As we approach the 2008 Summer Olympics next month, I realized how much more excited I am this time around to watch the basketball competition than in previous olympics. I watched the '92 olympics in Barcelona when Magic and Jordan demolished everyone in their path. But it's a different anticipation this time around. It's knowing that the competition around the world has caught up to the US and that 4 or 5 teams have a legitimate shot at the gold medal, and that everyone has taken it seriously again, which is the way it is supposed to be. more...

From a newsletter I received a few weeks ago, here are some rebounding drills taken from a Rick Majerus Camp. Not to enthralling, but then again, it's hard to get too exotic when repping on the fundamentals of rebounding. Still, rebounding is such an important part of the game, you will win games simply by winning the battle of the boards, more...

As a player, I was always a guy that sought contact. I was a small guy, but I played football as well so I was used to banging bodies. I played physical and I went hard to the basket because I knew many of my opponents didn't. I especially went after tall thin guys, I knew they disliked the physical contact. more...

If you do any trapping or pressing at all in your defense, then teaching good double-teaming skills are essential for a good press. I've watched plenty of teams try to press, but fail because they didn't trap properly. I went through some notes the other day and found these great tips on double-teaming from Don Casey: more...

What a great game yesterday between Croatia and Germany at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying semi-finals. On the line was a guaranteed spot in Beijing next month. The game was intense, both teams played hard, and it came down to 2 OTs to decide the outcome. In the end, Croatia was the better team, they played much better together. more...

Going through some more notes the other day and came across this little gem from one of the Xavier Newsletters. We all do shell drills, but I like how this specific drill incorporates a couple of really key concepts.

Inside Out Action Drill:

The idea with this drill is your basic shell drill, but incorporating the weakside interchange into post-defense. You can substitute the weakside interchange with pass and pick away or whatever you want. more...

I caught most of the Greece versus Brazil game yesterday. It was the best game of the FIBA Olympic qualifier so far with both teams playing some terrific basketball. In the end, Greece was just better at executing their offensive. Specifically, Greece ran PNRs all night and Brazil mostly switched all screens allowing Greece to take advantage of the mismatches. more...

Took in some Vegas NBA Summer league action yesterday between the Portland Trailblazers and the Sacramento Kings. I was hoping to see if Greg Oden would be playing, but I guess he's still rehabing his knee. I was really impressed by the speed of the Kings' young guards.

Specifically, Sean Singletary and Quincy Douby; those guys are quick. I love playing fast, when I was playing ball, I wasn't tall so I made it up with my quickness. I love watching guys like Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Leandro Barbosa; they can create havoc just by being quick. Take a look, more...

12 teams, only 3 get to go to Beijing. The FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament kicked off today from Athens. There weren't any major upsets in day one action. I caught the first half of the Greece game against Lebanon before it got out of hand. Greece is just far better talent wise than Lebanon is and it was evident from the opening tip. more...

My Seattle Storm played in a huge game last night against the Los Angeles Sparks and it was a glorious day for the Storm coming up with the big win. It's been a couple of weeks since I watched the Storm play and I think they've definitely cleaned some things up. I especially like the way they've improved defensively, much tougher and more physical. more...

I was thinking about doing a post on the 1-1-3 zone defense for a while now so here goes. There was a team I coached against that used it on us and it really disrupted our game. We were used to playing mostly M2M and some 2-3 zones, but the 1-1-3 threw us off and we ended up jacking a lot of ill-advised 3-pointers. Needless to say, we lost the game. more...

As a coach, one of the things that really burns me up is turnovers. Avery Johnson says he looks at the FTs stats first to see how his team is playing. For me, the first thing I look for on the stat sheet is our own turnovers. Even on running teams, I've always been a guy that emphasized controlled speed rather than uninhibited madness. more...

I took in my first NBA summer league game today between the Chicago Bulls and the Indiana Pacers this afternoon. It was, basically an organized scrimmage but I thought it was interesting to see the young rookies like Derrick Rose playing with NBA players. He struggled with his shooting, but otherwise, he looked solid. more...

I think every basketball coach out there does a shell drill to work on M2M defensive concepts. If not, you really should. I went through some notes earlier today and found some nice pointers on what you should be working on with your kids while doing the shell drills.

Transition Defense:

Incorporate your full court transition defense back into a 4on4 or 5on5 shell. This way, you're not only working the basic defense, but transition at the same time. more...

It's been over a week since the last Phoenix Mercury game I watched and it seems they are still resigned to running their matchup zone defense. They played the Los Angeles Sparks tonight in LA, and they Sparks absolutely picked apart the Mercury's defense. The Mercury made a few late 3-pointers in the 4th quarter to prevent the blowout, but essentially, they didn't make any required adjustments. more...