BALL HANDLING

Around the World

Around the World: Circling the basketball first around your head, than your waist, Finally, put your legs together and take the ball around both legs at the knees. Then spread your legs, bend at the waist, and take the ball around one leg. Then the other. This will give you a feel for the basketball and help you become more comfortable in your ball handling. A good hand speed and coordination drill, also great conditioner for your arms

Figure 8

Spread your legs, bend at the waist, put the ball through your legs, around one leg, back through your legs, and around your other leg, making a figure eight. This will help you get a feel for the basketball as you move it around. Keep your head up not looking at the ball and increase your speed.

Crab Walk

This drill can go from baseline to half court. Step forward with your left leg and pass the ball from your right hand to your left under your left leg. As you take your next step with your right leg, pass the ball from your left hand to your right under your right leg. Continue this pattern all the way down the floor.

Squeeze the banana

This is a drill that helps increase the strength in your fingers. Hold the ball in front of you at eye level with two hands. By squeezing your fingers and thumb together with one hand at a time, you move the ball from one hand to the other as quickly as you can.
More finger and arm strength will imrove your ball control.

Catch-catch-catch

This is a drill to work on your ballhandling. Hold the ball between your legs, with both hands on the ball, right hand in front and left hand in back. Quickly switch your hands,(now left hand in front and right hand in the back), without letting the ball touch the ground. Do as quickly as possible...this drill is one of the hardest to master... but it just takes lots of practice.

Figure 8 Dribbling

This is a drill to practice your ballhandling. Dribble the ball as quickly as possible in a figure 8 through and around the legs. Use the fingers when you dribble, and dribble very low and quickly. Switch from the right to the left and back to the right. Example: start with the right hand dribbling the ball in front and then dribble through your legs with your right hand, switch to your left hand and dribble from the back, around your left side to the front and back through you legs... then switch to your right hand behind the body and around the right side. Try to go as fast as possible, and your dribbling skills will improve with daily practice.

Touch-Touch-Touch

This is another ballhandling drill that seems very difficult at first, but with daily practice, will improve your handles. This drill is called touch-touch-touch because that is what you do... while keeping the ball between your legs, you touch the ball once with your right hand(fingers) in front, then with your left hand(fingers) in front, then with your right behind you, and then with your left behind you. Continue in this manner as fast as possible. Before long, you will master this skill.

The Midas Touch

Having a soft touch is very desirable, and really just means that rather than clanging off the rim, your ball dribbles softly around the edge - due to your soft touch. To develop a soft touch, you want to have more rotation on the ball when you shoot and a higher arch to your ball.

The Midas Touch

Having a soft touch is very desirable, and really just means that rather than clanging off the rim, your ball dribbles softly around the edge - due to your soft touch. To develop a soft touch, you want to have more rotation on the ball when you shoot and a higher arch to your ball.

The Midas Touch

An undesirable trait is thinking too much, and it is due to being tentative. To overcome this tentativeness you want to make sure that when you don't have the ball you think about what you will do with it when you get it (for example - "If I'm open for the shot I will shoot it." etc). This prevents you from freezing up and "thinking too much" once you have the ball.

Up the Ladder

Hold the ball out in front of you and pass it back from hand to hand using only your finger tips. Go from out in front of your waist to above your head and back. This will help you develop the finger tip control that you will need to properly handle the ball.

One on two

A good drill to use to better your dribbling under pressure is to try to advance the ball against two defenders. This will force you to use a variety of manuevers while being alert to the defense.

Figure Eight--Running in Place

Move the ball around your legs as in the Figure Eight Drill, but in addition, run in place.

Pass and Catch

With 2 hands, make a bounce pass between your legs from front to back and catch the ball with 2 hands behind you. Then bounce the ball through your legs from the back to the front, and catch the ball in front of your body. This is a good drill for body awareness.

Situp Dribble

While doing bent-knee situps, dribble up with your right hand as you sit up, and around your feet, then switch hands to your left as you go back down, and then dribble with your left hand as you sit up, back around your feet, switching back to your right hand. Continue as quickly as possible.

Between the Legs Scissors

To start this basketball drill, place your left foot ahead of your right and bounce the ball between your legs from your right hand to your left. As the ball gets to your left hand shift your feet so that your right leg goes ahead of your left and bounce the ball back between your legs. This shifting of your feet will occur with every bounce.

Figure Eight Drop

The ball is moved around the outside of the left legfrom the back to the front. Then it is passed in front of your body and around the outside of your right leg from front to back. Now the ball is between your legs at the back of your body. Bounce the ball, and as it is bouncing, reverse your hands, bring your right from the back to the front and your left from the front to the back. Catch the ball before it bounces again. Continue to do figure eights.

Ball Circle

A great way to become comfortable with the basketball is to take it and circle it around your head, then around your waist, and, finally, around your knees. Reverse direction and take the ball back up--around the knees, waist, and head.

Figure Eight Drop Reverse

For this drill, follow the procedure described in the Figure Eight Drop Drill, except that when you bounce the ball, your movement will be reversed. After the bounce, circle the ball around the outside of your right leg, in front of your left leg, and around your left leg from the front to the back.

Author Intro Tips

Intro/Bio

The constant quest for a "better way" is what makes our profession as coaches, and this great game of basketball, an ever changing adventure. As long as we continue to grow and learn, the future of our sport is in good hands. Basketball coaches come in as many shapes and sizes as the number of game plans that are possible during the evolving, re-inventing, and recycling of ideas in our wonderful sport. In this book I hope that each coach may find some tips that will either "square" with what they already knew, make them look at something from a different "angle", or provide something new that completed the "circle" for them.

While these might not be the 101 most important tips in the game of basketball, I hope that there is something for everyone. I've tried to provide some ideas that may not be mainstream, some might be presented in a different manner than usual, and a few that initially might not come to mind. Find some tips that fit your personality, coaching style or the kind of coach that you strive to be. Put those tips to use and make them your "new seasons resolution" . Otherwise, these 101 tips might be like the treadmill on my back porch. It was bought with good intentions and high expectations, but if I don't commit to using it...

Ray Lokar is the Southern California Coordinator for the Positive Coaching Alliance and serves as a Lead Trainer and Mentor Coach for PCA. He has coached in SoCal for over 25 years at the youth, high school, and college levels and developed a majority of the content for Basketball.Lifetips.com. Coach Lokar was the Head Basketball Coach of the 2002 California Interscholastic Federation Champions while at Bishop Amat High School and served a two-year term as President of the Southern California Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association. He now coordinates the Basketball Coaching Education Program for the Amateur Athletic Foundation in Southern California.

Ankle Supports Tips

Athletic Ankle Support

Ankle support for athletes is extremely important, especially for young, growing athletes with immature bones. Athletic ankle support not only gives the athlete an edge in movement and stability, it helps support young, growing bones and muscles so they mature correctly. The best thing to do for ankle support is to train and work out to improve your strength and flexibility. If you need an extra boost, though, look to an ankle brace.

Ankle Support

Ankle support is crucial to good basketball play and your own good health. The best ankle supports are made of neoprene and they not only support your ankle but increase your bounce, make your landings softer and keep your muscles warm. We all get injured at one time or another, and ankle supports are key to basketball players who are constantly stressing their joints with jumping and running.

Ankle Braces and Support

For injuries, practice, and play, the best ankle braces and support must hold the ankle firmly and protect it from injury. The Active Ankle Brace allows for great motion but will not allow lateral twisting. It's recommended especially for injured ankles. You should give your ankle time to heal, but if you can't miss that big game then you want to make sure you are looking for a brace that caters to injury and not just a warmth or support brace.

Elbow and Knee Supports

Ankles aren't the only part of the body that need good support. Elbows and knees can take a beating during basketball, too. Good elbow and knee supports provide excellent range of motion and protection where you need it most. They are comfortable and yet secure, and provide the wearer with relief, comfort, and ease of use. There's another benefit to wearing athletic supports when you play basketball. The supports keep your muscles warm and loosened, which is very important whether you are practicing your moves or playing in front of a crowd. This can prevent muscle tears and strains - the bane of all athletes.

Two Ways to Support Your Ankle

Learn the two basic ways to correctly support your ankle for the best results when you play basketball. Even the best basketball shoes need additional ankle support.

Source from : www.basketball.lifetips.com

Cavaliers Sign Lorenzen Wright

CLEVELAND, OH - September 5th, 2008 - The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed veteran center Lorenzen Wright to a contract, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today. Per team and league policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Wright, 32, played 13 games last season with the Atlanta Hawks and five games with the Sacramento Kings. The 6-foot-11, 255 pound center was drafted by the L.A. Clippers with the seventh overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft and has played in 761 career games (445 starts) with averages of 8.1 points and 6.5 rebounds in 24.2 minutes per game.

“Lorenzen brings us valuable size and experience and adds depth to our front court,” Ferry said. “We think he’s a good fit for us and look forward to him joining our team.”

The 12-year veteran has appeared in 15 postseason games (11 starts) and averaged 7.7 points, 5.3 rebounds,1.1 assists and 24.2 minutes per game.

Source From : www.nba.com

Oklahoma City team nickname will be Thunder

Damien Wilkins, left, applauds as the name, logo and colors of Oklahoma City's NBA franchise are unveiled Wednesday. Wilkins is a player for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which moved from Seattle this summer.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Thunder can be heard from miles away, an early warning that a storm is about to arrive. So, perhaps it’s only fitting that the name of Oklahoma City’s NBA team didn’t sneak up on anyone.
Six weeks after the name first surfaced, team officials officially announced Wednesday that the team formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics would be known as the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“It’s hard to keep a secret,” team chairman Clay Bennett said after stepping to a podium on the ground floor of the downtown office building where the team is headquartered.

The announcement had long been anticipated, but everyone knew what was coming.
The local ABC affiliate reported in mid-July that Thunder had been chosen as the nickname. Then the NBA Web site listed NBA.com/thunder as a link to the Oklahoma City team’s page. Then the Orlando Magic’s site listed games against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Even the logo and colors leaked out over the weekend. Then, prior to the 5 p.m. announcement, Thunder merchandise started showing up on the NBA’s online store.
“I thought it was great fun. Maybe I have a warped sense of things,” Bennett said. “I thought it was a lot of fun. I was disappointed in the image being released.”
That left Bennett somewhat surprised that hundreds of people still showed up in the atrium of Leadership Square, watched from their office windows or leaned over a second-floor walkway to hear it for sure.
“My family talked about wanting to come down, and I said, ‘Well, I don’t think it’s that big a deal. Everybody seems to know the name already,”’ Bennett said.
To unveil the logo, six children joined players Desmond Mason and Damien Wilkins to pull down a curtain as the AC/DC song “Thunderstruck” blared over the loudspeaker. What was revealed was a large blue banner with the logo in the middle, and splashes of yellow at the top and reddish-orange at the bottom.
Bennett said the light blue color coincides with the state flag to represent the inclusion of all Oklahomans, the yellow refers to the sun and the reddish-orange color to the sunset. With the University of Oklahoma featuring crimson as its primary color, and Oklahoma State using orange, Bennett said it was “not too red and not too orange.”
Thunder is a fitting moniker for the Oklahoma City franchise, not only as a reference to powerful storms in the area known as Tornado Alley. The Oklahoma City-based 45th Infantry Division carries Thunderbirds as its nickname, and that’s a reference to the state’s American Indian heritage. Even one of Oklahoma native Garth Brooks’ biggest hits was “The Thunder Rolls.”
“There’s just all kinds of good thunder images and thoughts, and the in-game experience of Thunder,” Bennett said. “Just here was a good sense of how that evokes emotion. It’s very powerful.”
The team name had been the most evident — and talked about — element missing after Bennett announced July 2 that the SuperSonics would be moving to Oklahoma City through an agreement that will have him pay the city of Seattle up to $75 million to settle a lawsuit.
Bennett said the uniforms and mascot won’t be unveiled for another few weeks, but T-shirts, basketballs and other Thunder merchandise went on sale immediately after the announcement.
“The guys in the jerseys, if they play, the jerseys are going to look real good,” coach P.J. Carlesimo said.
While the team applied for trademarks to six names — the others were Wind, Barons, Marshalls, Energy and Bison — Bennett said the decision on the name had been made “quite some time” ago. He said the names on the trademark applications weren’t finalists, and he wouldn’t reveal what other names got serious consideration.
General manager Sam Presti told the crowd designing a logo “takes an immense amount of work, and it does take some time.
“Not that anyone was really paying attention to the amount of time it was taking,” he quipped.
Team officials said they hope they can make the qualities of character, perseverance, selflessness, community and winning synonymous with Thunder.
“It’s very unique,” said Mason, a former Oklahoma State forward who the Thunder acquired in an offseason trade with Milwaukee. “It’s going to take some time getting used to, just like Utah Jazz or Orlando Magic, but I think it’s a great thing for the state and a great thing for the city.”

Source from : http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/26533192/