With pre-season in full effect your players are probably playing organized pick-up during open gym several times a week… our players at Montrose sure are. And while you can’t really add too much structure, now is the best time to start reiterating and reinforcing what a “good” shot is versus a “bad” shot. No sense in having players consistently shooting bad shots between now and when practice starts! If you aren’t allowed to be there because of pre-season coaching restrictions, I suggest you review this with your captains and have them inforce!
Here is a list of what constitutes a good shot. We give this list to our players in their team handbook as well as discuss it as often as necessary. The most important concept for players to understand is the definition of a good shot varies from player to player. A good shot for your point guard might not be a good shot for your 4-man.
1) A good shot is one that is expected by your teammates.
2) A good shot is one that you are ready to shoot (on balance, square to the basket, etc.).
3) A good shot is one that you shoot a high percentage on in drills and practice (in your range)
4) A good shot is one that can be rebounded by at least two of your teammates.
5) A good shot is one that you can recover and play defense from if it is missed.
6) A good shot is one that is appropriate given the time and the score.
7) A good shot is one that is taken when you are not closely guarded (except for shots around the basket).
Along the lines of pick-up games and open gym, here are three things we do at Montrose to make our games as productive as possible:
1) All 10 players must be in the front court when a basket is scored (to encourage running the floor, getting back on defense, and eliminate “cherry picking.”). If an offensive player is not over the half court line when a basket is scored; the basket doesn’t count and it is a turnover. If a defensive player isn’t back over half court when the basket is scored, the point counts and the offensive teams keeps possession.
2) With the exception of an intentional foul (which we don’t allow and highly discourage), our players do not call any fouls during pick-up. They must play through it and learn to play hard and maintain composure during brutal contact. This keeps the game moving and eliminates arguing about fouls. This is not done to promote fouling or cause chaos… so implement appropriately. It takes mature and responsible players to do this.
3) We keep record of wins and losses of every pick-up game. We change the teams every day but each player gets one point when they win. You will start to see which players are winners regardless of what team they are on. These are the players you will want playing this winter!
If you have questions about the Montrose program, please email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I will respond as quickly as possible!
Train hard. Train smart.
Alan Stein