The New York Knicks were left stunned by the officiating during their recent narrow loss to NBA title favorites Brooklyn Nets. They lost out 112-110 at the Barclays Center, and even the NBA was forced to admit that officials had missed critical calls during the tight encounter. Many of the issues revolved around Julius Randle not being afforded enough protection and conversely being incorrectly judged to have fouled others. On the issue, Randle, who scored 24 points, responded; “I don’t know what they’re watching or what they’re seeing. As aggressive as I played, attacking the paint, I can’t ..read more

A basketball coach … a great basketball coach … will certainly have many great qualities. That is, after all, what makes them great! In this video, Coach DeHaven shares and explains what he believes to be the 5 qualities great coaches demonstrate. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these qualities: Ability to communicate Dependability Loyalty Encouraging your players Teaching the game Watch below to learn how you can better implement these qualities into your coaching style and philosophy. You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content ..read more

There are many ways we can coach and teach our players to become better and smarter players. Coach Knight, in the video below, offers one method of building some basketball IQ — getting them to think the game during practices and transferring those thoughts to the court. Coach also shares a couple of ideas on including and empowering your players to have a role in decision-making and leadership. You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content ..read more

Author: Ryan Thomas Many successful people carry the mantra “failing to prepare is preparing to fail”. This could not be more true. Great achievement is almost always a result of great preparation. The elite realize that many things are out of their control, however they control the controllables. One of the all-time greats, Lebron James, spends about $1.5 million per year just to take care of his body. Some of the things he is spending this money on are a personal trainer, skill development, cryotherapy, hyperbaric chambers, and a personal chef among other things. LeBron’s mind for t ..read more

by Ryan Thomas As a serious basketball player, student, or in a professional career you should always evaluate and reflect on your performance with an improvement mindset. You must be objective and specific as you look to identify areas that will propel you to the next level. Accurate evaluation is one of the most difficult things to come by. However if you know how to seek out genuine constructive criticism and are able to accept it, this will put you far ahead of the competition on the court and in life. Most people immediately become defensive and are automatically thinking of rebu ..read more

Here are a few quick hitting plays initiated by the dribble and/or pick-and-roll. Designed to get an easy look at the basket, these plays can be incorporated at any level! Dribble Quick Hitters [click to open or]Download You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content ..read more

The following video was recently shared with me from the producer of it, Philip Solomon-Turay. There is a lot of good stuff in this video as Philip digs into the psychology of basketball. In this video, he looks at the NBA and dives into the champion mindset that is an all-important mental skill teams need. He shares a bit how to possess these traits and how coaches can add this to their teams. Watch via YouTube: You need to login or register to bookmark/favorite this content ..read more

Basketball is an active sport involving shooting a ball through the defender’s hoop while defending the opposing team. To be the best in anything, you must try to improve your skills and techniques. The same applies to basketball, whether you’re a beginner or an expert in basketball, you have to look for exercises that’ll improve your skills and which will get you off the bench and into the game. Always remember that the most competitive players train to their hardest every day. Once you have grasped how to dribble correctly, make accurate passes, and make on-point shots, you can get eve ..read more

These are 5 types of shooters/scorers that each have their own way of putting the ball in the basket. Kevin Durant: Kevin Durant is a pure scorer, meaning he can shoot from almost anywhere on the court in any manner: catch and shoot, off-the-dribble, in the post, fadeaways, twisting layups, towering dunks, laser like free throw shooting, you name it. While he has weaknesses in his offense, very few can score and shoot the ball as efficiently as Kevin Durant can. Steve Novak: Steve Novak is a pure catch and shoot player. Besides that, his scoring ability is limited, at best. But when he d ..read more