IS ARC REALLY THAT IMPORTANT?

Researchers at Noah Basketball have been conducting studies for more than a decade to find the perfect angle and depth (into the rim) a shot should travel to score the most.

To reach a conclusion, Alan Marty of Noah Basketball worked with the likes of Jerry Krause, the National Association of Basketball Coaches research chairman (who also currently serves as Gonzaga University’s director of basketball operations); John Carter, now the CEO of Noah Basketball; and Dr. Tom Edwards, a NASA scientist. This team has spent years figuring out a substantive, physics- and neuroscience-based method for players to make more shots.

Their conclusion is that an average shooter who shoots with an optimal arc of 45 degrees (give or take two degrees) is going to make about 11 percent more free throws than a shooter with a high arc of 53 degrees (68 percent vs. 57 percent). The same holds true going the other way. That same average 45-degree shooter makes 12 percent more free throws than a flat-arc 35-degree shooter (68 percent vs. 56 percent).

The picture shows what a 35- (red line), 45- (green line) and53-degree (blue line) arc look like. For very skilled shooters, the same conclusion is found. A very skilled 45-degree-arc shooter averages a make-rate of 96 percent while the 53-degree high arc shooter makes 89 percent and a 35-degree flat-arc shooter makes 80 percent of his or her free throws. Clearly, very skilled shooters make many baskets but they could be making even more shots, which is why this research is so critical.

(Thanks Michael Austin)

WHAT IS 1% WORTH?

What would it mean to your future if you improved 1% every single day?

Wake up everyday and ask yourself: what is one thing I can improve by 1% today?

Now multiply that by 365 and see what you get. The point I am trying to make is that if you take baby steps and focus on today and not tomorrow and concentrate on improving as little as 1% each day, your day will be a great day.

Is this a sustainable goal? I think so! 1% is not asking for too much is it Just 1%?

You might ask how would I measure this? Measure it in shots made and did it take you less shot attempts to get there? Or passing accuracy, how many times did you hit the square on the wall, did it take you less attempts then last time? Or ball handling mistakes, did you have less "mis-handles" then last time?

(Thanks iAthletes)

STOP MAKING EXCUSES

Words that sabotage YOUR success: can't, try, impossible, have to, not me, wasn't me, coulda, woulda, if only...

Stop making excuses and focus on taking one step at a time toward your goals.

4:13

(Thanks PGC)

FRESH KICKS FALL 2010

Jordan is re-releasing a couple of classics this Fall. The Jordan 6 Rings “3M” is scheduled to officially release on September 18th, 2010 for $160. Steep price, but it's a sweet shoe. And they are re-releasing the XXI (another great shoe) as part of the Pantone 248 set.

5 COMMON MENTAL MISTAKES PLAYERS MAKE

1. 1. Shooting Fadeaways. When a player chooses to shoot a fadeaway instead of taking it up strong and drawing a foul, they risk wasting an offensive possession for their team.

   2. Failure To Use A Fake. Players will often rush their shot at the sight of an advancing defender. Rushed shots usually miss.

   3. Panicked Passing. Most passing turnovers occur because a player gets nervous due to defensive pressure and passing the ball just to get rid of it instead of passing to a specific target.

   4. Leaving Your Feet to Pass. Once you go airborne... you MUST get rid of the ball or it's a turnover. The target you when you left your feet may or may not be open as you start to throw the pass. Why risk it? Use a fake instead to get your defender off-balance.

   5. A "Me vs. My Man" Defensive Attitude. Great defenders know and understand that great defense is NOT "me vs. my man" but instead is an "us vs. them" mindset. Understand that your job is to Stop the Ball... even if you have to leave your man in order to do so. If your man doesn't have the ball... they aren't a threat to score.

   4:13

NEVER "WAIT" TO FEEL MOTIVATED

One of the greatest misconceptions about becoming successful is the idea that you should "feel good" or "motivated" before you act.

Motivation almost always follows action, but seldom precedes it. As Emerson said: "Do the thing and you shall have the power." Champions commit to disciplined actions and pay very little attention to how they feel.

(Thanks LLaBB)

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING GREAT

I really believe that your teams best player, and how that player is coached, is critically important to the success of your team.

Coach Don Meyer has told me more than once "when your best player is your hardest worker you've got a chance." I would also add that when you best player is your most coachable you are in business.

At LSU, we've been blessed with some special players. They were great players but they were also our team's most dedicated players and all were extremely coachable. Among that group are five Final Fours, 3 SEC Championships -- while all are competing in the WNBA with Seimone and Sylvia owners of Olympic Gold. Those women got it -- they understand what it took to be GREAT...not good, but great.

Every team has a best player. Some of these “best players” understand the responsibility that goes with that and others don’t. We have found that those who do have two things in common:

..... --they have earned this designation (not just been given it)

..... --they understand it’s an everyday responsibility

(Thanks Coach Starkey)

AWESOME STORY

Somebody somewhere is right now begging God for the opportunity you already have right now. Step into your moment and make the most of what you have to use.

A great read and a true inspirational story... Never Count Out The Little Guy

WHAT IS THE SECRET TO BEING A GREAT TEAM?

Every team can be good... but there are only a select few that can ever be great. What is the secret to being great?

Coach Butch Davis (University of Miami) told a story of how he visited Tom Osborne (Nebraska) one weekend and coach Osborne told him a story about how he came back to the coaches office late one night and upon entering, he saw the lights on in one of the athletic classrooms. As he approached to turn the lights off (that someone had obviously left on) he saw a Senior player at the whiteboard teaching pass patterns to a Freshman. "At that moment, I knew we were going to be good" said Osborne. (btw, Nebraska went on to win the National Championship that season.)

So Butch Davis returned to UM on Monday and gathered his coaching staff together and relayed that story to them. He asked them to help him get the players to understand that until they, the players, take over the culture and teach it to the younger players... they could be good... but never great. The coaching staff accepted the challenge and the players at Miami bought into it... that season, Miami began a win streak of 35 games in a row.

One of the players from that Miami team was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens the following season, and that player, Ray Lewis went on to anchor and help create arguably one of the most respected NFL defenses in the last decade. Ray Lewis walks onto the feild before every game and challenges his teammates by saying... "I challenge you to match my intensity.... do what I do."

Until the players take over the culture and teach it, your team will never be anything better than good. If the players aren't buying into the vision and taking it over and showing accountability... your team will never be great.

(Thanks Kevin Elko)

FRESH KICKS FALL 2010

Plenty of buzz (and pics) about the new Under Armor Micro G line dropping the second week of October. Curious to see how ballers like them.

4 "WHAT'S" TO CREATE VALUE

Kevin Eastman recently held his annual COACHING U clinic in Vegas and talked about the responsibility to create your value to your team belongs to YOU.

ATHLETES: Your contribution to your team is your responsibility, not your coaches. How much a basketball player contributes to his or her team’s success is determined by each athlete, individually. And so, the following questions apply…

1. What does my team need most (offensively, defensively, in the locker room, etc?

2. What things am I good at that I can become great at AND meet my team’s greatest needs?

3. What are the little, nameless, often unnoticed acts that I can do, that no ones wants to do – between the lines and outside the lines?

4. What things should I avoid – both on and off the court? (What things should I add to my stop-doing list as a basketball player, teammate or person?)

How do you rate yourself against Kevin Eastman’s four point checklist? What things are you going to start doing today; and, stop-doing?

(Thanks PGC & Sefu Bernard)

INDIVIDUALS DON'T WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Basketball is a sport that involves the subtle interweaving of players at full speed to the point where they are thinking and moving as one. To do that successfully, they need to trust each other on a deep level and know instinctively how their teammates will respond in pressure situations. A great player can only do so much on his own - no matter how breathtaking his one-on-one moves. If he is out of sync psychologically with everyone else, the team will never achieve the harmony needed to win a championship.

It [isn't] brilliant individual performances that made great teams, but the energy that's unleashed when players put their egos aside and work toward a common goal.

Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the "me" for the "we".

From Phil Jackson's book Sacred Hoops

(Thanks LLaBB)

FRESH KICKS FALL 2010

Five colorways of the new Under Armour Micro G Fly have just hit the web. This installment of Micro G technology is set to the tone of a graphic upper featuring a ventilated insert. The sleek model is built for speed and will likely rival competitor guard shoes this fall. Look for this model to drop in October and retail at a modest $90.

Under Armour Micro G Fly

Various Colors
October 2010
$90

FRIDAY QUOTES

“You can never win a championship in September; but you sure as heck can lose one.”

- Alan Stein

"September is "players time" of the year when the best will come together as one; push themselves without needing a coach to prod them to be prepared for the season opener."

“You are never so good that you can’t get better.”

“Talent, brilliance, and energy mean nothing if you don’t have the ability to harness it and focus it on your specific goals.”

(Thanks Coach Holub)

"An easy task becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance."

- Terence

"Don't allow your mind tell your heart what to do. The mind gives up easily."

- Paulo Coelho

"Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period."

- Lou Holtz

"I've never heard a team that talks early, loud & continuous that wasn't intense."

- Jeff Van Gundy

"The secret of success is to be ready when your opportunity comes."

- Benjamin Disraeli

WHAT IS THE SECRET TO GREAT DEFENSE?

One of the more defensive minded teams in the NBA over the past decade has been the San Antonio Spurs. It’s not hard to see the coorelation between defense and winning championships – they have four!

Their secret defensive scheme? Force guards away from the middle of the floor.

Yep, it’s that easy! Boil it down to this: when the ball-handler gets to the middle and into the lane, bad things happen. This is because the offensive player has options. And the basic premises of defense are to limit the number of ways the offense can score and make it as hard as possible for them to do that.

When opposing guards get into the lane, they cause damage. They get good looks at the basket, find open teammates and draw fouls. A ball-handler in the middle of the lane usually has a better look at the basket than when forced towards the sideline or baseline. Additionally, he probably got past the defender guarding him en route to the lane. This means other defenders will have to rotate over to help on the ball-handler, leaving other offensive players open if the ball-handler can find them with a good pass.

(Thanks SA Bleacher Report)

WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE?

We want leaders here, not just players. Players are a dime a dozen...

4:13

MYTH BUSTERS - 1ST STEP FOOTWORK

Great example of something that has been taught for years... being taught wrong.

FIRST STEP FOOTWORK MYTH

10 FAVORITE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT HOOPS

1.) Sense of Comfort - The sense of comfort you get when you enter an empty gym. It's a familiar comfort... kind of like your favorite pair of shoes. Maybe it's knowing this is where you earned your stripes through a lot of sweat and hard work.

2.) The Challenge of Being In the Moment - all "real" players love the challenge to walk out onto the big stage and deliver - especially in big games. The nervousness of performing in front of the crowd quickly diminishes and the crowd becomes nothing more than a blur of noise disappearing into the background. It's being in the moment - there's nothing else like it!

3.) The Locker Room - Our locker room is sacred place... it's the "war room" where none are welcome except those who have earned the right to be there. It's where common bonds and shared goals are created.

4.) New Team Shirts - Getting a new team shirt at the start of each new season symbolizes new beginnings and new challenges. You know a lot of blood, sweat and tears will be poured out to live up to the challenge we place on that shirt.

5.) The Swish Sound - Making the net "whisper" is probably my favorite sound from November through March. Practicing in a quiet gym while making that sound is music to my ears.

6.) New Kicks - Does this even need an explanation??? Everyone loves a new pair of basketball shoes. The feel and smell of new shoes is pretty cool.

7.) Running Out of the Locker Room - The thrill of running through the doors to some heart pounding jams and knowing you are about to meet a roaring crowd... the anticipation alone is an adrenaline rush.

8.) The Game Ball - Every game ball is different, I used to ask the ref before the jump ball to let me feel it before we started. For some reason touching that ball made me comfortable and confident.

9.) The Intimidation Factor - Gotta love the "all business" approach we take the moment we arrive at an opponents gym. I love the way we look, walk and carry ourselves when we enter the gym that causes our opponents and fans to stop and stare.

10.) Bus Trips - The relaxed craziness of talking about the game on the way home, or about the player that played dirty or maybe passing the pizza's back and forth on the bus, etc. There's a sense of family on those trips.

(Thanks Danny)

THE TRYOUT NEVER ENDS

This past summer our Junior National team was having a shoot around in preparation for an exhibition game with another country. It was early in the morning and many of the players were not too excited about having to be up that early. The shoot around took place and it was not one of the better performances by the players.

After the shoot around the coach pulled the players together and told them that they he was disappointed in their performance. He also asked if any of them knew who the gentlemen were, that were sitting off to the side when practice was taking place. The answer was no. Coach proceeded to tell them that they were all scouts for the NBA and they had just had their first tryout for the NBA and first impressions are hard to change. Needless to say we never had another poor shoot around. Anytime a stranger walked in the gym; the players assumed he must be another NBA scout and did not want to have another bad tryout.

Too often, players think a “tryout” is a one time event.

Players need to understand that every time they walk onto the court eyes are watching and conducting a tryout. Tryouts also occur off the court. The behaviour of a player before and after the game is just as important as the performance on the court. How a player handles being subbed. How she sits with her teammates on the bench. When a player shows up late for a practice, this is part of the tryout. When a player decides to sub herself out of a drill this is part of a tryout. When a player does not touch the lines in a conditioning drill, this is part of a tryout. When a player only goes 75% during a drill, this is part of a tryout. When a player misbehaves in a hotel room on the road, this is part of the tryout. All of these little details go into a tryout.

Players must take responsibility for their actions at all times. That means how they travel, how they handle meal time, bed time, meeting time, practice time and all the time in between. There are always eyes that are evaluating you... the tryout never ends.

(Thanks Coach MacKay)

A SIMPLE BUT POWERFUL CONCEPT ON IMPROVEMENT

I think everyone should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy.

Here is the first part: ants never quit. That's a good philosophy. If you're headed somewhere and you try to stop them, they'll look for another way. They'll climb over, they'll climb under, they'll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit looking for a way to get where you're supposed to go.

Second, ants think winter all summer. That's an important perspective. You can't be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering their winter food in the middle of summer.

The third part of the ant philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, "This won't last long -- we'll soon be out of here." And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they'll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can't wait to get out.

And here's the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the "all-you-possibly-can" philosophy.

If you want to dramatically improve your game, you need to apply this concept to your workouts. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can.

(Thanks Jim Rohn & Thellabb)

CREATING A CULTURE OF GREATNESS

To build a winning a team and a successful organization you must create a culture of greatness.

It’s the most important thing a leader can do because culture drives behavior, behavior drives habits and habits create the future.

When you create a culture of greatness you create a collective mindset in your organization that expects great things to happen - even during challenging times. You expect your people to be their best, you make it a priority to coach them to be their best and most of all you create a work environment that fuels them to be their best.

A culture of greatness creates an expectation that everyone in the organization be committed to excellence. A culture of greatness requires that you find the right people that fit your culture. Then you coach them, develop them, mentor them, train them and empower them to do what they do best.

(Thanks Jon Gordon)

WHEN LEADERS BECOME DISCOURAGED

When leading a team, whether you are the coach or a team captain, you must make some very difficult decisions regarding how you lead your team. Although I think we should ALWAYS attempt to lead everyone, there are times when doing so will wear us down and we will experience discouragement.

When that happens, step away and refocus your efforts on those that really matter.

Lead the believers - Concentrate on the people who share the same passion as you. These are your believers, the one's who are committed and a desire to do whatever it takes to succeed. Most of your focus must go into channeling their energy and passion, your believers are the most valuable people on the team. They determine the ultimate success of the team.

Convert the Receptive - For the most part, this is the position of most of the people. This is your middle class. Convert who you can by being authentic and genuine. Turn the "receptive" into "believers."

Forget the Non-Believers - You choose who you lead, don't waste the majority of your time on non-believers. Let them go. This can present a problem to most leaders because we think we can convert anyone if they just listen. The hard truth is, that's not true. You must learn that there are people that choose either not to buy into the vision or they just don't care. Don't get me wrong, you still try and lead them, but don’t make them your top priority and allow them to quench your fire and of the fire of those that are earnestly running for the prize.

The more time you put into the "non-believers" the less time you have for the people who actually care about the success of the team. It’s not “ignore the non-believers,” it’s just more productive to pour the majority of your energy and efforts into those that see the vision and actually want to reach the goal.

(Thanks Danny)

DON'T MAKE A GOOD SHOT A BAD ONE

Don’t be the player that takes a great shot opportunity and turns it into a bad one! Players often take a good shot opportunity and ruin it because they aren’t prepared to shoot as they receive the ball.

This means don’t take a shot that is wide-open and within your shooting range, and ruin it by rushing it, or shooting with it bad form, or by not being squared up!

The definition of a good shot is different for every player. Make sure you recognize and understand both a good shot and open shot as it applies to YOU. A wide-open 3-pointer may not be a good shot for a player that doesn’t have consistent 3-point range. Just because the shot is wide-open shot does not necessarily make it a good shot for YOU.

Know your game!

4:13

WHICH TYPE OF LEADER ARE YOU?

A LEADER destined for SUCCESS asks,

....."What can we do to improve?"

A LEADER destined for FAILURE says,

....."That's the way it's always been done."

Which are you?

From "The Essential Wooden" by John Wooden and Steve Jamison

(Thanks Coach Starkey)

FRIDAY'S QUOTES (ON SATURDAY) ;)

"Be immune to criticism. We can never stay on course to our goals if we are always reacting to the criticism from others."

- Mark Fritz

"No great performance ever came from holding back."

- Don Greene

"Time is our most valuable asset, yet we tend to waste it, kill it, and spend it rather than invest it."

- Jim Rohn

“Don’t confuse being busy with being productive. There is a difference.”

- John Wooden

"There is nothing so common as unsuccessful people with talent. They lack only determination"

- Tony Gaskins

"Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win."

- Sun Tzu