Denver’s Ty Lawson never should have fallen until the 18th player in the 2010 Draft. He was the best point guard in college basketball, yet some questioned his ability to translate his speed to the next level. Questions answered:
In Ric Bucher’s article “How Fast is He?” in the March 8 issue of ESPN the Magazine, Lawson explains his though-process and development.
“In high school and my first year in college, I just went full speed, looking at the guy in front of me,” says Lawson. “Now, I don’t worry about him. I look at the second and third lines of defense.”
This is the evolution of a playmaker. Most players never move past the first line of defense. If they beat the first defender, they are committed to the drive to the basket, regardless of the other defender’s or offensive players. Sometimes, this works: aggressive players are often rewarded. Other times, the ball handler misses an open teammate, gets a shot blocked or is whistled for a charge because he did not see the next defender.
Players who see past the first line and read the second and third lines of the defense make plays because they know who is open and what lane to drive. They see the play developing before executing the skill rather than attempting to execute a skill (pass, shot) and make the decision simultaneously.
When players make this transition, the game slows down for the ball handler and their decision-making improves.
I trained some freshmen basketball players in the weight room this weekend. They were weak. I put 300 pounds on the bench and none could do it. One kid almost suffocated from the weight of the bar when it crashed on his chest. Then, they tried to squat 400 pounds. They collapsed. One left with ice on his knee because of the swelling. I tried the dead lift with 400 pounds and none could lift it off the ground. These kids are just mentally weak. They cannot even finish a hard workout.
That did not really happen. I did work out a kid who told me that the off-season conditioning at his high school consists of running before and after school until players vomit.
As I described the weight lifting workout, I am sure most people were confused and wondered why I would expect freshman to lift so much weight, why I would challenge their mental toughness when they were physically unable to lift the weights and why I showed such little remorse for athletes who were injured while training. However, somehow we condone, and even applaud, coaches who use the same type of unrealistic training on the track.
When a player vomits during the workout, it should not be a badge of honor for a coach. I have problems with coaches who speak with pride after a kid vomits during their workout. It does not signal a hard workout, but an inexperienced coach or trainer who knows very little about athletic development.
On the court, we do not want beginners to rush into shooting three-pointers. We yell at players who try to do too much with the ball. Yet, many coaches condition players in the same fashion, forgetting fundamentals and asking players to do too much. There is no progression of conditioning to develop the aerobic and anaerobic capacities of players and to improve their work rate, lactate tolerance, VO2max, etc.
Instead, there are orders to run faster and harder. The vomiting could signal poor nutrition, dehydration or inability to tolerate the training, among other things. Running an athlete into dehydration is not only bad training, but dangerous. Creating programs which go beyond the athletes’ ability to tolerate the training will not improve the athletes’ conditioning, but lead to injury.
Anyone can make a workout hard. It does not take a rocket scientist to push an athlete beyond his limits and mentally and physically break down an athlete. It takes a skilled coach to evaluate and build an athlete through a gradual progression, whether through conditioning, in the weight room or on the court.
Golden State’s Stephen Curry is already one of the NBA’s most creative players. Here is the video of one of his moves which is getting a lot of publicity.
I have heard this move called the “Steve Nash Hook” and the “Duck Under.” Now, the play has been branded the “Dream Shake,” the “Show-and-Go,” and the [...]
I saw a tweet last week that questioned whether young point guards would practice the skills featured in the NBA Skills Contest. I questioned the development aspect of the contest.
For young or inexperienced players, an obstacle course like the skills contest could be a good way to get all the players handling the ball and [...]
As I watch basketball games late in the season, I see players who have really tight hips which limit their movement and ultimately their skill execution. This video shows some variations of a hip flexor stretch:
Here is a second video with three additional exercises:
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