This weekend I had an unbelievable opportunity to help direct the inaugural Stephen Curry Skills Academy at Davidson College near Charlotte. When Ryan Goodson asked me to be a part of it the answer was a resounding “Yes!”. The camp featured some of the top returning college players in the country Seth Curry (Duke), Khris Middleton (Texas A&M) and Kim English (Missouri) and top high school players in the North Carolina area. I also was able to work with some of the best coaches in North Carolina, which is always enjoyable — they love their basketball! We got into the forever debatable “To help or not to help off the corner”!
Steph was hands on at the camp, breaking down his own game film with the players and taking them through a workout he routinely does out on the floor. If he hadn’t just had ankle surgery he without a doubt would have been on the floor working out and playing with the players. To receive a free copy of the curriculum from the Skills Academy click here.
What I really took away from Steph was his humbleness and hungry attitude to continually learn. Before watching film Steph told all the coaches and college players to point out anything they wanted as we went through the ball screen and finishing clips. He said ” hopefully everyone will learn something, including myself”. This was in no way, shape or form lip service. He is a true student of the game and will learn any way that he can. After every game during the season he watches anywhere from 45-60 minutes of film to critique himself and learn from mistakes. He also made sure to let everyone know that he doesn’t just watch film of himself. Steph watches Steve Nash, JJ Barea, and Chris Paul, trying to pick up different parts of their game, which he can add to his. Ironically these are the same players we watch a lot (including Steph), studying their game, breaking it down and figuring out how to teach it to the players that we train. The best players are the most efficient players and I’d definitely put Steph in that category.
Tips from Stephen Curry for those learning to be a point guard…
- Be aggressive first in order to get the defense to respect you. Then it’s up to you to make the right play
- The hook passes, behind the back and drop off passes require skills and if you don’t have those you aren’t even going to be looking for those options. Most point guards are score first because they don’t have the ability to make these passes required off the dribble.
- Executing ball screens know who is guarding your screener and whether or not they will switch. You might want to have another player screen if you know they will switch.
- You can’t be a passing point guard if you don’t have the skills to be one. Passing is the least worked on skill in the game.
- Passing is also about knowing how the defense rotates and how your teammates play off penetration from watching game film.
- In order to be able to command your teammates to spots on the floor they need to trust you that you will make the right decisions and get them the basketball.
Remember in order to receive your FREE copy of the drills done at the Stephen Curry Skills Academy be sure to click here!
Stephen Curry’s official website is www.stephencurry30.com
Special thanks to Bryant Barr of 4One3 Events for putting together a 1st class experience for everyone involved.
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Mike Lee
Be sure to follow me on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/mikeleehoops
Always remember…”Basketball is what you play – not who you are”, Coach Shonn Brown, Charlotte Christian