How to coach a little league basketball team

Coaching Youth Basketball -- Tips, Drills, Plays, Philosophy, Tactics

You'll be teaching habits that will stick with these kids for the rest of their lives. And whether you like it or not, you'll be setting an example and teaching kid's lessons about life (good and bad). Kids are impressionable. They pick up on things.

You have an obligation and responsibility to teach them the right things - in both basketball and life.

When you think about it, teachers would do anything to get the enthusiasm that you get from your players. Kids actually like and want to play basketball.

Your players look up to you. They listen to you. And you have an amazing opportunity to make a POSITIVE impact on their lives!

You have a very important and rewarding job!

In this section of our website, we'll provide you with links to a variety of youth coaching tactics, plays, drills, and tips that will help you become a better youth basketball coach.

The articles discuss very important concepts to help you succeed. So read through each article, starting with the first one at the top.

If you don't have our free eBook yet, the first thing you should check out is our FREE Basketball Drills ebook. It includes 72 of some of our favorite basketball drills and it includes youth section so you can easily find the drills that apply to you.

We also offer videos with 60+ Youth Basketball Drills and Tips For Coaching Youth Basketball.

When working with young kids and running basketball drills, there are three very important concepts you need to consider:

1 - Kids need to be highly active!

Just by using fast paced drills and keeping things moving, your players will have more fun and get in better condition. Your kids should be breathing hard and their hearts should be pumping. It's good for them!

Avoid standing in lines as much as possible and keep the ball in their hands as much as possible.

2 - Kids want to feel successful!

With very youngs kids, competition doesn't always serve as a motivator. You should always provide activities that help them build their skills and confidence. Strive to focus on the learning process instead of measuring up to those around you.

You'll want to avoid adding pressure and competition until the players have developed their skills, confidence, and become proficient with the basics.

Put them in situations where they can succeed.

3 - Kids want to have lots of fun!

This is an important stage for young players and your actions could determine whether they enjoy sports or not.

It's important to make things fun so they can improve and become confident.

Youth basketball drills don't have to be boring. Almost any drill can be modified to provide high activity, high success, and high enjoyment.

Youth Basketball Offenses

I believe that using a very simple motion offense is the way to go for youth teams because it teaches them how to move and the players will begin to learn how to get open and play the game.

Motion offense also allows you to spend more time teaching fundamentals and skills (which is very important for young players).

The challenging part about motion offenses is that there are SO many options that it's hard for players to know what to do. But you can easily solve that problem by making simple rules and starting with the basics.

For example, you might want to just with just a couple simple options for your motion offense. You could start by teaching the players proper spacing, away screens, and v-cuts. Once they master those skills and get VERY proficient at cutting properly and setting good away screens, then you can start adding more options and building on your foundation.

You can add ball screens, rolling, and so on. Just don't go too fast! Make sure they have good fundamentals before you start adding stuff.

You can learn about developing motion offenses by looking at these resources: Offensive Theory & Introduction to Basketball Offense

Teaching Basketball Motion Offense

5 Out Cutters Offense - Easy to teach and it is a great building block for the motion offense.

You can also try this very simple patterned offense that you can use as a play or your entire offense:
Youth Offense - Michigan

Press Breaker Offense - Breaking the Press in Youth Basketball

3 Critical Player Development Tips For Your Offense

Youth Basketball Plays

When it comes to teaching plays to youth basketball players, it is typically better to teach them concepts on how to play the game of basketball.

• Triple Threat - How to get in triple threat position every time a player catches the ball.
• Footwork - Quick stops & pivoting
• Cutting - Basket cuts & back cuts
• Screens - Off the ball & On-ball
• Eventually, reading screens.

To read more on this topic, please read:

Youth Coaches: Destroy Your Playbook and Do This Instead

Should Youth Coaches AVOID Plays and Patterned Offenses?

Here are some very basic plays:

1-3-1 Cutters

Rolling

Swing Variation

Zone Shallow

Zone Overload

Quick Hitter Vs. 1-3-1 Zone

Best Overall Advice for Youth Basketball Coaches

1) Keep things fun!
Did you know that the #1 reason kids quit sports is because it's not fun anymore?!? It's very important to play plenty of games and keep a positive attitude.

Be positive and make things fun. Even if the kids get cut from the team or decide not play basketball at an older age, they'll still have a positive image of basketball and may continue to play it recreationally when they get older.

If you act like a drill sergeant when coaching a bunch of 10 year olds, the kid will get a negative image of basketball and have negative emotional feelings when thinking of basketball. Kids will also get sick of basketball if they play TOO many games each year. As a result, they will not likely play basketball when they get older. It can even affect their feelings towards fitness in general. If a person dislikes fitness and becomes inactive, they are more likely to be unhealthy!

60+ Youth Basketball Drills and Games

2) Be Positive & Do NOT Correct Every Mistake!
Don't be too critical and stop them to make a correction on every mistake. Let them play and learn themselves. If you stop or correct them on every mistake, you'll get a basketball player with low confidence that is always unsure of what to do, instead of a confident player that reacts to the defense.

Now, if they continue to make the same mistake over and over and over, show the player a better way to do a certain thing. For example, if you see one of your players stand straight up every time they touch the ball and a defender crowds them and causes the offensive player to travel. Say to the player, "Way to hustle, Johnny! Let me show you something that will help you when the defender crowds you. When catching the ball in this position, keep your hips back with your knees bent, and pivot. Be ready to attack. Then if the defender comes to crowd you, it will be easy for you to dribble right by him!" Notice, I did NOT focus on the negative and say "Stop bringing the ball up!"

Don't focus on the negative. Focus on the way to help them. Let's be positive as coaches!

3) Allow your players to be successful!
Sometimes competition is not a motivator for young kids. However ALL kids need to taste success (and hopefully lots of it). Now this doesn't mean winning. It means getting better and succeeding in practice. Allow your players to run drills that they can succeed at and feel good about. Celebrate small accomplishments and successes with your players.

4) Teach life lessons in your practices!
Read this article about teaching life lessons and improving team bonding.

5) Don't worry about winning!
You don't have time to worry about winning. There's only time to do the right thing... If you do things "right", winning will eventually be a by-product of your actions. Be patient. True success takes time to do things right. It doesn't happen overnight.

You must first build a SOLID foundation for these kids to build on. Taking the time to build that foundation will cause you to sacrifice winning some games. Trust us. This is better for your players in the long run.

6) Avoid year-round basketball and play other sports!
There is a reason that NBA GM's don't like their ELITE, PROFESSIONAL basketball players competing in the summer World Championships and Olympics. It's been scientifically proven that playing a sport year-round leads to tired muscles and a tired muscle has a much HIGHER chance of injury. Now, if these PROFESSIONAL athletes with proper nutrition and training are supposed to avoid year-round basketball, don't you think that a DEVELOPING, young athlete (most likely without proper nutrition and training) should be avoiding it as well?!?

If you force your child to play, it can also lead to burnout, injury, and resentment of the sport or fitness altogether. People are much more driven when they choose to do something they enjoy, rather than being forced to do it. If you want your child to enjoy basketball, play GAMES with him when they want to, and watch basketball-related activities with them. 9 times out of 10, kids enjoy sports that their parents enjoy if approached the right way.

At this age, it is best to improve overall athletic ability which is done by playing multiple sports, such as gymnastics, baseball, soccer, martial arts, football, track, volleyball, softball, swimming, and so on. Keep in mind, that you want to have seasons for these sports. Avoid playing 2 or 3 sports at once and multiple practices on the same day. If you want to focus on one sport at age 16 or 17, GREAT. Not at age 10 or 11. And who knows what your child will take an interest in or show talent in at age 10? Most of the time, things change a lot in the next 6 or 7 years!

7) Don't press or play zone defense!
You can read why and get advice here.

8) Use small basketballs and lower rims!
Using rims that are too high and basketballs that are too big will RUIN your players shooting form. They are NOT strong enough yet.

Do we send 6 year olds to Yankee stadium and start throwing from the big mound? No, we start with tee-ball, then parent pitch, then little league (close bases), and move up.

It's ridiculous to throw 5-10 year olds on a full size court with 10 foot rims and youth basketballs that are way too big! It's no wonder so many kids have horrible shooting form when they get to high school!

9) Teach the right things!
Just keep in mind that if you can teach your young players the following skills, then you should feel good that about what you accomplished and know that you're teaching your player the right things (that they need to be successful)!

Your young players should be able to:

• Dribble with their left and right hands equally well.
• Make lay ups with their left and right hands equally well -- and jump off the proper foot (left foot when shooting with right hand, and vice-versa)
• Perform a jump stop without traveling.
• Pivot on their left and right foot without traveling.
• Perform accurate chest, bounce, and overhead passes.
• Perform a defensive slide (feet wide, good balance, staying between the offensive player and the basket).
• Shoot a basketball with proper form.

These simple skills should be your number priority and your goal should be to help your players master these skills. Once they have truly mastered these skills, you can start building from there.

Breakthrough Bonus: Download this "Youth Basketball" article as a FREE PDF! (Download Now!)

Questions & Answers

If you have any questions about coaching youth basketball, post your questions on our forum.

A group of very experienced and knowledgeable coaches monitor the forum and answer questions.

Recommended Youth Coaching eBooks, Books, and DVDs

Here are the books and DVDs that we recommend to youth coaches:

The Youth Coaching System (By Jim Huber)

60 Fun Youth Basketball Drills

Motion Offense

Basketball Shooting Tips & Drills

M2M Basketball Defense Tips & Drills

Simplified Post Player Development

Coaching Youth Basketball - What Should You Teach?

By Joe Haefner

Home > Coaching > Coaching Youth Basketball > Coaching Youth Basketball - What Should You Teach?

Many youth basketball coaches don't know where to start or what to teach. Well, we hope to help you out in this area. Below, we provide some advice on what to teach youth basketball players. We break it down between 3 levels. As you perfect each level, you can advance to the next level to teach more skills & concepts.

All beginner players should start with Level 1 no matter the age. We put ages next to the level as a general guideline. Depending on the age and skill level, you'll progress through the levels at different rates. You may notice that you'll spend 4 years working on Level 1 with 7 to 10 year olds. At the same time, you may be able to progress to Level 2 after two weeks working with a group of 13 year olds who are playing basketball for the first time.

I would advise to go back and start at Level 1 every year. A lot of high school and college coaches start at Level 1 every year. They just progress through the levels more quickly than a youth team. It's a great way to ingrain the fundamentals into your players year in and year out.

We advise to take a couple of hours and write up a master practice schedule for the season, so you can progressively teach them the skills mentioned below. It may take a few years to teach all of these skills at one level and THAT'S OKAY! For youth players, we want to focus on the long-term development, not how many games they win when they're 11 years old. If you try to progress them too quickly, it will hurt them in the long-run. You want to have a solid foundation first. You shouldn't try to teach them every dribble move in one year or every option in the motion offense. The same way in which you couldn't teach a person calculus if they did not know how to do simple addition and subtraction.

Important Note: Throughout this article, you'll find many links to other articles on the website to explain concepts that we advise to teach. My recommendation would be to read the entire article first, then go back and click on the links to read the other articles.

You may also want to add this article to your "Favorites" or "Bookmark" it, because there may not be enough time to read all of the links in one sitting.

Level 1 (7 to 10 Year Olds)

Here's what to teach, ordered by priority:

1. Lay ups - You should practice lots of lay ups with both hands. Your goal should be to get all players to make lay ups with their left and right hands equally well!! Teach them to jump off the proper foot. They should jump off the left leg when shooting a right hand lay up. They should shoot off their right leg when shooting a left hand lay up. It will be difficult but work on it. You'll probably need to start really close to the basket, with no dribble, and take just one step to practice the footwork. Once you add the dribble, they should dribble with their left hand when shooting left hand lay ups. And vice versa.
2. Footwork - Teach them triple threat positioning, pivoting on their left and right foot without traveling, jump stops, and to square to the basket as soon as they catch the ball in a triple threat position. You should spend a lot of time on footwork!
3. Shooting form - For this age group, we highly recommend using smaller balls and lower baskets. If that is not possible, allow the players to dip their elbows which will give them more strength. To learn more on shooting, we also have the Breakthrough Basketball Shooting Guide.
4. Ball handling - You should teach your players to dribble with left and right hands equally. Basic dribble moves such as the speed dribble, crossover, protect-the-ball dribble, and back-up dribble.

   Resource: Progressive Youth Ball Handling & Footwork Workouts App - Players can do the workouts from anywhere. The coaching dashboard also allows you to monitor multiple players or your whole team.

5. Athletic & movement skills - Teach them how to run, jump and land, skip, stop, move laterally, squat, lunge and any other basic movements. If you don't know how to teach these movements, ask a professional or PE teacher to show you how. 99% of the time they would be more than willing to help, and they may even come and show the kids themselves.

   Should We Teach Basketball Skills To Players Under the Age of 10? - Useful information for all levels of coaches, not just coaches who work with players under the age of 10.

6. Basic passes - Teach and practice the basic chest, bounce, and overhead passes.
7. Play plenty of 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 games to teach concepts (no dribble keep away). It gets the players more experience and allows them enough space to operate and use the new skills they have learned. Make sure to use plenty of age-appropriate drills & games.

   For more on this, read Could 3 on 3 Basketball Be the Best for Youth Players?

8. Offense - Do NOT use any structured or patterned offenses. First, get them comfortable on the court. They will start to figure things out on their own. Your main concern should be to have them move & not stand still.

   If you use a few basic cuts and maybe screens in your shooting drills at the beginning of practice, then your players will already know how to move in a motion offense. Then you don't have to waste time teaching offense. Just let them play.

   Once players feel comfortable on the court, show them proper spacing.

   As they progress, you can start to introduce them to motion offense situations.

9. Basic cuts & how to get open - If time permits, you can introduce the basket cut and straight cut. I would suggest that you just work these cuts into your shooting drills at the beginning of practice. This will save loads of time.
10. Defense - Teach the basic stance, defensive slide, and basic off-ball principles. Don't worry about spending as much time on defense. As they get older, you'll gradually spend more time on defense. Focusing on it 5 to 10 minutes per practice would be more than sufficient.

    Basic Off Ball Principles:
    - Stay between man and the ball
    - Always stop the ball if it is in front of you!

    For this age group, we are against zone defenses for development purposes.

For anyone coaching this age group, we HIGHLY recommend the DVD The Youth Coaching System (By Jim Huber). You'll gets lots of drills and learn exactly how to teach the most important fundamentals the to kids "right way". We truly believe this DVD should be required viewing for ALL youth coaches.

Level 2 (10 to 12 Year Olds)

You should expand onto more advanced skills for everything mentioned above. But remember, if your 10 to 12 year olds are inexperienced, you should start in Level 1. And at the beginning of each season, you should start at level 1 until those skills are perfected. Then you can progress into the more advanced stuff below.

1. Lay ups - jumping off one foot and jump-stop lay ups.
2. Teach more cuts: back cut, curl cut, etc.
3. Continue to focus on shooting form and introduce some movement for shooting drills (shooting off the dribble and off the catch). To learn more on shooting, we also have the Breakthrough Basketball Shooting Guide.
4. Ball handling & dribbling - teach more dribble moves such as the inside-out dribble (fake crossover), hesitation move, and between-the-legs.

   Resource: Progressive Youth Ball Handling & Footwork Workouts App - Players can do the workouts from anywhere. The coaching dashboard also allows you to monitor multiple players or your whole team.

5. Passing - continue to teach basic passes and introduce some advanced passes (baseball pass and wrap around pass). Use other drill such as machine gun passing and pass and switch.
6. Passing under pressure - you can use pair passing with a defensive player in the middle running back and forth to pressure the passer. You can use this drill to practice breaking pressure: full court press breaker drill.
7. Teach basic screens.
8. Footwork - introduce jab steps and ball fakes (pass fakes and shot fakes).
9. Rebounding - introduce rebounding technique.
10. Basic post moves. drop step and jump hook.
11. Spacing - introduce more basic spacing concepts.
12. Offense - keep playing 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 to teach concepts. You can also start to introduce more motion offense situations and play some 5 on 5.
13. Defense - keep emphasizing and spend a little more time on the defensive stance, defensive slide, and off-ball principles mentioned in Level 1. If you feel that your players are ready, work on more off-ball defense principles.

    In our Man to Man Defense System, we provide step-by-step how to build and teach your defense.

    For this age group, we are against zone defenses for development purposes.

For anyone coaching this age group, we HIGHLY recommend the DVD The Youth Coaching System (By Jim Huber). You'll gets lots of drills and learn exactly how to teach the most important fundamentals the to kids "right way". We truly believe this DVD should be required viewing for ALL youth coaches.

Level 3 (12 to 14 Year Olds)

You should expand onto more advanced skills for everything mentioned above.

1. Lay ups - practice contested lay ups. Also, you could start to teach players, same-leg same-shooting hand lay ups. I know that is against conventional wisdom, but think about it for a second.Your player just blew by a defender or is on a fast break. Do you want them stutter-stepping to give the defense time to recover and contest the shot? So if that means jumping on your right-leg and shooting right-handed on the same side, so be it.
2. Continue to teach basic cuts and add more cuts.
3. Continue to emphasize shooting form (move to big baskets and bigger balls). Practice shooting on the move off of the pass and the dribble. To learn more on shooting, we also have the Breakthrough Basketball Shooting Guide.
4. Ball Handling & Dribbling - teach more dribble moves such as the spin move, behind-the-back. Incorporate some double-moves (crossover followed with a behind-the-back).

   Resource: Progressive Youth Ball Handling & Footwork Workouts App - Players can do the workouts from anywhere. The coaching dashboard also allows you to monitor multiple players or your whole team.

5. Passing - introduce some other advanced passes (dribble pass, behind-the-back pass, pick and roll pass).
6. Passing Under Pressure - You use Pair Passing with a defensive player in the middle running back and forth to pressure the passer. You can use this drill to practice breaking pressure: Full Court Press Breaker Drill.
7. Teach Basic Screens.
8. Footwork - continue to work on jab steps, pivots, and ball fakes (pass fakes and shot fakes).
9. Rebounding - put more emphasis on rebounding technique and spend more time on rebounding drills.
10. Post moves - keep practicing post moves mentioned above while introducing a few more when the players are ready drop step counter and up-and-under move.
11. Spacing - advance to higher levels of spacing drills.
12. Offense - introduce more motion offense situations. You should start to notice that your players are becoming much better at reading the defense.
13. Defense - Emphasize basics from previous levels and move on to rotations and situations.

    In our Man to Man Defense System, we go into great detail about rotations and situations.

    For this age group, we are against zone defenses for development purposes.

Sample Practice Plan for 7 to 10 year olds.

Sample Practice Plan for 11 to 14 year olds.

Do you have any questions or suggestions? Let us know by leaving your comments...

"Workouts with dad are the best workouts for me." Alexey Shved's father and his basketball school

21 July 2020 21:46

Alexey Shved is the best scorer of the Euroleague 2017/18 season / Photo: © Anadolu Agency / Contributor / Anadolu Agency / Gettyimages.ru .

Special report "Best Ball Game" from the series "My First Coach".

• The best Russian basketball player right now? There are no answer options - this is Alexey Shved.
• Khimki's reactive defender conquers continental basketball: he became the best sniper of the European Championship. He is the leader of the VTB United League in terms of points scored and every year he claims the prize of the best sniper of the Euroleague.
• Phenomenon from the Moscow region. His first coach is his father, Viktor Shved. Four of his pupils are already in the Russian national team.

Open video

Viktor Shved: It so happened - I worked in Poland, coached Wisla from Krakow. Leshka just had to go to the first class. Therefore, I told my wife: “Enough to train strangers. Let's train our children." We went back to Belgorod, I dropped everything and moved to a children's sports school. From professional basketball, he again plunged to the very bottom.

Photo: © Joan Valls / ZUMA Press / Global Look Press

Aleksey Shved is now a European basketball star. The best sniper of the Euroleague-2017/18, bronze medalist of the London Olympics. He played overseas, participated in the NBA Rising Stars Game. But he prepares for the season every year with his first coach - dad - in the Belgorod forest.

Victor Shved: We rented a gym in some village where you can organize meals, and for many years we have been going there only. We sleep in the gym, train in the gym, and now we eat in the gym — food is brought to us. Fine. I am not a supporter of comfortable conditions at all. They are needed for adults, and children are used to being together. And when they are together, a good team is formed, now it is fashionable to call it "chemistry". I had to unite both parents and children. These are boilers with meat, and fish soup, and bonfires - I cooked it myself, the guys were spinning around. When they see it all with their own eyes, they are drawn to it and grow.

Alexey Shved: Training with dad is the best workout for me. This person knows me best of all, in what physical and psychological form I am. Every year I go to Belgorod a month before the start of the training camp with the team. He is gradually preparing me, and I am sure that I will be ready and play the season normally.

Viktor Shved: At home they kept him in tight rein — where to go. For every mistake. Also, my mother punished me. But sometimes they praised. Especially when I played well in the bronze medal match - there were already tears of joy.

Alexei Shved at the awards ceremony at the XXX Summer Olympic Games in London / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexei Filippov

Alexei grew up in a unique family. Papa Viktor Shved is an honored coach of the country. Mother Nadezhda - she played and coached with her husband, and is also a well-deserved coach of Russia. Their eldest daughter Evgenia is the vice-champion of the world and Europe, a participant in two Olympics. The second daughter, Victoria, played abroad, in the Russian championship and the national team. Alexey grew up in a basketball hall, and played his first matches without realizing it. Nadezhda Alekseevna played until the fifth month of pregnancy.

Alexey Shved: My parents told me that I used to scream all day when I was little, and when they turned on basketball on the TV, I immediately fell silent and started watching. I have always liked this sport, and love has not faded away yet.

Alexey Shved in the ¼ final of the Euroleague Championship of the 2017/18 season / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Grigory Sysoev Viktor Nikolayevich specially assembled a team of boys from neighboring yards. Together with their parents, he set up basketball hoops in a small hall of school No. 31 in Belgorod.

Viktor Shved: I came to physical education classes, watched the guys. It used to be that he would come into the classroom, lift him up, see who was taller, then recall him to the corridor, look at the physique. He gave invitations - and, as a rule, everyone came with these invitations.

Alexey Shved: We used to train twice a day when we got older. They came before the first lesson, trained, then studied at school, went home, did their homework and returned to the evening training.

Viktor Shved: It was necessary to think about his further path. Lesha was in the tenth grade, I got him a job with my guys in the student team of the Agricultural Academy. There the guys were 1987 year of birth, and he is almost 1989. And there I played men's basketball with the guys, it was a very good level. I hid him from these big teams like CSKA, because I knew that a person would sit. And here he was the leader of the team, despite his age. And it gave a good result. And only in the 11th grade, CSKA was told what was in Belgorod. And the TsESkovtsy came and invited him to train.

Aleksei Shved at Euro 2017 against Serbia / Photo: © Klansek / Eibner-Pressefoto / imago sportfotodienst / Global Look Press

Entering the class of an ordinary Belgorod school, Viktor Nikolayevich found and brought up three more talents for the national team. His pupils do not speak of him as "the first coach". They call him "second father".

Denis Zakharov, defender of Zenit and the Russian national team: - In addition to our fathers, we spent most of the time with him in the summer. He taught not only basketball, but also life. We sat at these training camps for a long time, participated in tournaments. And he laid in us both a basketball and a human base. In theory, children do not accept criticism - they are offended. And from childhood, he presented it in such a way that we understood and accepted his criticism, we wanted to develop.

Stanislav Ilnitsky, forward of Lokomotiv and the Russian national team: - Parents cannot teach you a lot. Somewhere they feel sorry for you, somewhere they do not see an objective picture. And the coach sees you two hours a day, but knows your character, knows where to push, shapes you as an athlete and a person. The first coach is an important part in the life of any player, he lays down some character traits.

Alexander Khomenko, defender of CSKA, candidate for the Russian national team: - Somewhere he even replaced our parents. Because all the time there were some trips, gatherings, and then we spent more time with him than with families.

Aleksey Shved: - Someone in the family did not have fathers. Yes, for us this team was like a family: we were friends, we all worked together. We trained and wanted to win everything possible.

Photo: © Joan Valls / ZUMA Press / Global Look Press

The Belgorod forest is a place of power. It is here, in the pine forest, that real basketball begins. Here the future master takes the first steps. But then, at the height of the school year, don't forget to show your diary to the coach. And fold your textbooks along with your running shoes for competitions. You can't become a basketball player with bad grades.

Khomenko: - If someone had bad grades at school, he already knew. Or if someone got into a fight with classmates, everyone immediately knew about it. He severely punished. He was aware of all the cases, because the teachers knew him, they immediately informed him. This was probably the main fear - if the teachers said they would tell the coach.

Ilnitsky: - Then, at some point, there was no longer a chance to refuse. This developed into a serious approach of the coach and ceased to be a hobby. You couldn't just skip a workout. He talked with his parents so that we could go to serious competitions. I am grateful that it happened this way: both the team is good and the love for basketball...

Zakharov: This is his life, this is his buzz. Educate, give everything around basketball. Do not get any benefit for yourself. He suffers from this in order to educate, educate, educate.

Khomenko: - Denis watched Lekha, I already watched Lekha, and Denis, and Stas. I understood that this is all possible. There was something to strive for.

Victor Shved: - Sasha studied at the 31st school, and when I recruited children there, he was a year younger. But when I had a few trainings, I started to give the technique of dribbling, the guy was so focused on doing the exercises ... At the end of the second grade, his mother came to pick him up. And I told her: “Let your boy not go to any other sports, don’t drag him anywhere. Sasha will play big basketball." His inclinations were visible even then, I was sure that he would play, and I told his mother about it. And so it happened.

Ilnitsky: - In addition to love for basketball, which is necessary for children's sports, Viktor Nikolayevich also instilled in us team chemistry. We spent time together in the summer, celebrating birthdays. In addition to basketball, we were drawn to the environment that we had.

Victor Shved: - Stas Ilnitsky was a small thin boy. When I invited him, he was so plain. A year younger, he was shy of everything. And he didn't quit. I had very good contact with his parents. I told him all the time: "You don't rush." Stasik studied, gradually added. And now - it has grown by two meters. Well, then he began to enter the starting five.

The main feat of Alexey Shved in the Russian team is the bronze of the 2012 Olympics. But even for this, Viktor Shved did not abandon his children. And while the son was holding a fantastic tournament, the father was preparing a new generation in the Belgorod forest. In London, the 23-year-old defender of the national team accomplished a feat - 25 points in the bronze match with Argentina. But the main thing is the winning throw and the first medals of the Games in the history of Russia. My father was watching TV.

Victor Shved: - I had training camps, I had to prepare the guys. They are small, how can I leave them and go?

Alexey Shved: You can't miss the training camp! According to the schedule, you need to train, keep fit, dad is responsible for this.

Alexey Shved in the 2019 World Cup qualifier against Belgium / Photo: © Depo Photos / ZUMA Press / Global Look Press

Summer 2020 is the last release from coach Viktor Shved. The reason is banal: there is no hall. And the last few years of training children helped to pay for the main pupil - Lesha Shved.

Viktor Shved: Yes, this is the last training session, my last students. I won't pick up anymore. I will help the guys from the 11th grade, but these are no longer such systematic trainings, already in combination with the institute teams.

Historical moment: the last training session. Belgorod forest, Viktor Shved presents badges of candidates for master of sports to pupils. This is an award for the final of the Russian championship.

Viktor Shved: - This is the highest title that can be obtained in children's basketball. They came second in the Russian championship. This is very honorable, we got it all very hard. Yes, there are teams that want to see them. Perm, Saratov, the same Khimki, Nizhny Novgorod. I think that until August 1 they will be here, under my supervision, to train on their own. But they will definitely go somewhere. I plan for at least five people to leave.

Alexey Shved: - He does not think about the result at the moment. So that in 10-11 years they will win everything possible. No, he looks to the future and makes players for the men's national team, for adult professional basketball.

Viktor Shved: - The proverb "the most important thing in basketball is the result" does not always work. No, in children's basketball the main thing is to give technique and educate the player. The most important thing is that the child's eyes should burn when he comes to training. And for this you need to talk a lot. With children, with teachers, with parents. The players grew up here, they are passionate about basketball. I am glad that I have such pupils who glorify our Russian basketball.

- How many children do you have, Viktor Nikolaevich?

- I don't know. About three hundred people.

He wanted to raise his son, but he raised four players at once for the national team. And this is just the beginning. Viktor Shved. Father of the Russian team.

More basketball on Match TV:

• My first coach. Evgeny Baburin
• "My first coach." Semyon Antonov. Special Report
• CSKA Champion Night. Special Report

No connection

Go get an education, it's too late for you to be a basketball player - The Jay's - Blogs

NBA players who started playing basketball very late

We all know basketball players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Michael Jordan. They played basketball all their lives, they were talked about even during their school years and no one was surprised by the fact that sooner or later they would get into the world's major basketball league.

But what about the players who first picked up an orange ball not at age three, but in high school, or worse, in college? What chances do they have to achieve at least some success in the basketball field, and do they exist at all?

Process already looks like the top 3 center in the entire league. In today's NBA, if you're a center and you don't have a good and consistent shot, you're in for the fate of Hassan Whiteside. Old-school centers are no longer interesting to anyone, their actions are predictable, there is no threat from them on the arc, therefore this gives more freedom to the defending team. And that's why players like Anthony Davis, Karl Towns, DeMarcus Cousins ​​and Joel Embiid sat down on the "basketball Olympus".

But if in the case of the first three centers, the ascent took 15-20 years, then Embiid needed only 7.

Initially, "The Process" wanted to become a volleyball player and try his hand at the European Championships. But when the young Embiid was 15 years old, he picked up a basketball for the first time and began to copy Hakim Olajuwon's style of play. Joel liked the game so much that in the same year he went to a basketball camp organized by Luc Mba a Mute in Cameroon.

As a result of this camp, Luke was so impressed with Embiid's game and potential that he invites him to try himself in America.

Joel Embiid moves to the USA at the age of 16 and decides to become a professional basketball player.

In the states, the "Process" continued to progress and got into one of the best student organizations - Kansas. In his only college season, Embiid scored something like 11+8, entered the top 30 students and entered the draft with a back injury.

At first, Joel did not work out in the NBA, just because of the unfortunate injury, and for the first two years he almost completely lay in the infirmary. But after the recovery and after the last season, we see a top center, who is undoubtedly far from his peak and will continue to progress.

Dennis Rodman

When I started: 1983 (21)

Statistics on the career: 7. 3 + 13.1 + 1.8 + 0.6

Achievements: Member of the Glory Hall, 5-fold champion NBA, 2-time Defensive Player of the Year, 2-time All-Star, 7-time defensive top five.

The best rebounder in the history of basketball, ready to rip opponents' elbows with the ball, was only introduced to basketball in high school. And it is very difficult to call this acquaintance the beginning of his basketball career. Rodman, a model of his school years, did not really know how to dribble, and his shots from under the basket left much to be desired, not to mention the shots from the middle. As a result, throughout his school career, Rodman sat on the bench. Also, young Dennis tried to get into the school football team, but failed there too.

Of course, after such a school "performance", no college offered Rodman an athletic scholarship. As a result, Dennis graduates from high school and goes to work as a janitor at the local airport. And just at that time, the young player has a so-called "growth spurt" and decides to try his hand at basketball again, despite the fact that he did not feel very comfortable in his new two-meter body.

A friend of the Rodman family, he got a position as head coach at a small college in Texas, and offered the young Dennis a scholarship. As a result of his first and only semester (Rodman was expelled for poor progress), the young player scores 17 + 13! Agree, very good numbers for a player who a couple of years ago could not get out from under the ring.

The most interesting thing is that during high school, Dennis was only 170 cm tall. But by the time he went to college at 21, Rodman was already 204 cm tall! It's amazing how he has grown so much in just 4 years.

After his first undergraduate performance failure, Rodman was given a second chance at an Oklahoma college whose team was NAIA. There he spends three fruitful years, gaining 25 + 15, becomes the leader in rebounds and gets into the 19th draft.86, where he was drafted 3rd overall by the Detroit Pistons in the second round.

Everything that happened next is history. Dennis went from a calm and reserved player who did his job in the Pistons, like other "bad guys", into an outrageous, media player.

But it is worth noting that this did not affect his game in any way. Rodman became the best defensive player of the championship 2 times, got into the top five defensively 7 times and became the best rebounder 7 times in a row. Well, it’s not worth talking about his five championships, everyone already knows about it.

Interesting fact: Father Dennis Rodman has 48 children.

Another interesting fact: Dennis Rodman is the oldest of them.

Moving on.

Hakim Potzzhivon

When I started: 1979 (16 years)

Statistics on the career: 21.8 + 11.1 + 2.5 + 3.1

Achievements for Kharmer: Member 1x NBA Champion, 1x NBA MVP, 1x Finals MVP, 12x All-Star, 2x Defensive Player of the Year, one of the top 50 basketball players of all time.

The Dream, until the age of 16 he was exclusively fond of football and handball. And it was a football career that helped Hakim with footwork and body balance in the future.

At the age of 16, the two-meter-high Olajuwon is invited to take part in a basketball tournament (even though Hakim has never played it). There, a basketball coach notices him and informs Hakim's parents that their son may have a good career, but in Nigeria he will remain only budding. Hakim begins to train hard with his coach in order to achieve something in professional sports. Here's what he said about basketball:

Basketball is something unique. When I took the ball in my hands, I immediately knew that this is what I want to do all my life, you know? After that moment, any other sports lost their meaning for me.

As a result of all this, the parents of a young basketball player send him to America, where Houston College was waiting for him to watch. Hakim impressed coach Guy Lewis with his game and he accepted the young player into the squad.

Season 1980/1981 Olajuwon missed out because he was still too young to play in the NCAA (17 years old). But over the course of the next three years in college, Hakim screwed up and showed the entire student league who's boss in the paint!

He becomes the Final Four MVP, also earns the NCAA Southwest Conference MVP, and the Rockets begin to fold the 1983/1984 season in order to take Hakim with the first pick in the upcoming draft.

If you are reading this and think that Hakim was very good, you are right. But do not forget that The Dream achieved all this in 5 years from the moment of his first basketball game!

What happened next - you yourself know everything again. Hakim became one of the best centers in the history of basketball, an innovator and creator of new offensive techniques in the paint. Seriously, show me one player in the history of basketball that has played better than Hakim in the post?

Olajuwon led his hometown of Houston twice to the championship, became the most valuable player in one of the finals, the most valuable player in the league and was twice recognized as the best defensive player. Great career, great player!

DIKMBA MUTOMO

When I started: 1984 (17 years old)

Statistics for career: 9.8 + 10.3 + 1.0 + 2.8

Achiors: Member All-Star, 4-time Defensive Player of the Year, 2-time rebounding leader, 3-time block shot leader.

Another African who started playing basketball very late.

Until the age of 17, Dikembe "not in my house" Mutombo was fond of exclusively football and did not see himself anywhere except on a wide lawn (or sandy wasteland) with goals along the edges. So his youth passed, if not for his older brother, who invited him to play basketball.

Basketball meets Dikembe in style. In the first game, Mutombo cracks his chin and tells his brother that he will never play this "stupid game" again.

But still, after a couple of weeks, the brother again persuades Dikembe to play. And from that moment began the basketball adventure of one of the best defensive players in the league. Mutombo started playing in the African League and achieved excellent results. A vivid confirmation of this is a sports scholarship from Georgetown.

Mutombo enters the NCAA at the age of 21 and immediately shows excellent results. In his very first season, Dikembe manages to make 12 blocks in ONE game! And in general, the period 1988-1990 was one of the best in history for Georgetown. Under the ring, along with Dikembe, was another future member of the hall of fame - Alonzo Morning. Their bunch was even nicknamed "Rejection Row".

College career can be called successful. Mutombo was named to the NCAA East Division First Team as well as the All NCAA Third Team, and was selected with the 4th pick in the 19 draft91, aged.. 25 years old.

But even with such a late start, Mutombo had a long and fruitful career, spending as many as 18 seasons in the league!

He achieved everything, almost everything. Dikembe never received the coveted ring, but few would say that his career was not a success.

Throughout his career, the Congolese basketball player has demonstrated high professionalism, quality defense and incredible block shots. Mutombo was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year four times, was elected to the league's All-Stars three times, and took part in the All-Star game eight times.

Tim Dancan

When he started: 1991 (15 years)

Statistics for career: 19.0 + 10.8 + 3.0 + 2.2

Achievements for career: 5-time champion Nba, NBA, NBA, 5-time champion NBA, NBA, 5-time NBA, 5-time champion NBA, 5-time NBA 2-time MVP, 3-time Finals MVP, 15-time All-Star, 15-time All-Star (10 times first), 15-time Defensive Five, Rookie of the Year, 2003 Athlete of the Year, NCAA Player of the Year .

Tim Duncan is the best basketball player of the 2000s and possibly the greatest basketball player of the 21st century. Try to convince me of this as much as you like, but such a stable, unselfish and simply excellent player is very difficult to find. Duncan is a hard worker who does an enormous amount of work from game to game, from season to season, without requiring any attention and encouragement from the basketball community.

But it all started in the Virgin Islands, when young Tim, looking at his sister Trisha, who was a swimmer, wanted to follow in her footsteps. Duncan trained hard day after day and dreamed of taking part in the 1992 Olympic Games.

But his dream was not destined to come true. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo swept through the Caribbean and caused damage to many countries, including Tim Duncan's native Virgin Islands. And everything would be fine, but the same hurricane destroyed the only pool on the islands and Duncan now had nowhere to train.

You say - hey, if he lives on an island, then the ocean is around! Why shouldn't he train there? It's very simple - Duncan is terrified of sharks. That is why his swimming career ended so early.

At the age of 15, Duncan picks up a basketball for the first time and starts playing for the school team. And here is what his first coach said about Timmy:

Duncan was just huge. He was big and tall, I haven't trained players like that for a long time. But despite all his dimensions - he was just terribly clumsy!

Gradually Tim began to improve, averaging 25 points in his senior year at school. His game has attracted a large number of universities and colleges from all over America. And Wake Forest offered the young player an athletic scholarship.

In college, Duncan begins to develop his usual playing style. Simple but effective. Duncan combined many aspects of the game, such as high-quality post play, open mid-range shots, and tough defense. It was this style that helped not only him, but also his team, to show good results in the NCAA.

Duncan, one of the few superstars (if not the only one) who spent all four years of college! All because he promised his mother, who died the day before Tim's 14th birthday, that he would graduate from college and get an education.

In the end, over 4 years in college, Tim was 97-31, scored over 2,000 points, 1,500 rebounds and 400 blocks and was automatically selected for the 1998 draft, where he was selected with the first pick of the San Antonio Spurs.

With the Spurs, Duncan first became David Robinson's assistant, then became a team leader himself for many years. San Antonio is a 15-year dynasty, just like the New England Patriots (as a fan of all Boston teams, I just had to compare the two franchises). And all this time, the main face of the team was Tim Duncan, the man who achieved everything in the NBA.

Yannis Antetokunmpo

When I started: 2007 (13 years)

Statistics for the career: 12.2 + 6.6 + 2.9 + 1.1

Achiors: the most progressive player NBA, 2-Crass All-Star Team Member, 2nd NBA Team.

Giannis was born in Grezzi, in a family of Nigerian immigrants and until the age of 13 he played only football, having absolutely no idea what basketball is and who needs it at all.

Yannis and his family had a hard time, to put it mildly. There was a catastrophic lack of money, so he and his brother sold all sorts of trinkets, watches, bags on the streets, trying to somehow help their parents with finances. Well, after a hard day, Giannis and his brother went to the football field and chased the ball until late.

That was until 2007, when basketball appeared in the life of the young Antetokounmpo.

The young player fell in love with the game and started devoting all his free time to developing his basketball skills. And it paid off! Two years later, in 2009, Giannis starts playing for Fylatlitikos youth team.

In 2012, The Greek Freak made the main roster, spent a mid-season in the Greek League Two and entered the 2013 draft, where the Milwaukee Bucks nonetheless were selected.

Giannis' NBA career developed over three seasons. The coaching staff worked very competently here, which, as Antetokounmpo performed in the league, gradually loaded him with new baggage of knowledge and skills. Giannis soaked it all up like a sponge and as time went by, his minutes played and his role in the team increased.

Now Giannis is the future of basketball, the second LeBron, the man who can make the Eurostep from the three-point line. I'm afraid to imagine what will happen to this player in the future, because Giannis is only 23 years old! And he is already a franchise player and will progress in each next season.

Mark Eaton

Started: 1977 (21 years old)

Career stats: 6.0 + 7.9 + 1.00003

Achievements: 2x Defensive Player of the Year, All-Star, 4x Block Shot Leader, 3x Defensive Five.