YBCA

I just wanted to share a short anecdote:

I am not coaching girls bball this year, mainly because of a difference in philosophy/coaching style then the head coach.  No big deal.  Anyways, my brother in law is a sophomore on the HS boys varsity team, so we come up to the gym a lot together to “practice”.  The quotes are because really we just play: 3 point contests, around the world, around the gym around the world, HORSE, halfcourt knockout (very tiring), and tons and tons of 1on1.    When we first started playing 1on1 back around December 1, I could beat him fairly easily. We play with rules that you can only shoot a 3 or from the key, everything is worth 1 point, make it take it.  One of his biggest weaknesses was his crossover from the right to the left hand.  I stole the ball 90% of the time.  It was too high, and didnt move laterally enough to keep it away from me. I thought about breaking it down, doing crossover dribbles, keeping it low, head up, etc etc…but I didnt.  We just played 1on1 every other night, 4 or 5 games to 12 points.  Guess what?  I cant steal the crossover dribble anymore, my defense hasnt changed, his ballhandling has changed, with no direct targeted coaching.  Last night in their ball game, he handled the ball under tons of pressure in a tie game in the forth quarter very well.  He used his crossover multiple times in the face of the best defender on the court.  

My point is he learned because he had to.  He adjusted on his own, and the learning is his, not mine.