3 More Ways To Maximize Every Practice

I remember in high school our coach was really big on the idea that the way you approach practice is nearly identical to the same way you are going to approach games, whether you admit it or not. So he made sure that we all read 8 Ways to Maximize Every Practice, not this is a much older post but it is still a very good one in regards to how to take on practice and get the most out of it.

I wanted to add 3 of my own ways to maximize every practice that I picked up during my time as a player and what I see now in some practices I have watched.

1. Ask Questions - A lot of the times players will listen and see what their coaches are trying to instill in them but they don't actually understand why to do these things or how they work the way they do. I was never the player to ask questions, I always thought my questions would be dumb and meaningless but if you don't understand something, there are no dumb questions if they make you a better basketball player.

2. Volunteer Yourself - When coach asks for volunteers for a drill how many people usually raise their hand? If you think hardly any, we are in a agreement. But why does it matter if I volunteer myself for drills? By volunteering yourself you are showing your coach and your teammates initiative to get become better, which is contagious. You are also making sure you are in on every drill both when it is being demonstrated and when the team goes through it, something that can only make you better.

3. Be Vocal - Now this point was actually touched up very briefly in the original 8 ways but I think it is important enough to be its own way. Being vocal in practice is going to help build the communication amongst you and your teammates and help with team chemistry that is going to translate into games. Another reason to be vocal is that it is a vital part in becoming a good leader. Relaying what coach has said to the rest of the team or vocally praising and motivating your teammates make for a good team leader.

Original article : 8 Ways to Maximize Every Practice

Basketball Knowledge and Facts

I want to take a little time and use this post to reiterate, or for those who may be newer to this blog, the whole point of my blog Basketball Knowledge and Facts.

The entire purpose when I started this blog was to help people who know nothing about basketball learn and for those who know some or for those know a lot to be able to come and just read and touch up on varies aspects that they may not know at all or know little a bit about. I think the mission statement does a very good job of summing that up, "Here to help you learn and understand the wonderful game of basketball.", for those of you that haven't seen it. I have tried to incorporate a wide variety of different materials encompassing every aspect of the game such as history, technique and how to's from my own personal experiences and from others who I believe are very insightful individuals within the basketball world. I believe that basketball truly is a wonderful game that sometimes gets overlooked because popularity wise it falls behind baseball and football for some people.

I have only been blogging for a short time but I do have a good amount of things I would like to talk about and share with everyone willing to read it. I am also extremely open to feedback and/or questions as well as possible topics for discussion ideas anyone has for me. I hope that this blog is serving its intended purpose to this point and continues to into the future. 

Nike Elite Championship Airlock Official Basketball

For some people, a basketball is just a basketball, they pick it up and just shoot or play with whatever they find. For me its a completely different story. I can stand a worn down or flat out bad basketball when I play. I have to be able to grip the basketball, it has to feel right when I hold it, but most importantly a good basketball for me makes it so I can get the rotation I need on my shots.

I have played with and used many different basketballs in my life and it truly is hard sometimes to find one that is virtually perfect. I have gone to places looking for a basketball and gone home empty handed despite there being over twenty different basketballs to choose from. That's why when I came across the Nike Elite Championship Airlock Official Basketball, I was in love. I was never accustomed to spending that much for a basketball, usually like $20-$30 but Nike's comes to about $70, which if I am being honest is a little hard to swallow but after owning two of these basketballs (one for inside and one for outside), I believe it was worth it. Now I know not everyone can fork over $70 for a basketball so this basketball might be better off for those who are serious basketball players or as a gift.

My favorite thing about this basketball is its grip. For starters, the grip feels great right out of the box but the best part is that the grip lasts! Anyone who has owned a basketball knows it may feel awesome for the first couple days or even weeks but that grip eventually fades and it feels like trying to shoot with a small child's bouncy ball, but not this basketball! As I mentioned a negative of this basketball is its price. You do however get what you pay for if you'd rather look at it that way. I highly recommend this basketball to anyone who loves to play basketball or is looking to get started. To find this basketball click here or the link above, both of which are to Dick's Sporting Goods, but if you find it somewhere else new and for a cheaper price, please let me know!

Book Review: A Father First

When it comes to reading I will admit that I don't generally like to read books or anything of that nature, I am more of an article or blog reader, something I can sit down and read within a couple of minutes or so. So today I wanted to talk about and give a little review of a book I actually took the time to read, and thoroughly enjoyed!

The book is, A Father First: How My Life Became Bigger Than Basketball by NBA star Dwyane Wade. I absolutely love this book. It is a great story, told by Dwyane himself, about his life growing up and the varies hardships he faced while living in the South Side of Chicago. Dwyane uses the book to take about the various father influences he had through his life, such as his own father and the many coaches he had as a basketball player through high school, college and in the NBA. A very important aspect of the book is the struggle Dwyane faced in trying to gain sole custody of his 2 sons, Zaire and Zion.

This really is a good book for teens and adults alike with an interest in basketball as it is full of advice and the personal life experiences of a successful NBA player who has had a rough patches in his life but has time and time again found a way to persevere. I would not consider this a shining piece of literature but the story itself along with the insight gained from the story is what makes this book by Dwyane Wade one of my favorites and I would give it a very solid 8/10 if I were to rate it. I strongly encourage you to check it out. The link above and right here will lead you to the book on amazon, but if you can't buy it see if it is available at your local library.

(Dwyane Wade with A Father First)

Alan Stein's Q & A With Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul

Despite just recently creating this blog I have been very much into reading blogs, as I have mentioned before and as I told you in yesterday's post I really enjoy the blogs of Alan Stein. However, today I want to spotlight one of his posts in particular.

Back in May alan talked about a little Q&A session he had with Los Angeles Clippers' and eight time all-star point guard, Chris Paul. For those wondering what Q&A is, it's just questions and answers, or an interview, to keep it simple. To me, posts of this nature whether they be in a blog or an article are really awesome and at the same time extremely valuable. I tend to seek these types of posts out as much as I can. It isn't everyday you you get to hear advice or insight from someone extremely successful in their field.

Alan chose to ask Chris a few questions regarding his training, such as when he began lifting weights, how he felt lifting weights helped his game and why performance training is important for basketball players. He also added questions pertaining to the difference between the NBA and college as well as what he thought players in both high school and college need to improve on, in his opinion. Now I don't want to ruin the answers but they are pretty good pieces of information to know, so if you are interested in reading what Chris Paul has to say just click here. I would love to hear of any other posts someone else has found involving Q&As as well!

(Chris Paul)

Stronger Team Blog

As you can tell by my posts (the few I have posted so far) I am pretty passionate about the game of basketball. I try to get my daily fix of anything basketball anyway that I can, one of which happens to be reading blogs. There are a handful of great basketball blogs out there to be read, blogs on general basketball topics (such as mine), blogs on different drills you can incorporate into your training, blogs for those who want to coach basketball rather than play, and many other types of blogs.

For this post I wanted spotlight a blog that I read on a weekly basis when I can find the time. The blog is on strongerteam.com and is authored by Alan Stein, a name you are probably familiar with as referenced him in a past post. As I mentioned in that post Alan is a well know and respected teacher of the game of basketball. Well turns out he is also a very insightful blogger on basketball as well.

Alan's blog is one of my all-time favorites because it does a really good job of hitting various different topics within the basketball world, whereas other blogs specialize in specific fields usually. Alan has blogged about things such as how players can get the most out of every practice, how coach's can gain the trust and respect of their players, and even Q&A's with NBA players, most recently with Chris Paul starting point guard of the Los Angeles Clippers!

If you are interested in learning more about basketball I highly suggest you give Alan Stein's blog a look. I provided the link above and it is also available here which will take you directly to the blog itself. I will tell you though, Alan has recently said he will be taking the summer off of blogging but I encourage you to read his previous posts until he returns to blogging in September!

The 5 Positions of a Basketball Team

At all times during an organized basketball game there are always five men or women on the court for both sides, now this does not always apply to "pickup" games played in various locations that can be 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4. Each person on the court is one of five different positions. Now I will note that in today's game many strategies and newer concepts have gone away from the traditional five clear-cut position team, to things such as "small ball", in which the players on the court are all relatively small for all five positions but I will not be discussing that in this post. In the list below we will talk briefly about each of these five positions.

1. Point Guard (PG)
The point guard is generally the smallest of the five positions and most times is tasked with being the leader of the team on the court, what I mean by this is that his particular set of skills is focused around leading the offense of the team. The point guard's main job is to set up chances or opportunities for his or her teammates. To do this a point guard must be a good facilitator, what this means is they must be a skilled passer so that they can find an open teammate and be able to get them the ball at the right moment, in the right spot to score the basketball. Another important skill for point guards is the ability to handle the ball extremely well. Point guards are generally good shooters as well but the really good point guards usually have a pass-first mindset.

(Chris Paul)

2. Shooting Guard (SG) 
The other guard on the team is the shooting guard. Shooting guards are, if you haven't guessed yet, usually the shooters of the team. They are usually fantastic spot up shooter, shooting from a certain spot after receiving a pass, as well as good at creating their own shots, usually shooting off a dribble. Shooting guards are also fairly gifted with ball handling ability as well.

(Ray Allen)

3. Small Forward (SF)
Now we get to the bigger guys on the court, starting with the small forwards. Small forwards are usually bigger than the two previous guards but smaller than the power forward and center, they are basically in the middle. For this reason the small forward is seen as the most versatile of the five positions. They are good at scoring the basketball but usually from mid-range and attacking, or dribbling to, the basket. Even though they are bigger than the guards, small forwards still have speed and athleticism as well.

(LeBron James)

4. Power Forward (PF)
Power forwards, much like the small forward, are a pretty versatile players, playing a style of basketball mirroring closely to the center. A lot of the power forwards time is spent close to the paint/post, or area of the court closest to the rim. They have a variety of moves allowing them to score from close to the basket as well as from mid-range, if need-be. The power forward is the first of our five positions who has an emphasis on rebounding. This requires them to be bigger and stronger than the previous three positions.

(LaMarcus Aldridge)

5. Center (C)
Finally, to the center. The center is the usually the biggest and most dominating player on the court in regards to size and strength. They are sometimes considered the anchor of the team. Their job is to score extremely close to the basket, usually only a few feet out, and to grab rebounds. Another important role of the center is to be a rim protector, this involves staying close to the basket on defense to either block or disrupt any shots the other team may get close to the basket. Traditionally centers are big and dominating as I mentioned earlier but as the game has evolved many centers are much more versatile, acting almost like a second power forward.

(Shaquille O'Neal)