One Day at a Time

As a young player, what can you do to improve?

• Improve your athleticism - speed, quickness, strength, jumping ability
• Improve your skill - the five offensive skills are ball-handling, passing, shooting, dribbling, and pivoting. Shooting is the least well-taught...and learned. The end result of improved skills and decision-making is easier scoring opportunity and reduced turnovers.
• Improve the mental approach to the game, understand what offenses try to do (create mismatches, create separation with offensive skills and offenses), and how to defend (ball pressure, denying cuts away from the ball, denying the post, not accepting pick-and-rolls, being in position to help away from the ball, blocking out).

What skills are hardest to acquire? We think that developing the mental game creates the greatest challenge. Great players are great because 1) they make the players around them better, 2) they can carry the team at times, and 3) they are great teammates.