Head Coaches have many responsibilities in their profession. On most levels they are expected to win games to bring in revenue and interest to their team. They need to monitor their roster and develop young players on and off the …
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Adversity teaches us a lot about life. How strong we are, who our real allies really are, and who among us are strong and who are weak. At some point in all of our lives we face some type of …
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Casting labels on anyone is an act for the simple-minded. How many times have you heard growing up that you should never judge a book by its cover. People in society are too judgmental by observations made without spending …
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It’s funny what you can learn about basketball while talking about people who aren’t directly involved with it. On Monday as I was pulling into my driveway my neighbors were talking outside their house. They called me over to …
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2012 CAPE COD COLLEGE PLAYER CAMP DATES: July 29 – August 2 LOCATION: Bourne High School Bourne, MA COST : $575.00 Overnight $450.00 Commuter HOUSING: Massachusetts Maritime Academy(Buzzards Bay,MA) ELIGIBILITY: Male Players Entering Freshman- Entering Senior …
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Like every game for the past 4 years I watched the contest between The Lakers and Thunder breaking down the game for Kobe and trying to pick up things to learn. It was an exciting game filled with WWF antics …
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We’ve all been to a showcase camp. Players come in get a shirt with a number on it and try to earn themselves a scholarship or spot on a college team. For 6 hours they play in some of the …
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The landscape of college basketball has clearly changed in the past ten years. Gone are the days of players staying four years and building a player’s dynasty or legacy. For some, leaving early for the draft is just declaring the …
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Today’s breakdown is on John Shurna. John is a 6’9 power forward that just finished his career at Northwestern University. He wasn’t a star coming into college by any stretch of the imagination, but finished his career as one of …
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Last week I had the opportunity to attend the 2012 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. The event featured 64 college seniors auditioning in front of 30 NBA teams as well as numerous NBDL and international teams. This was my 11th time attending …
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One of the words that are way overused in our society is the term “Great”. Everyone wants to just throw that term on the table without evaluating the traits that make up the word. In the basketball community that …
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You look at the game today and there are certain things that impress you. Definitely the athleticism today is at an all time high. By watching today’s game no question the players are bigger, faster, and stronger than they were …
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I entered this weekend a little down on amateur basketball and what’s been happening in our game. I was getting tired of so many bad players with the sense of entitlement that would make some NBA players flinch. I don’t …
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There’s always this knock on American players as far as the lack of development compared to other international countries. The label on our players is definitely warranted as if you see the product on high school, AAU, and college basketball …
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Monday I had an opportunity to sit down and talk to one of my former interns about the game of basketball. We spoke for hours on many subjects of it, but one stood out the most. The question came up …
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This post isn’t for the player who is ranked in the top 200 in the country and being courted by dozens of school for your services. This is more a guide for the player who’s on the borderline of being …
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How to build a point guard. Everyone has different ideas on how to develop a player. Every coach that works with players have their own philosophy when building strategies to get their players better. I’ve been blessed with being …
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There are certain players that you are excited to watch. Some put up stats that would light up a pinball machine. Some mystify the crowd with their human highlight film athletic ability and dunks. The players that I love to …
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From top to bottom the 2012 NBA Draft should have a lot of serviceable NBA frontline players in it. Now things can change and players can stay in school, but if the draft were today and everyone was eligible I …
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It’s easy to go to the gym everyday and work with players that play minutes and are successful on the court. Every coach loves the idea of getting on the court with a player that is part of the rotation …
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There’s a lot of talk about the Knicks and how Carmelo Anthony will not be able to mesh once Jeremy Lin comes into the lineup. Some say with his “selfish” style of play that he won’t be able to coexist …
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I’ll be the last person ever to toot my own horn or pat myself on the back. When you are evaluating players and trying to project out what kind of prospect they will become it can be a very tricky …
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As I’ve mentioned before , player development is a process that has many layers. Trying to maximize a player’s potential isn’t just about putting them through drills everyday. Young players need constant attention from you not only with drills, but …
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When you are a young player or a coach that deals with young players its important to have an affect on a game. Having an affect isn’t hitting a couple of shots in a row, having a few dunks on …
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First I want to say how great Jeremy Lin is for the game of basketball. A player that very few people ever gave a chance to make it to the highest level is making a difference against the NBA’s best. …
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In the NBA as well as any other level players sometime need a learning curve to develop into serviceable players. There is so much pressure on lottery picks to perform at the pro level at the very start. Evan Turner …
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Just so we can get this out of the way, no one ever thought Jeremy Lin was going to be an NBA player. If someone does mention the fact that they knew they are flat out lying to you. Jeremy …
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Anyone who works with players on a daily basis understands the fine line that young players walk . A lot of people don’t understand that players are made and broken every day. As coaches,we must understand at any level when …
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Sometimes I like to press on the same simple things. Guilty as charged!! When it comes to helping players and coaches sometimes it comes down to continually mentioning the same teaching points time in and time out. With point …
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I’ll be the last guy to tell a college coach at any level how to do his job. With so much turnover and unrealistic expectations in their profession, college basketball coaches have a lot on their plate. Obviously the lifeblood …
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The Recruit Tracker is a database program that I have been developing for over a year. It is a program designed to help college coaches organize their recruiting efforts. This program can change the way that you store information. We …
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If I had a few words to describe James Harden I’d say he has an old man’s game. That is nowhere near a knock on the 6’5 shooting guard out of Arizona State. James plays the game slow, the way …
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This blog post will be pretty short. I was making a wing edit for a high school player that I worked with this summer. Obviously he is a wing player and wanted to get an edit to help with his …
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Activity in Big Men I cant stress enough to any big man that I work with or come in contact with during the year about their activity level. So much of our game especially at the grassroots level is about …
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Pick and Roll Passes The pick and roll is such an important part of our game. It’s not just an offense where point guards handle the ball. Today you can see every wing position handling the ball in the offense. …
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Ricky Rubio 6’4 Point Guard Minnesota Timberwolves 10.7 PTS 8.5 AST 4.5 REB 2.5 STL 38.6 FG% 37.1 3P% 3.3 TOS Maybe besides LeBron James there really hasn’t been a player in the last ten years to come into the …
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After losing their number one ranking with Saturday’s loss at Notre Dame Syracuse got back on the saddle again beating a pesky Cincinnati team 60-53 last night in Cincinnati. It wasn’t an easy win as Cincinnati led for most of …
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This matchup will be a very heated contest for sure. Syracuse fresh off a loss at Notre Dame 67-58 on Saturday come into this contest with a record of 20-1 and 7-1 in Big East Play. Cincinnati hosts the Orangemen …
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Our game is filled with big men that have all of the size and ability to become very good players. The problem is something happens along the way. I don’t know if its too many games and not enough …
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By now everyone and their mother have seen the highlights of Michael Snaer’s buzzer beating three point make to lead the Florida State Seminoles to a 76-73 stunning victory over the Duke Blue Devils. That dagger snapped Duke’s 45 game …
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My day usually consists of breaking down tape on various pro/college players from around the world for my clients in which I consult for. Yesterday I checked my twitter feed and clicked on Dave Telep’s article on Doug McDermott. If …
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Florida State @ Duke Pre Game Scouting Report. This is a very interesting matchup for many reasons. Both teams come in playing very good basketball. Duke is tops in the ACC with a record of 16-2 (4-0 in conference) and …
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I had the privilege of attending the 2012 Hoop Hall Classic this past weekend in Springfield,MA. For whatever its worth I think it’s the most well run high school event in the country. First off the teams were top notch …
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The Rockets this year are trying to find an identity. WIthout a true star on their roster they will have to win games by grinding them out on good half court basketball and a collective effort on the defensive end. …
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The first time I saw Nikola Mirotic was in a small gym in Rho a small suburban town of Milan,Italy back in 2006. He was a tall lanky skilled combo forward playing on a cadet team for Real Madrid. You …
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With all of the stars in the NBA a lot of times many of the great role players get overlooked. One of the favorite parts about scouting is watching for serviceable role players. When developing players 80% of them won’t …
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While breaking down film on Durant it’s easy to see why he is so difficult to prepare for. He’s an almost impossible cover because of his variety of skills that he has mastered at such a young age. Last …
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Yet another steal for the Miami Heat in the draft. Norris Cole the first year player out of Cleveland State supposed to be a spectator for the most part this season. He’s come on strong to make a lasting impression …
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There’s not a bigger box score filler than Kevin Love. When you look at Kevin Physically he doesn’t blow you away. He’s a big kid with good size, but really isn’t that imposing. What makes him a special player is …
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One of the most important pieces of information that I try to give to young players and coaches is to enjoy the moment. Working to strive to be better of course they need to do that first, but every now …
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It’s funny, while I’m out here in California I wanted to write a blog entry on the sense of entitlement of young players. This was a subject that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I was sort of …
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I’m not much for deep thought. I’m not the type of guy to send out inspirational thoughts and quotes to anyone who would listen. The rule of thumb that I live by is what gets the job done. When preparing …
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As a point guard it’s important to control the flow of the game. Its your job to put your team in a position to be as efficient as possible on the offensive end of the floor. No matter what kind …
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Bigmen are different today. No longer are they only back to the basket on the block players. Many face the basket as well as wonder out on the perimeter. I think it is important for all bigmen to be comfortable …
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The recruit tracker is a tool developed by The Hoop Consultants to assist college basketball coaches organize their recruiting efforts. The Recruiting Tracker was designed to take all of the information that you compile on a recruit and allow you …
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There are many different types of wing players in the game today. There are one trick ponies that can just catch and shoot the ball without having the ability to put the ball on the floor. There are the wings …
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When developing as a point guard you need to understand what kind of point guard you want to be. There are a lot of different point guards out there that do different things. There are point guards that don’t score …
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It is very important at a young age to establish certain skill sets at each position. Many players today don’t develop a skill to get them into a game. Because of the lack of practice time and the increase in …
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Teaching defensive development to big men is a slow process. The majority of people think that if a big man rebounds and blocks shot that he is a defensive presence. I judge a post player’s ability to defend not only …
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Probably the biggest issue with players today is the inability to move without the ball. For one reason or another, our game has become ball dominant. Players of all ages and skill levels are interested in only learning to play …
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Every position in my opinion is in need of development of a mid range game. This isn’t new to anyone as with young players nationwide the ability to get shots from the 15-17 foot range is a very much lost …
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Playoff basketball is all about making simple plays. Over and over you will hear Jeff Van Gundy, Marc Jackson, and every other commentator talk about ball movement and sucking defenders in. For the past couple of months I’ve repeatedly mentioned …
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LeBron has been impressive on both ends of the floor throughout the playoffs. His ability to not only dominate and score on offense, but also to swallow the other team’s best player night in and night out has turned a …
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Dirk without question has played his way into one of the top 50 players to have ever played this game. He’s proven that he can take a team on his back and put them in a position to be an …
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The NBA is filled with great scorers at every position. Great scorers aren’t very hard to find as they come in different shapes, ages, and sizes. A scorer’s trade value or stature in the NBA isn’t as high as the …
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