|
Becoming More Than a One Dimensional Player
If you are looking for playing time (PT) you must first look in the mirror and ask yourself how can I help my team. As the game of basketball becomes exceedingly more athletic, players are getting tunnel vision about their skills and losing objectivity about their ability. Remaining objective is one of the keys to maturing as a player. Players who are overly subjective generally quit working at developing skills that will get them playing time. They look at others, the coach, teammates as the cause for pine time.
by Alan Lambert Get Your Playing Time Praise Can Blind Your Growth
The best players are smart enough to separate the hype from reality. I think television and media tends to over-promote the spectacular play and the athleticism of today's players, which isn't in it self necessarily bad. However, praise can blind you. You get satisfied, and lackadaisical in your work habits. It tends to draw most players' attention away from one of the most basic concepts in basketball that will certainly get you consistent PT.
Triple Threat Position Doesn't Mean You Are One
Coaches have for years talked about getting into the triple threat position. This of course is the position that allows you to shoot, pass, or put the ball on the court to penetrate from the same position. While many coaches emphasize this position, young players fail to spend substantial time practicing passing, and
penetration skills to enable you to become a true "triple threat". Too many players today bring the ball to the position, but cannot pass to a wide-open teammate, or effectively put the ball on the court against hard pressure. What good is the triple threat position without polished skills in passing, shooting, and penetration?
Expand Your Skills
Young players, this leads me to the critical point of today's playground pointers. Coaches want to play you. I don't know a coach alive who doesn't want to play a player with talent, who can execute on both ends of the court. However coaches are often handcuffed in substitution patterns and doling out PT
because two or more of the players on the court at the same time are "one-dimensional". This means you might be a strong rebounder, or a good defender, or great passer. You can get yourself playing time by becoming more than a one-dimensional player.
Practice the Little Things
Becoming more than a one dimensional player will require you to practice longer hours than your teammates and on weekends and holiday's when others are out enjoying themselves. It will requiring you to spend at least 15 minutes a day on skills such as passing, pivoting, rebounding, dribbling skills, and defensive footwork when others are probably playing shooting games. I'm not suggesting you take away from shooting time. I'm telling you to do more.
During my twenty plus years coaching a large percentage of substitutions have occurred in games because my team needed a player on the court who was a better passer, a better penetrate, better able play penetration defense, or able to box out every time. The players who are able to keep themselves on the court for major playing time are generally those that are multi-dimensional. They have developed fundamentally sound passing skills, penetration skills, the ability to handle the ball against pressure, to solidly defend, consistently rebound despite their size. Sure coaches will substitute you out of a game because you miss a shot, or get beat on defense, but it will be much tougher to get you out of the game, if your skills are multi-dimensional, even when you make an occasional mistake. Every Practice Is Your Best Chance to Improve
So how you avoid becoming a one-dimensional player? You approach every single, and every single drill in every practice as a chance to become multi-dimensional. You must strive to execute the skill as your coach teaches it, not to be good at it, but to MASTER IT. If you slack off and fail to absorb what is
being taught the effect over several years is cumulative. You will find yourself in high school or college and lacking a key skill that you should have automated over the previous several years. You'll wake up and find yourself a one-dimensional player. These players rarely get quality playing time.
The Basketball Highway's Playground Pointers book, and that the book can be purchased through our Basketball Highway web site and Hoopstore.net. This article cannot be republished without the expressed written consent of the author Alan Lambert, The Basketball Highway and our publisher Coaches Choice, copyright 2002. |
|
|