Q & A Mailbag: Zoom, AAU "Balance," and NBA Coaching

  Welcome to the mailbag! We’ve received some great questions and comments on our recent articles and content lately.  Before we get to the articles and questions, we wanted to feature some coaches…  Breakthrough Coaches Moving Up In The Profession!  Matt Keeley - Northwestern Missouri State University Breakthrough coach Matt Keeley was recently hired at Northwestern Missouri State University. Matt joins NMSU after spending 7 years building Ottawa University Arizona from scratch (didn’t even have their own gym the first 2 years!!) into a national title contender. Coach Keeley will do a great job leading one of the best DII programs in the country (4 national championships in the last 8 years). Excited to see what Matt will do next - congrats!  Hudson Welty - Southeastern University It’s great to see good things happen to good people. This week we want to celebrate Breakthrough coach Hudson Welty, who was recently hired as the head coach at Southeastern University (Fl.). Well done, Hudson!    Nick LoGalbo - Nike Hoop Summit  Nick LoGalbo, creator of the [Outer 1/3 Defense]( was part of the Nike Hoop Summit coaching staff that led the United States to a 98-75 win over the World team on April 13th. Congrats coach!  NEW Coaching Articles, Plays, Drills & Videos (ALL Age Levels):  [10 Coaching Decisions To Watch During the NBA Playoffs](  [How I Know The Zoom Offense Is Right For Your Team](  [Is The Zoom Better Than Ball Screens?](  [UConn And Purdue Run Zoom - So Should You!](   NEW YOUTH Coaching Articles, Drills, & Videos:  [The Hidden Benefits Of Multi-Sport Participation For Younger Athletes](  [The #1 Reason Players Miss Layups](  [Why Too Many 5v5 Games Can Slow Player Development](   NEW Training Articles, Drills, & Videos:  [2 Ball handling Counter Moves To Control Your Defender](  [5 Tips for Changing Your ShotÂ](  [Become a Dynamic Dribbler With This Simple "Random" Drill for Elite Handles](  [Transform Your Shooting Skills with a Quick 20-Minute Solo Workout](   Today’s Mailbag  Question: Dealing With Parents  Chad sent in this question about parents:  I had a rough time with some parents this past season. Some parents wanted us to be ultra-competitive and only play the best players on the team (we have ten players on a 5th grade team), and others want the time split evenly.  I’m not sure what to do and want to avoid the same problem next year…help!!  Mark Brase’s Response  Hi Chad-  Great question and one we frequently hear. It can be tricky when you have parents who want different things for their children on the same team.  For most youth teams I’d recommend keeping the playing time relatively even to help develop all players equally. It doesn’t mean you won’t have games where some kids play slightly more minutes than others, but try to avoid sitting some players on the bench most of the game.   One thing I’d advise if you are coaching next year, is maybe have your philosophy written down to share with parents before the season starts and before the teams are formed.  Maybe you let them know that minutes will be pretty much equal through the game and maybe another belief is that the majority of your practices will focus on skill development to help all players develop. Whatever you decide, put your philosophy and beliefs on paper to share with parents.  This should help you avoid the same problem next year and should help you avoid feeling like you need to please two sets of parents. Some parents may choose to play on a different team, which is fine, too. Your goal is to help positively develop all of the players on your team. And by being upfront with parents, it should make for a more enjoyable coaching season for you next year!  Good Luck!  Overwhelming Response To The Zoom The response to our Zoom playbook on social media was incredible! Hundreds of followers took advantage of the offer for the playbook. The Zoom continues to blow up at all levels of basketball. To learn more, check out [Nate Steege’s Zoom Offense](  Finding Balance in AAU Basketball  Joe Haefner posted these thoughts on AAU:  @Candid_coach replied:  “Strange take. What if every game is a competitive game? What if the group plays well together? What if the parent group wants to play relatively local and not spend 10+ hours in a car every weekend in a car? Does the same logic apply to an undefeated HS, college team?”  Jeff Huber’s Response:  All great points. And that’s why AAU is challenging. I think that the situation you described is relatively rare. More common are teams looking to stack talent and win tournaments, without regard for chemistry and competitiveness.   In your scenario, the team would improve because the games are all competitive. That’s the most important factor.   In fact, if a team met all the criteria you described, I’d say the players and families are very lucky! I wish that were the case for more players’ AAU experience.   NBA Coaching Decisions  This week we wrote about [10 Coaching Decisions To Watch During The NBA Playoffs]( We’ve already seen a number of interesting decisions play out:  1 - The Heat’s continued use of zone to stymie opponents in the play-in games.  2 - The decision by Frank Vogel to leave Kevin Durant in after he got his second foul with 6 minutes left in the first quarter Tuesday night. Chris Finch also left Karl Anthony-Towns in with 2 quick fouls. It worked out for Vogel as Durant played the rest of the half without picking up a third foul. Towns got his third foul before the first quarter ended and had to sit the rest of the half. Of course, Finch got the last laugh as the Wolves won the game!  3 - Michael Malone’s decision to not call timeout at the end of Game 2. He let Jamal Murry and Nikola Jokic flow into a high ball screen. That screen resulted in a switch and [Murray hitting the game winner]( over Anthony Davis.     It’s been fascinating to watch the chess match between the coaches. Keep watching and keep learning!   Comment: Why Players Miss Layups  There were a couple interesting replies to our article on the #1 Reason Players Miss Layups.   Jeff Huber’s response:  Excellent points! I like Michael’s point about giving them a landmark by which their eyes should be up. Using the paint as that landmark gives them enough time to get their eyes to the rim before releasing the ball.  As Fundamentals Forever points out, contact is an issue for many players. If your players are struggling with keeping their eyes on the rim through contact, add contact to your finishing drills. You can use a football pad or just have players push against each other. This helps players get more comfortable maintaining focus when contact occurs.  Breakthrough Product Review  We continue to receive great reviews on many of our products, and I want to share a few with you today so you can see if they’re the right fit for you.  Here is a 5 star review of [The Zoom Offense With Nate Steege](  “Good explanation of the offense and breakdown drills. Like DDM as my preferred offense but love learning about other systems and how you can use aspects with your team. The Ebook is also a good resource to reflect on after viewing the videos.” - Richard  Here is a recent review of [The Youth Coaching System With Jim Huber](  Well organized and very thorough. What an amazing resource! My only regret is not purchasing it earlier. It was quite a financial commitment, but well worth the cost. I coach 3rd graders and have been scouring the internet for months, pulling together a variety of resources, both books and videos. This program is well organized, appropriate for youth of all ages, and has given me a blueprint for progressions in motion offense, skill development, defense, and more. The emphasis on fundamentals through game-like drills (to maximize practice time) is greatly appreciated. You will not regret this purchase. - John   And these for [Progressive Ball Handling And Footwork Workouts](  The product has my kids wanting to do it everyday. The drills/workouts are quick & keep them engaged. Excellent product - very happy with the program! - John  It gives me a focused and progressive method for helping my kids improve their ball handling and footwork. My daughter (9) and son (12) have both improved their dribbling skills noticeably in just 1.5 weeks of daily use. - Rusty  Breakthrough Basketball Camps  Check out this camp review:  I was SO impressed by this camp and… team of coaches. WOW.  Theo walked into day one with some anxiety (and a few tears) saying "I can't do this, Mom. It's too many people." But he got in there and, with encouragement from the coaching team, he had a fantastic experience.  I must also say that the focus at the start of each day with skills of teamwork and sportsmanship was an unexpected and very appreciated framework.  In this post-pandemic era, kids are needing as much reinforcement of social-emotional skills as we can give them, and this felt like a fantastic way to set them up for each day mentally.  Breakthrough Camps Starting Soon!  [Canton, Georgia]( - May 3-5 - Grades 5 to 10 [Columbia, Missouri]( - May 3-5 - Grades 5 to 10 [Mesa, Arizona]( - May 3-5 - Grades 5 to 10 [Lakewood, Colorado]( - May 4-5 - Grades 5 to 10 [Ankeny, Iowa]( - May 4-5 - Grades 7 to 12 [Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]( - May 4-5 - Grades 7 to 12 [Katy, Texas]( - May 4-5 - Grades 5 to 10 These are just some of the camps running over the next few weeks! Here is our [entire 2024 spring and summer camp schedule]( with over 400+ camps.  Closing Notes  Thanks so much for reading this edition of the Breakthrough Basketball Mailbag! Stay tuned for upcoming editions, featuring more of your questions and comments. We value your input and look forward to helping you on your journey to success.  If you have any thoughts on the type of content you’d like to see more of in upcoming mailings, please feel free to shoot us a reply and let us know!  All the best, Jeff Huber Breakthrough Basketball  This email was sent to {EMAIL} because you indicated that you'd like to receive emails and updates from Breakthrough Basketball on 2016-12-16 05:42:39. If you don't want to receive such emails in the future, please [Change Your Email Preferences]( or [Unsubscribe All]( Copyright © Breakthrough Basketball, LLC. All rights reserved. Breakthrough Basketball, LLC. | 5001 1st Ave. SE, Ste 105 #254 | Cedar Rapids | IA | 52402 [email.gif] . 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