One thing I know is that there is no magic pill when it comes to being a good basketball player. You have to pick up the pill, the rock, the roundball, the orange, and you have to put in the time on your own. You can't just show up at practice or at a court, pick up a ball and expect to be good. There are very few players with God-given talent and athletic ability that can do that. However, if you are like 98% (educated guess) of the players out there, there is no substitute for hard work.
I've known some pretty good players who never pick up a basketball between March and October, and when basketball season comes around they haven't improved much, if at all, from the previous season. Top level players put in the work all year 'round. The key is to get out and work, and play. It is absolutely necessary to put in the time on your own. Those top level players work on every aspect of their games. They shoot, and shoot and shoot some more, putting up thousands of shots a day. Even hundreds of shots a day is better than no shots at all. They dribble, one ball and two balls. They work on post moves, one on one moves, footwork and agility. One example of this was Kobe Bryant, one of the best to ever play the game. A couple of years ago, he called Hakeem Olajuwon, one of the best post players of all time. He went back to work to improve his post play and the following season it showed.
One of the most difficult aspects of coaching AAU basketball is that practice time is very limited. The team I coach practices about 4 hours a week. Time is spent on overall team development, offense, defense and whatever we struggled with the week before. There is not sufficient time to spend on shooting and individual player development. It has to be done outside of practice. This is something that my coaches and I try to instill in all of our players.
We have 10 pretty good basketball players, but each and every one of them has things that they need to improve upon. All it takes is the willingness to put in the time and effort to work on their game on their own time. It doesn't take all day. Just an hour or two a day would help to improve their games. Some of the kids we have put in the time and some don't. At times it is easy to tell the difference. It is also necessary to play. In my opinion, all the skill work and shooting in the world is only good if you play the game. There is no other way to simulate game situations and the speed of the game if you don't go play.
Just about anyone can improve their skills and their play. All it takes is hard work. Some will improve and others will not. As I said, we have 10 pretty good players. All of them have the potential to be excellent basketball players. They can improve their skills and their athletic ability, if they are willing to do the work.
Unfortunately, I have seen other players that no matter what they do, they will never develop into good players. This can happen for a number of reasons. Perhaps it is a lack of athletic ability. Perhaps it is just a skill set that some players will never have. These are the players that have to accept reality for what it is. Maybe they won't be able to play competitively, or for their schools. But if they love the game they should never stop playing. Anyone can play basketball, but not everyone can be good at it.
In my own personal experiences, I've had highs and lows. I was never athletically gifted. I had to work hard to improve my skills and athleticism, and I did this everyday when I was growing up. Of course when I was growing up, there was no Playstation or XBox and nothing more exciting to do than to go out and play. As I got older, I got comfortable and slacked off more and more. I became more social and had better things to do. I was also stubborn and hard-headed. My father, rest his soul, was never an athlete. He played a little football in high school, but he was a dedicated sports fan. When it came to sports he knew what he was talking about. The summer between my freshman and sophomore years in high school he tried to tell me that I was wasting my summer and making a huge mistake. I thought I was good enough to play and I skipped open gym that summer. I didn't go once. After all, back then coaches couldn't do any coaching. They couldn't even be in the gym. Who would know if I didn't show up. By this time I was 6'5" and 200 lbs. I thought I had it made. Then came tryouts for basketball. I did ok. But at the end of tryouts, there were a few of us that were called to the bleachers to speak with the coaches. We were all asked why we didn't show up to open gym over the summer. Some said they didn't know about it. But I knew, and I tried to make excuses. I was busy, and I played baseball all summer. It fell on deaf ears and I was cut. It was one of the worst days I can remember, having to go home and tell my father I didn't make the team. It broke his heart, and I think it hurt him worse than it did me. Of course, he never said anything, didn't say "I told you so." But I knew he was thinking it, and I knew he was right.
The next year, I didn't even try out. But I went back to work. I played as much as I could. I put in the extra work that was necessary. And the summer before my senior year, I went to open gym every day. As it turns out, my father WAS right. My hard work paid off and I made my varsity team as a senior. It was one of my proudest moments. I even walked on at Anderson University and played college basketball for two years. The point is, if young players read this or if you know young players out there, tell them this. Tell them to listen to their parents, or their coaches or their mentors. There is no substitute for hard work. Tell them to put in the time and the effort, and it will pay off in the end.
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