-In a recent conversation with the director of one of the best club programs in the country, I asked about "skill set degeneration" of some players during the high school season. I questioned him about this because I have observed a lot of kids looking worse as the season progresses. One of the reasons for this may be that during the 15 hours of instruction time that high school coaches have with their players per week(2 hours of practice and 1 hour of athletic period), not many hours are dedicated to individual skill set development. Team concepts and basketball IQ are mostly covered in these practices. The club director went on to say that his club has voluntary skill set sessions for all of the 100 or so kids in his program during the high school season. I then asked how many of his high school kids attend. He replied "Not many, Only the elite ones like.......No more than a handful". Three of the players he mentioned are ranked in the Top 50 of their respective classes nationally and one of them is a consensus Top 5 kid with offers from EVERYBODY. I then asked why so many of the others chose not to take advantage of the skill set sessions. He replied " Lazy, they are lazy and the great ones are not". This comes from a man that directs a club that has had over 100 kids play at the D1 level including numerous McDonald All-Americans and a few pro players.
- In watching All-Access practices of the University of Connecticut with Geno Auriemma, I was delighted at how much of the practices was devoted to individual skill set development. Even in his offensive breakdown drills, Coach Auriemma and his staff are extremely focused on details and doing things the right way. This constant development and focus on details has his squad chasing the UCLA men's record of 88 consecutive wins in a row.
- I am not a big fan of "permanent pivot foot". I prefer to catch on two and have the option to jab step or pivot with either foot based on the defender positioning and close out angle. However, many great basketball minds advocate the permanent pivot foot. Kobe Bryant almost always uses a permanent pivot foot. Being right handed, his permanent pivot foot is the left foot. Watching basketball the past couple of weeks, I am shocked at how many kids use the wrong permanent pivot foot every time when shooting. Right handed players shooting with the right foot as the permanent pivot foot is not sound fundamentally.
- In a recent blog by Brian McCormick, he goes on to state that the almost every recent American Olympic wrestling champion was raised on a farm. The theory is that the farm environment lends itself to building strong wrestlers with functioning strength at an earlier age. Farm kids complete chores that build complete body strength as opposed to just weight lifting of the city kids. This reminds me of a friend and fellow trainer who has a theory of why so many kids suffer major injuries compared to the old days. He goes on to say that the modern athlete did not cross train as a kid like older players did. Older generations had kids riding bikes, climbing and jumping out of trees. Older players raced each other in the street, sometimes in socks or with bare feet. Older players learned to cut by playing dodge ball and tag. All these outdoor games built auxiliary muscles that aided in the prevention of major injuries. At least that's how his theory goes. Now current players spend their time as kids texting and playing video games.
- This "new" player is discussed by the great Bob Hurley on one of his many instructional DVDs(a must have for all coaches). Coach Hurley states that todays player is no longer just "a boy, a ball and a dream". He laments the fact that the only time that players pick up a ball today is in an organized setting. After hearing this, I immediately thought about Baylor Coach, Kim Mulkey. Coach Mulkey has a picture of her in her biography," Never Back Down"(a must read) in her back yard dribbling a basketball. Coach Mulkey's sister goes on to explain in the book that Mulkey was never one to party or paint the town and if you wanted to find her, you could always find her at home working on her game.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Pro Hop is not a travel!!
Watching San Antonio female basketball players get called for travelling violations for executing proper Pro Hops is disheartening. Whether you call it a Pro Hop or Broad Jump, it is nothing more than a Jump Stop. The Jump Stop is the most fundamental play in the game.
All us old heads were raised on the jump stop. My high school coach mandated that his guards not over penetrate and stop at the free throw line on most all fast breaks. He drilled the point guards in advancing the ball in the middle of the court. The wings would fill the lanes wide. The guard would then execute a sound jump stop and pass, most of the time a bounce pass, to one of the wings filling the lanes. The jump stop followed a full sprint and pushing off of one leg to land on two feet. Landing with two feet wide and with your butt down was essential to balance and preventing a traveling violation. This jump stop was great in teaching kids to play under control, maintain spacing, prevent offensive charges and not over penetrating. Fast forward to today.
The Pro Hop is a terrific weapon for offensive players. At the state tournament last March, they showed a video collage of some of the best performances at the state tournament over the years. In one of the most dominating performances, Dallas area Tiffany Jackson put on a clinic in the Pro Hop. The muscular 6'2 post was Pro Hopping her way into scoring position at will. She took this skill to the University of Texas and now the WNBA. Jackson was fortunate enough to play in a city where the referees did not stagnate her development by erroneously calling her Pro Hop a travel.
As long as players take a pound dribble before leaving the air and lands on two feet, it is not a travel! The evolution of the game has led to players changing directions and covering more ground using the Pro Hop but that does not automatically make it a travel violation. See the following video.
or Becky Hammon
These are two videos showing different instances of Pro Hops. Our players will continue to be stymied by bad officiating and unable to compete against Dallas and Houston area kids if this is allowed to continue. The game has advanced and the competency of local referees should too!
(Sidenote: In a recent game, a player who executed a legal Euro Step was told by the referee, "This is not Europe so don't use the Euro Step". How does a kid get better in such a repressive basketball environment?!)
All us old heads were raised on the jump stop. My high school coach mandated that his guards not over penetrate and stop at the free throw line on most all fast breaks. He drilled the point guards in advancing the ball in the middle of the court. The wings would fill the lanes wide. The guard would then execute a sound jump stop and pass, most of the time a bounce pass, to one of the wings filling the lanes. The jump stop followed a full sprint and pushing off of one leg to land on two feet. Landing with two feet wide and with your butt down was essential to balance and preventing a traveling violation. This jump stop was great in teaching kids to play under control, maintain spacing, prevent offensive charges and not over penetrating. Fast forward to today.
The Pro Hop is a terrific weapon for offensive players. At the state tournament last March, they showed a video collage of some of the best performances at the state tournament over the years. In one of the most dominating performances, Dallas area Tiffany Jackson put on a clinic in the Pro Hop. The muscular 6'2 post was Pro Hopping her way into scoring position at will. She took this skill to the University of Texas and now the WNBA. Jackson was fortunate enough to play in a city where the referees did not stagnate her development by erroneously calling her Pro Hop a travel.
As long as players take a pound dribble before leaving the air and lands on two feet, it is not a travel! The evolution of the game has led to players changing directions and covering more ground using the Pro Hop but that does not automatically make it a travel violation. See the following video.
or Becky Hammon
These are two videos showing different instances of Pro Hops. Our players will continue to be stymied by bad officiating and unable to compete against Dallas and Houston area kids if this is allowed to continue. The game has advanced and the competency of local referees should too!
(Sidenote: In a recent game, a player who executed a legal Euro Step was told by the referee, "This is not Europe so don't use the Euro Step". How does a kid get better in such a repressive basketball environment?!)
NEISD Notes!
The NEISD Tournament provided a good look at a few of the better teams in the city. Four of the Top 10 teams in the city according to SA Express played in the event. Churchill, Roosevelt, Reagan, and Incarnate Word all showed why they are among the best the city has to offer. Tournament notes follow:
-Leslie Vorpahl is a Coaches Dream- The Churchill pg was named Tournament MVP after leading her Lady Chargers to a win over Reagan in the Championship. Reagan started off blazing hot and ran out to a 14-2 lead. Churchill coach Cal Wulfsberg sat calmly knowing that the game was in the hands of his very capable on-court pilot. Vorpahl kept her team in it early by scoring in double figures in the first half on her way to a game high 21 points. What is most impressive about the scoring effort was that it was against one of the best on-ball defenders in the city, Reagan's Moriah Mack. Vorpahl kept Mack in foul trouble throughout the game with her trademark change of speed. Vorpahl does a brilliant job at getting into the defenders hips when attacking.
Vorpahl is giving Coach Wulfberg the essential ingredient in the majority of successful high school teams; a good point guard. Please recall the better teams in recent SA history and that most of them, if not all, had very good point guards. Last years John Jay team featured the young but very good Destiny Amezquita. The great Wagner teams featured current USC pg Len'Nique Brown. The 3-Time state Tournament Steele teams featured current Southern Illinois pg Olivia Patterson. Great point guards not only get teams in their offensive schemes and easy shots for others but more more importantly, they take care of the basketball. Turnovers are empty possessions. The above mentioned teams feasted on weak point guards on the defensive end. Wagner, Jay and Steele past teams used full court presses and aggressive man defense to expose bad point guards. Or, they trapped good point guards to get the ball out of their hands and let the poor ball handlers and passers on opposing teams make decisions. This inevitably led to more turnovers for the competition and more possessions for them.
(A Sidenote: How were teams like Wagner and Steele able to keep so many talented players happy? PRESS PRESS and MORE PRESS. Pressing not only speeds up the game but creates more possessions via turnovers. More possessions equate to more shot attempts . More shot attempts equals more opportunities for players to eat. And eating keeps everyone happy! Or at least somewhat content.)
In the championship of the NEISD event, the point guard match up was won by Vorphal and the game followed suit. That is not to speak negatively about Reagan's point guard(s). Reagan plays point guard by committee. This fact changed the game. On 5 consecutive trips in the second half, Reagan turned the ball over. During this time, Churchill went on a 17-4 run by my count. The main reason, Churchill limited their turnovers by keeping the ball in the hands of the kid most suited to make intelligent basketball decisions, Leslie Vorpahl.
- Speaking of capable play makers, Tori Villareal is so underrated. During a the game versus Reagan on Friday night, Villareal showed why she is one of the best players in the city, when she wants to be. Her Incarnate Word team was getting dominated by Reagan early. Defensive stopper Moriah Mack was making things extremely difficult for IW point guard Maureen Zuniga. That is when IW Coach Troy Patterson called on Villareal to exert herself. She promptly stopped hiding under the basket in her position as a small forward for the Shamrocks and took over point guard duties. She simply put on a show. She used her strong frame and behind the back wrap dribble to score and dish at will. She hit three's in opponents faces and finished And 1's at the rim. She almost single handily kept IW in the game. In the end, Reagan pulled out a close game but Villareal was easily the best player on the court and finished with 22 point and at least half a dozen assists. My only knock on her is that she should have shot the ball more in the second half. She was unguardable!
-In an earlier Blog, I stated that Churchill has "AT LEAST" three kids that will average double digits in scoring. I mentioned Vorpahl, Carly Truesdale and Danni Espinoza but I had an inkling that they could have four players in double digits. The "fourth" player is a pretty good high school guard in her own right, Jordan Holub. Holub is effective at getting in the paint to create shots and can also hit open jump shots. She is wonderful when the ball gets to the third or fourth side of the floor in the Lady Chargers continuous offense. She capitalizes on weak defensive rotations and attacks the middle well. Holub makes Churchill tough to defend for an entire game.
-Ebony Easter is the "do-everything" player for O'Connor. She boards, facilitates out of the post and scores. She still has tremendous upside being that she is playing out of her college position in service of her high school team.
- Sune Agbuke and her Cornerstone team played in the event. Though they did not fair very well, it did give high school fans a look at the best college prospect in the city. Agbuke is signed to attend Baylor next season. However, the event did illustrate an important fact; No matter how good a Big may be, they are ineffective if they can not get the ball.
-Roosevelt can be very good if all the pieces come together. When Niaga Mitchell-Cole realizes that she is one of the best players in the state of Texas, her team will be as good as any in the city. She scored 26 points in one game and 1 point in another. It is not that she is inconsistent, she is just content in letting others shine or attempt to shine. That is entirely OK until they face teams as good as they are and there is no clear pecking order established among the team. ROLES! Everybody must learn their roles. The best teams have players and offensive schemes that establish roles in the clutch. Without such understanding of the importance of roles, a good team stays a good team. Not to sound redundant but the recent great SA teams knew this so Erica Donovan has the ball in her hands for John Jay. Meighan Simmons had the ball in her hands for Steele. Len'Nique Brown had the ball in her hands for Wagner. All three of these players played with talented supporting casts but in the clutch, everybody played their role and the Alpha Female was allowed to do what she does best, LEAD!!!!
- East Central is very athletic defensively!
- Madison moves the ball so well of offense that it probably hurts them at times. Again, wrong players making crucial decisions or jacking up shots. Illustrates how important CeCe Harper(Kansas) was to their success. Tracy Hastings does a great job at teaching trapping pick and rolls. On most pick and rolls vs Antonian, the Lady Mavs hard trapped the ball handler and rotated defensively on secondary options. UT Coach Gail Goestenkors is one of the best at teaching the hard trap on high pick and rolls. I often wonder why more high school coaches do not teach this defensive strategy.
-Incarnate Word Coach Troy Patterson has his team running a 3/4 court 1-2-2 trap that shrinks the court for opposing teams. This press defense is pretty impressive as it makes opposing teams execute passes vs traps and into tighter gaps. It is also very effective at getting the ball out of the hands of good point guards but limits their ability to throw over the top of the press for break away layups.
- Del Rio's Rachel Green gets buckets! Former Smithson Valley Coach Jim Jost now leads Del Rio and does a great job at letting Green go!
- Antonian's Victoria Briones is the best in the city at using her butt to rebound , fight for position, defend and pivot. This explains explains why the 5'8 Briones routinely grabs double digit boards and defends bigger players in the post effectively. Too often players grab rebounds and "get skinny". This often leads to tie ups, steals and off balance traveling violations. Briones grabs a board and immediately creates or maintains space by checking defenders with her butt. Many young players fail to realize that post play is among other things a "butt and back game". Effective post players know that they read defenders by using their butt and back. How often does Tim Duncan catch the ball in the post and lean back? This "lean back" technique enables Duncan to locate the defenders position and then he goes to an offensive counter based on that initial read. Briones is also a warrior. She is playing with a fractured finger on her shooting hand.
-Leslie Vorpahl is a Coaches Dream- The Churchill pg was named Tournament MVP after leading her Lady Chargers to a win over Reagan in the Championship. Reagan started off blazing hot and ran out to a 14-2 lead. Churchill coach Cal Wulfsberg sat calmly knowing that the game was in the hands of his very capable on-court pilot. Vorpahl kept her team in it early by scoring in double figures in the first half on her way to a game high 21 points. What is most impressive about the scoring effort was that it was against one of the best on-ball defenders in the city, Reagan's Moriah Mack. Vorpahl kept Mack in foul trouble throughout the game with her trademark change of speed. Vorpahl does a brilliant job at getting into the defenders hips when attacking.
Vorpahl is giving Coach Wulfberg the essential ingredient in the majority of successful high school teams; a good point guard. Please recall the better teams in recent SA history and that most of them, if not all, had very good point guards. Last years John Jay team featured the young but very good Destiny Amezquita. The great Wagner teams featured current USC pg Len'Nique Brown. The 3-Time state Tournament Steele teams featured current Southern Illinois pg Olivia Patterson. Great point guards not only get teams in their offensive schemes and easy shots for others but more more importantly, they take care of the basketball. Turnovers are empty possessions. The above mentioned teams feasted on weak point guards on the defensive end. Wagner, Jay and Steele past teams used full court presses and aggressive man defense to expose bad point guards. Or, they trapped good point guards to get the ball out of their hands and let the poor ball handlers and passers on opposing teams make decisions. This inevitably led to more turnovers for the competition and more possessions for them.
(A Sidenote: How were teams like Wagner and Steele able to keep so many talented players happy? PRESS PRESS and MORE PRESS. Pressing not only speeds up the game but creates more possessions via turnovers. More possessions equate to more shot attempts . More shot attempts equals more opportunities for players to eat. And eating keeps everyone happy! Or at least somewhat content.)
In the championship of the NEISD event, the point guard match up was won by Vorphal and the game followed suit. That is not to speak negatively about Reagan's point guard(s). Reagan plays point guard by committee. This fact changed the game. On 5 consecutive trips in the second half, Reagan turned the ball over. During this time, Churchill went on a 17-4 run by my count. The main reason, Churchill limited their turnovers by keeping the ball in the hands of the kid most suited to make intelligent basketball decisions, Leslie Vorpahl.
- Speaking of capable play makers, Tori Villareal is so underrated. During a the game versus Reagan on Friday night, Villareal showed why she is one of the best players in the city, when she wants to be. Her Incarnate Word team was getting dominated by Reagan early. Defensive stopper Moriah Mack was making things extremely difficult for IW point guard Maureen Zuniga. That is when IW Coach Troy Patterson called on Villareal to exert herself. She promptly stopped hiding under the basket in her position as a small forward for the Shamrocks and took over point guard duties. She simply put on a show. She used her strong frame and behind the back wrap dribble to score and dish at will. She hit three's in opponents faces and finished And 1's at the rim. She almost single handily kept IW in the game. In the end, Reagan pulled out a close game but Villareal was easily the best player on the court and finished with 22 point and at least half a dozen assists. My only knock on her is that she should have shot the ball more in the second half. She was unguardable!
-In an earlier Blog, I stated that Churchill has "AT LEAST" three kids that will average double digits in scoring. I mentioned Vorpahl, Carly Truesdale and Danni Espinoza but I had an inkling that they could have four players in double digits. The "fourth" player is a pretty good high school guard in her own right, Jordan Holub. Holub is effective at getting in the paint to create shots and can also hit open jump shots. She is wonderful when the ball gets to the third or fourth side of the floor in the Lady Chargers continuous offense. She capitalizes on weak defensive rotations and attacks the middle well. Holub makes Churchill tough to defend for an entire game.
-Ebony Easter is the "do-everything" player for O'Connor. She boards, facilitates out of the post and scores. She still has tremendous upside being that she is playing out of her college position in service of her high school team.
- Sune Agbuke and her Cornerstone team played in the event. Though they did not fair very well, it did give high school fans a look at the best college prospect in the city. Agbuke is signed to attend Baylor next season. However, the event did illustrate an important fact; No matter how good a Big may be, they are ineffective if they can not get the ball.
-Roosevelt can be very good if all the pieces come together. When Niaga Mitchell-Cole realizes that she is one of the best players in the state of Texas, her team will be as good as any in the city. She scored 26 points in one game and 1 point in another. It is not that she is inconsistent, she is just content in letting others shine or attempt to shine. That is entirely OK until they face teams as good as they are and there is no clear pecking order established among the team. ROLES! Everybody must learn their roles. The best teams have players and offensive schemes that establish roles in the clutch. Without such understanding of the importance of roles, a good team stays a good team. Not to sound redundant but the recent great SA teams knew this so Erica Donovan has the ball in her hands for John Jay. Meighan Simmons had the ball in her hands for Steele. Len'Nique Brown had the ball in her hands for Wagner. All three of these players played with talented supporting casts but in the clutch, everybody played their role and the Alpha Female was allowed to do what she does best, LEAD!!!!
- East Central is very athletic defensively!
- Madison moves the ball so well of offense that it probably hurts them at times. Again, wrong players making crucial decisions or jacking up shots. Illustrates how important CeCe Harper(Kansas) was to their success. Tracy Hastings does a great job at teaching trapping pick and rolls. On most pick and rolls vs Antonian, the Lady Mavs hard trapped the ball handler and rotated defensively on secondary options. UT Coach Gail Goestenkors is one of the best at teaching the hard trap on high pick and rolls. I often wonder why more high school coaches do not teach this defensive strategy.
-Incarnate Word Coach Troy Patterson has his team running a 3/4 court 1-2-2 trap that shrinks the court for opposing teams. This press defense is pretty impressive as it makes opposing teams execute passes vs traps and into tighter gaps. It is also very effective at getting the ball out of the hands of good point guards but limits their ability to throw over the top of the press for break away layups.
- Del Rio's Rachel Green gets buckets! Former Smithson Valley Coach Jim Jost now leads Del Rio and does a great job at letting Green go!
- Antonian's Victoria Briones is the best in the city at using her butt to rebound , fight for position, defend and pivot. This explains explains why the 5'8 Briones routinely grabs double digit boards and defends bigger players in the post effectively. Too often players grab rebounds and "get skinny". This often leads to tie ups, steals and off balance traveling violations. Briones grabs a board and immediately creates or maintains space by checking defenders with her butt. Many young players fail to realize that post play is among other things a "butt and back game". Effective post players know that they read defenders by using their butt and back. How often does Tim Duncan catch the ball in the post and lean back? This "lean back" technique enables Duncan to locate the defenders position and then he goes to an offensive counter based on that initial read. Briones is also a warrior. She is playing with a fractured finger on her shooting hand.
Meighan being Meighan!
SA Great Meighan Simmons is currently leading Tennessee Lady Vols is scoring. The greatest scorer in SA high school history has scored in double digits in all of her 7 college games. She was recently named all-tournament(Reef Division) for the Paradise Jam.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Alexis Sendejo best spot up shooter in city?
Alexis Sendejo is arguably the best shooter in the city. Sendejo and her high arching shot tickles twine at a great percentage.
Stevens Coach Anissa Hastings does a great job at running Sendejo off of numerous baseline screens to free her up. Hastings disguises some of the screens by sending them from different looks to confuse defenders. Sendejo has a knack for setting up screens ala Reggie Miller. If defenders jump the screen, she knows how to redirect her route and Flare. If the defender trails, she has the IQ to curl off of picks and get open mid range shots. This ability to read and use screens seperates Sendejo from most shooters in the city.
Sendejo is the perfect Robin to Alexis Govan's Batman(woman). While Govan is a strong slasher and penetrates extremely well, Sendejo stretches the floor for Govan to have more room to operate. Sendejo has a strong frame and has improved her ball handling to attack over eager defenders who close out too aggressively. Her ability to shoot makes Stevens a very difficult out come playoffs. Do not be surprised if Stevens has an incredible run with Sendejo knocking down the three ball. The battle with John Jay's defensive stopper KiKi Taylor will be a must see.
Sendejo is in contention for best spot up shooter in the city with Champion's Brooke Allemand, Marshall's Carlie Heineman, Johnson's Brie Foresman, and Smithson Valley's Alison Salmon.
Sedejo is this years version of former Wagner sharp shooter and current UTA guard Michelle Rodriguez.
Stevens Coach Anissa Hastings does a great job at running Sendejo off of numerous baseline screens to free her up. Hastings disguises some of the screens by sending them from different looks to confuse defenders. Sendejo has a knack for setting up screens ala Reggie Miller. If defenders jump the screen, she knows how to redirect her route and Flare. If the defender trails, she has the IQ to curl off of picks and get open mid range shots. This ability to read and use screens seperates Sendejo from most shooters in the city.
Sendejo is the perfect Robin to Alexis Govan's Batman(woman). While Govan is a strong slasher and penetrates extremely well, Sendejo stretches the floor for Govan to have more room to operate. Sendejo has a strong frame and has improved her ball handling to attack over eager defenders who close out too aggressively. Her ability to shoot makes Stevens a very difficult out come playoffs. Do not be surprised if Stevens has an incredible run with Sendejo knocking down the three ball. The battle with John Jay's defensive stopper KiKi Taylor will be a must see.
Sendejo is in contention for best spot up shooter in the city with Champion's Brooke Allemand, Marshall's Carlie Heineman, Johnson's Brie Foresman, and Smithson Valley's Alison Salmon.
Sedejo is this years version of former Wagner sharp shooter and current UTA guard Michelle Rodriguez.
Hampton-Finch makes in official!
Asha Hampton-Finch recently signed her letter of intent to attend Prairie View A&M. Hampton-Finch is a brilliant student and the PVAM engineering program played a significant role in her decision.Congrats to Asha and the Hampton-Finch family!
Zoldey signs!
Steele High School guard Lauren Zoldey recently signed a letter of intent to attend Angelo State University. Zoldey has played a vital role in Steele's magnificent run over the past few years and she hopes that she can end her senior year with another trip to Austin.
Congrats to Lauren and the Zoldey family!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)