Best Ways To Develop A Player

[balla45]

Lately I have been asking basketball people what they think the best way to develop a player is? I am currently on the thought train that the best way to develop a player is to force them to be able to play without relying on athleticism or size. My question is, how do you create those conditions organically or inorganically? Can you create those conditions if you care about winning?

[winner-within]

Agreeing with you Flip. This is off topic but lately I have been asking basketball people what they think the best way to develop a player is? I am currently on the thought train that the best way to develop a player is to force them to be able to play without relying on athleticism or size. My question is, how do you create those conditions organically or inorganically? Can you create those conditions if you care about winning? If anyone is interested in this topic, please reply or PM me.

I believe in this
Jack DeMaine & Eddie Beyer way.....some Coaches followed suit, Dan Carr, Greg Grinsteinner

but by far the majority rely on at least Athleticism and hope for size/length

[balla45]

Backstory on why I have been having this discussion. Was with a friend of mine who has a daughter who is signed to a high major who is both very tall and very athletic, which are genetic traits that not everyone will have access to. Watching UNC/Duke and Tre Jones completely took the game over. Now I coached against Tre Jones way back in the day. He would have been a 6th grader at the time playing against my team of sophomores. Now in that scenario, I think he was forced in a situation where he could only use his actual basketball skill set as he was maybe 5'7" 100 lbs. Now what the Jones family did with their children clearly worked out very well. My question is, how do you replicate that in the state that we live in? Can it be replicated? I am not saying that everyone can be as good as Tre Jones, but I think that training that way is incredibly intelligent.

And to tie this in to the topic. I think that a player learning at a young age how to operate in and against a zone is beneficial as a player may play for 5 different coaches between junior high and high school, so being able to operate in and against several systems is only an advantage.

[east sider]

I'm not a coach and have never developed players....but here I go.

1. Let them play multiple sports throughout HS, never solely play BB.
2. Never lose focus on S&C. I think speed is ultimately the most important, but endurance, strength, and vertical should not be overlooked.
3. Be persistent in working on the fundamentals. Dribbling and shooting year round.
4. Make sure the athlete is self-aware of their strengths and weaknesses - watching film will help.
5. Teach them to be aware of their opponents strengths and weakness - I think lots of great players instinctively do this, but the tougher the competition the harder you will have to look for the weaknesses.

There's honestly too much to go into here, but that is a start. I think there are too many individual factors to consider. Bottom line you can't teach a 6th grader to play Sophomores, that's just talent that can't be taught - outliers.

Now lets say a young PG in ND who shows incredible skill and promise as an 10th grader, competing at an all-state level. By all means keep working on his skills, but to play at the next level he should be hyperfocused on maxing his athletic potential just as much. I'm literally talking about 3 players in the last decade, the highest level of the 3 was UND which is not great.

[balla45]

I love the discussion.

1. Why would you always go on the multiple sport path? I have seen it work out well having players do multiple and having players specialize. I would almost argue against being a multi, depending on natural athletic ability.

2. Love this. I think this is absolutely big facts. Does not matter how well you shoot it if you are not athletic enough to guard anyone or to get a shot off.

3/4. Fully agree with this.

5. Would like to see you elaborate on this. In so many place in North Dakota, there is limited opportunity to watch film on upcoming opponents.


In all reality, no one in North Dakota 6'2" and under has gone on to play, like actually play, D1 basketball besides Moody in the last 10 years. How do we get that to change? Is it something that can change?

[Sniper]

I love the discussion.

1. Why would you always go on the multiple sport path? I have seen it work out well having players do multiple and having players specialize. I would almost argue against being a multi, depending on natural athletic ability.

2. Love this. I think this is absolutely big facts. Does not matter how well you shoot it if you are not athletic enough to guard anyone or to get a shot off.

3/4. Fully agree with this.

5. Would like to see you elaborate on this. In so many place in North Dakota, there is limited opportunity to watch film on upcoming opponents.


In all reality, no one in North Dakota 6'2" and under has gone on to play, like actually play, D1 basketball besides Moody in the last 10 years. How do we get that to change? Is it something that can change?

Some sports go together easier than others. I cannot imagine track being bad for a basketball player to do in the spring as they will work on getting faster and more explosive. You can still play AAU in the spring if you have an understanding coach. Baseball and basketball do not always go together great with AAU and summer baseball being at the same time. Some skills also translate from sport to sport. Tracking a ball is a skill learned in baseball and can be very useful on the football field for example.

I would usually side with muti sports expect for certain situations.

[balla45]

I am personally not against track and basketball. I have never played baseball so I can not really comment on it. I think there is a benefit in consistently being in competitive situations, which you obviously gain by being a mutli.

Purely anecdotal, but I did track in college and got much better at track, and while i was not doing any type of basketball training, I am not sure how well they cross over. I found that I was a much more explosive athlete as far as a first step might translate in to basketball, but I did notice an overall decrease in my ability to jump high and move laterally, but that can also likely be attributed to not working on those things as they were not relevant to what I was doing in track.

I have never done the Acceleration or Power programs that are offered in some of the larger communities. If an athlete does have access to those opportunities, do you think there would be more value in doing a track and field or doing a specific strength and conditioning program that way?

Right now I think Boden Skunberg is the best basketball player in North Dakota and I think Joe Hurlburt is the prospect with the most upside in North Dakota. I look at both of those 2 as people who only played basketball and are finding recruiting success doing that. Conversely you have Aanen Moody who participated in as many as 4 sports in a year as late as 8th grade.

Desean Allen-Eikens was also a 1 sport guy but approached strength training differently than any player I have been around and he is finding a lot of success as a D1 player.

Granted, again, these people I am talking about, besides Moody, are physically large people all at 6'5"+ which can not always be replicated.


Love any thoughts as I am also looking at what approach to go with some athletes that I currently work with who do not all have the luxury of size or tremendous athletic ability.

Also I think it is important to recognize the reality that people do have ceilings and in some situations, a player's peak is going to be playing NAIA/D2 basketball, and there is nothing wrong with that as it is difficult to be able to do that.

[winner-within]

I love the discussion.

1. Why would you always go on the multiple sport path? I have seen it work out well having players do multiple and having players specialize. I would almost argue against being a multi, depending on natural athletic ability.

2. Love this. I think this is absolutely big facts. Does not matter how well you shoot it if you are not athletic enough to guard anyone or to get a shot off.

3/4. Fully agree with this.

5. Would like to see you elaborate on this. In so many place in North Dakota, there is limited opportunity to watch film on upcoming opponents.


In all reality, no one in North Dakota 6'2" and under has gone on to play, like actually play, D1 basketball besides Moody in the last 10 years. How do we get that to change? Is it something that can change?

Its a real tough in!
90% of the time its next of kin to an alumni or a family member who once played there if its a ND Kid being recruited to UND or NDSU
When it comes to the NCAA system there is an element of how much time will it take to develop the size and skill because it is not developed in the ND schools the way it is developed in the big city's
so its raw raw size and talent that they believe (which I believe) won't kick in quick enough even with the red shirt rules....so they take the scholarship money and head to more developed players that are the same/right size and length and have the further along skill set at the same age....and like Balla45 said a multi-sport athlete (when it comes to a D1 Basketball recruit) would be a strike against the athlete because of what it takes to get looked at......heres a good read as to what it takes no matter what the State

https://theundefeated.com/features/for- ... -the-ride/

[classB4ever]

Some great input. Here's a few things noticed over the years, more so on the mental side vs. athletic side:

1. Do they love the sport enough they are willing to train without being "reminded or forced" to do it? Year round?
2. What is the end goal? Achieving a full ride at the highest level of college obtainable and perhaps beyond?
Or just getting a scholarship to continue to play a sport for 2 - 4 more years in a college?
3. If it's about full rides and playing at an elite status, then believe specialized is the best path. But they have to be mentally prepared for the rigors of that path.
4. If it's about being a well rounded individual and looking past 4 years of college, I think multi-sports is the way to go. Only meaning that specialized training is demanding and has a tendency to "burn" some kids out before they achieve their desired end goal. Where multi-sport athletes will more than likely be playing multiple sports for fun after college.
5. Last, I think geography plays a role as well. Sometimes, only 1 sport gives individuals an avenue to move on to bigger and better things in the area they grow up. They realize this early and strive to be the best at that 1 sport. 2 cents.