Austin 8th Grade Select Basketball for Boys

Goal:

Create a Select Basketball Team program that will place an emphasis on giving basketball players their best shot to make and be an asset on their HS basketball programs.

We will teach a highly aggressive style of basketball that stresses making decisions rather than avoiding making mistakes. We will play man to man defense full court most of the games, to focus on building stronger, more aggressive defenders.

All programs say they teach fundamentals. Most focus more on tactics to win games, rather than creating winners. You cannot take tactics back to your high school program. You can take athletic development, skill development, confidence, defensive excellence and your new basketball IQ and carry it with you for the rest of your basketball career.

We aim to help young men become better teammates, more skilled, and more confident….both on and off the court.

The Schedule:

Skills Practice: Wednesdays 7-8PM

Team Practice: Fridays 6-8PM

Tournaments:

We will be playing in at least 8 tournaments. We will be playing between March 1st and June 13th. Once everyone signs up, we will send out a Doodle poll of 14 tournaments we have selected in the Greater Austin Area. Those tournaments will then be selected and we will have our schedule. There will be no hotel travel. We may play in a San Antonio tournament at the end of the season, but that too, would be a hotel optional trip.

Leadership:

Chris Corbett is the owner of the Stealth Team Organization and he helps set skill development curriculum and select the coach and schedule while handling administrative oversight as well.

Chris has been a professional basketball trainer for over ten years, coached select basketball, and has been a basketball leader in training as part of the ownership team of BasketballHQ.com, Coachtube.com, and also as an up and coming speaker for USA Basketball. He began his basketball playing career on the playgrounds of Queens, NYC then headed to play college basketball at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.

Head Coach Andy Roddenberry

Played at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL (NCAA Division II)
Coached JV basketball in Melbourne, FL (Eau Gallie HS; Melbourne HS)
Coached various youth basketball camps for boys and girls (Florida Tech; Will Perdue) and youth sports teams (boys and girls basketball; baseball; softball)
Assistant Coach, Fierce Varsity Select Basketball 2020 (season became development focused)
Observed and coached 50+ hours of individual skill development training with Chris Corbett
Basketball Parent of Ella (Bowie HS Varsity) and Band Parent of Bryce (Texas State; Boston Crusaders)
Software industry Finance Director with an MBA from the University of Central Florida. Click here for Linkedin Profile.

Coach Andy’s Philosophy:

I love the game of basketball because I love competition and the unique blend of athleticism, skill, strategy, and teamwork necessary to win. I also appreciate how applicable basketball is to daily life and the many lessons I’ve learned from the game.
I’m passionate about developing confident, well-rounded young people, on and off the court! One of the biggest challenges I see facing young players today is a lack of confidence. This is partly a result of coaches who are too focused on developing plays instead of players. When a young person puts in the work to develop sound, fundamental skills, they will exude confidence and coaches won’t feel the need to control their every move. I help transform players from self-doubters to self-believers by drilling proper technique and empowering them to make fearless decisions.

Curriculum

As possible… we will be trying to cover these talking points and skill areas during the season.

Dribbling fundamentals (concept of working on both hands dribble with head up); learn value of change of pace (slow to fast) and direction (e.g. crossover dribble); introduction to hesitation dribble, spins, back dribble; guards to work on penetration into the lane.

Passing techniques: Enhanced, emphasis passing and receiving on the move, importance of ‘shortening the pass’, baseball pass.

Pivoting (front and reverse pivots) with emphasis on the fundamentals of basic “wing” and post play (include drop step, quick ‘face’, and up and under (McHale move)

Basics of moving without the ball (v-cut, spin, leg over, ‘drift and burst’); enhanced with use of screens away from the ball

Enhanced shooting range and expectation for more consistency

Basic defensive stance and footwork, principles of maintaining yourself between your man and the basket; enhanced techniques (help and recover defense, trapping)

Concept of spacing, enhanced, introduction to zone offense

Basics of rebounding (blocking out); enhanced (triangle concept) using both blocks and center, all positions covered, blocks, center, and elbows.

Introduce to “transition” basketball: enhanced, more emphasis on outlet pass, filling offensive lanes

Improved basic layup (overhand) with introduction to underhand layup and “power layup”

Enhanced shooting fundamentals: shooting off the dribble, off the pump fake, coming off screens

Enhanced team offense concepts: basketball plays, double and staggered screens, options off the pick and roll (standard and slipping the pick), inbounds plays, press breaking, etc.)…

More emphasis on special situation plays (end-of-quarter, end-of-game)

Coaches will teach man-to-man defense as the core competency for defense, emphasis on ‘hand discipline’ avoidance of ‘frustration’ fouls

Expectations on proficiency gains, e.g. free throw shooting 50 percent

More discussion of situational basketball (e.g. playing ‘faster’ when trailing, ‘slower’ when leading and using the clock)

Improvement in transition offense; attacking the lead defender, forcing defenders to commit, etc.

Advanced defensive techniques (press, switching, pick and roll introduction)

Introduction to zone offense

Possession by possession basketball (win each offensive and defensive possession) Minimal focus

Talk on defense at all times (call screens, call cutters, recognize offensive goals)

Understand need to create separation offensively and prevent separation defensively with expectation of spacing in games

Awareness of advantages of 1 and 2 guard offensive fronts

Multiple offensive sets (e.g. 1-4, stacks, spread, motion)

Passing techniques: Enhanced, emphasis passing and receiving on the move, importance of ‘shortening the pass’, baseball pass. Advanced passing techniques such as one hand passes, skip passes.

Pivoting (front and reverse pivots) with emphasis on the fundamentals of basic “wing” and post play (include drop step, quick ‘face’, and up and lock step footwork

Basics of moving without the ball (v-cut, spin, leg over, ‘drift and burst’); enhanced with use of screens away from the ball

Enhanced shooting range and expectation for more consistency

Enhanced discussion of zone offense

Enhanced rebounding (expectation of blocking out); enhanced (triangle concept) using both blocks and center, all positions covered, blocks, center, and elbows. Consistent blocking out.

Advanced “transition” basketball: enhanced, more emphasis on outlet pass, filling offensive lanes; secondary break.

Improved basic layup (overhand) with introduction to underhand layup and “power layup”, reverse layups

Enhanced shooting fundamentals: shooting off the dribble, off the pump fake, coming off screens; expectation for proper shooting technique

Expectation for wing/post moves within games

Enhanced team offense concepts: basketball plays, double and staggered screens, options off the pick and roll (standard and slipping the pick), inbounds plays, press breaking, etc.)…

More emphasis on special situation plays (end-of-quarter, end-of-game) LIGHT

Coaches will teach man-to-man defense as the core competency for defense.

Expectations on proficiency gains, e.g. free throw shooting 60 percent in practice

More discussion of situational basketball (e.g. playing ‘faster’ when trailing, ‘slower’ when leading and using the clock), when to use strategic fools

Improvement in transition offense; attacking the lead defender, forcing defenders to commit, etc.

Introduction to advanced defensive techniques (press, switching, pick and roll defenses)

Price:

$1399 plus uniform fee (Under $200 for top level uniform package including reversible uniform, reversible practice jersey, shooting shirt, and back pack.)

Tryouts:

By Appointment this week thru Tuesday eve. Workouts will be individualized and will also include some teaching. Call Chris at 512-921-4444 to setup your workout as soon as possible.

There are preferred invites for returning players. They should register immediately as we open to the public and spots will be first paid, first reserved. (If anyone has a cash flow challenge, let me know and we can talk about a payment plan.)

8th Grade Boys Basketball Team