Basketball Advice

[12]

Re: Basketball Advice

Not to hijack the topic, but thankfully KY is a pretty liberal place for HS sports. I played JV when I was in 8th grade, and practiced with them in 7th grade. They recognized me with the "purple heart" awards both years during the Sports Banquets, for always putting it on the line and bringing it day in and day out.

If they would have allowed me to use my stats accumulated for JV, Varsity, and Freshman, then I would have surpassed 4500 pts for my HS career.

But back on topic... If you want to talk to the coach, I wouldn't disrespect him at all nor question his selections. One way to make sure you get watched, is to just politely tell him that you've worked on certain aspects of your game throughout the summer (maybe throw in an "unfortunately I couldn't make it to the camp... blah blah) and ask him if he could give you some critiques after each session that you could work on to improve your game.

That would be a way to make sure he takes notice of you... and also a way to get some more interaction with him.

LOL, I believe you, but that's insane. 4,500 points? What did you average, 38 a night? More?

I scored 498 points my senior year... Still a school record. I also had 252 blocked shots in two and a half years of starting on varsity... But I barely scored 1,000 points in my career.

4,500 points is just nuts. What's your career high? I dropped 64 in an AAU game at Gonzaga Team Camp.

LOL @ this thread, too. I am sorry for taking it to a "Glory Days" place...

[12]

Re: Basketball Advice

Best Player out there?
Star on team is using Steroids?
Bribes?

Something is not adding up with me

I'd feel the same way except... Same thing happened with me.

Not the steroids, per se... But yeah, high school coaches tend to look the other way when their star players are doing things they shouldn't be doing. For me, it was a star center showing up drunk twice a week for practice and still playing on Friday and Saturday nights...

While I've never seen bribes, I have seen parents put an insane amount of pressure on coaches due to their stature in the community.

It's not that far fetched. Sadly, it's really not.

[Mo]

Re: Basketball Advice

Who did I hit it off of? You guessed it, the coach's kid. High, slow fastball and I clobbered it. He was decent, but nothing special. But since his team won the title the year before, his dad was the all-star coach. During tryouts, I got passed over for him. It was laughable and everyone knew it.

.

Same thing happen to me, the assistant coach actually quit because of it.

[12]

Re: Basketball Advice

Same thing happen to me, the assistant coach actually quit because of it.

You know, I seriously wonder how much this stuff affects our athletic careers. It happened to me again when I was 15. No joke, I was 6'3" 215 pounds at 15 and threw 85 MPH gas and got passed over for the all-star team. Same situation; coach's kid. I quit shortly after that.

Politics seriously jacks up youth sports, but it will always exist.

[clipperfan811]

Re: Basketball Advice

I'd say get someone to video tape you while playing some 5 on 5 pickup games and also some individual shooting drills. Start doing this regularly and sit and truly analyze your game. Work on specific skill sets that you notice are weak parts of your game. Develop go-to moves and counters for those moves. In other words adopt a systematic approach to improving your game.

The second part is definitely a networking thing, talk to the coach about whatever you can but also get to know some of the players already on the team. If you can, try to play some pick-up games with them that way once tryouts come about, you already have some chemistry with the team.

Lastly, stay humble, work hard, think the game and always play team first.

[VDusen04]

Re: Basketball Advice

LOL, I believe you, but that's insane. 4,500 points? What did you average, 38 a night? More?

I scored 498 points my senior year... Still a school record. I also had 252 blocked shots in two and a half years of starting on varsity... But I barely scored 1,000 points in my career.

4,500 points is just nuts. What's your career high? I dropped 64 in an AAU game at Gonzaga Team Camp.

LOL @ this thread, too. I am sorry for taking it to a "Glory Days" place...

Haha, 252 blocks. Not bad, only a paltry 238 ahead of my career total.

On the bright side, you only scored 300 more career points than me.

[WTF]

Re: Basketball Advice

LOL, I believe you, but that's insane. 4,500 points? What did you average, 38 a night? More?

I scored 498 points my senior year... Still a school record. I also had 252 blocked shots in two and a half years of starting on varsity... But I barely scored 1,000 points in my career.

4,500 points is just nuts. What's your career high? I dropped 64 in an AAU game at Gonzaga Team Camp.

LOL @ this thread, too. I am sorry for taking it to a "Glory Days" place...

Nah, I averaged 26ppg my Sr Year, 24ppg my Jr Year. I said IF they would have let me use my Freshman, JV, and Varsity stats combined, I would have had over 4500... Instead, our school records are just for Varsity.

I had 67 in 7th grade, playing on the 8th grade team. That's my all time high. 47 is my Varsity high.

I still break out the recruiting DVD that was sent out to the colleges "promoting" me from time to time. Just to see what I used to be capable of, before getting old and broken down

[VDusen04]

Re: Basketball Advice

I still break out the recruiting DVD that was sent out to the colleges "promoting" me from time to time. Just to see what I used to be capable of, before getting old and broken down

Is that footage on YouTube? I'd be interested in taking a look.

[WTF]

Re: Basketball Advice

Nah, this was circa 1999 on dialup internet. One of these days I may end up trying to rip it to the PC, and then onto youtube.

I was ecstatic when we decided to put it on DVD vs VHS, just like the recruiting firms were pitching to us.

[VDusen04]

Re: Basketball Advice

Nah, this was circa 1999 on dialup internet. One of these days I may end up trying to rip it to the PC, and then onto youtube.

I was ecstatic when we decided to put it on DVD vs VHS, just like the recruiting firms were pitching to us.

Well at least you've got it on DVD. I'm just now digitizing my VHS high school clips. I'm kind of thankful I decided to make the move, just because VHS tapes tend to not hold up well over time. Also, I'd suggest the YouTube route simply because it's nice to know where you can find it at all times. It's cool because not all clips have to be public, so it works perfectly as a personal library.

[WTF]

Re: Basketball Advice

No doubt. When we were transferring the 3 game tapes over, and then the highlight video from VHS, to DVD... I was amazed that it was all on 1 DVD back then. I REALLY didn't want to send a 4 tape boxed set of VHS to the target schools

Back on topic though, there has been a lot of good advice/info on this thread. Keep us updated and let us know how this goes for you.

The post about getting all of the "excuses" of why you don't make the team out of your head, is 100% right on. Work on your game, and bring it in all facets. Be a team player, and not all about yourself. Do the intangible things that most younger players don't. Get on the floor, be scrappy, and don't take plays off.

[For The Win]

Re: Basketball Advice

Anyone have a good idea on getting out of a shooting slump. I feel that my shooting form has changed slightly and it is screwing me up but I had some other people take a look at it and they said it was normal. I honestly think that I haven't played as bad as I have in the past three days in a long time. Tryouts are Tuesday and Wednesday by the way.

[VDusen04]

Re: Basketball Advice

Anyone have a good idea on getting out of a shooting slump. I feel that my shooting form has changed slightly and it is screwing me up but I had some other people take a look at it and they said it was normal. I honestly think that I haven't played as bad as I have in the past three days in a long time. Tryouts are Tuesday and Wednesday by the way.

When I'm in a shooting slump, first of all, I go through my checklist. Are my feet squared? Stance wide? Elbow in? Snapping wrist? Following through? Jumping?

Secondly, one of the primary contributors to my shooting slumps has been shooting around by myself. I tend to get a little lazy when I'm just firing up shots indiscriminately. So, often, what will help me in this case is to get a shooting partner and start firing up shots at game speed. I usually just do a very simple drill where I shoot, get my own rebound quickly and pass to the other person. Then I spot up (or run like I'm coming off a screen) while he shoots. We do this until we both hit a pre-determined number of makes. Often I'll realize the reason I was in a shooting slump was because every part of my shot had slowed down from not practicing enough "game" shots.

[Kriech23]

Re: Basketball Advice

Anyone have a good idea on getting out of a shooting slump. I feel that my shooting form has changed slightly and it is screwing me up but I had some other people take a look at it and they said it was normal. I honestly think that I haven't played as bad as I have in the past three days in a long time. Tryouts are Tuesday and Wednesday by the way.

Whenever I used to shoot around by myself, I almost always changed something in my shot every time, for better or worse sometimes. I don't know why I did, but I could never keep my shot exactly the same. I always did something then made a few, so I made a switch, or I missed a few, made an adjustment and switched to that.

My advice is keep shooting. As I was always told, "if your cold, keep shooting til you get hot, and if your hot, keep shooting cause your hot." Everyone has their days where nothing can go in, if that's the case, put extra effort into rebounding and dishing out assists, that way your still contributing.

[For The Win]

Re: Basketball Advice

When I'm in a shooting slump, first of all, I go through my checklist. Are my feet squared? Stance wide? Elbow in? Snapping wrist? Following through? Jumping?

Secondly, one of the primary contributors to my shooting slumps has been shooting around by myself. I tend to get a little lazy when I'm just firing up shots indiscriminately. So, often, what will help me in this case is to get a shooting partner and start firing up shots at game speed. I usually just do a very simple drill where I shoot, get my own rebound quickly and pass to the other person. Then I spot up (or run like I'm coming off a screen) while he shoots. We do this until we both hit a pre-determined number of makes. Often I'll realize the reason I was in a shooting slump was because every part of my shot had slowed down from not practicing enough "game" shots.

I will try the checklist idea. I agree that at times when just shooting around I/others can get lazy but this "slump" carries over into pick-up games and my favorite 3pt drill. It is one where someone is rebounding and the other person shoots a 3 then backpedals to half court and then runs back catches the ball and shoots again. I will definitely give your drill a try.