UAF Men’s Basketball will be running the 2010 summer team camp and Challenge Life will be offering an opportunity to enhance your teams’ experience with a specially tailored Challenge Life supplement package.
Please contact Mike Hajduke, or Al Sokaitis for further details!
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Basketball Skills and Drills
One on One Moves
At some point in every game you are required to create space between you and an opponent. Creating space provides you with a high percentage opportunity to score. Space is created by the efforts of a teammate who screens you, by your own movement without the ball or by utilizing a fake to draw a defender out of defensive position. The basics of creating space are:
Understanding how to use a screen.
Understanding how to read the defender in relation to the screen.
Movement without the ball.
The fundamentals of the fake with the ball.
The alignment of your body and your feet when receiving the ball.
Utilizing the pivot in your fake.
Selling the fake with your wrist.
Maintaining a low, balanced body position.
Using the fake to create a seal position.
One on One Moves Facing The Hoop
Jab and go.
Jab, shot fake and go.
Jab, shot fake and cross
Jab, jab, shot fake and cross.
Bird move, step back.
Fake step back.
Swing step.
Pivot and throw bounce.
Pivot, throw and cross.
Catch, pivot and cross.
Catch and spin out.
Catch, pivot and wrap.
Catch, pivot and go.
Step, hop.
One on One Moves That Begin With Your Back To The Basket
Drop step.
Reverse pivot and step through.
Reverse pivot and step hop.
Step back.
Fake step back.
A variety of effective moves have been listed in the categories of both facing the hoop and receiving the ball with your back to the basket. The key, however, to having an effective one on one game is to master two moves, a move and a counter move. You do not need ten different offensive moves only a couple of very good ones and the ability to sell the fake.
Effective One on One Drills
Play one on one, every day, from a variety of angles to the hoop. Start the drill with the ball and sometimes without the ball. Practice pivoting into the move and limit the time or number of dribbles allowed.
Allow the offensive player a screener to get him/her open. Add a defender on the screener.
Play one on one games for a minute at every hoop and have the losers rotate. The goal is to stay at one hoop while playing against opponents of different size.
Play one on one cutthroat. Line up 4 – 5 players one behind the other at the top of the key. The first player in line is on defense and the second player on offense. If the offensive player scores, he/she stays on offense and a new defender rotates to the front of the line to try and make a stop. The first defender, that was scored on, goes to the back of the line. If a defender makes a stop, he/she becomes the offensive player and a new defender rotates forward. The offensive player that did not score goes to the back of the line. The only way you get to play offense is by first making a stop. Play a game for three mintes.
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Basketball Drills and Skills
Ball Handling
A skilled ball handler understands the basic fundamentals of protecting the basketball which include:
Body Position. Bend your knees and keep the ball low and protected in traffic.
Dribble with your fingertips.
Keep your head and eyes up.
The most effective ball handling moves involve a change of pace or a change of direction.
“The Daily Dozen”
A change of speed – acceleration.
Stutter.
Crossovers
Step back, look up and go.
Step back and cross.
Hesistation.
Fake crossover.
Between the legs.
Around the back.
Spin.
Combination move – Fake cross to spin.
Combination move – Spin, between the legs to crossover.
Drills
Use a zig-zag defensive slide drill to work on your change of direction dribbling moves.
Pre-game layup lines. Use a particular move before getting to the basket. Change the move from the opposite side. The rebounder should dribble hard to the corner and spin dribble before passing the ball to the next person in line.
Start at midcourt with a defender five feet behind you. Speed dribble in for a layup with the defender in pursuit.
Advance the ball to midcourt versus two defenders.
Dribble tag with one ball handler attemptin to tag six opponents in thirty seconds. Change the court space, length of time or the hand you are allowed to dribble with to change the game.
Run your sprints, suicides and 17’s, while dribbling.
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Just a quick note to everyone. The men’s and women’s State Basketball Tournament in Anchorage is
the week of March 15 – 20. Make your plans early, it should be a great week and the Slope has some
very talented teams. It is always tough to predict who will get hot at regionals and earn a trip to the big dance but here is a
quick recap:
The defending State Champions, the Point Hope boys, look poised to make a run at a repeat. I had the
opportunity to watch Rex’s group win the Chevak tournament this week and they were very impressive
at both ends of the floor. They play hard and they play together, a nice recipe for winning.
The Point Hope women’s team, meanwhile, played in a tournament with two of the
top teams in the State. Point Hope joined two time defending State Champs, the Yakutat Eagles and a Chevak Comet squad on a mission
since the passing of their head coach a year ago. In a battle that could be repeated at State, host Chevak nipped
Point Hope by one point on the games final possession only to lose to Yakutat by the same slim one point margin in the final. Ramona Rock, despite the loss of
one of the region’s best point guards to graduation (they miss you Tammy) has the girls playing tough. The girls have a tough region and road to
the State Tournament but will certainly be well prepared.
In the 1A boy’s ranks, if the village tournament held in Barrow is any indication, the regionals will be a knock down, dragged out affair. Three teams
heading to Point Lay for the regionals, Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk and Wainwright look to be the front runners but as they say (or at least Robert
Service kind of said) “there are strange things done in the midnight sun by the boys trying to win a tournament.” Okay, I took a little journalistic liberty.
On a more serious note, I think that although upsets happen, Anaktuvuk Pass, Atqasuk and Wainwright look strong and I could see a Anaktuvuk
Pass versus Atqasuk final for all the marbles.
On the women’s side, Edna, once again has a young Wainwright team playing like a veteran unit. Wainwright is looking to return to Anchorage and capture another title but I am sure Becky has plans of her own for the Atqasuk ladies to cut down the nets. Throw in a few more weeks of preparation and a surprise team can emerge from
any village.
The Barrow boys and girls will carry the hopes of the region to the 3A affair. In what I feel to be the toughest region in years, the boys will have to fight through
Bethel and an extremely strong Nome squad to earn one of the two tickets to Anchorage. Jeremy has the boys playing hard. At the State level, however, everyone
plays hard and Coach is focussing on getting his troups to play hard and smart.
The Barrow girls are excited about rolling through regionals and getting back to Anchorage. Some early season contests against top teams from throughout the
State have prepared our young ladies on what to expect to win it all. Now, it’s a matter of focus and determination. I like their chances.
That’s the news from the hardwood and some observations over the past week. Good luck to all!
Al Sokaitis
Challenge Life
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Al Sokaitis and some Alaskan high school coaches brought Alaskan seniors who are trying to play college ball, to Washington to play in front of college coaches! At least half of these kids have since signed at colleges to play!
The “Challenge Life” program is took a large group (20 – 25) of Alaska’s top senior basketball players to Washington, April 16th – 19th. The goal of the trip is to provide the young men with an opportunity to demonstrate their skill to a gathering of 70 or more college coaches. Many of Alaska’s elite hoopsters fall victim to geography when it comes to being recruited. “Challenge Life” is hoping to change that by proving a stage for Alaska’s best. Players from Ketchikan to Point Hope and every hoop hotbed in between will be joining the “Challenge Life” travel team. The only cost to the players was airfare as “Challenge Life” made the trip affordable to all.
For more information, please have your high school coach contact Coach Sokaitis at 970 201-4304
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