No on  to Kevin Eastman and his thoughts on transition defense which he spoke about at a recent basketball coaches clinic that I attended.  The following are his nine key components:

1. Get back and get set.
2. Keep the ball out of the paint.
3. Apply intelligent pressure.
4. Only give up a contested two point shot.
5. Gang rebound.
6. Take care of the paint, the ball, and three point shots.
7. Closeout properly and help (sprint to both, let who ever is guarding the ball know that their are no driving lanes).
8. Talk, Talk, Talk.
9. Be a Hit first team. 

These thoughts are fantastic and definitely something that basketball coaches should use to formulate their own transition defensive philosophy.  For a more detailed approach, I encourage you all to read my post on The Keys to Effective Transition Defense.

That’s all for now, but please let the Elite Basketball Training community know your thoughts on transition defense by post a comment below.  Until then,

See you on the court!

Rich Stoner

Two Friday’s ago I attended the Garden State Coaches for the sixth straight year and as always, it did not dissapoint.  As far as basketball clinics go you would be hard pressed to find a better lineup than the one that they had there that day.  Kevin Eastman, Mike Fratello, Fran Fraschilla, Hubie Brown, and Joe Paglia all gave great presentations on various topics that I will be posting for you guys over the course of the next month, or so, leading right up to basketball season. 

For those of you who do not know, Kevin Eastman is an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics  and one of the foremost authorities on individual skill development for basketball in the world.  If you have ever seen him speak before you know he speaks in lists, and lots of them.  Man does he over deliver which is why I always try to get to see him when he comes out this way.

So let’s get started right now with Kevin Eastman’s thoughts on leadership and talent.

1. Do you occupy the seat or do you execute the position?
2. Leadership can build and leadership can destroy.
3. Talent can but does not always mean leadership.

There is physical talent and mental talent, the mental talent makes for better leaders. Consequently, we do not want talent on the team; we want the team to be talented.

The “ed” in talented stands for “Extra Dimension.”

Talent puts points in the basket.  Talented does the following:

• Makes teammates better.
• Makes the team better.
• Makes himself better by taking care of 1 and 2.

I thought these were fantastic points that Kevin made and I left them up to you to interpret.  Please let us all know your thoughts on any or all of them by responding in the comments section below.  Thanks.

See you on the court!

Rich Stoner

One of Coach Eastman’s main concepts that he feels should be included in every skill building workout is weak hand devlopment.  Working on this skill in a variety of ways will allow players to pass, dribble, shoot, and finish with their weak hand.  This can be done in a variety of ways, but one of the more basic ways is seen in the video below.  This video will show you how to incorporate weak hand development into a workout for beginners.  There will be videos to follow really soon on more advanced weak hand development drills, but if any of you know of some other ways to work on your weak hand please let the Elite Basketball Training community know about them by responding in the comments section. 

Train hard, be efficient, and I will see you on the court.

Rich Stoner

1. Hard dribble.  If we know you have a soft dribble, we will trap you and force turnovers.  (Add pound dribbles to your drills)
2. Get your shoulders to their hips on dribble penetration.  “It’s a shoulders game.”
3. Play low to high.
4. Be ready on the catch.  After the catch is too late.
5. Moves to master:

Guards: Catch and shoot, Catch and shoot off the dribble, and Catch and quick penetration.

Bigs: Jump hook, drop step and dribble drop step, up and under, quick spin, perpendicular post (turn and face).

It is highly important that when developing basketball skills, players and coaches include these must haves in their workouts.  These are fundamental skills but as always, it is the mastery of the fundamentals that make great players.

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).

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.

1. Get shots in the following ways: off quick penetration (catch the ball and go) and shot fake pentration.
2. Get shots from the player’s operational areas.  Know the shots that they get within their system by charting the shots they take at each area in the system.
3. Get finish at the rim shots. When you get to the rim, you have to have solutions (different types of finishing shots).  If you only have one hand, you cut off 50% of your solutions.
4. Get game shots from game spots at game speed.
5. Demand perfect form on every shot (that’s one type of shot taken perfectly many times).
6. Contest the shots the player takes. There are three ways to contest the shot: simple contest (let them shoot with a  hand in their face), foul contest (let them shoot then hit them in the arms), and anything goes (hit them anywhere after the release). 
7. Chart shots as much as possible.  This allows them to see their score and progress.  Whether they shoot well or poorly, if they can see what they did, they will want to come back next time.
8. Never miss two in a row.
9. Develop shooting stamina.  To do this, you will have to do a certain amount of your workout on the move.
10. Have hidden workouts.  These are workouts that when the coach tells you to go home and rest, the player goes out and shoots some more. 

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.