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How to dominate high school basketball
How to dominate high school basketball
6 Ways to be a Top High School Basketball Player
Basketball Tip
NBC Basketball Camps trains thousands of high school athletes each year. Here are six ways you can become a top high school basketball player.
1. Be willing to work hard. Can you define hard work? For a top level high school and college coach, here is what hard work means. Your attitude and demeanor on the courts needs to be intense, focused, aggressive and no-nonsense. Your play should include taking charges, diving on the floor for loose balls, running the floor, constant "in your face" pressure on the ball when defending, strong attack moves to the hoop which are effective. Effective=ends with a basket.
2. Be powerful. Great players are not pushed around. They dictate the tempo, intensity, rhythm of the game. You decide where you want to go or not go on offense, not your opponent.![]()
On defense, you decide where your opponent goes. You disrupt his or her game. Learn to use your body to impose your WILL both offensively and defensively.
3. Be smart and understand the system. Every coach has a system and philosophy to be successful. You need to know what he or she wants. Some teams require a point guard to have no more than 3 turnovers a game. If you take too many risks on that team as a point guard you are going to sit down. Know what the coach values. Does he or she value conservative play? Does he or she want run and gun? See the big picture and learn how to play within this system.
4. Be strong, fast and quick. These are the separators between high school athletes who will go on to the college level. One of our alum campers playing in the NBA is an amazing athlete a premier shooter, but he is getting beat on defense because his foot speed is too slow to stop a player one-on-one and even though he is 6'7" he is not strong enough in the post. We want him to do well and encourage him to work on his strength and speed, to get a program and work it hard.
Be sure to meet with a physical therapist as well as a trainer because you need to know what you must do to prevent injury. Live in the weight room during the off-season.
5. Be humble and lead by example. Care about the team by being selfless and not concerned about your name in the paper. Do the little things well, serve others and you will be blessed.
6. Find the separators. God has given each of us natural abilities. A girl who is 6'3" as a sophomore, really quick, long and strong may not have good skills but she will get letters from Division 1 programs. Coaches recruit body types. If you genetically do not have a Division 1 build, you have a much harder road. You have to rise above the multitude of athletes who all have the same dream. You have to find the separators: speed, strength, wisdom, leadership, shooting, passing, impeccable skills, and the WILL to work harder than your competition.
NBC Basketball is a program designed to help you become your best on and off the court.
Advanced High School Camp training options through NBC Camps: Boys College-Prep Basketball Camp attracting Division 1 prospects from around the world, for Girls NBC Camps has HS Girls Advanced Campin Spokane, WA, and Boys and Girls Total Basketball Camp, intensive college prep training north of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.
NBC Basketball Camps is a proud affiliate of the US Sports Nike Camps network. For more information about NBC Basketball Camps visit www.nbccamps.com.
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8 Tryout Tips Guaranteed to Get You Noticed (And What To Avoid So You Don't Get Cut)
Do you know exactly what the coach is looking for in tryouts? Do you know everything you need to do?
You may think that you do, but its highly unlikely.
Actually, what you think would help with tryouts may be the exact reason you get cut from the team. Sad thing is that Ive seen players like you make these critical mistakes over and over and over again.
Ive been fortunate to conduct tryouts for youth clubs with over 400 kids. Ive also been part of high school varsity tryouts with 100 kids for a state championship caliber team at the high school level.
Im able to give you the critical tips that can help you make the team and avoid those mistakes that get you cut.
Like this article? Download it as a free PDF! (Download Now!)
1. Do what you do well.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is trying to impress the coach by doing things that are outside your skill set. This often results in a disaster for you.
If you are a good rebounder, grab every rebound.
If you are a good shooter, shoot when you are open.
If you are a good finisher, attack the basket when a lane is open.
If you are a good ball handler, make the simple passes, the simple moves.
If you are not a good 3-point shooter, dont step out and shoot one during tryouts.
Ive seen kids literally hit the side of the backboard trying to do this.
The coach will instantly think, Wow. This kid does not know a thing about shot selection. Maybe hes a low IQ kid.
Trust me... with the limited time that a coach can see you... this is not the impression you want to make. Even if you play great the rest of the time, the coach already has impression about you and thats hard to change.
Here is a good measure... can you make 7 out of 10 shots unguarded from a spot. Maybe 6 out of 10 for youth players. If not, dont take the shot at tryouts.
2. Hustle! Hustle! Hustle!
There is no excuse for any player on this one. You just have to commit and develop that mentality.
When the ball is on the floor, dive on the floor. Box out on every shot. Sprint on the fast break. Sprint to spots on the floor on defense.
Communicate on defense and offense.
Be loud and do it often.
These are things that every player can do and every player should do.
This is why you see players who arent skilled make the team. Theyre willing to do the little things that make teams good or great.
3. Dont be just one of the guys in the crowd - Make a great first impression.
Here is a great way to make a first impression.
When the coach calls everybody in at the beginning of the first tryout...
Instead of walking out there or jogging out there like every other kid.
Sprint! Sprint directly to the coach and stand right in front of him. Stand tall and keep eye contact on the coach during the entire talk.
I guarantee youll have the coachs attention. Ive conducted tryouts. Ive been in rooms with coaches discussing who to cut. This makes a difference.
Your buddies may give you some crap, but youll be the one laughing when you make the team or get more playing time than them.
4. Avoid the amazing play mentality. Do something that makes you stand out in a positive way.
This is not what you think. This is not making an amazing play. Remember... do what you do well.
Flashy doesnt impress coaches. It may look cool on the playground, but thats why you dont see NBA guys doing streetball moves during games. Its flash. Its hype. Its not effective against good players.
You should do something with substance that coaches will notice in a positive way.
Earlier, I mentioned communicate on defense.
One time when I was conducting a tryout for 3rd to 8th graders, we were with the 4th grader session.
All of the sudden, across the gym, I hear a blaring yell Screen! Screen! Screen! It was from this little guy named Tommy.
Ten seconds later, I hear Tommy yell again, I got ball!
This continued the whole day.
He communicated early. He communicated loud. He communicated often. (ELO Early Loud Often. Kevin Eastman would have been proud.)
There may have been 30 other kids communicating in the gym, but he is the only one I remembered. I didnt know him before the tryouts, but I sure know him now. Guess what... he made the first team.
5. Dont be shy Talk to the coaches before tryouts.
Too many make the big mistake of being too shy to talk to the coach. And this can make a huge difference with making the team.
Sometimes, this simple act will elevate you in the eyes of the coaches because they know that you care and youll do whatever it takes to help the team.
Be specific. Tell the coach that you really want to make the team. Ask them what they need on their team.
6. Be a great teammate Great attitude and sportsmanship
Every coach wants a player who is a great teammate and makes the players better around them.
You can do this by...
Being a great practice player and challenging your teammates during practice to make the team better.
By putting everybody in a better mood with your positive attitude. Lets face it... were all humans and its more enjoyable to have a little fun in life. Nobody wants to be around a person with a poor attitude.
Display great sportsmanship. When a coach sees you helping players off the floor and playing hard but clean basketball, they know that they can count on you not to lose your cool and hurt your team in a negative way at an important time.
7. Get there early / warm up properly.
Getting there early shows the coach that you care and that he can depend on you to show up on time to practices and games.
Also, make sure to warm up prior to playing, so you are playing your best as soon as the whistle blows. First impressions are very important.
8. Who cares if you screw up Next play!
If you make a mistake... oh well, it happens. Everybody makes mistakes.
Always go on to the next play.
The best players react in a positive way to those mistakes and dont let them snowball into a bunch of mistakes.
There are no guarantees in life. However, if you use the tips mentioned above, you will dramatically increase your chances to make the team and earning more playing time.
If you are serious about becoming a better player, we offer Basketball Camps throughout the country during the spring, summer, and fall.
To check out the different camps, Click Here.
Recommended DVDs & eBook:
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The Attack & Counter Skill Development System
This eBook & DVDs will improve your shooting, ballhandling, footwork, perimeter moves, post moves, finishing, aggressiveness, quickness, confidence, mentality, and your all-around game!
Designed by NBA skills coach Don Kelbick, this unique and comprehensive system is incredibly simple when compared to other skill development programs. Yet it works with NBA and pro players at the highest level... (more info)
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What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...
School basketball: 6 tips for young snipers
Many kids love team games with the ball — football, volleyball, basketball. These sports are included in the school physical education curriculum. Perhaps the easiest way to equip a gym for basketball is to have a couple of rings fixed at a suitable height and a few balls.
Unlike professional basketball, not every player in school basketball can boast of good ball dribbling, passing accuracy and most importantly - scoring shots.
But it is for hitting the ball into the basket, as you know, points are awarded. Of course, the team that has more tall guys has an advantage, but this is not the main indicator, because almost everyone can learn accuracy.
So, what needs to be done for this?
1 Exercise regularly
It is easy to guess that the path to success lies through hard training. In physical education classes, the ball can generally touch your hands a number of times, so train accuracy is better after hours, before or after school, slowly - on any sports ground where there is a basketball hoop. At the same time, the student must be rested, full of energy: after a particularly difficult school day or immediately after eating, it is undesirable to train.
2 Start with light drills
First you can stand a couple of meters from the basket (left or right) and try to send the ball into it bouncing off the backboard. Despite the fact that many pros consider such hits to be "childish", one can recall that such a throw became "gold" at the Olympics-1972: this is how Alexander Belov brought victory to Soviet athletes in a match with the US team.
3 Practice clean throws
The ability to hit the basket without rebounding off the shield or ring is a useful skill and an indicator of a certain skill.
Moreover, this is a great challenge to yourself: you always want to make a beautiful and accurate throw, even in training. The trajectory of the ball in this case must be high, so that it can descend in an arc exactly on the target.
4 Work on free throws
Free throws are rare in high school basketball if it's not officiated, but it's still useful to learn this skill. But only trained guys get free kicks: after all, it is necessary that the ball not only hit the basket, but also fly to it, given that such throws are made from afar. Before each attempt, you need to take a deep breath and exhale: in no case should you rush, but it is useful to concentrate and imagine that the fate of the match depends on your hit.
5 Practice long shots as well
As a rule, in high school basketball no one blocks such shots (and blocking is rare in general), believing that you can only get hit by chance. Of course, a player without experience can only rely on luck, and one who trains hard knows that this can also be learned.
Therefore, if such an opportunity presents itself, you should try to use it. A 3-point shot is always beautiful and sure to give you and your team confidence.
6 Control more than just the throw
After throwing, keep your hands up and mentally follow the flight of the ball. Practice has shown that those who remember this (seemingly!) little thing are more productive and control the ball better.
Remember that even natural abilities without work and hard training can remain undiscovered!
Therefore, devote more time to basketball or other outdoor games - of course, not virtual, but real. The skills acquired in them will also allow you to cope with tasks that, at first glance, have nothing to do with physical education and sports.
Photo: pixabay.com/ru/users/KeithJJ-2328014/
Tags: basketball, team sports, sports
Is there a place for friendship in sports?
Media about us
December 21, 2012
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I'm sure every one of my readers has a couple of best friends.
I'm not talking about the ideal literary friendship, like the Musketeers of Alexandre Dumas, when you only speak to each other in a high pathos style and risk your life to pick up your friend's daughter from kindergarten in time. No, I'm talking about normal male friendships. When sometimes your entire conversation between you comes down to swearing and foul language, but unlike those around you, you do not frown and understand each other perfectly; when a friend sends you an SMS “Did you see yesterday’s game?”, and you don’t even need to ask again which game your friend has in mind, and you even guess which episode he wants to discuss; when, during a late party at a friend's house, you go out into the cold because you have run out of cigarettes or bread, and your friend silently puts on a jacket and follows you, just to keep you company. I think that when reading this paragraph, everyone remembered the names of a couple of just such close people; if yes, then you understand what I mean - about real male friendship.
Two things emphasize such friendship, make it stronger, bring it to a level where you no longer need words to understand each other, and your every movement seems to copy the other's movement. This is a joint service in the army and playing on the same team. Which is basically the same thing. I still remember the words of my American track and field coach, John Johnson, a rough and direct man who yelled at me, then a frail lad of seventeen, for my lack of diligence, “Sport is a peaceful war with yourself and with your opponent! Hustle kid! Or literally “Sport is a peaceful war with yourself and with your opponent! Try hard man!" Why are the army and the team so similar? In both cases, you are surrounded by a strict hierarchy - there are officers or coaching staff, there are "old people" and "newcomers", in both cases there is some element of hazing. In both cases, success is possible only in the case of complete unity for the sake of one common goal. In both cases, you all grow together - gaining experience, spending most of your time around each other, growing as individuals, sacrificing something for the common good.
A combination of your loved ones and your favorite sport - isn't that the definition of "happiness"?
It has always been my dream to play on the same team with my best friends. A combination of your loved ones and your favorite sport - isn't that the definition of "happiness"? How can a team built around best friends fail? No way, it's impossible! The most striking example of this is the football "Barcelona". Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Pique, Puyol, Fabregas, Valdes, Bojan, Thiago Alcantara and many others - they all went through the same school, through the same philosophy, they played together all their lives, even if sometimes in different age categories. That is why Barça are invincible - it's not about individual players, it's about the system itself. It's about friendship. Almost everyone wearing a Catalan jersey on the field seems to be playing with their best friends in the yard and enjoying it immensely.
Watch any Barcelona game, whether it's the wildly principled El Clasico vs Real Madrid, the cup game vs Jerez or the Champions League match vs Spartak Moscow.
Pay attention to how they smile before, during and after the match - it's a matter of enjoying playing with each other. Watch what happens when the Catalans score a goal. There are no pretentious half-field runs, no one takes off his shirt and throws it arrogantly on the grass, no jumping over himself or trying to ride the corner flag. Ibrahimovic, Alexis Sanchez and other players who have not gone through La Masia can afford such wildness. Pupils of the Catalan superclub simply gather with the whole team, hug and whisper words of congratulations to each other. Simple, masculine and tasteful - for the point is friendship and male unity. When you face such an opponent, no matter what bright personalities play in your team, the individualist system cannot be stronger than the unity system, and sooner or later you will lose.
What am I getting at? I want to talk about the blue garnet basketball equivalent of the Oklahoma City Thunder. I want to pour out my bitterness and explain why I am wildly sorry for Oklahoma.
And why I hate the Harden trade so much. It doesn't matter what exactly Oklahoma got in return, because this is not about the exchange of one individual player, this is about the destruction of the whole system. No Martin and a whole package of solid picks can replace the male friendship of the Big Thunder Trio.
You know what I think of when I think about the last NBA Finals? Three highlights. The absence of a sensible team game in the style of "San Antonio" - 2007 or "Dallas" -2011 on both sides. LeBron's ingenious dominance. And the final seconds in Game 5 of the Finals, when the Heat's championship was as certain as tomorrow. I looked at the TV picture and looked around for the Oklahoma Big Trio. And I found them - together with the final beep and the beginning of the celebration of the Miami players, they approached each other. Without even looking at each other, they stood side by side, hugged and just watched the newly-minted champions. It lasted literally a minute, but WHAT was that minute - a priceless moment, a minute of real male friendship.
The faces of these three young guys, who have all the talent in the world, read everything that they experienced together on the way to their first and, alas, last joint Final - liters of sweat, endless hours of training, countless practiced shots and game situations, many moments spent together dreaming of victories and championship rings.
These guys are still so young, almost children, all three of them are only a couple of years older than me. Sincere, loving only basketball, simple guys. This can be seen in their behavior and in their actions. Do you know why Durant wears the number 35 on his back all his life? The issue is dedicated to Durant's junior coach from the Amateur Athletic Union, Charles Craig, who was killed at the age of 35. How old was Kevin then - 11-12? During this time, he did not have an ambitious desire to take Jordan's number or anyone else, but a childishly sincere desire to honor the memory of his first mentor and mentor remained.
Do you know what Harden did a few days before the 2009 draft? He took the trouble to find Sam Presti's personal email and wrote him a letter explaining how well James would play with Kevin and Russell.
He did not write to a work email, which was probably listed on the Oklahoma official website and from which it is unlikely to receive an answer due to the huge amount of work correspondence coming there. No, he found a personal email address and contacted the manager directly; but James didn't go on about how he could be a top scorer and didn't ask for a redesign, but just tried to prove that he could be a great addition to an already established team.
Westbrook, despite the generally accepted opinion about him as a narrow-minded and inadequate person, is actually a very sincere guy. As a child, he survived the death of his Lawndale high school teammate, Kelsey Barrs, and is still the only one of that school team who visits the mother of a departed comrade at every opportunity. After so many years, every year, he comes to the town in California, where he spent his childhood, and comes to visit Mrs. Barrs. How many of you have ever done something like this for a friend or relative?
Looking at the drive, drive, desire and passion of last year's Thunder, how these players laughed while hugging on the bench and watching the already won match, you understand that this is not just team chemistry or well-practiced interactions great players.
No, this is another, higher level - this is friendship. Why did Harden give it all up?
Remember the big playoff moment in '94 when Pippen refused to play Game 3 against New York after Jackson demanded a final combination under Toni Kukocha. Big scandal, Bill Cartwright yelling at Scotty with tears in his eyes and not believing that one of the most altruistic players in the history of the league let the team down in the showdown with his selfish behavior. That story did not happen out of the blue - it was a vigorous mixture of complexes, ego and dissatisfaction with unfair wages. Jordan left Chicago for baseball and everything was going to lead Pippen to lead the team, but the Bulls weren't paying him what superstars usually pay, and now he's being robbed of his finest hour? The great Zen master managed to hush up that situation, but it became a kind of precedent.
I think the same would have happened sooner or later with The Bearded Man. He was already sacrificing his stats, his talent for being “that player,” and he agreed to come off the bench even though any team in the league would have given him a spot in the starting lineup and a superstar title.
James swallowed it for the sake of the team and for the sake of his comrades, but when they tried to bend him again, now financially, he could no longer stand it.
It's not about the money itself. Basketball-loving players like Harden, Kobe, Pippen and the like are not interested in banknotes; what is more important is what they, this money, personify. The sport has long since become a business, and the importance of a player is not primarily dictated by his stats or by an unattestable impact on team chemistry; the importance of a player to the vast majority of the public is dictated by the size of his professional contract. They pay a lot - it means they appreciate; if they don’t pay, then it’s not worth it; they don’t want to pay, despite the talents, which means they stupidly want to “fuck”.
Put yourself in Harden's shoes. James is well aware of HOW talented he is and HOW important he is to Oklahoma. But, denying him an adequate salary, Presti seems to be saying, “Listen, bearded man, I value you lower than even Ibaku, but you will still work hard.
” No person with a healthy ego and normal self-esteem can tolerate this. Here, sport stupidly turns into a financial and economic plane, where there is no place for loyalty, unity, and the ideals of male friendship. Therefore, Harden cannot be blamed - he is not Jesus, he did not turn the other cheek.
Should Sam Presti be blamed? Don't know. He is a very intelligent person, but his reasoning confuses me. He figured that the Thunder would not be able to handle Harden's maximum contract and the resulting luxury tax. But Oklahoma is one of the most profitable teams in the league. They sell ALL of their season tickets for the next season BEFORE the previous season has ended. As a last resort, trade Ibaku, who is paid like an All-Star, although he is still far from such a level; or give away Perkins, who is a bit (or a lot?) overpriced. But you never know what else you can think of, having the head and experience of Sam Presti? I don’t understand the financial side of basketball, I’m dizzy from all these “sign & trade”, “mid-level exception” and the provisions of the new collective agreement, but you could have found another way out!
You know what I remembered reading the news about Harden's trade? Robert Sarver and the Suns he ruined between 2004 and 2010.
He gave away Joe Johnson on the cheap, gave away a draft pick to Rondo, took Kurt Thomas for two draft picks, then walked into the arena and spit in the face of every single Phoenix fan. Instead of the brightest team of the decade at the hands of the genius Nash, we got a solid contender from Sarver and a couple of good playoffs. But what a team would be - Nash, Marion, Johnson, Leandro and Stat! When you have SUCH a roster at hand, you need to cherish and cherish it, because the sport is already full of unforeseen circumstances that can ruin a good team. Bill Simmons gives excellent analogies in this case - remember how the Rockets, with Sampson and Hakeem, took over the Western Conference and drove the Lakers back and forth, but Ralph's injuries killed that team? Or how it seemed to us that Shaq and Kobe would take at least five or six rings for themselves, playing on the same team and surpassing the tandem of Michael and Scotty, but the absurd selfish nature of both ruined the Lakers' chances of creating the most unique dynasty in the history of the NBA?
What did we have with the Thunder? Three young, athletic, physically strong guys who are not prone to injury and simply love to play together.
So why destroy it? To hell with financial gain when there is a chance to make history and give the fans an orgasmic pleasure from the Oklahoma game! I realize that I am absolutely wrong in all respects, I do not take into account the realities of the current NBA and financial and economic factors, but what a pity!
Why do I take it all so close to my heart, because we have already seen a lot of quite interesting teams that are gone for a number of reasons? Yes, because I happened to see the birth of those same Thunder, because at that time I was in the USA. I saw Durant join the league, drafted by the then Seattle. I watched a live stream of his first big moment, a second-overtime 3-point win against the Hawks on Nov. 16, 2007, when he was three feet from the arc and shooting with a defenseman slung over his chest. I even remember the enthusiastic words of the commentator "Kevin Durant announces his arrival on the big stage!" (Literally - "Kevin Durant announces his entrance to the big stage!").
Along with the rest of the American sports community, I followed the lawsuit between SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett and Seattle City Hall over the lease of Key Arena. In June 2008, I read in the papers that a federal court had finally succeeded in making a decision granting Bennett the right to move the team to Oklahoma. God knows what news against the backdrop of the Euro-battles that unfolded that month on the fields of Austria and Switzerland, but I, an ardent football fan and a person completely alien to the business realities of America, were still interested in Bennett's actions. A week after the 2008 draft, which I followed on TV and saw then-Seattle pick Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma found its only professional sports team.
I even had a chance to see the new Thunders in person. In snowy Montana, unfortunately, there is not a single professional team, so when the Thunder and Timberwolves announced in August 2008 that they would hold a preseason game in Billings, Montana's largest city on October 8, it caused a crazy stir among basketball fans living in in the fourth largest state in America.
By that time, I was already about to leave the United States, the tickets were already on hand, and this exciting news caused me nothing but bitterness from a missed opportunity.
That's why I still feel a certain affinity for Oklahoma's young franchise - it's very rare that a young Tajik gets the chance to go to America and join hitherto unfamiliar basketball where he was born and developed. And even more rarely you can see the birth of a new interesting team in your favorite league.
I beg your pardon for my inadequacy, but I'm just full of emotions. I already anticipate comments accusing me of basketball idiocy and telling me to stop blogging, but I just can't get over the loss, the sadness, the anger at the business part of such a beautiful and absolute phenomenon as sports. And I'm just speaking from the position of an ordinary fan, madly in love with the best ball game. I am not a "gloryhunter" and not a "popcorn eater", I only care about the sensations and joy that the guys from the Thunder could give us and which we lost.
