Three on three basketball can and should be used to develop your team’s offense because the games can be altered in many ways in order to fit your offensively philosophy.  At yesterday’s practice, we worked on multiple variations of three on three basketball in order to help develop our team offense and defense (which will be covered in the next post).  Each game was to one point and the loser would rotate off while the winner stayed and played the next team.  We used both sides of the court so that teams would not be standing for a long period of time.  Each block of games which usually lasted for 10 minutes had certain variables that needed to be followed and worked on based on our team’s offensive principles.   Offensively we run the dribble drive but with more movement off the ball and some added pick and roll sets. Consequently, we worked on all of these concepts during our three on three play.   

The first concept that we worked on was moving without the ball.  In order to do so effectively, the players were not allowed to dribble at all during this time period.   Too many players get caught dribbling too much and the other players tend to stand around and watch.  By eliminating the player’s dribbles it forces them to rely on cutting and screening in order to get an open look at the basket. 

During the second block of games, the players were all given one dribble per touch.  Once again, this forces them to really move without the basketball in order to get open looks but at the same time, they were now working on using their dribble for a purpose.  Players can do more than they think with one dribble provided they use their dribble to attack a gap and force a teammate’s defender to help or attack the basket and score.  By limiting the number of dribbles a player has, they are forced to use their dribble properly or they will waste an opportunity to score. 

As we progressed into the next block of games, we allowed each player three dribbles on each touch.  Now we were getting into more of the dribble drive offense’s concepts.  Once again because of the limited number of dribbles, the players had to learn to attack properly with their dribble in order to be productive, but at the same time they were still forced to rely on moving without the basketball and setting screens in order to keep their spacing and create driving lanes for the man with the ball. 

The final variable that we added was that the score had to come off the pick and roll.  Each player still only had three dribbles per touch because we wanted to work on attacking off the pick and roll effectively and not with an excessive number of dribbles.  My players are drilled to go by screener tight with their shoulder low enough that they actually hit the screener’s hip.  It is preferable that they use two dribbles while coming off the pick and roll with the second dribble being the one to clear them from the pick and attack the space that is being created by the action.  It is preferred that the player with the ball attack coming off the pick and should not go sideways.  Attacking while coming off the pick will put the defenders at a disadvantage when trying to help and recover and should lead to better scoring opportunities.  On the other hand, cominf of the pick and attacking laterally creates an easy help and recover opportunity for the defenders. 

Once we had worked on all our offensive variables, there was an, “anything goes” session of three on three.  This is meant to work on all of the concepts we had worked on in the previous four sessions while allowing the players to use their own creativity within the offense.  This is an important concept because players are too often confined to what their coaches want them to do that it actually limits their capabilities as a player.  A player’s creativity can sometimes be the best part of their game and it should be cultivated to make your team better. 

Ultimately, making the team better is the goal of every practice and game and three on three basketball can go a long way towards accomplishing this goal.  Using three on three basketball can be a highly efficient way of developing your team offense.  The games can be short, competitive, and altered in a way that fits your team’s offensive concepts.  By adding rules to the games, the players are able to work on those concepts more effectively.  Since there are fewer players per team than in a regular game, each player will get more opportunities to work on the designated concept.  Also, because the games are short (only one point games) it forces the players to compete harder in order to win and stay on the court.  Consequently, they will try to execute the concepts better more often and more efficiently in their attempts to win.  Overall, three on three basketball is an excellent way to develop your basketball team’s offensive concepts and improve in a game like setting.

At the end of each workout, right before we do what I like to call “Abs of Fury”  we usually have some sort of finisher that really taxes the body.  Last week, we turned it into a competition which I actually was forced out of retirement to compete in due to an uneven number of participants.  Instead of just doing our regular prowler sprints, we turned it into a timed relay race where each team member had to go a certain distance and back.  It was a close one until the end, so check out the video below to find out what happened and who won. 

Remember the registration for the fall Elite Basketball Bootcamp is already out.  If you are interested in signing up, click here ==> Elite Basketball Bootcamp Fall 2010  

If you are not convinced that the Elite Basketball Bootcamp workouts are for you, give one a try.  Contact me at rstoner42@gmail.com to schedule a FREE training session with the current bootcamp members. 

Enjoy the video:

The 12 Cone Ballhandling Drill is usually done for a specific period of time (ex. 30 seconds) with each move.  The players can and should incorporate all their change of directions moves into the drill.  As the player gets more advanced, they should also use double change of directions moves in order to make the drill more challenging.  While doing this drill, it is important to make sure that the player is moving quickly fom cone to cone, staying low with their body and the dribble throughout the entire segment of the drill, and moving past each cone explosively as if to simulate beating a defender.  Ultimately, this is a great drill for guards to build up their guard skills, but it can and should be used by all players looking to develop better ballhandling skills.

Categories: Ballhandling / Dribbling  Offensive Moves  
Ages: All Ages  Youth  Middle School  High School+  

Purpose of the Drill:

The purpose of this drill is to allow players to work on creating space while using their back-dribble and then change directions.

Instructions

• The player will attack each chair off the dribble, one after the other, at full speed.
• As they approach the chair, they should use their back-dribble to create space for themselves as the chair represents a defender.
• They will then change directions with a change of direction move (crossover, between the legs, behind the back, etc.) and attack the rim for a finish.
• They then repeat the process at each chair.

Points of Emphasis:

• Attack at full speed. Not doing this, will defeat the purpose of using the back dribble.
• Push off the front leg in order to create more space for themselves.
• Work on attacking with both hands.
• Stay low in the backdribble and attack off the change of direction quickly.
• Work on finishing at the rim and shooting the jumper off the dribble.
• You can even incorporate a post player into this drill to allow the guard to drop off a pass to them.

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

• Use a prescribed number of made shots before moving on to the next chair.

In order to guage these categories, we started off on Tuesday with some simple baseline testing to determine where these athletes were at.  I cannot stress enough how important testing is for anyone beginning a strength and conditioning program.  It helps an athlete and a coach determine where they are, where they want to go, and how they are going to get there.  On Tuesday we tested many facets that are important to the game of basketball including speed, agility without a change of movement, agility with a change of movement, strength, and vertical jump.  All of the athletes’ times, repetitions, and heights were recorded so that they can be compared to when we test again at the end of the bootcamp.

Some of the scores for the tests were really good and I cannot wait to see how far they can go by pushing there bodies to the limits this summer.  Today is our first true workout and it is going to be a tough one, but with the positive energy that was displayed on Tuesday and the willingness to work hard, there is no doubt they will get through it.

If you are interested in signing up for The Elite Basketball Bootcamp, there is still time.  Simply go to Elite Basketball Bootcamp and return the printable brochure to me.

Categories: Agility  Defense  Footwork  
Ages: All Ages  Youth  Middle School  High School+  

Purpose of the Drill:

The purpose of this drill is to work on agility while combining different movement patterns.

Instructions

• The player chooses any movement (two step, three step, four step, hops, lateral two steps, etc.) pattern to run through the ladder, slides diagonally back to the beinning of the other ladder where they run through the other ladder, and slide back to the beginning of the first.

Points of Emphasis:

• Move through the ladder as quickly as possible.
• Be sure to use different movement patterns while running through the ladder.
• Stay low on the slides.
• Change directions from the ladder into the slides as quickly as possible.

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

• Time the drill.

The event, which in the past has raised over $4o0,000 for this organization, was excellent, but the message the speakers sent was even greater.  The common theme they all delivered was belief.   This message, although simple, can produce profound results.  Many times, because of their background, young student athletes do not have someone to believe in them.  Having a person believe in you can determine your success or failure.  Without that support system, these student athletes may not reach their potential or, at worst, fail.   There are many children out there today that do not have a support system and this is unfortunate.   It only takes one person to come along and say, “Hey, you can be successful,” to make the difference in a child’s life.  This is something that I have personally experienced myself when I was growing up and it is something that I try to impart upon the athletes that I train and coach.  On a higher level, The Rising Stars organization does this with so many of our young children.  By believing in them, it gives them a chance.  It gets these children in the game and once in that game, anything can happen.

All of this starts with that common message of belief.  As stated earlier, I have been fortunate enough to have many people believe in me and what I am trying to accomplish.  At the same time, I am sure that guys like Michael Strahan, Marcellus Wiley, Jay Williams, Jeff Nelson, and Chris Duhon all had people who believed in them as well.  Believing in someone can make a difference, and so can you. 

If you would like more information about The Rising Stars and how you can contribute, please visit this link: http://www.jaywillrisingstars.org/

PS. Speaking of seeing you on the court, try this fun basketball agility drill with your team, I think they will really enjoy it!

Follow the Leader

Categories: Agility, Ballhandling / Dribbling, Defense, Footwork, Offensive Moves

 Ages: All Ages, Youth, Middle School, High School+

Purpose of the Drill:

To practice changing directions without the help of a patterned movement.

Instructions

• Player 1 will start in front of player 2.
• Player 1 will start off sprinting or sliding in any direction and should change directions throughout while player 2 should follow player 1′s movements and change directions when he does.

• This is the same as the previous step except in this variation, both players are running through the drill with a basketball.

Points of Emphasis:

• Sprinting and sliding with your head up in order to view your partner’s change of direction.
• Planting hard in order to change direction.
• Making a quick move in order to stay with your partner.

Motivation/Teaching Tips:

• Try to beat your partner by changing directions effectively.
• Create a competition to see who can be the best follow the leader.

Because we were training for basketball, we kep moving throughout the entire workout and limited our breaks to a minute at the most.  We started out with an excellent dynamic warmup and then got into our acceleration and agility drills.  Acceleration and agility are such an important part of the game of basketball that I would be remiss if I did not include them in every workout.  The drills we used were what I call, “find it and get it drills.”  These are partner drills where one player stands on the sideline facing the court and their partner stands behind them with a basketball.  The partner with the ball tosses the ball over their partner’s head and they have to chase it down before it bounces twice.  When they catch the ball, they must pivot properly and pass the ball back to their partner.  The next step was to add two basketballs and throw the second one in a different direction than the first and have the player defensive slide to it and get it.  Finally, the last portion of this is what I call “Two Ball Dance.”  This has the same premise as the second phase of the “Find it and Get it” drill but the player continuously moves side to side, backwards, and forwards, chasing after basketballs and passing them back to their partner for 30 seconds.

Having completed the agility and acceleration drills, we moved on to our strength drills which consisted of overhead med ball walking lunges supersetted with pushups on the basketball.  Then we got into some plyometric work which included lateral hurdle hops supersetted with 30 seconds of jumping rope. Then the last of these drills was a combination agility and plyometric drill.  The players had to slide to one end of the lane to pick up a medicine ball, slide back to the other side to put it down and then slide back to the other side where their partner would bounce a basketball up high for the player to jump up, grab it, and finish at the rim.  The process was then repeated two more times and then the players switched.  During this drill, we worked on going after the basketball and finishing in different ways (straight up or with a head fake or a step through).   

The final portion of the workout was dedicated to core development and a finisher.  The core training consisted of planks with our hands on the basketball, planks with our feet on the ball, toe touches with the basketball, Russian Twists with the basketball, and finally, figure eights with the basketball.  We completed two rounds of this and then moved on to our finisher. 

Yes, after all of that, we still needed a finisher.  Remember, this is Elite Basketball Training where the workouts are not only meant to be functional, but designed to be harder than the game itself.  So our finisher consisted of a four line suicide with three squat jumps at each line.  This was a great way to end an excellend strength and conditioning workout, but these girls were not done.   As I was leaving, they began to work on their skill development and team concepts.  That is dedication!  That is what is going to make these girls Elite Basketball Players.

• Never give a scholarship to a person who you wouldn’t want to come to your house.
• Everything starts with personal integrity.
• The guys around your team; teammates, have to be good for your team to have the success they are capable of achieving.
• Coaches need to let players be part owners of that team so they feel how important the outcome is; like a coach feels in the outcome of a big game or a great practice. 
• Coaches will do as much as they can get away with, just like players.
• John Wooden rarely talked about winning and losing.  He talked about doing everything the right way.
• Red understood leadership and how to get the most out of his guys.  He was a teacher first and foremost.
• Bill Russell feels that if you break the opponents game down too much, you can over analyze.  Don’t over analyze.
• The best players play with their heart and mind.
• The problems with players have always been out there.  It just depends on which type of players you want to coach.