Basketball Training: Skills, Speed, and Strength » coaching U

The Four Elements of a Great Basketball Team

Rich — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:19:53 +0000

Having been fortunate enough to see Kevin Eastman speak last fall I have found myself enamoured by many of the great points that he made, particularly those that had to do with defense and gaining a competitive edge. The following list (Eastman always has lists) contains a little bit of both, I imagine because teams that have a competitive edge are usually the ones who play great defense. This list illustrates the four most important characteristics that great teams must have. You will see that the elements of this list are quite simple but as always it is the simple things that equate to great success.

1. Commitment by the players to DEFENSE.

“To those whom defense is not important they will have the best seat in the house.” -Rick Majerus

2. Habits created in practice.

3. Focus.

4. Passion (a competitive motor).

Game Changers

Rich — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:50:20 +0000

In late August, I was fortunate enough to attend and invite only Coaching U Clinic at Kean Univesrsity. The two day clinic was given by Kevin Eastman and Brendan Suhr and was one of the most valuable clinics that I have ever attended. There were so many topics that were covered over the course of two days that it was hard not to walk out of there with a wealth of knowledge.

During one of Kevin Eastman’s presentations, he spoke about game changers, what they were, and there affect on the game. Here are four game changers that I picked up from Kevin Eastman. This may seem simple and trivial but these are the little things that make a big difference in the game.

1. 50/50 Game

Long rebounds, loose balls, etc. We need to control 75% of them.

2. Be the first to the floor.

3. Charges

One per quarter.

4. Deflections

24 in a 32 minute game.

The more you go after, the more you get.

The 6 Keys of Basketball Skill Development

Rich — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:29:05 +0000

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, I was fortunate enough to attend the Coaching U clinic created and presented by Brendan Suhr and Kevin Eastman. Their intention is to give you as much basketball related information as possible over a two day period, and they DEFINITELY delivered. Kevin Eastman is widely regarded as one of the best in the world at individual skill development, so in order for me to better the Elite Basketball Training brand I felt that it was necessary for me to attend. During Kevin Eastman’s presentation on skill development, he discussed what he considered to be the six keys to basketball skill development. Those six keys are:

1) Have as many drills in your workout as possible that are equal to or faster than the game itself.

2) Understand that it is a process to improve your skills.

3) Eliminate the workout killers (fatigue and boredom)

4) Always have a written workout program.

5) There are five areas that need to be touched upon in each individual workout:

Conditioning (add movement to your drills)
Weak hand development
Shooting
Footwork and balance
Playing through contact

6) The Theory of Two

We can show any player any skill in two minutes or less.
It will take two weeks of you working on it every day for you to become comfortable with that skill.
It will take two months before they can use it in any game.

Having read through these six keys to basketball skill development, ask yourself if your workouts include all six keys. If so, then you are ahead of the game. If not, it would be best to rethink your workouts and make the necessary adjustments because in the end it will only make you a better basketball player or coach.