June is a great time of year, NBA Playoffs, NBA Draft what could be better? Congratulations to Eddie Jordan who was just named Head Coach of The Philadelphia 76ers. Best of luck to him and the organization as a whole.
On the subject of Philadelphia, don't forget about the Nike SPARQ Showcase and Training we will be holding at Villanova this Thursday June 4th. register here http://www.dtrained.com/catalog_i10235655.html
So I mentioned the NBA Draft and I'm always excited when I get the insider reports on guys pre-draft measurements and workout reports. It's always interesting to see whose stock rises and falls based on these reports. The other day I was checking out the heights and weights along with wingspans. Everyone isn't always as tall as they say they are, but if you have long arms and can play I guess things can get overlooked. Everyone always says basketball players lie about their height, is that really true? You be the judge.
ESPN.com acquired the official heights and weight measurements from the 2009 NBA draft combine on Friday. Every year, NBA teams analyze this information closely to get a feel for how tall, or short, draft prospects actually are. And every year, there are a few winners and losers in the process.
Big Winners
• A lot of people questioned the height of Oklahoma's Blake Griffin during the season. At the draft combine, Griffin's measurements were a mixed bag. He checked in at 6-foot-8½ inches in bare feet and measured a legit 6-10 in shoes. That part was fine. But his wingspan came in at just 6-11 and he ended with a standing reach of 8-9. That's just one inch longer than the reach registered by Tyreke Evans and an inch and a half shorter than DeJuan Blair's.
• Speaking of Evans, he had the most impressive measurements of the camp. He stands just 6-4 in socks and 6-5¼ in shoes. But he had a terrific 6-11¼ wingspan and an awesome 8-8 standing reach, both bests among guards in the camp.
• North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough also measured out a little bigger than expected. He was 6-8½ in socks and 6-9½ in shoes. He has a decent 6-11½ wingspan and ended up with a taller standing reach (8-10) than Griffin's.
• Arizona's James Harden also passed the smell test. He measure in at 6-4 in socks. But his 6-10¾ wing span and 8-7½ standing reach make him one of the bigger guards in the draft.
• UCLA's Jrue Holiday was the biggest point guard, standing at 6-3¼ in socks and 6-4¼ in shoes. His 6-7 wingspan and 8-4½ standing reach were also tops among point guards.
• Gonzaga's Austin Daye measured 6-9¾ in socks and 6-10¾ in shoes. His 7-2¾ wingspan was the second-longest of anyone in the camp, and only B.J. Mullens and Hasheem Thabeet had longer standing reaches than Daye's (9-2).
On the shorter side of things ...
• Ty Lawson and Patrick Mills measured as the smallest players in the draft. Both were listed at 5-11¼ in socks and 6-0½ in shoes. Neither player is very long, either. Lawson had the smallest wingspan (6-0¾) and standing reach of (7-10½) of the camp
• Blair also measured out shorter than expected. He was 6-5¼ in socks and 6-6½ in shoes. However, he has a ridiculous 7-2 wingspan and a very respectable standing reach of 8-10½.
• UConn's Thabeet also measured somewhat shorter than expected. He measured in at 7-1¼ in socks and 7-2½ in shoes. He has a massive 7-6¼ wingspan and a camp-high 9-5 standing reach. Those aren't big deviations, but a few people commented on them.
• Notre Dame's Luke Harangody turned some heads with his slimmed-downed and chiseled physique. But he measured just 6-6¼ in socks. However, the guy has almost no neck and made up for it with a very solid 8-10 standing reach.
• Syracuse's Jonny Flynn somehow managed to crack 6-0 in shoes. Combine that with his 6-4 wingspan and he measured slightly taller than he looks. His standing reach, however, came in at a paltry 7-11½, third-smallest in the combine.
• Stephen Curry measured a legit 6-2 in socks and 6-3¼ in shoes. However, his 6-3 wingspan left him on the shorter side for standing reach.
• As far as weights go, VCU's Eric Maynor was the lightest guy in the camp at 163 pounds.Darren Collison was right behind him at 166 pounds. Daye was shockingly skinny for a 6-11 kid, coming in at a paltry 192 pounds.
• Blair was the heaviest player in the camp at 276. But that's a big improvement from the 300 pounds he had ballooned to at one point.
LeBron Before and After
Okay we all now know that LeBron is absolutely a phenom and has proven to be worth every bit of the $200 Million Dollars he makes or is going to make. What is still baffling to me is that every night millions of people tune into watch LeBron perform his super human feats that leave us speechless and in awe, yet I don't hear young people wanting to emulate his formula in order to obtain his success. Oh, don't get me wrong they want the $90 million from Nike, the secret handshake with Jay-Z and the MVP Trophy but in terms of work ethic and dedication...nah they say oh he was just born that way...Really? I was first introduced to the legend of LeBron back in 2002 when a friend of mine had a son who played against him out in Ohio. "Man you've got to see this kid LeBron James, he's the next one. He's going to be ready for the pros right out of high school!" Skeptic that I was, my first reaction was he's too skinny and he can't shoot, those grown men in the NBA will eat him alive. Check out before LeBron:
Look at Him Now!
This is how he got there....(R-Rated)
Please don't make me tell you again how important training is....The best players do it, if you don't what does that say about you?
I smell hot dogs and hamburgers...although I don't eat them I can still smell them and they won't be limited to your backyard BBQ. It's about to be that summer season where many a coach, player, parent or fan will find themselves in a gym buying hot dogs and hamburgers to watch either really good or really bad basketball. If you live in Vegas, Orlando, or Denver you might consider the NBA Summer League, but just keep in mind....NBA summer leagues feature rosters that are different from the regular season. A team's summer league roster usually features a mix of (1) rookies that the team just drafted, (2) a few other players signed to that team, and (3) various undrafted players and free agents looking to get signed to that team or any other team. If a player is a free agent, and that player gets invited to play on a certain summer league team, that team obviously has some interest in him, but the player is hoping to get signed to that team or any other team that happens to be impressed by him.
In summer league play wins-losses don't really matter. It's really all about the individual player performances, players are fighting to prove themselves worthy of more playing time once the regular season rolls around. Others just want more experience. A star in the summer leagues many times rarely has the same success in the real season when defense is played and playing time is diminished for sloppy play, poor shot selection and turnovers.
Check out some of the action and let me know what you think:
There are also college summer leagues...where guys are supposed to be getting better, but I'm not sure they are:
Then of course we also have the debate going on at the High School and AAU Level regarding summer play:
Here's what a prominent former D-1 coach had to say about the situation, but please share with me your thoughts: Things sure have changed on the summer circuit
When I was a young assistant basketball coach in the early 1980s, the majority of my recruiting time was spent in high school gyms during the school year. Summers were spent evaluating players at basketball camps. The summer club basketball circuit was a very, very small part of a student-athlete's recruitment. I distinctly remember going to the Five-Star Basketball Camp in Pittsburgh and watching guys like Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullen playing on outdoor asphalt courts in the blistering July heat, diving into chain-link fences after loose balls and being coached by some of the best high school and college coaches in the country. Basketball fundamentals were drilled into the campers -- morning, noon and night. And by the way, most of these guys paid their own way to the camp.
When a high-level recruit wasn't at summer camps, he was in his coach's high school gym shooting jump shots and working on more fundamentals. There were local summer leagues to play in, and depending on where you grew up, the competition could be very good. In the ensuing years, as the major shoe companies got involved with sponsoring basketball tournaments and then got the summer club teams to play in these events, the landscape of "grassroots basketball" changed. Instead of paying camp tuition, players had their travel expenses paid for, often jumping from team to team. Thus the beginning of the "entitlement culture" in American basketball -- a culture that was portrayed well in an Outside the Lines feature that ran Sunday. For many top-notch high school players, the competition at these summer tournaments was just as good as at the elite camps, but fundamental drill stations were traded for glorified pickup games. Because many state high school athletics associations didn't want their coaches working with players during the offseason, a void was created during the summer. At the same time, the NCAA began to limit live recruiting periods during the college season, the idea being that it was important that college coaches spend more time with their own teams. Thus the summer balance of power began to shift toward the summer club coaches and their respective shoe company sponsors and away from the high school coach. Ironically, the high school coach, usually trained as a teacher, was spending less time with his players than the club coach, who often had no such educational background, had other agendas and didn't have the players' best interests at heart. In many cases, their players were nothing more than commodities that, if good enough, could be peddled to unscrupulous player agents on the lookout for the next potential NBA client to represent. Although that only happens with a tiny percentage of the elite high school players, this is the filthy underbelly of grassroots basketball today.
Now understand that not every high school coach is John Wooden or soon-to-be Hall of Famer Bob Hurley, and not every summer league coach has a Bluetooth in each ear, talking to college coaches and agents. I have come across corrupt or lazy high school coaches during my coaching career and have watched some really well-coached summer teams, in which the coach has only altruistic motives and the players' best interests at heart. Sadly, however, the way the game of basketball is played in America has changed in recent years -- and not necessarily for the better. The product has gotten worse because the influential people in these players' careers are not holding them accountable in terms of playing the game the right way. If a player doesn't get enough shots or minutes, the coach kowtows to him or he's off to the next team. There is no question that the great competition that summer basketball now provides is extremely important in the development of young players. But it should not come at the expense of their being taught the fundamentals and to play within the team concept. And the fact is, all the practices, games and trips take up so much time in the summer, there is little room anymore for working on one's weaknesses. A top high school player who travels the entire month of July with his club team might play 20 games and average 10 shots a game. That same player could get the same 200 shots up if he spends 15 minutes in a gym with a coach. With any kind of work ethic, he could get up 500 shots in an hour. It is interesting to note that Hurley, who maintains an iron grip on his program at perennial national power St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, N.J., allows his players to play with summer club teams … but never more than one week at a time. There is no slippage in their skill development because they know that when they come back from a club tournament, the next week will be spent in his gym working on the mundane, but important, fundamentals of the game. Sadly, most high school coaches don't have that kind of influence anymore.
Unfortunately, with the culture of "grassroots basketball" changing, the only way to put the genie back in the bottle would be a major overhaul of the NCAA's recruiting rules, and that's not likely to happen. For all of the slime involved with summer basketball, it is still the best time of year for college coaches to evaluate the most players in the most cost-effective way. So expect most high school coaches to stay on the fringes of the recruiting process with limited access to their players. And expect the summer club coach to continue to fill that void. Is that really what's best for the game?
How To Shoot Like An NBA Player
So I'm doing my job training NBA Players and I decide to ease up on the weight-training, speed and agility training as we approach the end of the week knowing that we are going to turn up the heat next week. It's been a great week and we have been working hard, I know his legs are heavy and his arms are sore. Since I try my best to be keenly aware of my athlete's physiological and psychological well-being my job is to motivate and inspire not punish. This particular player and I mutually agree that a healthy compromise is to get a good warm-up in and shoot 1000 shots, that's right 1000 shots. 500 Mid-Range or College 3's at 19ft. 9 inches and 500 NBA 3 point shots at 23 feet. To make sure we are really getting something out of our shooting I recruit an active rebounder to consistently feed me so that I can throw pin-point accurate passes to the shooter. We use 2 balls so that the shooting doesn't stop. 5 spots and we will shoot 20 shots at each spot for 5 rounds of 100 shots. Upon completion the player is soaking wet, his arms are tired and his legs are feeling heavy. I've done my job he has shot under the influence of fatigue, but mentally he's fresh because he's been rewarded for his hard work but it didn't compromise his goals and objectives which are to get in better shape and improve his shooting. Mission Accomplished!! For those of you who want to score at home here are the results( we always record results) and I challenge you to see if you can do better.
Left Corner College 3 68-100Left Corner NBA 3 62-100
Left Wing College 3 75-100Left Wing NBA 3 48-100
Top College 3 78-100Top NBA 3 62-100
Right Wing College 3 71-100Right Wing NBA 3 63-100
Right Corner College 3 72-100Right Corner NBA 3 59-100
It's the middle of May and there is a whole lot going on right now. Somewhere, somebody is gaining a competitive advantage and somewhere someone is resting on their laurels. As a player your season is over unless you play for Cleveland, Denver, Los Angeles or Houston. For many of you out there it's almost time for your Summer Vacation. What are you going to do? Some people like to do this....
Jerry Rice
Wide Receiver, San Francisco 49ers
Dedication is a word often used far too loosely. But in the case of Rice, an athlete known as much for his ungodly regimen as for the fact that he's arguably the greatest pass catcher in NFL history, it truly seems to apply. Just two weeks after last season, for instance, Rice decided he'd been lollygagging long enough — and headed straight for the weight room. "Jerry — he's unreal,"He just works harder than anyone else."
Rice's six-day-a-week workout is divided into two parts: two hours of cardiovascular work in the morning and three hours of strength training each afternoon. Early in the off-season, the a.m. segment consists of a five-mile trail run near San Carlos on a torturous course called, simply, The Hill. But since five vertical miles can hardly be considered a workout, he pauses on the steepest section to do a series of ten 40-meter uphill sprints. As the season approaches, however, Rice knows it's time to start conserving energy — so he forgoes The Hill and instead merely does a couple of sprints: six 100-yarders, six 80s, six 60s, six 40s, six 20s, and 16 tens, with no rest between sprints and just two and a half minutes between sets.
For the p.m. sessions no matter what he's working on, the volume is always the same: three sets of ten reps of 21 different exercises. Yes, your calculator's right: That's 630 repetitions a day.
"Is that all?" you might be tempted to ask. "Well, there is one more thing," replies Raymond Ferris, Rice's personal trainer who, going beyond the call of duty, often performs the regimen alongside his star pupil. "We crawl across the parking lot and see who has enough strength left to open the car door."
Other People like to do this.....
Or This.....
Top 50 In Philly
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2 Player Workout
2 players in the gym, one basket, one ball and one is a guard and one is a post-player. How do we get the most out of our time in the gym?
Pick and Roll Shooting with the following options:
Left Wing Guard Hits Big For Lay-Up 5 Makes
Left Wing Guard Takes 2 Hard Dribbles and Pull Up Jumper 5 Makes
Left Wing Guard Hits Big For Pop Jumper 5 Makes
Left Wing Guard Drives For Lay-Up or Floater 5 Makes
Right Wing Guard Hits Big For Lay-Up 5 Makes
Right Wing Guard Takes 2 Hard Dribbles and Pull Up Jumper 5 Makes
Right Wing Guard Hits Big For Pop Jumper 5 Makes
Right Wing Guard Drives For Lay-Up or Floater 5 Makes
Middle Guard Hits Big For Lay-Up 5 Makes
Middle Guard Takes 2 Hard Dribbles and Pull Up Jumper 5 Makes
Happy Mother's to all the existing, new and soon to be Mom's out there. without Mom who would drive you to AAU practice, pack your clean underwear for college, or be there to catch you when you fall. Be nice to Mom not just on Mother's Day but everyday. Here are some of great basketball mom moments... love them or hate them they are the quintessential "Basketball Mom's".
Goals
We all have goals in life, some big some small. Somebody once told me a goal is a dream with a deadline. In my travels and everyday conversations I hear people talk about goals all the time. It's great to have goals and dreams that are lofty and demonstrate achievement. The problem for me comes when there is a perceived goal with no insight or game plan on how to actually accomplish that goal. I was on a panel a couple of weeks ago speaking to some young people and I asked the question what do you want to do when you grow up. Of course the first response was " I want to go to the NBA", okay I said "How do you enter your name in the NBA Draft?" A deafening silence came over the room. Not one person in the room knew the process of how to enter their name in the NBA Draft. Did you know it was as simple as writing a letter? Most people don't yet most people young and old run around claiming that their goal is to play in the NBA....Really?
Here's some practical advice:
Pass your 19th Birthday
Send a letter expressing your interest in entering the NBA Draft to the league's New York City headquarters. The NBA's general counsel will send a response with an attached application for entry in the NBA Draft.
Fill out the NBA Draft Application Form completely to ensure a fair hearing from the league's general counsel. This application form requires players to submit academic information, criminal histories and other information that are used by NBA scouts. Complete the application and accompanying forms at least 60 days before the NBA Draft to get on the list of players available to drafting teams.
Entrants in the NBA Draft cannot return to play in college after they have hired agents due to the loss of amateur status.
This vision of a successful and lucrative career as a professional basketball player can be dashed without proper preparation.
I'm not even going to address the training and preparation part because many of you don't even think that's necessary to compete in High School. I'm just going to continue to listen every time you tell me what you're going to do. Good Luck, but there is nothing so terrible as activity without insight.
Vegas Baby
Look closely, you might see someone you recognize....if you do let me know. Also, if any of the drills look familiar...hmmmmn? I wonder how those drills got all the way to Vegas? Find the mystery person behind the scenes and you will have your answer.....What happened in Vegas was a great experience and I couldn't ask to be around a better group of guys. BTW, I wasn't at all surprised when Joe Johnson pulled up from half-court or when Ray Allen dropped 51, Chris Paul dunking on Dwight Howard, I knew he could do it.
Well, it's Spring again
The grass is turning green again
The warm air feels so good
Summer's not too far away.....
So what does that mean for you?....If you're a serious ball player this is the time of year that is most important to your development and career path. What will you do with your time? Many of you will fill your time with activity, but it will it lead to achievement? Only you can answer that question, but here are a few suggestions for you as you proceed on your journey.
Energy rightly applied can accomplish anything
There is NO EASY WAY
The 5 S words are Strength, Speed, Skills, Stamina and Spirit
You can't test courage cautiously
Pain is inevitable, Suffering is optional
Motivation doesn't last, neither does a shower do both daily
You always know the right thing to do, the hard part is doing it
Years of hard work for a moment of glory
The most effective training is brutally hard to do
A Professional Athlete can perform their best when they don't feel like it
Everything unpleasant is developmental
Shooting the Breeze
You shouldn't have time to shoot the breeze since you are working so hard on improving your game. If you find yourself with time on your hands find a gym, a partner and a ball and try these shooting drills:
5 Spot Shooting Inside Three
how many shots can you make in 30 seconds from each spot...record your results
how many shots can you make in 45 seconds from each spot....record your results
stay at each spot until you can make 7 out of 10 from each spot
stay at each spot until you can make 8 out of 10 from each spot
5 Spot Shooting 3pt Shots
how many shots can you make in 30 seconds from each spot...record your results
how many shots can you make in 45 seconds from each spot....record your results
stay at each spot until you can make 7 out of 10 from each spot
stay at each spot until you can make 8 out of 10 from each spot
Choose your spot and your range
make 3 in a row
make 5 in a row
Food For Thought
Are you or is one of your players struggling with their weight? Need to gain weight, need to lose weight? Here are a few pointers on how you can improve your body regardless of if you are trying to lose or gain weight.
Need to gain weight..if you're training hard and can't seem to put on pounds of muscle?
increase your caloric intake, take your weight and multiply by 15, consume that amount of calories per day
quality and quantity of food are equally important
check your training routine, your body responds to one specificity at a time. If you are looking to increase weight and develop strength, lighten up on the heavy conditioning and long distance running, the catabolic process breaks down muscle which is what you don't want
Need to lose weight...
change your diet to consume less carbs and more proteins
don't starve yourself...body senses starvation and will store fat for energy
increase your level of energy expenditure by doing an additional 30-45 minutes of intense exercise per day
fads don't work, adopt healthy eating habits along with a sound training plan. Track your progress on a regular basis
Trouble Shooting
if you're losing weight unintentionally increase carb and protein intake
if you are losing strength consume more protein
if you are losing energy consume more carbohydrates
training and nutrition go hand and hand, poor training and poor diet equal no progress
Words to Live By
Treat your body like an expensive sports car
Find a way to be disciplined
Read, become informed on the subject
Consider the source when getting nutritional information. Does the person who told you follow their own advice?
D-TRAINED, Inc. is a company designed to improve the athletic performance level of Elite High School, College and Professional Athletes.
D-TRAINED has been featured on NBA’s Inside Stuff, ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox News.
D-TRAINED is the featured trainer on the Jordan Training Tour and has been profiled in Slam and Dime Magazine. For more information you can log onto: www.dtrained.com.
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