Category: winning mindset

Story of theshot92

Here is the story of “TheShot92” . . . an unabridged edition for your enjoyment!

It happened on . . .
March 4th, 1992

Picture if you will . . .
… a sellout crowd of over 16,000 at the Hartford Civic Center to see the UConn Huskies vs. The Syracuse Orangemen in a Men’s Big East Basketball Game. Like many games late in the basketball season, energy was running high for everyone in attendence.

The first half was exciting and just before both teams head to their locker rooms to strategize at halftime, the UConn sports marketing department, as they always do at UConn games for halftime entertainment, selects 3 contestants for a basketball shooting contest. Contestants are selected by a sticker placed in 3 game programs and the person who makes the most foul shots in 30 seconds wins a chance to shoot for additional prizes.

Tonight, the first two spots are filled by people who had stickers in their programs – but they needed a third person.  UConn MBA student Dave Wheeler happens to be near where the contestants are meeting and he happily volunteers when asked to fill the 3rd and last spot. (Sometimes it just helps to be in the right place at the right time).

After the UConn and Syracuse players leave for halftime, the three contestants make their way to the court. Even though the Civic Center seats over 16,000 fans, many are out of their seats during halftime getting refreshments and hitting the rest rooms.  The remaining spectators don’t expect much from the shooting contest since it is rare that anyone wins a prize.

Since Dave was selected last, he has to shoot first.  His first few foul shots go in easily, then the pressure of the screaming fans sets in … his knees lock up and he misses the next few shots. One voice can be heard distinctly – calling out of the roar of the crowd – “BEND YOUR KNEES” – it sounds exactly like Dave’s Dad . . . even though Dave knows that he’s not there.

Finally Dave makes his last couple shots to end with a score of 6 made baskets in 30 seconds. Dave is disappointed and thinks he could have done better.  Compared to other halftime contests that he has seen, he knows that six is really pretty pitiful, but he only has to beat tonight’s competition.

Next to shoot is a middle aged Housewife. She has trouble hitting the backboard at all and doesn’t make a single shot. [Dave lets out a sigh of relief].

Next up is the real competition – an 8 year old boy (with his Dad standing by as a coach). The kid can just barely get the ball to the rim, but one rattles into the net.

He misses a few more, then another falls in. A few more topple in and, as the 30 second buzzer sounds . . . [most impartial observers agree the ball was still in his hands when the buzzer went off] . . . he heaves up one last prayer of a shot . . .  it rolls around . . . AND IT GOES IN ! It’s all tied up.

It’s time for a Sudden Death shootout between Dave, a 29 year old graduate student . . . and an eight year old boy.

Dave shoots first and makes his first shot. Dave certainly doesn’t want to be embarrassed by losing to this little kid.

The 8 year old steps up to the foul line, throws it toward the basket and makes his first shot – The crowd goes wild !

Dave steps up for his second shot and the crowd is starting to turn nasty. The want the little kid to win. Did we mention that the contest was right in front of the student section, the rowdiest part of the arena?

It is hard to imagine what it is like to be boo’d by 16,000 people (since, by now, most spectators had returned from getting refreshments or using the bathroom). Even with the crowd against him, Dave makes his second sudden death foul shot and feels pretty confident. The pressure is really on the kid now.

The 8 year old steps to the line, pauses, heaves the ball to the basket – and it hits the front of the rim and bounces up, over, and IN ! [Needless to say the crowd is ecstatic!]

Dave’s third shot. Now he gets to see what visiting players experience when they are shooting foul shots – facing the rowdiest fans in the building – the student section. The BOO’s are raining down from all corners of the arena since everyone wants the 8 year old to win. Dave steps up, shoots, follows through and . . . it goes in.

By now Dave (and the rest of the 16,000 fans) are pretty impressed by this 8 year old. To make two shots in a row is quite an accomplishment – especially against someone who has played basketball all his life and even competed at the college level.

Now the crowd is cheering for the 8 year old to make a third shot – he bounces the ball a couple of times, eyes the rim, takes a deep breath and lets it go. It gets to the rim . . . bounces from side to side . . . and falls out. The crowd moans.

Now Dave gets to shoot for prizes:

Since he won the shootout, he gets to go for the prizes. If the first shot (from the foul line) is made, Dave gets a pair of Reebok sneakers and everyone in the arena gets a free order of bread sticks from Pizza Hut.

The announcer explains the prizes and ends with “good luck Dave”.  Strange as it sounds, it is almost like the pressure is off. Dave steps up and makes the free throw.

The second shot is from the Three Point Line – top of the key – about a 20 foot shot. Dave starts to get a little cocky and asks the guy running the event if he should shoot from the College or the NBA 3 point line. He even makes an exaggerated gesture pointing at each line so anyone watching could figure out what he was asking. [Did we mention that Dave was quite the smart aleck ! ? !]

The sports marketing guy running the contest concedes that the college line will be fine, while the announcer is explaining the prizes . . . “If Dave makes this shot he will get a SNET Cellular phone and, instead of bread sticks, everyone in attendance will get a free Personal Pan Pizza from Pizza Hut! Good Luck Dave.”

Upon hearing this the crowd quickly forgets that they were booing him only minutes before and the noise and cheering starts. Dave tracks down the same (good) ball as before and steps up. With a nice easy jump shot, the ball sails toward the basket and splashes through the net. The crowd lets out a huge cheer [since they had just won some pizza]. Now the real tension starts.

The last shot, “theshot92”, is for two round trip tickets anywhere in the Continental U.S. and “Pizza for a Year” for Dave and a medium Pizza Hut pizza for everyone in the Civic Center. Needless to say, all 16,000 fans are on their feet – anyone who had left for intermission has come back in to see what the commotion is all about.

The next shot – from half court – has what seems like an eternity of buildup by the announcer, giving Dave some time to decide how he is going to try to make this shot. He thinks he could throw it, but he wouldn’t have enough control. He could try to shoot it like a regular shot, but probably wouldn’t have enough distance to get it there. Dave decides to shoot it with two hands – kind of like a chest pass.

There is only one over-riding thought – Don’t let it be short. The UConn crowds are notoriously merciless with their chants of “AIR-BALL, AIR-BALL” when opposing teams miss the rim on a foul shot – and that’s when there isn’t even any pizza involved !

Dave figures at the very least by trying to bounce it off the backboard it might compensate for the weakness that has started in his knees and is now spreading to his arms and the rest of my body. The pressure is making Dave “weak in the knees” so adjusts his target and bounces the ball a couple times while he waits.

The announcer wraps up his description of the prizes and gives Dave his cue to shoot, ” . . . Good Luck Dave”.

Dave shoots.

It looks straight.

It’s hard to tell if it will make it . . . until he sees it hit the bottom of the net –

Straight in –

Nothing But Net !

The crowd erupts. The UConn mascot runs over to congratulate him. A standing ovation from 16,000 of his closest friends [remember. . . there was pizza involved].

theshot92 UConn halfcourt

People from the courtside UConn band ask for Dave’s autograph before he can even leave the court. He must have signed about 20 or 30 programs before finally walking back up to his seat with all the coupons for the prizes. . . shaking hands with everyone as he makes his way up the steps.

Needless to say – the rest of that UConn/Syracuse Big East Basketball game on March 4th, 1992 was kind of anti-climatic. Some people even say they heard a chant near the end of the game “Put in the Pizza Guy” !

That’s the story of TheShot92 !

We hope you enjoyed it.

Power of “Optional”

If you think about it… Basketball is “optional”, especially in middle school and high school. As far as I can tell, no one is ‘required’ to play basketball. Just like no one is ‘required’ to go to college or earn an above average living from a career they enjoy. Almost every great experience or achievement is ‘optional’.

We each get to choose what optional things we want in our life and what optional activities we are willing to put in to our life to get exceptional rewards! As I heard on the Pure Sweat podcast (paraphrasing a bit), “Winning is earned by what you do in the unseen hours.”

Great = Optional

As Jim Collins pointed out in his book, Good to Great, “Good is the enemy of Great.” The reason we have so few things that are great is because what we have is generally “good”. Most people are ready to settle for “good enough” and never discover that they could have achieved something great.

It is very simple. If you want to be great at anything, you have to do things that average people don’t do. You have to do the ‘optional things’. In basketball, if you want to be an all-state player, you need to work on your shot and your athletic ability (assuming those are areas that will make you successful). In school, the optional things could include an extra study session every night or finding a new way to study that is more effective.

Optional is not easy… or hard

Doing extra things, optional things, can be hard. It might involve working harder, getting up earlier than your competition and putting in longer hours. That might be hard… or not. You might actually find ways to enjoy the optional activities. Many athletes are proud of the hours they put in and it gives them a sense of confidence that they would not have otherwise.

Optional can be easy. Press the easy button.On the other hand, optional things could actually BE easy. Finding a new way of doing something can almost instantly take your performance to a new level.  Reading on your topic of interest, while perhaps mentally taxing, can be a physically relaxing activity that can give you an advantage over the competition.

Referring back to Jim Collin’s book, Good to Great, one of the counter-intuitive findings that he came up with, and documented with a number of stories in his book, is that it isn’t really harder to go for great than it is to settle for “good”. Are there some different activities? Sure. Do great teams do things different from good teams? Sure. But does it have to be harder? Definitely not.

Quick Mental Training Tip…

Whether something is easy or hard, good or bad… is your choice. You get to define the meaning of everything in your life. A person’s definition of ‘reality’ can be very subjective so why not choose the meaning that gives you the best results. If you want it to be easy, make it easy. If you want to challenge yourself with something hard, make it hard. You get to choose.

Bottom Line…

The optional effort is what makes you stand out. As I’ve said in another article, Hustle is a way to stand out… and Hustle is clearly ‘optional’. What other activities do you need to do to get what you want? By doing the ‘optional’, you are setting yourself from the pack, from the ‘average’ results and shooting for something better. How far are you willing to go? Your limits are just an illusion set up by other people. You can do more than you even imagine!

The Talent Mirage

When we see someone who performs at a high level, whether it is in music or sports or academically, we assume that a good part of their abilities are the result of talent, something they were born with. That’s the Talent Mirage.

Talent Mirage - skill pyramid
Coach Wheeler’s Skills Pyramid

We fail to recognize the amount of hard work and learning that it took to develop the skills that we see. That’s why Talent is a Mirage. It is something we see… that is not there. Talent is simply the [often highly polished] skills acquired over time based on hard work and learning.

Aren’t some people born with “talent”?

We are all born with differences but it would be delusion to call it “inborn talent”. For example, maybe our parents have developed skills in certain areas so we are exposed to something before someone else. That’s not talent… it’s environment.

What about someone who is born to tall parents and are likely to become tall? That is certainly a difference… but it doesn’t guarantee that this tall person will be good at basketball. A tall person who doesn’t develop a love of the game and a strong work ethic won’t amount to much of a player. On the other hand, a small or shorter person who loves the game and puts in the effort to develop their body to its highest potential while also learning skills to become a better basketball player can be highly successful.  It isn’t the cards we are dealt, it is how we play them. Talent is a mirage.

Attitude is more important than “Talent”

If you buy into the idea that “Talent” is just skills developed over time, then the key to putting in the time is ATTITUDE. Skill building is fueled by attitude. The hard work becomes FUN … with the right attitude. A player with the right attitude is coachable and can pick up ideas that will make them a better player.

A key part of “Attitude” is the ability to be okay being “bad”. One of my favorite quotes is by football coach and legendary business leader, A.L.Williams, who said…

“Remember, before you can be great, you’ve got to be good.

Before you can be good, you’ve got to be bad.

But before you can even be bad, you’ve got to try.”

― Art Williams, All You Can Do is All You Can Do

If you are going to build your “pyramid of skills” that will lead to what society calls “Talent”, you will have to get used to being bad at something before you are good at it.  This is also related to the Growth vs. Fixed Mindset which I learned about through Carol Dweck’s book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success“.

Growth = Skills Mindset
Fixed = Talent Mindset

In short, the Growth Mindset, according to Dweck’s book, is when someone see any challenge as an opportunity for growth. If they fail, the growth mindset says that they have not learned how to succeed or have not put in the work to develop the skills necessary to succeed. In other words, someone with the Growth mindset doesn’t let failure stop them. They continue to build their skills until they win.

Contrast that with the Fixed Mindset. Someone with a fixed (or “Talent”) mindset goes into every challenge with the assumption that they either have the talent to succeed or they don’t. If they fail, they conclude that they don’t have the talent for that activity and should not do it in the future. As you can imagine, the world of possibilities get smaller and smaller for someone with the “Talent mindset”.

Unfortunately, this Fixed / Talent mindset is often reinforced even when someone is successful… by friends, family or coaches who see the success as a result of “talent”. The question I have for you is … “If you are trying to get across a desert, would you drink the water pointed out by someone who sees a mirage?” The Talent Mirage is a trap. Don’t get sucked into believing in Talent. You may have Skills … and you will need more skills if you are going to compete at the highest levels.

Why do so many people
believe in the Talent Mirage?

Most often, it is a case of mis-matched timelines. If a 6th grader was playing against Michael Jordan, the timeline mismatch would be obvious. When players of the same age compete, it is almost impossible to see how much time (and hard work) each athlete has put into building their skills. It is easy to attribute this difference in skill levels to “talent”, especially if one player has certain physical gifts that seem to give them an advantage. Don’t get trapped by the Talent Mirage.

“[Everything] is made, not born.”
– Seth Godin, Marketing Legend & Thought Leader
as heard on the Tim Ferriss podcast.

Don’t you want “Talented” players on your team?

YES… keeping in mind what that really means. We want players who have developed valuable skills and can perform at a high level. We also believe that players can be developed… given enough time and effort (with the right mindset / attitude). So, as coaches, our job is to recognize the skills that a player has while encouraging them to work hard to add other skills which will make them even more successful.

Bottom Line for you and I …

Take the first step on the skills pyramidDon’t use the Talent Mirage as an excuse for not putting in the effort to develop the skills that will allow you to compete at the highest levels. Don’t worry if you can’t see or even imagine all the skills you will need to become successful. Start where you are and keep working hard to improve… step by step. Someday someone will say “You are so Talented.” When that happens, just smile and say “Thank You”… knowing that you put in the effort over time to get where you are. Remember… Talent is a Mirage.

 

HUSTLE – It sets you apart.

At the InviteOnly 2017 PreSeason Basketball Camp held last weekend at Keene State College, I gave a brief impromptu “speech” about the topic of “Hustle” and how it can set you apart from other players trying out for your team.

Based on the reception of that speech about the importance of hustling, I figured it might be a good topic for a post on this blog as well. Clearly Hustling is tied to your mental toughness because, for most players, it does come naturally… at first. Once you start to hustle, you will find that it will become easier. You will have to think about it at first but eventually it will become automatic. You just have to make the decision to start NOW!

What is “Hustle”?

Hustling is the act of “not waiting for things to happen” but rather doing whatever it takes to “make things happen”. It is all about increasing the pace that you do things.

Why does Hustle matter?

Hustling is visible. It tells your team mates that what you are doing is important and can’t wait. It tells your coach that you are enthusiastic about being on the team and, to a certain extent, that you are a hard worker. As a player who hustles, it is clear that you are putting in an extra effort… and coaches love to see that.

Hustling builds confidence. You might not notice it, but as you are hustling, you are getting results FASTER than others. It is like you are winning a race against people who don’t even know that there is a race going on. With time, your “hustle habit” will give you confidence both in the areas where you develop skills as well as areas you have not even tried. Why? Because you will know that HUSTLE WORKS.

Hustling gives you a head start. You arrive early while others show up at the last minute. Since you have more time to become accustomed to whatever situation you find yourself in, you have more time to take [a better] action. All because you hustled while others took their own sweet time. Why do you think that “the early bird gets the worm”?

Where should I be Hustling?

You should hustle in any area of your life that you want to achieve superior results. People who hustle in business get more done and make more money. People who hustle in school get better grades and get into better colleges. People who hustle in relationships show how important these relationships are to them.

What is important to you?

hustle NOWWant to improve your chances of making the team?
Start Hustling.

Want to improve the likelihood that you will get more minutes in the game?
Start Hustling.

If something is important to you… You should be hustling.
The time to Hustle is NOW.

 

4 Part Basketball Year

The one basketball season ends and another basketball year begins. If you are only playing and working on your game during the “official school season” than you are missing out.  Below are the 4 sections / timelines that make up the “4 part basketball year” plus the off-season.  Let’s start with the day after your school season ends…

Off Season (Spring/Summer/Fall)

  • Spring AAU
  • Summer League
  • Fall AAU
  • Open gym(s) at school
  • Pickup games
  • Weight Training

Once practices can start, the season is officially ON !  Below are the parts of the season along with the focus area for each time period.

1st Quarter- Pre-Season – before first game

  • Tryouts
  • Practices / Conditioning
  • Learn techniques and formations
  • Scrimmages
  • Keep it simple / Learn The Basics

 

2nd Quarter – First Encounters (1st Half of Season)

  • Play first round of home/away games
  • Find out what works vs. competition (adapt as needed)
  • Fine tune & Accelerate “The Basics”
  • Continue conditioning / strength gains
  • Gauge the competition (Strengths & Weaknesses)

 

3rd Quarter – Revenge/Payback time (2nd Half of Season)

  • Must get better (the competition isn’t standing still)
  • Prep for playoffs
  • Keep conditioning / Make it Fun !
  • Maintain FOCUS. Stay sharp.
  • Take breaks when needed to maintain energy.
  • Cold & Flu season… rest to recover quicker.

 

4th Quarter – Win or Go Home (Playoffs)

  • Perform at your best.
  • Few “Easy Wins”… even lower seeds are playing hard.
  • Have a few surprises up your sleeve.
  • High level of Mental Toughness / Facing The Challenges
Why use “4 Part Basketball Year”?

Breaking up the season into “chucks”, each with a different area of focus and specific “feel”, helps your team fight the boredom of a long season. It also breaks up the grind of weeks of conditioning and keeps players fresh.

A physical test in each quarter, either as part of a game or practice, can be a good milestone to show progress when compared with tests earlier in the season.  I like to have some standard tests for evaluating players and it is good to come back to them in each section of the season to show players that they are indeed getting better.

Bottom line…

Looking at the overall season as a “4 part basketball year” helps your planning efforts as a coach. It should also make the year more enjoyable and more successful for your players. The outline above is just a starting point. Feel free to add your own components to each section and use the outline as a planning tool for this year as well as years to come. If you see something that doesn’t belong, please leave us a comment below. Even if you disagree, your comments and ideas will be helping us get better.

Greatest Of All Time – Basketball Coaches

When you think of basketball coaches, who do you think are the Greatest Of All Time?

Recently, I was listening to a podcast by Tony Robbins where he published his interview (from 30 years ago) with the Legendary Coach John Wooden. This interview (which I will talk about more in a separate post on this blog) had some great content and it got me thinking about other coaches (living or past) who might have interviews (or books) out there that I can learn from.

Greatest of all time basketball coach John WoodenI can still remember reading Coach Wooden’s book, “They Call Me Coach” back when I was in middle school or high school and I hope that I have lived up to at least some of the principles he taught. Wouldn’t it be great to learn from basketball coaches we consider the Greatest of all time?

Greatest of all Time Basketball Coaches

Below is my Top Ten list (with a couple extras) of basketball coaches I consider the Greatest of all time (not necessarily in any particular order) …

  1. John Wooden, UCLA’s “Wizard of Westwood”
  2. Dean Smith, North Carolina Tarheels
  3. Coach K, Duke Blue Devils
  4. Red Auerbach, Boston Celtics
  5. Phil Jackson, Chicago Bulls & LA Lakers
  6. Geno Auriemma, UConn Women’s Basketball
  7. Pat Summit, Tennessee Women’s Basketball
  8. Bobby Knight, Indiana
  9. Hubie Brown, NBA
  10. Rick Pitino, Providence College, Kentucky, Louisville
  11. Larry Brown, NBA
  12. Greg Popovich, NBA’s San Antonio Spurs
  13. Morgan Wooten, Dematha High School, Washington, DC
  14. Bob Hurley,Sr., St. Anthony High School, New Jersey (28 State titles)
  15. Dave Wheeler, Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative (WLC) High School… [just kidding]. (I added this to see if you were paying attention!)
More to come…

As I explore the coaching concepts of each of these great coaches, I will be posting articles on this blog so you can pick up ideas that you might want to add to your coaching toolkit! Be sure to sign up for our email notification list so you will get an email when new articles are added to this blog. (You can unsubscribe at any time… but why would you?)

Who did I miss?

Who else can we learn from, especially as it relates to “building a winning mindset”? What does your list of basketball coaches who are the Greatest of all time look like? Please leave a comment below and let us know who is on your list of basketball coaches considered the “Greatest Of All Time”.

 

Ball-First M2M Defense & The Play that Beat UConn WBB 2017

This article is about the play that prevented UConn Women’s Basketball Team’s 111 game winning streak from going to 112… and a type of basketball defense (Ball-First M2M) that would have changed the outcome.

I teach “Ball-First Man-2-Man Trapping Defense” and the loss of the UConn Women’s 2017 Final Four game to Mississippi State provides an opportunity to take a look into some of the principles of BFM2M. Let’s start by checking out the video of the last play Mississippi State used to beat UConn in the 2017 Final Four…

The reason that Mississippi State’s Morgan William was able to get off her jumpshot was due to a mixup on the defensive coverage by UConn. Morgan William is probably the smallest player on the floor so if even one of the UConn players had been closer to her, the shot would certainly have been blocked or at least been a lower percentage. As you see in the video of the last play, there were a bunch of UConn players defending, swapping coverage as Mississippi State players moved around at the top of the key.

Here is where the breakdown occurred and where UConn lost… as Morgan Williams begins to drive, #11 Kia Nurse (who was covering another player too) jumps up to take Morgan. Morgan starts to drive and (this is where BALL FIRST M2M comes in) #12 Soniya Chong, who is now covering MS player #00, waves at the ball handler instead of coming over to trap and stop the drive. If you watch the play further, Kia Nurse backs away from Morgan William, probably under the assumption that #15 Gabby Williams would stop her.

Ordinarily that is a pretty good assumption since Gabby Williams is one of the most athletic players for UConn, but Morgan William has too much speed and momentum so Gabby is unable to get to her in time to stop the shot.

How would it change with Ball-First M2M defense?

Kia Nurse would have continued to aggressively defend the ball (Rule#1-The Ball is our first priority). By staying with the offensive player, Kia would have provided a “wall” of sorts so Morgan could not easily change direction.

Next, Soniya Chong would have jumped into the path of Morgan and placed her body so that she and Kia would create a trap. This is a difficult move if a player has never done it before because without a strong focus on a particular part of the play, it can go wrong quickly.

Players who use Ball-First M2M know that the key to this move is to keep your eyes on the ball. You know that the driver cannot change direction since that would bring them into your other defender and the ball would be open for a possible steal.

By focusing on the ball, you also are able to anticipate a pass to the player you are “leaving” (and intercept a pass if it is thrown). If the offense dribbles into the trap or tries to “plow through” the approaching defender (who is focusing on the basketball) needs to be ready to grab the ball (probably at waist or chest height) and rip it way from them. Other offensive players, usually the taller ones, may try to bring the ball over their head as they step through the trap… which is another reason all players need to keep an eye on the ball.

No one scores without the ball. Every time the ball leaves a player's hand there is an opportunity for a steal. - Coach Dave Wheeler

I know what I have described is a lot to expect from someone who has not used Ball-First M2M and hasn’t developed the skills of where to look (hint: Ball-First) and where they need to put their body to stop a driving offensive player. Ball-First M2M is not an overnight fix, especially since you need ALL the players on the defensive team to understand the approach so they can deal with 2nd and 3rd options. It can be, however, highly effective.

Bottom Line…

Even though I am a long-time fan of UConn WBB, I have to give credit to Mississippi State. They played a tough game. I also appreciate the effort put in by UConn.

It is unfair to focus on one play as the reason they lost since there were countless opportunities to get another basket earlier in the game. Every player and every coach knows that just one more made shot or an offensive rebound or a defensive stop and there would never have been an overtime period. I give credit to all the players, coaches and parents who helped both teams get to this game. Few people have even the smallest sliver of a glimpse into all the preparation and hard work that is put in at this level of basketball.

 

Having said that, the reason for this article is to show how Ball-First M2M defense can work at the highest levels. There is much more to Ball-First Man-to-Man defense that I have not mentioned in this article… most importantly, traps in other areas of the court. Those aspects will have to wait for another article. If you want to be sent a brief email when new articles are published for this blog, be sure to sign up for our email notification service. As always, your comments are encouraged and appreciated.

Preseason Basketball Camp 2017-Keene NH

Coach Dave Wheeler, in association with InviteOnlyBasketball.com and Parisi Speed School of NH, will be conducting a one-day preseason basketball camp on Saturday Nov.11th, 2017.

The camp, for boys in grades 7-11 (Ages 13-17), will be held at Keene State College’s Spaulding Gymnasium where the Owls play their home games.

For more information and to apply for an invitation to the basketball camp, please visit www.InviteOnlyBasketball.com !

 

Next Level Basketball

What does it mean for a player to “take their game to the next level”? It sounds like a good thing but without understanding the meaning it is hard to get there, right?

Plus… even if you have an idea of what the “next level” is for your basketball game, the question of “How do I take my game to the next level?” is still critically important.

This article will answer those questions (from Coach Wheeler’s perspective) and provide you with an example of a player who might Coach Wheeler could help “take their game to the next level.”

What are “the Levels”?

Below are the various levels from middle school through high school and even into college.  If you are interested in seeing some of the skills that are typically developed at each level, check out Coach Wheeler’s article on a Player Progression Plan. 

  • Middle School
  • High School – Player / non-starter… Losing team
  • High School – Player / starter… Losing team
  • High School – Player / non-starter… Winning team
  • High School – Player / starter… Winning team
  • High School – Player / starter… college-level skills (D3/Community College)
  • High School – Player / starter… All-state-Honorable mention
  • High School – Player / starter… All-state-2nd Team
  • High School – Player / starter… All-state-1st Team
  • College Starter – D3 / Community College
  • College Player * – D2
  • College Player * – D1

* There are obviously many levels within “college”.  Most players won’t need to worry about this since even “best in state” does not mean that you are guaranteed a scholarship at the college level.

There could be even more levels if you include various AAU team or individual milestones (tourney wins, elite team participation, etc.). Again, this is a simple framework for players that are working on their game, probably at some level in high school, and looking to go “to the next level”.

HOW do I go to the “Next Level”?

As mentioned earlier, Coach Wheeler’s article on development of Player Progression Plan has lots of clues for players looking to improve.

Beyond skill development, WINNING is another way to move up a level or two. Players on teams that win get more attention from people who evaluate players.

Since basketball is a team game, if you want to win more games, you need to look at your role on the team. What does the team need to win more games? How well are you performing your role on the team? How can you do more? Or better?

You might have some ideas for these questions but don’t settle for your own answers. ASK others to get a better idea of what will take your game to the next level.  ASK Coaches… your current coach (obviously), past coaches who have seen you play recently, AAU coaches, assistant coaches and even players whose basketball knowledge you respect.

When you ASK, you could say something like, “I want to take my game to the next level, what do you think I need to improve?” Be open to the answers but look for common answers that come up often. Also, don’t get upset if someone identifies a weakness that you are not proud of. Many people will only give you “good news” and it is important to value people who will “tell it like it is”. You don’t want sugar-coated feedback. You want the truth… and you need to act on the truth!

Coach Wheeler’s “Next Level real Player Example”:

Coach WheelerI coached this player as part of an AAU team when he was a freshman and he was a pretty good shooter. I won’t “name names” since I don’t want to embarrass him. Plus the advice could apply to a number of players.

As a sophomore, our “example player” saw some good minutes on his varsity team but he played a secondary role to seniors who played a similar position.

When I saw him a year later in a summer league, he had improved his ability to drive and make shots. The team he played on did not have great players so he probably had to carry a bigger scoring load than he might on another team.

Next Level tip:

This player has pretty good court vision since he handles the ball most of the time and rarely dribbles into traps or places he might lose the ball. His court awareness is part of how he might take his game (and the success of his team) to the next level.

He should work with his team so that they move into scoring position as he drives. For example, wing shooters need to get open to potentially receive a kick-out pass. Big men need to recognize when he is going to drive and find a lane where they can be open if the opposition collapses on the driver. Even if the driver shoots, big men should be actively getting in position for the rebound.

How are all these things the responsibility of the player with the ball? First, basketball is a team game and even if you are the best player in the world the other players on the court need to be active. Michael Jordan did not win a single NBA championship before Coach Phil Jackson brought in the triangle offense and convinced MJ that involving others was in his best interest (especially if he wanted to win).

Second, if you are the primary ball handler (as this player is in our example) your key responsibility is to distribute the ball for the highest percentage shot possible. That means “getting the other players to move to the right places”. Sometimes the coach sets up plays for the team but more often players have to work together on the court in various situations.

This is just Coach Wheeler’s idea for how this player could get to “the next level”. As we mentioned earlier, he should be getting feedback from all the coaches in his life… and taking action.

Bottom line…

If you want to get better, you will have to take action. Basketball is highly competitive. You are not just competing within your school’s division. You are competing against everyone near your age who is playing basketball and trying to get to the next level. Remember, after your senior year in high school, no matter how good you are, the next year you are a freshman in college. From the big fish in the small pond to a small fish in THE OCEAN! The time to move to the Next Level is NOW. Don’t wait. Your future depends on it!