Steve Dagostino
@DagsBasketball
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🏀 DEVELOPMENT @nba ➡️ Youth | NY | 2x NCAA All-American | Euro Pro | @USABasketball @usabjnt Court Coach 🇺🇸 | 🏀 Consultant: Coaches/Parents/Trainers/Players
Joined June 2011
Recipe for success every time you walk in the gym. 1. Compete.2. Be Engaged.3. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
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Teaching players how to CATCH THR BALL ON THE MOVE is a huge emphasis of ours. Creates SPACE and MOMENTUM without a dribble. This is ELITE
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SMALL STEPS IN YOUTH DEVELOPMENT . So many young 4th/5th/6th grade players. A get exponentially better if they just spend 10 minutes a day working on the simple things. Dribbles, stops, pivots, finishes, footwork, shots, 1v1. They’ll build a crazy strong foundation that they’ll
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HS players that work on their game, have a good HS career, and then move on with their lives without playing in college don’t get enough credit. Play Bc you love the game, develop work ethic, life skills, etc. then translate it to the rest of their lives!!.
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Catch the Ball on the Move. We worry so much about creating separation with dribble moves, we forget that Players have more opportunities to create separation on the catch.
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BallHandling Warmup. Strength and Posture Focus.Emphasis on Change of Height, Change of Pace. 3 Layers: Walking, Walking to Dribble Moves, Walking to Dribble Move to Stops. Not everything we do needs to be full speed 😉
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Player Movement is great!!. Player Movement without urgency or a purpose is not great. Here is how I explain what to do without the ball, when you don’t know what to do! . *Most players just run towards the ball, stand still, or run to the other side of the floor
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2 Foot Finish. We break down the HOW and WHY for players to understand the How and Why. It also helps to get on the same page with Terminology so we can quickly communicate during live reps
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Watching the best players in the world playing in FIBA Rules >>. NO ONE WILL EVER CONVINCE ME THAT NBA RULES ARE BETTER THAN FIBA RULES‼️‼️ . Imagine watching NBA games with FIBA rules with the best players ACTUALLY PLAYING BASKETBALL. RT this if you agree.
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When I was a High School Senior my Dad made me go watch a D1,D2,D3,JUCO game live. Then asked me if I thought I could play in the game. Seems like a good exercise all these kids should try!.
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THE ANSWER TO ADAM SILVER. Basketball is a simple game… the teams that dominate SIMPLE, have the most success. What Europe does extremely well for their players, is give them a SOLID FOUNDATION of understanding team basketball, give them freedom to build their Individual
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🏀 Situational Reps. ✅ 1 on 1 w defender on hip.✅ Secondary defender on opposite block. 💯 Two points of emphasis this summer for our guys is being comfortable with contact from primary defender and finishing over length in paint. This covers both
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If I'm a college coach, i'm sending this to every HS and AAU Coach of the player i'm recruiting and asking them to answer and sign it. Furthermore, I would ask them to do it with the player. It will spark meaningful conversation of growth for the player and coach.
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I don’t know who needs to see this. But I know this 23 second clip can help a lot of players out there!!
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WE NEED PASSES THAT DON’T MATTER. My college coach used to say this all the time. We need passes that connect our offense, and build rhythm. If every player tries to make a play on every catch, the momentum of the ball stops. A simple way every player can help their offense is
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My son was shooting on his hoop in his room. My wife walked in and said ITS BED TIME. He said NO, ITS SHOOT TIME and shot the ball. She swatted it in to the wall and said, no, ITS BED TIME. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.
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Is there a way to get this in the audio in the ears of every HS and College Player in the world??. ✅Play Hard.✅Guard.✅Put The Team First
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There is only 1 reason to TRAVEL for a youth(5th-8th) basketball tournament-> to give the kids a fun, out of town experience. Any other reason is bs and can be accomplished in a less expensive and more efficient way.
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What’s one thing that deters good players from really having success?? . Trying to be cool!! . It’s hard to be COOL and GOOD
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Trainers would be well served to take a year and coach a team. Doesn’t matter the level. It will give them perspective on how difficult it is to manage players, parents, situations and how much outside noise can impact a team. They’ll realize that anyone outside of the
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🏀 Ballhandling Challenge. ✅ 20 - 2 Ball Pounds.✅ 5 R Hand Passes, 5 L Hand Passes.✅ 20 Combos Cross, Cross, Thru.✅ 50 - 2 Ball Pounds
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Everyone should be playing 3x3 No Dribble. The benefits of 3x3 No Dribble are endless. Offensively it’s Turning n Facing on the catch, being strong with the ball, getting open, finding cuts, etc. Defensively it’s digging in and being aggressive, getting in the passing lanes,
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Balance Shooting. Focusing on covering distance with our last 2 steps, and finding a solid base to quickly lift in to our shot. * Progression is to add pass, then add a defender chasing
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Some players are ‘talented’ but have ‘loser’ traits…. ‘Talented Losers’…. Hard to win with those guys, but they can make a lot of money.
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SHOOTING … SIMPLIFIED. We love to complicate shooting. I try to simplify everything for players so that they can build on it. For shooting, I’ve been using this simple progression. If players have the ability to get behind the ball, under the ball, and through the ball…
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🚨 Daily Challenge . ✅ 20-2 Ball Pounds.✅ 10 Btw Legs / Cross.✅ 20-2 Ball Pounds.✅ 10 Btw Legs / Cross.✅ 20 - 2 Ball Pounds.✅ 10 Cross/Cross/Thru
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🏀 3 Shot Combo. ✅ Flash.✅ Drift n Rip Floater.✅ Pop/Fade. 💯 Changing the shot each time and distance breaks the rhythm of the shooter so it is more game like. I like to emphasize the 3 shots our players take most💪
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Power through your Elbow. So many players miss short because they don’t have a straight path with their elbow and don’t finish high. I like using this concept of pushing their elbow on the lift so they can feel it. Side Note: Elbow and ball lift before body
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Live 1 v 1 Finishing. ✅ Catch ball with momentum and get downhill.✅ Read defender for 1 foot, 2 feet, Pivot Game.✅ initiate contact for separation + finish or find balance and play. Same player on O for 1 minute
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Scholarship offers fall in to 2 categories…. Recruiting Offer: “We like you and are going to really track and recruit you”. The Firm Offer: “We love you and if you say yes the scholarship is yours”. Huge difference between the 2, and sometimes it’s best to clarify.
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A HUGE ISSUE in todays game is players inability to KEEP PLAYING when one action doesn’t yield results. Typically they default to iso when in reality, most defenses can’t guard multiple actions!. Below is how we emphasize and teach it in our 3x3
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Rapid Fire w/ Rips . Rapid Fire shooting from top of key. Miss 2 in a row, rip thru for a finish and back to top of key for shooting. Part of our shooting mentality is coming back with a make when we miss a shot!!
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KEEP PLAYING . Stop reacting to every little thing that doesn’t go your way and just focus on making the next play. Seems simple, a lot of coaches preach this, players understand, but it is REALLY HARD TO EXECUTE on a consistent basis.
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CAN YOU SPARE 2 MINUTES??. Most players will say they want to be better shooters, but they’ll scroll by this simple shooting progression. We find a lot of success with our players by helping them understand and feel their ‘Load Position’. Then we segment it by moving, finding it
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NEVER SUB A RUN. This is one of the hardest things for really good HS/College players to understand . *Last holiday background post, I promise lol!!
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Layered Post Drill. Dunker Spot 1 v 1 to Low Post 1 v 1 . Dunker focused on closing the gate, post focusing on driving defender to middle and keeping it simple!!
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We should be using FIBA rules in College and HS. It would create smarter players, tougher players, and we wouldn't be playing 3 separate games (HS is different than College which is different than NBA).
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LEARN TO HANDLE WITH RHYTHM‼️ .👉Ball Handling Flows DAY 1 of 3. Flow: Skips n Pounds, drop to 2 Inside Outs .Add: Skips n Pounds, Drop to Inside Out, Cross, Thru. Drill 1: Sideline to Sideline repeating the flow .Drill 2: Flow in to Mid Paint or Mid Range Shot . To get the most
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Being a coach is hard. You live with the decisions and learn from them. That said, you have to guard the inbounder and actually play defense on everyone else in that scenario. I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life.
NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA BEATS NO. 5 TENNESSEE ON BUZZER BEATER 🤯
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Struggling with Turnovers. Our ability as ballhandlers to stop and see the floor is what helps us relieve pressure. Coming to a stop controls our body, scanning the floor is what helps us decide what action to take next … Pass/Drive/Shot. Here is one of my favorite drills that
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Playing off the Ball. Do something for someone else!!. We’ll define these three things (Cut Hard, Screen, Space Away) as we progress… but hammering the concept in players heads as early as possible leads to better understanding of what to do when off the ball
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Bump to Separate . Next to staying balanced, Bumping to Separate might be the most important part of coming to 2 feet and finding a scoring solution.
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🛑 STOP SHOOTING THE BALL FLAT. You have to get under the basketball to shoot it up. Helping players simplify their start point and lift path can help them feel how easy it can be to get under the ball. It should yield more optimal arc, and ultimately more made shots.
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STOP REFFING. Players need to continuously work on handling No-Calls. The ability to move on from a No-Call (Or bad call) and use it to lock in even more is something players can’t learn early enough!!
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💯 We work with so many players and their defensive schemes can differ. 💯 But the biggest thing we hammer in defensively is NO STRAIGHT LINE DRIVES. 💯 Defense is 90% energy and effort. No excuse not to give it your all!!
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If you think you are the best player in the gym…. You probably shouldn’t say your team stinks
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3x3 Development - Screener Options. Players can easily get 3-5 extra ppg by being great cutters/screeners. When we emphasize and develop it in players they start to understand movement, spacing, timing better as well.
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Pivot Game. ✅Balance.✅Patience.✅Footwork.✅Finish. Great clip for Bigs and Guards to see what 2 Foot Pivot Game looks like! @gusbus2023 makes it look easy!!. *D needs to be more physical and disciplined
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Driving Reads. A necessity at all levels is a players ability to drive downhill with contact. Stopping is possibly the most underrated skill in BallHandling. Full Speed Drive w/ Contact = Stop, stay balanced, make a decision
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1v1 Dunker Spot . D in paint at First Hash Mark.O in Dunker spot.Live when ball leaves passers hands. Space 🔑 - Close space for rim finish or keep space for float game
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🏀 3 Man Passing Youth. ✅ Passing at diff angles.✅ Passing With either Hand.✅ Passing around defenders . 💯 I know everyone drools over European Passing, but players will do what Coaches emphasize, no matter what continent you live on. So emphasize passing‼️‼️
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Opening from my Coaches Clinic Speech ‘Building Competitive Player Development Sessions’. I feel like this is the biggest change I’ve made in my training over the last 13 years. Put players in Competitive and Adverse Situations so they can build their resiliency
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PRACTICE TO GAME RATIO. This is one of the things that is backwards in our country. Yes, you need to play. Yes, you can learn while playing…. But how many High School/College games do you see where players don’t know how to Space, Screen, Execute, Pass, Finish with Both
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📢 “Your ability to make quick decisions and be productive is way more important than your ability to make tough shots” . I feel like every player and trainer in 🇺🇸 needs to hear this
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In our 🇺🇸 basketball culture we underestimate how much pressure and sacrifice there is when you are playing to WIN on a nightly basis. Mike Brown breaks it down perfectly
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3v3 Advantage drill. This is a progression from our 1v1 and 1v2 finishing. BH must be able to read 2nd and 3rd help defenders and make pass. Then we are playing the advantage.
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Speed Stop allows you to quickly stop in paint, step thru allows you to take space that is available and find a finishing solution. P.S. for all the Twitter weirdos… it’s not a travel and yes I understand refs at your level or area may call it a travel
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Teaching Shooting on the Move. When players realize what their stance/base/load position (w.e you want to call it) is, then shooting on the move simply becomes the transition from movement to that load position while keeping your balance and control
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Triangle BallHandling 1v1. This drill is part of our LIVE CONDITIONING SERIES. We want our ball handling to be live against defenders. This drill forces players to see where the open space is (1 of the 2 available cones) and then take that space. It is also a great drill for
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Simple cue to help players generate more power. ‘Move the ball first’
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CONDITIONING SHOOTING. ✅Sprint corner to half court and back.✅2 in a row makes.✅Sprint to other corner for a ‘game winner’. 25 seconds to complete. Go until player beats it 5 times
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Drift 1v1. Been replacing 1 on 0 reps with 1 on 1 reps.Builds on Decision Making, Contact, helps players find solutions. Biggest Challenge: Players being scared to fail. Also, I learn way more about development training 6th graders than I do training College/Pros.
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So many players (NBA/College/HS) have no idea how good they could be if they just went ALL IN and really committed to …. FOCUSED and INTENTIONAL off-season work.
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We OVERVALUE Coaches/ Trainers Playing Experience and UNDERVALUE Coaches/Trainers Teaching Ability ‼️.
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Part 2 of 1v1 Shooting. Defense flies out on shooter. Shooter has 2 options. Shoot the Catch or Drive the Catch. If they drive it’s 2 on 1 with help defender. Score for yourself, or kick for a 3. Building reads in this drill. 1. SHOOT OR DRIVE.2. SCORE OR KICK
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3. Skill Revolution. The so called Skill Revolution has individualized the game. While players may be more skilled than ever, the Understanding of HOW TO PLAY THE GAME is at an all time low. We put more emphasis on individual skill than Team Play, Competing, Accountability.
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think its bad now?. Europe: Young studs playing against adult pros, held accountable by coaches, prioritize team IQ. US: Young players reclass to play against younger players, lack of accountability, prioritize individual work. What do you think this looks like in 20 years?.
Jokic, Giannis, Embiid, Luka. Almost like the US has to catch back up to the foreign players. Would love to hear your thoughts on how/when this happened?.
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Best way to work on BallHandling?. Live 1v1. Must come to a stop and re-attack. Add slides for Pace. Ball is live for O or D to score it. 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
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Team Shooting Warmup. Wide Finish in to 2 Dribble Uphill Pull Up. First team to make 15 on both sides wins
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People don’t realize how hard it is to get minutes as a Freshman on a good team, at any level!!.
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Stop Worrying About Missing Shots. You are going to miss. All great shooters miss. The skill of having a short memory and focusing on your next shot, no matter how many you’ve missed is something the best shooters master. When you are training… train to be a CONFIDENT
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DRIVING ANGLE. Use the ‘Driving Line’ as a guide for advantages. Offense needs to be able to be able to keep D on Hip and get over the Driving Line. Good defenders, even if they end up on the offensive players hip, can grind the offense out and off of their line
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Steph Curry did not ruin basketball!!. When you watch Steph, what do you see?? Most peoplesee the deep 3’s, tough shots, sick dribble moves. That’s great and entertaining, but what makes Steph unbelievable is his ability to do those things AND HIS WINNING ATTRIBUTES. His
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Live Shooting Reps. Most of our days are Live… When we go shooting we’ll add in a read. Sometimes we’ll add in a 2nd unscripted action. In this clip: Spot Corner 3’s … D Short Close Out or Fly By. We added in DHO if passer dribbles at: D under or over. 11 Makes
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Big PnR work. 1v1 off Short Roll.1v1 in Post if PG hits Lift. Situational work with progressions, allow players to keep an active mind and KEEP PLAYING . A lot to clean up in this clip detail wise, but a lot of good takeaways for players, especially on Day 1 in a Camp Setting
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If we really want to change kids lives and impact them. We would pay Davion Mitchell anything he wants to go to the Shoe Company AAU Events and just play 1 on 1 against the kids that think they are D1 and High Major Studs. 😂🤐.
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Characterizing workouts for 11 year olds as ‘Training’ seems absurd. We try to reinforce that they are just ‘Playing Basketball’ - No pressure, be free to make mistakes, push the limits, get mad, and have fun!!
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If I asked 6'4" to 6'7" HS wing shooters what most coaches tell them they need to improve, it would definitely be 'BALLHANDLING' . In reality they need to learn to fly around without the ball, find space, use their shot to get downhill. S/O Duncan Robinson for figuring it out!.
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PnR Drill with only 1 big. 1st Guard uses screen and plays 1v1 vs Big in Drop Coverage. Next possession big sets screen, rolls, plays 1v1 vs help D (Coach or Guard. Keep Alternating
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Simplify your thinking when you don’t have the basketball. 1. Cut with a purpose.2. Screen for someone else.3. Space the floor for drivers . Seems simple but 75% of players struggle with this
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Shooting Tweaks. Shooting is about power and accuracy. Tweaking a players shot is done when one or both of those are off. I like to Isolate,Segment, Rep - seems to give the player clarity and allows them to feel how simple it is to generate power and be accurate
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SCARED TO COACH YOUR BEST PLAYER? . If you are scared to coach your best player because they may leave, you are doing the rest of your players a disservice. Players will leave their HS, AAU, and College teams for a million different reasons. That is the basketball landscape
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There is no skill in basketball more important than competitiveness. One of my NBA clients once told me. you can’t survive in the NBA if you’re not competitive. 🎯.
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Half Court Pace w/ Contact. Great for players that need to….✅ Get Downhill vs. Pressure.✅ Dribble Stop on Balance .✅ Finish thru contact. This is what of my favorite BallHandling/Finishing drills. Can turn to live 1v1 after Dribble Stop
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Live Shooting Development. Flash 1v1 to Fade 1v1. ✅ Find Space.✅ Shot Preparation.✅ Stick the Landing
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Being Competitive is the #1 Skill that needs to be developed in players. We need to teach what it means and what it looks like. It needs to be emphasized and developed while holding players accountable. To me, this is where player development starts.
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🔬HOW WE JUDGE OUR PLAYERS IN WORKOUTS…. Most players think if they make shots, they have a good training session or practice. To me that’s not even in the top 3. If Players come in and do these 3 things, we’ll have a really productive session. 1. Pace - Have a high work
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2 Foot Jumping Angles. 2 foot finishes give players more control. They can be DYNAMIC by jumping quickly and changing the angle in which you jump. Extension Finish shown in this video
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BallHandling Flow to start your workouts off right!!. All segments are right hand to half court and left hand back to baseline. We’re working on changing height and pace here. You are up high on Skips n pounds, low on dribble moves. 1. Skips n Pounds.2. 2- Skips n Pounds in to
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College Basketball = 2 foot finishes. You can still be dynamic and crafty off 2 feet by changing jumping angles. It just gives you more control and options.
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🏀 Ballhandling Challenge. ✅ 20 2 Ball Pounds.✅ 5 R Hand Passes / 5 L Hand Passes.✅ BallHandling Contact to HC.✅ 20 Combos - Cros, Thru, Behind, Pound.✅ BallHandling Contact to HC .✅ 50 2 Ball Pounds
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#1 way for players to learn how to play off the ball. teach them how to set and slip. They’ll innately find spacing, see front cuts, attack close outs, etc. We’ve been doing this with our HS/College guys for years, it takes a while, but the pay off is great!
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American Basketball Development has swung too far in to Individual Skill Development. When it balances out with opportunities for players to build competitiveness, resiliency, and IQ. we will be in a great place. We’ll get there!!.
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3 Things that are killing HS/Youth basketball in 🇺🇸. 🧵 A Thread.
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Dunker Spot 1v1 Progression. Add a passer to your Dunker spot 1v1 to change the angle and force the defender to move
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We need to equip these kids with the ability to handle the adversity, stress, and emotion of college basketball. The first time they get held accountable, told their not good enough or that they had a horrible day, or get subbed for not playing hard CANNOT BE IN COLLEGE.
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YOU’RE A GREAT SCORER….Love it!! What else do you do??. What separates you from other players that can score the ball? How do you impact scoring beyond putting the ball in the basket. 1 dimensional scorers are rarely the best player on a good team. They can be the best player
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