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Issue Number 7 Play Better Ball – June 15, 2005

By Stuart Kantor

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IN THIS ISSUE

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1. Hoop Mechanix First Ever Spirit of the Game Award Recipient: Meghan Leroux

2. Great information from the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Clinic

3. George Mikan … and Shaquille O’Neal

4. Call Out: Free Throw Drills!

5. Winning Isn’t Measured in W’s – Free Booklet

6. Fundraising Idea – Free Throw Program

7. Thanks to our Sponsors

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1. Congratulations to Meghan Leroux, Hoop Mechanix’ First Ever Spirit of the Game Award Recipient. As stated on the St. Mary’s Springs Lady Ledgers Basketball webpage, "Leroux wins international award
(May 24, 2005)

Fond du Lac, WI – St. Mary’s Springs senior Meghan Leroux has received the 1st Annual Spirit of the Game Award by Hoop Mechanix.  Hoop Mechanix is an international resource for Basketball coaches.

Leroux was selected from a pool of nominations that included players and coaches from around the world.  "A panel of knowledgeable Basketball personnel – current high school and college coaches and several former coaches – selected Meghan because she personifies resilience, persistence, and a true love for the game," said Stuart Kantor, speaking on behalf of Hoop Mechanix.  

Leroux was slated to be one of St. Mary’s Springs court leaders.  After the first two games she was the Lady Ledgers second leading scorer and led the team in minutes played.  However, in
the third game of the season, she suffered a major knee injury.

"Meghan went down in game three," Springs coach Matt Bessen said.  "We knew it was a serious injury and it could have easily been season ending."  

Leroux took a proactive approach to her injury.  She attended every practice, game, and team function.  "She was one of our team leaders every single day," Bessen said.  "She would do her rehab in the corner and cheer on her teammates during practice.  It would have been easy for her to give up, but she chose not to."  Bessen noted that she had only been late to two practices, both because of visits to the doctor.

Leroux never relinquished her co-captains duties during her injury either.  She was a critical element in all of the Ledgers activities and commitments.

On a team trip to Milwaukee for a holiday tournament, Leroux spent her free time rehabbing her injured knee in the hotel lobby and hallways.  

It was that determination that allowed Leroux to participate in the last three games for St. Mary’s Springs.  "She worked so hard to get back on to the floor for us," Bessen said.  "She wasn’t the same player as when she went down, but she made us a better team.  She inspired her teammates and us as a coaching staff."

Hoop Mechanix solicited coaches from around the world to nominate a player, coach, official, or other who personified the spirit of the game of Basketball.  Bessen nominated her.

Kantor was impressed with Leroux.  "She epitomizes the perfect teammate. In a team sport, there is no higher compliment."

Leroux is the daughter of George and Ann Leroux.

*** The full story with pictures is forthcoming on the Hoop Mechanix webpage at www.hoopmechanix.com

2. State association Basketball clinics are usually wonderful times to mingle with coaches from around the state and listen to respected coaches speak on different aspects of the game as well as to browse all the vendors’ new merchandise. In San Antonio, the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches clinic was exceptional. Speakers over the 3-day period (May 5-7) included Roy Williams (UNC), Kim Mulkay-Robertson (Baylor), Bill Fennelly (Iowa State Women), Jamie Dixon (Pittsburgh), Charli Turner Thorne (ASU Women), John Beilein (WVU), Sam Walker (TX A&M-Commerce), Kathy McConnell-Miller (Colorado Women), and Ronnie Arrow (TX A&M-Corpus Christi). It was impossible to hear all the coaches speak, but I can pass along some wonderful information from many of those listed.

Roy Williams is a fantastic speaker – lively, funny, a natural storyteller on stage. Coach Williams touched on a few topics, the Primary Break, offense against a set defense, and the popular defensive numbering system. Since no diagrams will be included in this newsletter, I’ll touch on the highlights. As for the Primary Break, Williams demands his 4-Man to sprint to the front of the rim and then to the ball-side block looking for the post feed from the corner and then around the horn. He stressed that offensive players, to be successful in a break, must "outrun the defender within the first three steps." Against a set defense, Williams employs 3 basic rules: 1. make 3 passes unless a player is afforded a layup; 2. make sure the ball changes sides of the floor, and 3. give the defense a chance to make a mistake. As for the defensive numbering system, there’s a "20," "30," and "40" series.

20 = M2M

30 = double team on the dribble

40 = double team on the pass

This is further broken down into sections of the court.

22 = M2M ½ court

23 = M2M ¾ court

24 = M2M full court

32 = double on the dribble at ½ court

33 = double on the dribble at ¾ court

34 = double on the dribble full court

42 = double on the first pass at ½ court

43 = double on the first pass at ¾ court

44 = double on the first pass full court

As for the "30" and "40" series, most teams will find it most effective to run "32" or "42" to utilize the ½-court line to gauge the first dribble or pass for the double team.

Kim Mulkay-Robertson emphasized the importance of shot selection with basic shooting drills from within 15 feet, for example, a shooter continuously shooting from the elbows for a minute while two rebounders feed the shooter and the increasingly popular Richard Jefferson shooting drill where one tosses the ball to oneself from 5 perimeter spots, catches the ball ready to shoot, turns middle and shoots.

Coach Dixon’s main points were to emphasize contesting all shots – especially in practice – to hold opponents under 40% shooting from the field and to outrebound opponents by 10 boards. He then put on a marvelous display of 4 ways to defend ball screens: 1. Hedge and Go Over the Top, 2. Hedge and Go Underneath, 3. Switch, and 4. Double, or "Blitz".

The highlight on the coaches’ circuit was definitely Coach Beilein from West Virginia. It’s easy to see why players want to play for him. Hell, I’m 40, and I’d love to play for him! He began by discussing rapport, by placing personal responsibility for the teams’ success on each player’s shoulders. He asks them, What can you do for the team? He makes a point of knowing their birthdays, their favorite foods, the cell phone numbers, and he prepares a mock Stock Certificate in which each player signs his name to taking stock in the team and its goals – Communication, Trust, Attitude, etc. Coach Beilein spoke about efficient passing and then illustrated some of his favorite shooting drills. He followed with a quick off-season ballhandling regiment: 120 times around the waist, changing directions every 10 times in 1 minute; 55 behind-the-back dribbles in 30 seconds; 50 three-pointers in 5 minutes (Bryce Drew Drill), and 40 Pretzel or Figure 8 dribbles in 30 seconds.

In all, it was a fantastic clinic. Attend your state’s clinic if you can. There’s a ton of great information out there.

3. Shaq pays for George Mikan’s funeral expenses. Mikan, 80, died in Arizona after a long fight with diabetes and kidney ailments. He was the NBA’s first dominant big man in the 1940’s and 50s. O’Neal enjoyed getting to know and speak with Mikan and was definitely touched by the big man’s passing, as evidenced by his words after Miami’s playoff loss to Detroit: "I heard they [Mikan’s family] were having some trouble, some problems, so if you contact the Heat office, I would like to pay for the funeral." The Heat were contacted and Shaq did pay for the funeral. Kudos to Shaq; that was an extremely classy move.

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I want them.

I can’t make it any simpler than that.

Please send me your best FREE THROW DRILLS to hoopmechanix@hotmail.com or hard copies to Hoop Mechanix / 1925 Palo Duro Drive / Garland, TX 75040. My intentions are two-fold. First, I want to get as many great ideas onto the website, and second, I want to compile a book of great Free Throw Drills à all drills will be properly credited on both the website and in book form.

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5. Winning Isn’t Measured in W’s – free booklet

For a little over a year, I’ve given away free copies of the booklet Winning Isn’t Measured in W’s, and I’ve received a lot of nice compliments about it. If you haven’t received yours via email and would like one, please email me at hoopmechanix@hotmail.com, and I’ll send one your way. Please indicate if you’d like it in PDF or MSWord format.

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6. Fundraising Idea – Free Throw Program

As a head coach in Florida back in the early 1990s, I developed the Free Throw Program in an effort to raise money for the Basketball program without having the players miss an inordinate amount of time from their studies. This program has proven to work beautifully where ever I’ve coached, accomplishing both intended tasks: raising money and allowing players to maximize their time for academics.

The program is quite simple and is fully explained in the sample letter provided. In essence, all of the program’s players – potentially over 30 – garner pledges for each successful free throw his / her squad makes during the course of the regular and post-season, including tournaments. A standard pledge is up to $1.00. If each player is responsible for $1.00’s worth of pledges from businesses, and a program has 36 players from freshmen to varsity, and each squad makes 200 free throws, that’s $7,200 billed at season’s end! And best of all, the players earned the money during game time and retained all of their time for academics in which to remain eligible.

As soon as cuts have been made and the rosters mostly solidified (high schools often have football players join in November / December), distribute the forms on school letterhead and provide a deadline and incentives. Perhaps the first squad – Freshmen, JV, Varsity – to achieve 100% participation is rewarded with pizza or reduced running at the end of practice for a week.

This is a fantastic way to add emphasis to one of the game’s crucial aspects – Free Throws – while raising much-needed funds to help defray the costs of officials, buses, tee shirts, the end-of-the-year banquet, and a million other items.

When you implement this fundraising program, write to us and let us know of your team’s success in this and other fundraisers. As well, please write to us and detail other creative fundraisers you’ve employed to raise money. Provide sample forms if you can so that coaches around the country can benefit from your time-tested methods.

PS – This year, our boys’ Basketball program made just under $10,000 utilizing this program.

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