Eat It!: Go Green

With today’s “Eat It” entry, we want all players to “Go Green”!  The food and drink athletes consume serve as fuel, helps facilitate the energy and cooling systems of the body, and directly affect a basketball player’s performance.

We all know some athletes that perform well despite having an atrocious diet. But they are the exception rather than the rule. Most athletes recognize that the old adage “you are what you eat” is true in many ways.

To perform best, whether it’s at practice, a game or a workout at the gym, you need to have a proper balanced diet. The general consensus is that plant-powered, “green” foods are packed with the vitamins, minerals and fiber that make them a go-to energy source for basketball players.  Today, we are going to list a couple of our favorite “green” foods.

Who Ya Got?: Best Future NBA Point Guard

Kyrie Irving vs. Steph Curry

In the latest installment of “Who Ya Got” we look to the backcourt where two young rising stars are making a lot of noise in the National Basketball Association. Kyrie Irving and Steph Curry are proving to be elite players and are having spectacular seasons, both making their first all-star teams.

Now if  you were a general manager of your own NBA Franchise and you needed to pick a starting point guard for the next 10 years,  which one would you want running the show? Curry or Irving?

The Value of Being a “Water Boy”

In our first “Eat It!” entry we won’t be telling you what to eat, but rather what to drink.  Yes, we are talking about drinking water.  Water is the most essential aspect of any athlete’s diet and pre-game routine.

Whether you’re a serious athlete or a recreational exerciser, it’s important to make sure you get the right amount of water before, during and after exercising. Water regulates your body temperature, lubricates joints and helps transport nutrients for energy and health.  We have all seen that player whose cramping in the second half and has to watch from the bench as the game comes to a close.  It even happens to the best athletes in the world, we all remember Lebron James sitting out the final minutes of Game 4 of the NBA Finals due to leg cramps.  Cramps are a sign of dehydrating, and are a re-occuring problem on basketball courts everywhere.

It’s Called Working Out!: The No Excuses Bodyweight Basketball Workout

There always comes a time when you can’t get to the gym for a full workout, it happens to all of us.  We are all busy and life gets in the way at times.  The difference between achieving your basketball and fitness goals comes down to making the most of your time.  So whatever the reason may be that you can’t go to the gym, you can still get an intense, effective and total body workout right in your own home.

Today, we here at The Locker Room present the No Excuses Bodyweight Basketball Workout:

Advantages:

• Total body strength
• Emphasizes stability and strength in your core        
• No weights needed (but you can add weight as you progress and master these bodyweight versions of the exercises)
• Only takes 20 minutes (if executed properly with good intensity)

Quick Hitters Volume 1: “Catch and Shoot” Shots, Basketball Offensive Timing, Practice Perfect and More

We are back! It has been a very long layoff, but we can assure you we haven’t been in our basements watching Lifetime specials. We have been out there on the grind, watching, coaching, playing, and teaching basketball.

Right off the bat, in our triumphant return to The Locker Room, we would like to introduce a weekly series called Quick Hitters. These weekly posts will give you an inside look into what is going on in our heads as we watch and experience countless hours of basketball. For this very personal access into our thoughts on a wide variety of basketball topics we ask one thing from you, the reader. Let these posts stimulate your own thinking and motivate you to get out there and experiment, invent, and innovate. That is the only way we can continue to develop our understanding, execution and appreciation for the game of basketball.

1. “Catch and Shoot” shots reign supreme in offensive basketball.

Besides what we all want to believe, and despite how un-sexy it is, “Catch and Shoot” spot-up jump shots are the most frequently attempted and most prevalent way to score in basketball. According to Synergy Sports, The New York Knicks have had 4408 offensive possessions and off those possessions 1039 of those ended with spot-up jumpshots. All other teams in the NBA follow suit as well.

NBA Finals Report: Beating Switching Man to Man Defenses

Going into this much anticipated NBA Finals series, we all knew the potential there was to see some “small ball” lineups. Both the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder are regarded as the two most athletic teams in the league. In the same sense, they are two teams that don’t have a lot of conventional size up front and/or frequent low post scoring from their bigs. With all of the above taken into consideration, both teams opt for switching on defense to keep similar size and speed matchups and avoid getting into a help and rotate situation where offenses can take advantage. Switching also helps take away lots of the pick and roll action that is so dominant in the NBA. Often times, switching every screen can stall another team’s offense, causing them to stand around and watch as one player ioslates and usually forces a tough shot (see Miami Heat’s 4th quarter in Game 1).

Masters of Offensive Spacing: The San Antonio Spurs Spread Pick and Roll

The most well oiled, fine tuned offense in the NBA Playoffs (and for the entire season for that matter) has been the San Antonio Spurs. They have the personnel, experience and understanding of basic offensive concepts to create some beautiful offense. The staple play of their offense and the one that did the most damage in Game 1 against the Utah Jazz was the Spread Pick and Roll. The Spread Pick and Roll is a set where a high ball screen or high angled ball screen occurs while having 3 shooters spaced outside the 3PT line. The Spurs usually go to the Spread Pick and Roll exclusively when Matt Bonner, Stephen Jackson, Danny Green/Manu Ginobli are in the game, because they are all deadly shooters. Add that to the fact that Tony Parker is using the ball screen to get into the paint at will, while guys like Tim Duncan, Dejuan Blair and Tiago Splitter are rolling to the rim for dunks, and no wonder they have the best record in the West.

NBA Playoffs Preview: What To Watch For In Each Series

The most exciting time of the year is finally here, The NBA Playoffs. There are some favorites to win but as we all know any thing can happen, just look no further than last year’s champions, the Dallas Mavericks. In this post, we will give something to watch for that will help you further enjoy what will be eight great first round playoff series.

What To Watch For: San Antonio Spurs vs. Utah Jazz

• Do the Spurs’ role players continue to do their jobs (play defense and hit corner 3′s) or do they disappear under the playoff pressure?
• The Jazz are young but talented and have the most menacing crowd in all of the NBA behind them. Can they steal one on the road to better utilize their Salt Lake City home court advantage?
• The battle of the 15 to 18 foot jumper from the 4 men (Duncan, Milsap, Jefferson).
• Devin Harris vs Tony Parker. Who is going to be more effective off the pick and roll and in creating a faster pace?

How Great Shooters Can Dominate A Game: The Ray Allen Story

Ray Allen’s stat line from his game against the Miami Heat on April 10th, 2012 will always say he scored 9 points, dished out 3 assists, and grabbed 1 rebound. A “solid” game some would say. But, if you watch the game and watch Allen and the Celtics, you will see the blueprint on how to dominate a game as a great shooter.

Ray Allen is the all-time leader in NBA history for 3PT Field Goals made. He has one of the quickest releases and purest jumpshots the sport of basketball has ever seen. The Miami Heat as well as every other team in the NBA know of this resume and constantly put him at the top of their scouting reports. So how does Ray Allen continue to produce and be a very valuable player for the Celtics? And more importantly how can all those players out there who are classified as “just a shooter” expand their games and be more effective on the court without having handles like Jamaal Crawford?

The Importance Of Tracking Your Progress

The first thing any player should do before embarking on their offseason basketball skill development is to identify the goals/objectives that they would like to achieve. A player’s goal needs to be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and have a time frame.  Too many times players say they want to “improve” or “get in better shape.” These are not goals simply because they are too general. Improve at what? Get in shape how? Great players and expert performers have a specific focus everytime they step into the gym. Below are some examples of some specific goals that a common high school player might/should have: