Lack of decent Ball Handlers after the sg position

Personally i tihnk their is not enough work on players ball handling when they are juniors and seniors, we teach them so many skills, but really how many coaches work on ball handling every training... and what work do you do?

there is a terrible lack of alot of kids and adults who can handle the ball well... we teach them so much about the game, yet stop working on their ball handling.. WHY?

[BlowJoggs]

Far out good thread.

From what I've seen, junior reps are just not encouraged to handle the ball.

So much work on moving the ball, moving without the ball, passing drills.

Why not dedicate more time to mastering the art of dribbling? Or at least emphasise the advantage of being able to put it on the floor so players work hard to develop it.

I've commented several times that from my experience when playing pickup ball with most rep players who don't play anywhere but reps, that they get killed simply because they've never been in an environment which requires them to take their man off the dribble.

Not that I advocate streetball as a way of playing, but playing games where its basically free for all, iso plays, one on one type stuff, you learn to develop your shake and bake repertoire.

Expertise, you're a champ. Maybe one day when you're an NBL head coach, we can all say "we use to post with him".

Expertise, you're a champ. Maybe one day when you're an NBL head coach, we can all say "we use to post with him".

:lol: :oops: :lol:

Its not jsut dribbling, having soft hands and good touch, helps with shooting, passing, stealing, rebounding, gathering loose balls etc too.

[Coachpete]

It's a line that has to be drawn. We need to get younguns to practice breaking their man down off the dribble to attack the basket but we also need to encourage moving the ball up the floor without dribbling. Too many guards with "mad handles" take 7 thousand dribbles while there's someone open ahead of them. We need to teach all the skills AND when to use them

[Trappist Monk]

I coach a lot of juniors - currently three u12s, two u14s and one u16s team, and I run a clinic each week that averages 35 kids.

We do dribbling drills every session. I particularly do a lot of full length speed dribbling competitive stuff because it gets the kids fit without them noticing the pain :wink:

Dribbling is a skill that requires me to teach good technique but it is up to the individual to perfect their skills. It cannot be done at 1 or 2 training sessions per week. Therefore a good dribbler will be someone who has worked hard on their own. The lack of talented juniors isn't necessarily due to a lack of coaching.

Also, like a lot of rep coaches, I emphasise team play and court vision. The problem is not how to make kids dribble the ball, it's how to stop them! And it's how to keep their head up when they do get the chance to put the ball on the floor.

But I think what your mostly talking about are killer moves off the triple threat position or back-to-basket spin moves. That's a whole lot different to advancing the ball up the court under pressure or open court dribbling. We work on jab steps, various other fakes, crossovers, etc, but again it's up to the player to get good at it.

Overall though, everything else being equal, a good dribbling team will rarely beat a good ball-moving team that can also play team defence to stop penetration.

I see all of your points,

Alot of players can execute good moves.

What are we all doing as coaches to improve the ball handling on a whole, not just dribbling the ball.

Trappist Monk, nice to see all the work you are doing there!!!!!

[Trappist Monk]

Trappist Monk, nice to see all the work you are doing there!!!!!

That's just about the most appreciation I've ever received :wink:

Trappist Monk, nice to see all the work you are doing there!!!!!

That's just about the most appreciation I've ever received :wink:

Yeah? :)
Don't get use to it then! :wink:

We need to teach all the skills AND when to use them

I agree, though there was somethign i loved watching as the 217cm kid im working with (been 7 weeks now people.. wow time flys) went coast to coast through the transition defense last night and threw down a monstor two hander from about the dotted line!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

edit: accuracte height, measured him tonight

[MAIN_MAN]

Cezar wrote:
I've commented several times that from my experience when playing pickup ball with most rep players who don't play anywhere but reps, that they get killed simply because they've never been in an environment which requires them to take their man off the dribble.

i'm guilty of that !

[Essen]

I think a dilemma that some youth coaches think they might come across his players trying to out dribble the other team, hence the emphasis on passing and movement.

I just tell my players to go play streetball to improve handles.

[TOP FLIGHT]

Trappist is this all in one week?

Trappist wrote:
But I think what your mostly talking about are killer moves off the triple threat position or back-to-basket spin moves. That's a whole lot different to advancing the ball up the court under pressure or open court dribbling. We work on jab steps, various other fakes, crossovers, etc, but again it's up to the player to get good at it.

Mate it's up to us to make them good we are teachers of the game not minders. Don't leave it up to them mum or dad you teach them right from wrong.

Far to much in one week bro. "The respect is there'.

Trappist is this all in one week?

Trappist wrote:
But I think what your mostly talking about are killer moves off the triple threat position or back-to-basket spin moves. That's a whole lot different to advancing the ball up the court under pressure or open court dribbling. We work on jab steps, various other fakes, crossovers, etc, but again it's up to the player to get good at it.

Mate it's up to us to make them good we are teachers of the game not minders. Don't leave it up to them mum or dad you teach them right from wrong.

Far to much in one week bro. "The respect is there'.

As a basketball caoch, we give the players the information and the tools, its up to them to make themselves do it,

[Trappist Monk]

Trappist is this all in one week?

Mate it's up to us to make them good we are teachers of the game not minders. Don't leave it up to them mum or dad you teach them right from wrong.

Far to much in one week bro. "The respect is there'.

I do a lot of basketball stuff because it's actually part of my job :)

On the point of leaving it up to them (rarely is it ever the parents who'll teach them), coaches can't possibly dedicate the time needed for the players to perfect skills. At best, 2 arvo sessions and one on the weekend in pre-season is as good as it gets. That's about 5 hours per week. You can't do any more than that or parents lose it, what with homework, music lessons, etc.

5 hours per week isn't much time to repetitively drill kids. And as you said yourself, we are not minders. The best kids rise to the top because they want it and work at it - not because a coach held their hand every minute they practised.

[Trappist Monk]

on another point, US coach Ganon Baker who was running clinics in Sydney last month has a range of DVDs available on the web.

I have access to 4 of them but in particular, Training in the Triple Threat - 34 Ways to Create Space and 35 Street Moves You Can Use are relevant to this thread.

I'll do a review when I've had a look at them.