Junior Hoops Arizona

Nationally Recognized Advantage Basketball Camps Dribbles Into Tempe

Advantage Basketball Camps are nationally recognized as one of the top ball handling camps  in the basketball training industry and they will be at Arizona State University with their Ball Handling and Shooting 4 day camp.   Advantage was named by Sports Illustrated Kids as one of the top camps in the country.

 

Utilizing a top coaching staff, students build on their ball handling skills by learning lightning-quick, one-handed moves off the dribble.  Deploying a strong training methodology and an equally strong reputation, Advantage Basketball Camps are consistently rated as one of the top basketball ball-handling camps in the world. 

 

The camp will be held at the Arizona State University Student Recreation Center (SRC) Maroon Gym located at 4j00 E. Apache, Tempe, AZ 85281 on December 28 thru December 31 from 9:00am to 5:00pm.  For more information contact Keiko Yoshimine at 480-296-5732 or email at info@advantagebasketball.com.   To visit the Advantage Basketball Camps website here.

 

Learn more about the camps

Understand why their methods lead to success

For information about a typical daily agenda

Discover the successful coaching methods used at the camps

Meet one of the top coaching staffs in the world

Learn some great tips now from their shooting camps

View an informative video on their camps

Become a Big-Time Player

Below is a list of 14 things you need to do to become a big-time basketball player.  This list will guarantee that you will become that player who dominates the game.

1.  Be aggressive

2.  Make a 2nd and 3rd effort on every play

3.  Think positive

4.  Be confident in yourself

5.  Take good shots

6.  Distribute the ball

7.  Get up and down the floor quickly

8.  Listen to your coach

9.  Play great defense

10. Stay out of foul trouble

11. Practice hard

12.  Go up strong inside

13. Become a great free-throw shooter

14. Be the player you'd hate to play against

Quickshot Shooting System

Too often the "dunk" is the celebrated skill by the media and basketball players.  However, multiple surveys of recruiters and coaches throughout the country indicate that coaches first look to shooting skills as the primary skill to build upon.

Unfortunately, basketball players don't have access to quality high-priced shooting machines.  Major brand stores do carry cost-effective shooting aids, however, more often than not, these shooting tools are of low quality resulting in a short-term life for the product.

Enter the Quickshot Shooting System.  This product is low cost and of high quality which makes it accessible to coaches and players looking for a product that is durable, easy to use, portable and reasonably priced. 

For additional information on how to acquire your own Quickshot Shooting System, contact Coach Rino at 480-242-5912 or by email at rinomazzucco@hotmail.com.

Men's Health Magazine Honors CATZ Sports Performance Centers

For the third consecutive time, Men's Health Magazine has recognized CATZ as one of the top 10 gyms in America.  The honor is no small recognition since Men's Health Magazine is the largest health and fitness magazine for men in the world. 

CATZ Sports Performance Centers (Competitive Athlete Training Zone) is widely known as a leading provider of sports performance training to athletes of all ages and abilities.  For more than a decade, CATZ has trained athletes to enhance their speed, agility, strength, power, and quickness, while also focusing on reducing the risk of injuires.  Currently, CATZ operates 13 training centers around the country.

For competitive youth basketball players, CATZ is a worthy option to supplement additional training in order to be successful in the court.  Too many basketball coaches concentrate on the much needed fundamentals of basketball, but ofen, loose sight of the strength, speed and agility needed to develop the complete player.  To acquire additional information or to contact the local CATZ center click here.

What Coaches Do and Don't Care About

What the High School coaches DON'T care about:

• They DON'T care what club team that freshman played on in 7th and 8th grade
• They DON'T care how many club games that freshman won in 7th and 8th grade
• They DON’T care who was the volunteer club coach of that freshman in 7th and 8th grade

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

What the High School coaches DO care about:

• They DO care if the freshman has a positive attitude and is coachable
• They DO care if the freshman plays hard and is aggressive on defense
• They DO care if the freshman has a strong practice/work-ethic
• They DO care if the freshman has polished FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS
• They DO care if the freshman can SHOOT the Basketball

________________________________________________________________________

What College coaches DON’T care about:

• DON’T care what summer club team the young man plays on
• DON'T care how many games that young man’s summer club team has won
• DON'T care what high school team the young man is playing on
• DON'T care how many games that young man’s varsity team has won
• DON'T care who coaches that young man’s varsity team

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

What College coaches DO care about:

• DO care if the young man has a positive attitude and is coachable
• DO care if the young man works hard and is aggressive on Defense
• DO care if the young man has a strong practice/work-ethic
• DO care if the young man has strong academic marks (SAT's and grades)
• DO care if the young man has polished FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS
• DO care if the young man can SHOOT the Basketball

Shooting - The Lost Art

The most important fundamental skill a basketball player can possess is to be able to accurately shoot.  Excellent shooting can often make the difference between a player becoming successful or wallowing in obscure mediocrity.  It can also take basketball teams with average athletic skills and turn them into championship contenders. Unfortunately most of today’s players don’t truly understand or have limited understanding in the importance of accurate shooting.

We have become a society  hooked on slam dunks.  Our game of basketball has been ESPNized.  College and NBA coaches don’t care about the dunk.  Seventeen foreign based players were drafted in the NBA’s first two rounds this season.  Why?  Because these players have solid fundamental skills. These foreign players aren’t the quickest and they don’t jump the highest, but they know how to play.  They know how to attack the basket, how to dribble and how to work with their teammates and most importantly, they all know how to shoot! 

Don’t look now America, but the rest of the world is catching up because we have become very lazy and unfocused in preparing our athletes in the game of basketball.  Team USA lost three consecutive games in the World Championships because USA players couldn’t hit a free throw or jump shot when it counted let alone an open man.  Soccer dominant countries (Argentina and Spain) are all of the sudden beating American NBA players.

Don't Let Zone Defenses Get You Down

Coaches typically go to a zone defense for one of three reasons:

1. The opponent doesn’t have good outside shooters.
2. The opponent’s man offense could not be stopped.
3. They live and die by the zone and play it quite well.

Many coaches are satisfied with letting their teams fire from 3-point land against a zone in the hopes that their shooters get hot to shoot their way out of the zone. However, that strategy is a bit too inconsistent. If you favor an inside-out approach against man-to-man defenses, it stands to reason you should do the same against zones.

With five players stationed in the key, a zone defense presents a real challenge to any team wanting to score inside. As soon as you recognize the defense has switched to zone, call out one of the following “zone special” plays......Read More!

Junior Sports USA: Training Tips

One of the most important moves in the game is the first step. It is one of the keys to being a great offensive player.  Become a better offensive player with the following tips:

 

1.  Attack the defender's front foot.  If you can get yours past theirs, you've pretty much got them beat.

 

2.  Fake in one direction to get the defense leaning and then explode past them in the opposite direction.

 

3.  Use a pump-fake then explode by them with a great first and second step.

 

When you make your move as an offensive player with the ball, the key is to make your first step so fast and explosive that you drive past the defender (at a minimum, get your attacking foot past the defender's front foot). Once you gain the advantage with your first step, continue blowing past the defender, putting them at an even great disadvantage, and finish the move strong.

 

You may decide to pull up for a jumper, kick the ball out to a teammate, or drive all the way to the basket if you've got an open lane. That decision is up to you. But it all starts with that first, explosive step that gets you the advantage over the defender.