this problem asap!)

Weekly Tip Is My Solution For This Talented Player:

Tons of offensive move work!!!

I would have him going skeleton, versus one-on-one, two-on-two, offensive moves all day long. I would have him catching the ball off screens, cuts, and skip passes I would have him learning to be aggressive with the ball and his moves all the time. I would teach him to read the defense and use the jab series. He would also learn to pause and explode as he lulls the defense to sleep. He is long and strong, and I would use this ability.

I would like to see him learn to put the defense on its heels rather than just settling for one option.

He needs to learn to beat his defender and immediately read the next level defenders and make quick decisions. He is a good passer, but could do a better job reading.

Finally, I would make him learn to shoot the pull-up jumper from 10-15 feet. If he can beat his man, pull up and not force the drive when it is not there, he will be tough to stop.

I happen to be using this talented high school player as an example, but this is the case for most players these days. Teach them to be fundamental with the ball in their hand and so many more options will open up.

Play Hard,

Lee

PS: Hurry, before the day is over go to www.SportsSpeedEtc.com and buy Basketball Speed 2. It will show you how to be super quick with the ball in your hands. You are going to love the drills to improve speed and quickness!