Unselfishness

We started another season last night and got a good win against likely one of the best teams on the schedule this season. Winning was important because it covers up chemistry problems and will help our young team's confidence, as well as hopefully help them to continue to buy in to what we are teaching each day in practice. After watching the film however,and thinking more about the game, it is clear to me that we have a long way to go if we are going to be any where near as good as we want to be. Shot selection, so important in our offense, was truly abysmal throughout most of the game - particularly in the first half. It has to get better if we are going to improve as a team. The challenge is how do you get your kids to think unselfish thoughts, to speak unselfish words, and most importantly, to demonstrate unselfishness in their actions on the court? I believe how much success we ultimately have meeting that challenge will determine the course of this season.

GCS To Host Coaching Clinic

Glenelg Country School is excited to announce its hosting of a coaching clinic featuring highly respected college basketball coaches Gary Williams, Mark Turgeon, Jeff Capel, and Jimmy Patsos. More info here.

GCS '12 Forward Isaiah Miles Playing Well In Florida

Rising sophomore Isaiah Miles has put in some work this summer to improve his strength and his skills. He played well with his AAU team at the Super Showcase in Orlando, Florida, and has received a mention in this short blurb as a result. Miles has so much basketball potential. His willingness to work and improve will ultimately determine how far he goes with the game.

1Percent Club Training

I have been training our players in the offseason for going 10 seasons now (really amazing how fast the time has passed!) In that time I've experimented with a myriad of gadgets, aids, straps and techniques to help kids improve their shooting and ball-handling skills. Some of these things have proven moderately successful, others have been duds. Over time I've come to believe strongly that there are no shortcuts to improvement. Only correct repetition and long hours working in the gym yield results. As a result I've become very skeptical when I see new products come on the market claiming fast results.

With all that said, I recently came across a program that has simply revolutionized my thought process on the proper way to shoot the basketball. California bio-mechanist Jeremy Russotti has created a product called the "J-Glove" which is flat out the best shooting tool I've ever seen. I've been working out one of our players almost every day this spring as he tries to make the transition from a post player to playing on the perimeter. This player has worked his tail off shooting thousands and thousands of shots this spring, but progress and improvement has been relatively slow. After 20 minutes using the J-Glove my player was making over 60% of his shots from all over the floor with range out to 25 feet - a far higher percentage than he had ever shot in previous practice sessions. The rapid shooting gains this player made after just a week of using the J-Glove has made me a strong believer in a number of Coach Russotti's ideas, in particular his concept of "premature finger flexion."

Furthermore, Russotti's ball-handling program contains the most progressive, innovative dribbling drills I have ever seen. Russotti places a strong emphasis on hand quickness and functional training to prepare players for the most intensive situations they will encounter during game conditions. I am truly invigorated by the ideas and training methods he shares in his videos. I can't wait for our team workouts to begin this summer so that I can share his J-Glove, wrist weights, and hand quickness drills with all of our players and watch their rapid improvement.

Check out Russotti's website http://1percentclub.org/ and watch the sample video clips. I believe it contains perhaps the most cutting-edge skills training that exists anywhere in the world today.

Attack Basketball Camp for boys and girls!

For the tenth consecutive summer, we will be running basketball camps for both boys and girls at Glenelg Country School. Space is limited so get your application in soon!


Attack Basketball Camps for boys and girls at Glenelg Country School:

- Air-conditioned facilities
- Experienced, expert instruction
- Guest speakers
- Lunch included every day
- All campers receive t-shirt and evaluation


Come be a part of one of the top up-and-coming basketball programs in the Baltimore-Washington area! For more information, please click on the link below:

http://glenelg.org/quicklinks/news_detail.asp?pageaction=ViewSinglePublic&LinkID=2205&ModuleID=5

Three Defensive Keys For Halfcourt Man to Man

Wow. It's been a while, I know... Hopefully over the next few months I will be able to do a better job of keeping this blog up to date. Luckily, only two or three people actually read this thing! :)

We have recently started practicing one day a week in preparation for summer league play. These practices have been productive, and we have been pleased overall with the new players' coachability and willingness to adapt to the system and style of play. Defensively, three basic halfcourt keys have been stressed. We believe strongly that these teaching points are three simple things to teach that can make a big impact defensively.

1. "Don't Get Gapped!" - If your man does not have the basketball, move up (towards the ball) the imaginary line between your man and the ball,and off the line. Get in an open stance.Do not allow the ball to split you and your teammate.

2. "Close Out with High Hands" - When closing out, sprint about 2/3 of the distance between you and the man, then break down into a stance and chop your feet (stutter step). Throw your hands up high to take away the ball-handler's vision. Do not close out short!

3. "Help-side Stance" - when your man is on the help-side (weak-side of the floor) stay down in your stance. Get two feet in the lane and put your hands in "pistols" position (one hand pointing towards the ball, the other towards your man. Your backside should be pointed towards the baseline, and your head should be on a swivel, keeping sight of both man and ball.


Obviously, there are many more important teaching points necessary for effective man-to-man defense, but these are a few that in my estimation are easy to teach and will pay immediate dividends on the defensive end of the floor!