In Basketball- FIVE Fingers= Team

Five fingers (people) = Team.

You have five players on the court at all times.

How good is YOUR team? Do your fingers work together as if they were one hand?

The talent and ability of each finger, coupled with how well they mesh together like a hand, will determine how good your team is.

It is very simple.

Yet, not easy.

Let's explore the offense side of the equation today. At the core, these three concepts are basic, and cut to the chase:

1. If a person can't pass, the ball stops moving.
2. If a person can't shoot, he or she will always be open.
3. If a person can't dribble, he or she cuts their value to the team by one third. (AND, if a person can't dribble, the defense will attack that person.)

Each "finger" is critical to the success of the team~

The team pictured above, Tulsa Celtics-2006, meshed and possessed the skill set which enabled them to win three highly competitive tournaments in a row. We didn't "practice" together very often, as the players were from different schools including Cascia Hall, Jenks, Bishop Kelley, Union & Holland Hall. But they all could play,,, and at least during these tournaments, all six players were focused on being a TEAM...... maximum effort with no concern other than stopping each opponent from scoring, and working the ball until we had a quality shot.

This post is about the key components of offense. Defense is simple too....and the five "fingers" working together, again, is the critical factor.

Agility and Shooting Drill for Serious Hoopsters~

This video shows an agility drill and shooting drill that any serious basketball player could incorporate into their workout. UCLA's Jrue Holliday is actually doing the workout at the Sacramento Kings training facility.

At :36, Holiday does a standard box agility test where he shuffles, sprints and backpedals around the cones. Since this agility drill can easily be set up and measured, it's very popular. Coaches can compare players times and evaluate improvement.


The shooting drill is a two-spot shooting drill, basically a "catch and shoot" off the curl & then off a flare (1:07). then a one dribble pull up jumper.
At 1:07, he does a standard two-spot shooting drill, shooting off the curl and then off a flare. At about 1:54, he moves to one-dribble pull-up jump shots.

Having a purpose when you work out improves your personal time management, and allows you to maximize the time you allot for improving your game.

Zig Ziglar, one of the most popular motivation guru's, had a great quote that I made my 5th grade Tulsa Celtics memorize.

He said:
"The HARDER you are on yourself,,,,, the EASIER Life is,,,, On you!!!"