That Basketball Life

There are many different metrics which are used by coaches to gage why a result of a game may have turned out the way it did.  Some like to use turnovers, others like to use rebounding differential, others like to use field goal percentage, and the list goes on and on.  The one metric that I like to use takes many of the stats other coaches use and combines them into one figure and it is called Quality Possessions Percentage (QP%).

“ There may be people that have more talent than you, but theres no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” – Derek Jeter

Coaching young kids under the age of 10 is a huge responsibility and one that should be taken seriously.  There are a lot of decisions that need to be made.  You need to teach them fundamentals at that age but how do you go about doing it?  How fast should you go?  How do you keep them interested?  Do you toss in coordination drills as well?  How often do you have them play a game?  Should those games be played 5 a side or with less players.  How about defense?  Do you teach them man to man principles from a young age and have them build on that or do you teach them a zone? Finally what about offense?  Do you teach them a structured offense or do you teach them about floor balance and pass and move basketball?  This post is aimed to addressing all of these questions.

Basketball is a game and a game is supposed to be fun.  As a coach you can't lose sight of that. The main reason why your players play is because they want to have fun.  When the game stops being fun then you've lost your players.

Ever since I first touched a basketball I have loved this game.  Growing up in Chicago and being able to witness the Michael Jordan years cemented my love for the game.  Rain or shine, cold or snow, sunshine or darkness, I would always be outside shooting hoops in the backyard.  My neighbors must have thought I was nuts but nobody ever complained.  Through all of the practice, I did manage to become a decent basketball player and I could hold my own in most pick up games, but I made the huge mistake of not trying out for my high school team.  As a greek kid growing up in the US, your identity comes from the church you attend.  I attended Holy Trinity church in Chicago and made most of my friends and acquaintances at the church.  It was because of this that my loyalty belonged to the church and I made my choice to play basketball in a church league instead of in high school.  Now don't get me wrong, I was never good enough to play ball beyond the h...

Footwork drills include doing all of the necessary footwork drills in basketball repetitively until they become second nature.   Do each of the below 3 times and make sure you use both legs if the drill is one legged.  The workout should be done once per week.