Man to Man Defense (Woman to Woman, Better to Say)

This video teaches man defense, or better to say woman defense. The practice starts without ball dribbling so that players can grasp the concept. Then, it continues with ball dribbling. It talks about when to penetrate, how to close up the gaps, help the player who didn’t switch and all the other aspects of the most common and important defense scheme in basketball.

Examining Dr. J’s all-time best

This article by David Friedman reasons about difficulties of choosing the best player(s) of all time in the game of basketball. It is brief and well written.

Per Friedman, the main reasons why this is difficult are:

• Various eras had different rules, different styles of play and different challenges
• A player’s statistics are influenced by the position he plays and his role on his team
• Greatness can be defined in various ways

Link to the original article: Examining Dr. J’s all-time best

Len Bias: Inspirational Basketball Story

• ESPN Special about Len Bias, a very inspirational, well-written story by Michael Weinreb
  LEONARD K. BIAS, a 22-year-old Black male, died as a result of cocaine intoxication, which interrupted the normal electrical control of his heartbeat, resulting in the sudden onset of seizures and cardiac arrest. The blood cocaine level was 6.5 milligrams per liter. Toxicological studies for alcohol and other drugs were negative. Due to the ongoing investigation of the circumstances surrounding his death, the manner of the death is ruled UNDETERMINED at this time.

Simple Footwork Practice

Here is a very simple footwork practice. The whole sequence should be completed at least once a week. The important point is to develop footwork first by doing it slowly, then work on speed.

Spot Shooting Practice

This is a basic spot shooting practice. The main point is that it needs to be done game speed, even if you are the only player on the court. This practice does several things for a player: conditioning (if it’s done game speed), footwork, shooting, imagination development (often underestimated basketball skill).

After you make one shot from every position, you can increase it to 2, 3, and more consecutive shots.