Put :30 On The Clock

Being in that zone where you feel like you can't miss a shot, that's a really special place to be. When it happens, as a hooper you try your very best to stay in that zone for as long as you can. Once it's over, it's like waking up from an incredible dream; you're happy that you had it but you're a little upset that it's over. Is there a way you can stay in that state for a longer time, next time? Yes, and in this episode we get into HOW you can do that.

When watching film, hoopers are often told to just see what mistakes they've made so they can make corrections the next time they get on the floor. Without the proper approach to it, though, players have a hard time keeping focused, even though they were given clear instructions on what to do. As usual, we address the APPROACH to watching film so that the exercise is actually something players can look forward to, instead of it being a chore.

There's the obvious answer, and then there's the honest answer. The truth really rests upon who you are on this team and how everyone else conducts themselves. The only wrong answer is the one that ignores the truth, which is whether anyone DESERVES to be trusted. Real conversations lead to real results.

Coach Phil and Taurean get into a wide variety of topics ranging from what players should be spending their time developing, all the way to what they can do to help themselves get recruited, even if the high school coach doesn't help out at all. They also touch on where the game is going and what hoopers can do to get ahead of it to give themselves the best chance to succeed in that changing climate. Add in a few personal experiences and you end up with a side conversation that you do not want to miss!

Hooping with old heads is always cool because you can see that they really were a bucket in their day. They find crafty ways to get it done despite their physical limitations and it begs the question: what can you pull from that? If these people, who get teased for being way past their prime, can still find valuable ways to contribute to a young man's game, there's no telling what stealing their good habits could do for your game. 

Do you add new skills to your game? Do you sharpen what you already do well? This is a question that plagues young hoopers far too often, and is ultimately responsible for a lot of the stagnation in their game. Being able to discern and decide where to go next is the real problem to solve, so that's what should have our attention.

You complained about the travels, and the NBA heard you. Executives are making bad decision after bad decision and somehow get paid really well to do it. One final bow is tied on the Deion Sanders situation. Coach Phil and "Bubba" Brown of the "On The Bench Podcast" dug into a few topics of the day and as expected, brought home the reality and the jewels they picked up from the news surrounding their worlds.

It's easy to say that the referees play a major role in every game, but at the same time, for whatever reason, hoopers do not really spend much time considering how they will deal with them. From the greatest of the officials to the absolute worst, we need to understand not only how they call games but who they are as people, because at the end of the day, they are human. Truly understanding that will give us the greatest chance of gaining a favorable whistle, or, at the very least, a fair-called game. 

This game is too competitive to rely on what you've already done. You are always competing against someone who wants to prove they are better than you, so the progress can't ever stop. At the same time, we have to be wise with our approach, because "too-much" actually exists. We don't want to burn-out, and we definitely do not want to invite injury, so how to we keep the train going while in-season? As usual, although this episode is for the hoopers, it's for everyone chasing an important goal.

Somebody had to say it. You open your phone, go to social media and you see a highlight of a player BLATANTLY breaking a rule; but because it "fooled" the defender, it resulted in a bucket. It may be one thing to call this behavior out, but it is the fruit of the training done when no one was watching. There is a bigger issue to pay attention to, so we dive into the issue of what's happening when no one is around.