Pål Degerstrøms basketball blog

Turning off comments on the basketball drills

2009-03-03T23:06:55+00:00

I am turning off the comments on the basketball drills until I can find a better solution for preventing or dealing with spam.

It’s simply taking too much time dealing with all this junk, and I’d prefer to spend my time developing new features and adding new content. You are free to voice your opinion in the comments on this blog, I’ll keep them turned on for now.

Keep adding your drills!

(Take a look at these stats if you don’t think comment spam is a problem)

We moved to a new server

2009-03-03T14:16:07+00:00

Some of you may have had trouble reaching the site today. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I had to move the site to a new server.

Everything should be OK, but if you find something that’s broken, let me know in the comments. Thanks!

“Amid the grieving, a rare act of sportsmanship”

2009-02-20T14:59:36+00:00

It is only coincidental that this involves basketball, this might not even be about sportsmanship, but about being human. Everyone should read this.

Practice videos

2009-02-17T21:40:55+00:00

No, not the instructional kind. Here are the Golden State Warriors .. uh .. practicing:

And here are Chris Mihm and D.J. Mbenga of the Los Angeles Lakers getting into it at practice:

To end things off with something a little more lighthearted, here’s Shaq and Chaunceys attempt at a world record shooting freethrows blindfolded, at the 2009 NBA All Star game:

Pistol Pete Maravich vs George Gervin - HORSE (video)

2009-02-04T22:01:26+00:00

Now that’s old school:

Kobe’s Garden 61 (video)

2009-02-04T21:45:54+00:00

Like they say, Jordanesque:

More buzz about the performance here.

Video: “The BEST High School Basketball Buzzer Beater of 2009 !!!”

2009-02-02T13:31:02+00:00

Now that’s a buzzer beater!

Michael Jordan, then and now

2009-01-20T09:16:11+00:00

It’s no secret that I’m a big Michael Jordan fan. Anyone who’s seen him play, or read about his approach to the game, does. This clip from a Bulls game against the Boston Celtics back in 1996 tells you a lot about what he would do to get a win:

It’s been a while since Michael played, of course. What many will associate with the name – and brand – “Air jordan”, are his shoes. I loved them in “the old days”, the last few years they’ve become way too bling-bling for me (or it could be me getting older). Anyway, the Air Jordan 2009 are on their way:

Happy New Year. Now get going!

2009-01-07T22:43:52+00:00

I hope you all had a nice Christmas break, because it’s time to get going! You’re probably mid-season, and should be working hard to make yourself or your team better. I’m doing my part, here are seven more drills to help you out:

Speaking of improving, coach Pat Knight used some unusual tactics to motivate his team when he asked a 12-year-old to join his teams huddle in the middle of a game. His team, Texas Tech, had “botched as many as 15 layups”, and during a timeout coach Knight grabbed the 12-year-old out of the stands and asking him if he could hit layups:

After Texas Tech botched as many as 15 layups, Knight scoured the stands near the bench and invited a youngster to join a team huddle. Knight asked the boy whether he could make layups. The boy said he could. “I was just tired of having 18- or 21-year-olds miss layups that a 12-year-old could hit, so I brought a 12-year-old in to let them know that he could hit layups,” Knight said. “Heâ€™s 12, and he can hit layups, so why canâ€™t you when youâ€™re 18 to 21?”

Oh yeah, and his team won…

Photograph by Andrew Shurtleff for The New York Times

This is a pretty amazing story: “Kevin Laue, 18, was a 6-foot-10-inch college basketball prospect from California who was born with a left arm that ended at the elbow. (…) He was a one-handed wonder, unfazed by his disability.”

My favorite quote:

With Kevin, you had to have vision, bro. And how could I even care if he messed up? Heâ€™s only got one hand. Heâ€™s just an amazing dude that everyone should meet once.

Here are a couple of videos of Kevin:

Good luck in the new year!

Some of you have been kind enough to submit your drills. Keep’em coming!

December is here!

2008-12-03T20:39:09+00:00

Just like that, it’s December and Christmas is closing in. Christmas is a really relaxing and joyful time for me, and this little guy certainly knows how to spread a little joy:

And as an early Christmas present, here are 10 more drills:

Full court offense

Through the legs hesitation

Suicide (really hard)

BadBob’s Bullets, and five more drills

2008-11-19T14:28:12+00:00

I’ve played and coached on various levels and in different leagues, but kids’ basketball is what I love the most. So I enjoy this viedo more than I do the nightly highlight reel from the NBA.

The Murray High Little League Basketball season begins with Tiger Night, when the jerseys are given out, the teams are announced, and a 6:00 mini-game is played. Here is what happened when BadBob’s Bullets, resplendent in their new pink jerseys, took the floor against the girls of Jason Greer Excavating.

Tiger Night: The Bullets First Mini-Game from Randy Waltrip on Vimeo.

And here are todays five new drills:

1000 basketball drills

2008-11-18T22:26:03+00:00

Wow! We just passed 1000 drills on the site.

When I started this site eight years ago, I couldn’t have imagined this in my wildest dreams. Thank you to everyone who’s submitted their drill to the site, sending me their friendly comments, and for enjoying the content.

I am working on a new version of the site, which will make it even more useful and enjoyable, feel free to add your suggestions in the comments. In the mean time, remember to add your basketball drill to the collection.

To celebrate, here are Dr. J’s top 10 dunks:

Five more drills, five videos

2008-11-17T14:30:35+00:00

Here are five drills to start your week:

Trickshotkid made a compilation of some of his plays. Looks like he’s got game!

I’ve always been a huge Michael Jordan fan, and here’s a new ad for his Jordan brand, “Maybe It’s My Fault”:

How many passes does the team in white make?

Even though Michael Jordan was and is my man, there’s no denying that Larry Bird had skills as well. Here he is in a college game, dominating as always:

Lastly, here is a seventh grade team breaking the press and passing the ball better than my team (and I could be these kids’ father) ever did:

Have a nice week, everyone!

Vintage basketball pics

2008-11-14T12:51:27+00:00

I found some really great and old basketball pictures over at the Shorpy Photo Archive. Shorpy is a vintage photography blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. They have some more excellent sports related pictures here.

Basketball practice

Columbia Basket-Ball: 1908

A Friendly Game of Horse

J.E. Wright: 1921

Gallaudet Basketball: 1924

Tech Basketball: 1920

Five on a Friday

2008-11-14T12:49:35+00:00

Here are five more drills to keep you busy through the weekend:

Remember that you can add your own drill to the collection.

Thursday 10-pack

2008-11-13T13:32:06+00:00

It’s a Thursday 10:

And here’s Michael showing you some freethrow fundamentals:

10 more drills, and five friends watching a basketball game

2008-11-12T11:57:35+00:00

Hey guys, here is your daily dose of basketball drills. Thanks to everyone for sharing!

The NBA season has just started, and for those who have tried to watch a game on TV, I’m sure you’ve had your share of moments where the wrong kind of people join you to “watch”. Like these guys:

Basketball Game from Amir on Vimeo.

Another batch of new drills

2008-11-11T11:16:51+00:00

Thanks to you, our fantastic users, we have another 13 new drills today:

JavaScript with the latest drills now working again

2008-04-06T09:24:00+00:00

If you’ve been using the JavaScript to add the drills to your own site, you might have noticed that it wasn’t working. Sorry about that…

It’s been fixed now, so please check that everything is OK on your site, and let me know if you have any problems.

While we’re waiting for Shaqs first game for the Suns

2008-02-18T11:01:01+00:00

Bill Walton has a few choice words for Shaquille O’Neal.

But Shaq is excited to be in the desert, apparently: