Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The Off-Season

Posted by Patrick Hughes | Wednesday, September 22, 2010 | Category: , | 0 comments

Today is officially the 1st day of fall and as we leave summer behind us each day brings us closer to basketball season. While most players that I have come across tell me that they want to become better players they have to put in the work to do so. The off season is the best way to transform yourself and your game. You will never reach your full potential if all you do is work out during the season during practice. The off season is where you'll really become a better player if you work at it. Each day that you aren't getting better, someone else is. That other person may be a classmate of yours that you're competing for a spot on the team with or a player on an opposing team.

Most common people are satisfied with mediocrity or the status quo. If you want to be truly great you need to work at it every opportunity that you have. Improve your game and get 1% better every day. Greatness is uncommon so its not often experienced by the common man. I hope that each and everyone of you are working hard and getting 1% better each and every day.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Elite Hoops Hall of Famer Ready for WNBA Superstar Status

Posted by Chris Langley | Sunday, September 19, 2010 | Category: , , | 0 comments

If you missed out on the Atlanta Dream's run through the WNBA playoffs, you not only missed out on some exciting basketball, but you missed out on the making of a WNBA superstar. In just two short seasons, Atlanta Dream forward and Elite Hoops Hall of Famer, Angel McCoughtry has gone from rookie to WNBA playoffs and Finals record-holder. To read more about Angel's success in the WNBA check out Frank Della Femina's article on WNBA.com.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

FIBA World Championships

Posted by Patrick Hughes | Wednesday, September 8, 2010 | Category: , | 0 comments


Good afternoon from the Elite Hoops Offices,

For those out of the loop when it comes to international basketball the US is currently in the quarter finals of the FIBA World Championships. The FIBA (which stands for International Basketball Federation) World Championships is similar to the World Cup except its for basketball rather than soccer. The FIBA World Championships is an international basketball event held every four years. The event is organized by FIBA and features competition between men's national basketball teams from countries around the world and is currently going on in Turkey.

The FIBA World Championship is contested between 24 teams from the five FIBA regions of the world. During the preliminary rounds of the FIBA World Championship, teams are divided into four groups of six, and play a round-robin schedule with the other teams in their group. The top four teams from each group based on win-loss record advance to the round of 16, where the tournament moves into single-elimination mode. A consolation bracket is held for teams that lose in the quarterfinals to determine exact finishes from first through eighth place.

When it comes to qualifying for the FIBA Championships there are a few ways in which a country can get in. First the host nation and the defending Olympic champion qualify for the FIBA World Championship automatically. Other teams have to play their way into the tournament via regional qualifying tournaments. In 2010, FIBA handed out automatic bids to the top six finishers at the FIBA Europe tournament, the top four finishers at the FIBA Americas Championship, the top three finishers at the FIBA Africa Championship, the top three at the FIBA Asia Championship and the top two at FIBA Oceania. In addition, FIBA handed out four wild-card berths. To be eligible for a wild-card berth, a team must have competed at its regional tournament and paid a wild-card fee.

European basketball differs from the typical NBA game most Americans are used to watching. The game consists of four 10-minute quarters rather than the 12-minute quarters that the NBA uses. The court is actually 3½ feet shorter and six inches narrower than an NBA court. The paint is a trapezoid shape, rather than the rectangle of the NBA, and the 3-point line is between 18 and 39 inches closer to the basket, depending on where the shot is attempted, click here to see a depiction of the court during a recent USA international game. Instead of the six fouls an NBA player is permitted a player in a FIBA competition is disqualified after five fouls. Also teams are allowed to play a full zone defense in FIBA games.

While most Americans put a lot of weight into the Summer Olympics and winning the gold medal there with our Redeem Team internationally more weight is placed on winning the FIBA World Championships. Coincidentally enough the US has not won FIBA gold since 1994. The United Stats crushed Angola and will play Russia on Thursday looking to advance to the semi-finals. While familiar faces from the past Olympic squad like Lebron, Kobe, Carmelo, and D-Wade are gone this US squad is still a talented one. Below you can view the current US roster for the FIBA Championship squad:

2010 U.S. Team Finalists
Name POS HGT WGT Current Team
Chauncey Billups G 6-3 202 Denver Nuggets
Tyson Chandler C 7-1 235 Dallas Mavericks
Stephen Curry G 6-3 185 Golden State Warriors
Kevin Durant G 6-9 230 Oklahoma City Thunder
Rudy Gay F 6-8 230 Memphis Grizzlies
Eric Gordon G 6-3 222 Los Angeles Clippers
Danny Granger F 6-8 228 Indiana Pacers
Andre Iguodala G/F 6-6 207 Philadelphia 76ers
Kevin Love F 6-10 260 Minnesota Timberwolves
Lamar Odom F 6-10 230 Los Angeles Lakers
Derrick Rose G 6-3 190 Chicago Bulls
Russell Westbrook G 6-3 187 Oklahoma City Thunder

So if you can tune to ESPN tomorrow, Thursday September 9th, at 11am to watch the USA face off against Russia in an international version of the Elite 8.










Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Atlanta Dream Surprise in WNBA Playoffs

Posted by Chris Langley | Tuesday, September 7, 2010 | Category: , , , , , | 0 comments


After, the surprising first round upset of the Washington Mystics, the #1 team in the WNBA's Eastern Conference, the Atlanta Dream look to take down the New York Liberty after taking game 1 of the best of 3 series.


The Dream and Elite Hoops Hall of Famer, Angel McCoughtry bring their winning brand of basketball back to Atlanta tonight for game 2 and the chance to win the Eastern Conference!
Go out and support Angel and the Dream tonight at Philips Arena at 7:30pm for game 2. Let's go DREAM!

To read more about the Eastern Conference Finals visit WNBA.com.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Training vs. Working Out

Posted by Lee Miller | Wednesday, September 1, 2010 | Category: , , | 0 comments

It’s been exactly one month since my last blog post.  I am refreshed, re-energized, and completely refocused on my commitment to offer quality insight on basketball strength & conditioning, coaching and motivation. 

In addition to spending quality time with my wonderful wife Rebecca and my twin sons Luke and Jack (23 weeks old), I read a dozen books on leadership and watched numerous DVDs and YouTube clips on performance enhancement. I combed through notebooks of my own notes and took time to reflect and evaluate my entire program.  Most importantly, I developed my plan for this coming pre-season.

And I have never been so excited!

During my reflection period, I decided to make a fundamental change to my blog. My posts are going to be much more concise.  I realized that some folks had a take a day off from work to read some of my lengthy blogs!  I will make each post helpful, insightful, and impactful… just with fewer words.

Enough said.

A couple of weeks ago a colleague of mine, Nick Tumminelo (a brilliant trainer in Baltimore and owner of Performance University), posted this on his Facebook page:

“Do you know the difference between training and workout out? Training is when you have a progressive plan with measurable goals and continual challenges. Working out is anything that makes you sweaty and tired but not necessarily better because it lacks consistency, direction and specificity.”

I couldn’t agree more.  This concept is so applicable to your pre-season training program because it lays the foundation for your success this season. Picture a pyramid. A wide base (foundation) yields a higher peak. Your strength & conditioning foundation gives you the ability to perform your basketball skills at a higher level, perform them with more efficiency, and perform them for the entire game (without letting fatigue play a factor).

That is why the best players and the best teams are in the best shape! 

I am certainly a staunch believer in working hard. Intensity and consistency are the keys to success in anything… especially training.  But you have to be working towards something to make it effective. You have to have a plan. You have to have goals. You have to make progress towards those goals every workout. 

Working out just to workout, with no direction, will give you mediocre results at best. Puddles of sweat and aching muscles are only valuable if they are taking you closer to where you are trying to go.

Don’t just work hard. Work smart.

On that note, getting stronger and more explosive is important for basketball.  But nothing is more essential than moving efficiently on the court.  Here are a variety of drills I use with my players on a daily basis to promote proper footwork, jumping/landing mechanics, as well as strengthen and increase the functional mobility of the ankles and feet:

Movement Training for Basketball: http://TinyUrl.com/MovementTraining

Please let me know if I can ever be a resource to you for your program. You can email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com.

Train hard. Train smart.

Alan Stein

PS: I just released an 8 Week Pre-Season Strength & Conditioning Program download at http://Shop.StrongerTeam.com. It includes everything you need to get stronger, more explosive, and in sick basketball shape. This program is the difference between training and working out!