Shooting and Dribbling - You Must Dream It

There are two things that should take up 90% of your practice. No, I'm not using that figure as a hyperbole. I really mean 90%. Dribbling and shooting. Your guys need to learn how to make moves, get to the basket, create a shot for themselves or others, and they need to be able to shoot it.

To that end, at some point you must demand that your players move their pocket up so that they can get a shot off under pressure. That is a must.

Last week I witnessed a great example where a youth coach effected the outcome of a game years later. A team was down three with seconds to go. This team had one pretty good perimeter shooter and she was certainly their best 3 point shooter. So the play went to her. But she never got it off. Why?

She still shoots from her waist, exactly where she shot from as a youth player. No one along the way demanded that she move her pocket up and shoot a perimeter jumpshot. In all the coaches she had as she progressed, no one took the trouble to demand this from her, becauseI would have been difficult. She would have spent the greater part of a summer missing everything.

That's where you come in. You have to think long term. Do you want immediate success so you can look like a good coach? Or are you willing to give that up to actually be a good coach.