Fundamentals

No offense will win games. That is a simple fact – though some offenses might help you win more games than others. In the end, though, it comes down to player ability.

I believe that knowing the X’s and O’s of how to run an offense is only 30-40% responsible for succeeding with an offense. Real success only comes from practicing the offense in a way that develops the players’ basketball IQ and skills level every day. You want the players to be better players in March than in November, and better next year than this year.

As far as shooting and fundamentals I think there are very few coaches out there who are better than coach Dave Smart of Carleton University in Canada. Coach Smart’s teams have won five straight Canadian University Championships, and have performed very well against US Division 1 schools with far better athletes. Coach Smart has turned down several offers to coach Division 1 in the US and I rate him as one of the best teachers in the game.

I’ll recommend his individual development and screening DVD’s to anyone looking to develop players.

One thing coach Smart, like coach Walberg, is good at is coming up with simple concepts that the players can understand, such as his Primary/Secondary dribble moves, including the swim move, and Six Foot Finishing, both described on the Fundamentals pages.