Posts Tagged ‘Milwaukee Skill Development Training’

Self Made Players, by Luke Meier

Monday, January 11th, 2010

You often hear Coaches or T.V. announcers refer to players as “self made.”  How else are players made?  Coaches and trainers can provide all the tools for players to improve, but it is up to the player to put in the time and effort.

The book “When the Game was Ours” by Jackie MacMullen tells about the lives of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and their relationship with one another. Here are two of the many stories about the legendary work ethics of two of the greatest players ever.

During his summers with the Celtics Larry Bird would get up at 7am and run 5 miles uphill.  Then he would ride his bike through the Indiana country for 20 miles.  This was followed by 500 jump shots and 500 free throws.  It was only the start of his workout and it was all done before noon.

When Magic Johnson was in high school, Dick Vitale, who was coaching in Detroit at the time, showed up at the Johnson household one winter morning shortly after 6am.  When Vitale asked for Magic, his mother told Vitale that he had already left for the day.  He was at the park shooting jumpers before school in the blistering cold of a Lansing winter morning.

You can make excuses about how you don’t have time or you don’t have a gym or whatever else you can think of.  The truth is that is that’s all garbage.  If you really want to be great you find the time, you find the space, and you make it happen.

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Weaknesses Part III: Finishing, by Luke Meier

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

As a skill development trainer it is my job to teach and drill players, preparing them for situations they will encounter on the court.  Different situations on the court require different solutions.  A lot of player’s games are severely limited by a lack of “solutions.”  This lack of solutions is no more apparent than watching players trying to finish in traffic.

Here are three basic ways to help you finish better in traffic:

  1. Be able to finish with either hand:  Players routinely force shots up with their strong hand because they have no off hand.  How many times have you seen a player’s shot get tossed by a defender because they shoot with their right hand when a lefty lay-in would get them an easy bucket?  It happens every game!  My high school coach once told me that for every drill I did with my strong hand, I should do two with my off hand.   You should work to the point where you have no “weak” hand.  Mikan drills are great for this.  Mikans may not be “cool” but it’s even less cool when you can’t finish with your off hand and it costs you easy buckets.
  2. Defense-Body-Ball Principle:  In traffic you need to protect the basketball.  Keep your body between your defender and the basketball.  A lot of players turn their body towards the basket when trying to finish on defenders, making it a “Defense-Ball-Body” situation.  The ball isn’t protected and the shot gets blocked.  Practice finishing with your inside shoulder pointing directly at the rim… work this until you become completely comfortable finishing this way.  More Mikans!
  3. Initiate to Separate:  This goes directly with number two.  Initiate contact with the defense to create space to get your shot off.  Get your inside shoulder into the defender or get them on your back where they have to foul you to get to the ball.  When you initiate the contact you give yourself the advantage by taking away the defenders ability to go straight up and block the shot.

There are countless situations where you need to finish in traffic.  Sometimes you need to take it strong, while other times you need to use some finesse.  Aside from number one these principles don’t apply for every situation, but they will add a number of “solutions” to your game while finishing around the basket.

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It’s Where You Finish, by Luke Meier

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

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Weaknesses from the First Part of the Year, by Luke Meier

Friday, December 18th, 2009

I’ve been able to get out and see several high school games since the start of the season.  When I watch these games I pay special attention to the fundamentals and skills of each player.  Obviously each player and team has their individual strengths and weaknesses, but in the games I’ve seen this year I’ve noticed three common areas where players really seem to struggle.  Rather than trying to address each of these areas in one post, I will address each area individually, breaking them down into a three part series. Subscribe now to be notified of Part 2: Reading Screens.

Part 1: Relieving Pressure

Being able to handle defensive pressure is key to the success of any team.  I firmly believe that in order to handle this pressure, you must be comfortable with the basketball.  Being comfortable with the ball while dribbling and in the triple threat will allow you to see the floor rather than worry about what you are doing with the basketball.  Improving you handle will go a long way in how you deal with any type of defensive pressure.

Along with developing your handle, the ability to use a bounce back is crucial for creating space.  To execute a bounce back, get sideways and “bounce back” away from the defense.  Keep your chin on your front shoulder so you can see the entire floor, push off your front foot and reach with your back foot.  It is important that you stay low and use long low strides.  Standing upright and “hopping” back is too slow.  Lastly, dribble the ball behind your back foot, therefore making sure the ball is protected from the defender.

There are four situations where you to use your bounce back:

1.  Full Court 1 on 1 – The defender is running along side you or cuts you off while you are advancing the ball up the floor, bounce back to create space.  When the defense tries to recover attack their high foot and blow by them.

2.  Full Court Trap – Two defenders have attempted to put a trap on you while you are advancing the ball.  Rather than dribbling into the trap and/or picking up your dribble, bounce back and create space so you can see the floor.  Remember, if two players are guarding you it means one of you teammates is not being guarded.

3.  Ball Reversal of Penetration – In a half court setting you try to penetrate to the hoop, but get cut off by the defense.  Again, rather than picking up your dribble and eliminating your passing options use your bounce back to get to the perimeter where you can initiate a ball reversal.

4.  Stalling at the end of a quarter or half – While stalling for one shot or trying to kill some clock with a lead get you defender moving and then bounce back to create space and initiate a new 5 second count.

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Young Buck, by Luke Meier

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Since the start of the NBA season the entire nation, Milwaukee especially, has been buzzing about Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings.  I can truthfully say that I was on the bandwagon as soon as the “Young Buck” was drafted, but I didn’t expect him to be playing as well as he has so far this year.

I have heard or seen countless interviews with and about Jennings and one thing seems to be very clear about him.  He understands that in order for him to be successful he needs to put in the extra work.  Here is a guy who was at the top of the rankings for his high school class, played a year at the highest level in Europe, and was a top 10 NBA draft pick, but he’s still working his tail off to get better.

Jennings, along with Bucks Assistant Kelvin Sampson, gets to the arena 3-4 hours before the tip to get extra work in.  He makes between 200 to 300 floaters each day.  That’s right, MAKES 200-300.

There are no secrets for success.  Work hard, work smart, be dedicated and good things will happen.

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Video of the Month: New Jonny Flynn Drill

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

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The Low Man Wins, by Luke Meier

Friday, November 27th, 2009

My girlfriend and I recently got a puppy named Eddie.  Although he doesn’t understand that he shouldn’t go to the bathroom on the carpet or that everything in the house isn’t a chew toy, basketball players at all levels can learn something from this little pup because he plays low.  One of Eddie’s things to do is try to rip a little, red stuffed animal out of my hands.  He quickly realized that the only way he can pry his toy out of my hands is to get low and use all the leverage that he can muster.

We always say that players need to “live low.”  It doesn’t matter if you are an NBA all star or the last guy off the bench, playing low in a universal stance (knees bent, hips dropped, straight back) is something that any player can employ to improve their game.  If you are playing on ball or help D, boxing out, spotting up for a jumper, or driving to the rack, staying low will do several things to help your game.

1) You will be in a better position to create and take contact from other players.

2) Being low puts a player in position to be as explosive as possible.

Think about it.  If you were testing your vertical would you jump from a straight up and down position or would you squat down and then explode upward.  Obviously you would choose the latter.

Although playing lower is something you can do to make yourself better right now, you need to train you body to be able to stay in a stance at all times.  In workouts, practices, and games make a conscious effort to monitor the height at which you play the game.  Once you become accustomed to playing low it will be second nature.  If you don’t know if you are playing low enough, remember that it is close to impossible to play “too low.”  You can ask me or you can ask Eddie, but we will both tell you the same thing:  The Low Man Always Wins.

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Maximizing Your Time, by Mike Lee

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

I received this question in an email from a parent the other day.  “How do you maximize your time when it’s getting cold out and dark early?”.

I really believe it is crucial to continue to work on your skills during the season.  Most coaches focus on their offensive and defensive systems during practice so it is up to you to find time to work on your individual skills.

1.  Knock Out Before School: When I was younger I would knock out some ball handling drills before I went to school in the morning.  I would either do these out in the driveway or in the basement.  See if your coach or phy ed teacher will let you into the gym so you can get a workout in before school.

2.  Get to Practice Early or stay late: If no one is practicing before you get to the gym early or stay after.  Ask your coach or better yet, a teammate, to stay after and get up a 200-300 threes after practice.  You can get up 300 threes in 20-30 minutes if you have someone rebounding for you!
3.  Use your basement or garage (yeah it might be cold, wear gloves!)

4.  Before games:  Before games in high school I would almost always get shots up.  I think this is a great way to get prepared for a game.  Go early to an NBA game and you will see guys working out, sweating and getting shots up before their game.
Last year when I was working out Sam Price, from Eau Claire North, we used to go shoot about 500 shots before her games.  Is that too much?  I don’t know, she is now on a full ride at Kent State.  You tell me!

The bottom line is that all of these options require you to make a choice.  You have a choice to sleep or get up before school to workout.  You have a choice to get to practice early or play video games.  Great players find a way!

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The Magic Drill, by Mike Lee

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

More and more I am finding that players are looking for a magic drill that is going to instantly make them a better player. Yes, we do a lot of drills with 2 Balls, Tennis Balls and are always looking for ways to challenge players, but there isn’t a drill out there that is going to make you an All-Conference or All-State player unless you do it thousands of times with correct technique at game speed. There is a reason why Kobe Bryant makes 1,000 shots per day, 6 days a week in the summer.  No matter how great a drill there is no substitute for a work ethic.  The motivation we make up new drills is because there are 2 things that will kill a workout:

1.  Fatigue

2.  Boredom

By coming up with new drills and challenging players we are trying to eliminate the boredom factor.  With that being said it is important to keep drills appropriate to the player’s skill level. In Geoff Colvin’s book, Talent is Overrated, he states that students have a comfort zone, learning zone and panic zone.  If you doing a drill that is way over a player’s skill level you put them in their panic zone and are not going to benefit from the drill.  Most likely they will become frustrated because they are unable to achieve any success with the drill.  You want to use drills that are in a player’s learning zone, which is where they will achieve some success, enough to keep them interested in a drill, but not to the point where they have mastered it.

The key to success is not finding a magic drill (there isn’t one!), but rather not becoming bored with repetition.

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The founder of Mike Lee Basketball Services (formerly Playmakers Basketball), Mike is known throughout the country for individual player skill development.  He has been a speaker at several events and has also recently authored several instructional workout DVDs, which will be released over the next year.  Titles out right now include, 25 Killer Scoring Moves, Secrets of Unstoppable Guard Play and Secrets of Unstoppable Shooting.  Since 2006 Mike Lee Basketball has trained over 3,600 boys and girls through their skill development programs. Dozens of  players that Mike has worked with have gone on to play collegiate basketball, some at the NCAA DI level.  In addition to his own basketball services, Mike is a Nike Girls Skills Trainer and a member of the Nike sponsored, Ganon Baker Basketball.

From 2001-2006, Mike participated as a player and assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. During the fall of 2006 he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Coach K and Duke University Leadership Conference in Durham, NC.  In December of 2006 he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stout with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a self-planned concentration in Basketball Entrepreneurship.

mike@mikeleebasketball.com

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Is 1 on 1 a waste of time?, by Mike Lee

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

I was speaking with a friend the other day about how much time he should spend in practice focusing on individual instruction in practice for his high school team.  One aspect that came up was playing 1 on 1.  I really believe that playing 1 on1, the correct way, is one of the most overlooked ways to improve your game both offensively and defensively.  Think about it.  How hard should it really be to defend someone when he has the entire floor to use?

1.  If you can defend your own player, keep them in front and contest the face on the shot your team defense will be much better.

2.  If you can beat your defender off the dribble, make the defense help and closeout, how much better will that make your offense?

If you can get players to defend with the same mindset as they should when they play 1 on 1 I think that can benefit your team defense tremendously.  Playing 1 on 1 there is an increased sense of accountability because “it’s all on me”.

I got this drill from Ganon Baker, Nike Skills Academy Drirector, at a clinic a couple years ago.  Check out the KOBE 1 on 1 drill below.

Kobe 1 on 1

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