Different Positions of a Basketball Team

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At any one time during a game, there are five different players on the court in five different and unique positions. The positions are determined by a player’s height, weight, and special abilities. Those are only a few of the criteria that go towards deciding what position is right for a player. No one position is more important than the other as all five positions form a well oiled machine if they have the proper players in them that understand their functions. All five positions when working together in unison become an impressive thing to watch.

Center is where you will find some of the largest players in the game. This position is designed for the tall, larger people that can become an annoying presence around the basket and cause troubles where they need to set up shop. Usually this location is centered around the basket area, and not often very far away from it. It gives the other four players a target for a pass, or gives them a hope for rebounds on missed shots. Having a shorter person there might cause unnecessary turnovers and is why the taller people get the nod here.

The next position is one that is split into two positions, the first of which contains a player in similar stature to the center, being the second biggest person in the team and that shares some of the same responsibilities. This position is power forward. It serves to shore up rebounds, but occasionally play a little farther away from the net to ensure that mid range rebounds and shots are tended to.

The other type of forward, small forward is one that is typically more of a scoring type. Players in this position tend to be all around scorers. They have the ability to go up and get rebounds converted into points, and they have the abilities to dribble the ball around and go farther out for potential three point shots. These players are essential especially when either the net is too crowded, or certain players are well defended. They are very flexible and are frequently out in the open as an option for whoever has the ball.

The next position that is split into two different types is the guard. Point guard is the first type of guard and serves a very similar role to that of the small forward. Occasionally the same player will play both positions over the course of a game as they are very similar in their purpose. Shooting guards are not expected to rebound near as often as a small forward is, but is expected to have the ability to do so if the situation calls for it.

Point guard is the other guard position and is often considered one of the most important and crucial positions in the game. Point guards are the brains behind the team machine; they are responsible for offensive play calling, and ball distribution. They must have the ability to transition from offense to defence rapidly, and often are called upon to do so at a moment’s notice. While they may be the smallest players on the team, they are definitely no less important.
All of these players come together to form a basketball team. While some teams will vary on size, and skill, the above listed positions are the barebones and regular requirements of a team along with their functions.

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Realistic Goals to Set and Achieve as a Basketball Player

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When you are standing on a basketball court, your goals differ from position to position. While simply saying “I want to win more” would suffice to some people, it is not as simple as that. You need to set realistic goals that you can achieve. Setting unrealistic goals that you cannot possible achieve or even improve upon can demoralize not only yourself, but those around you as everything a member of any team does, affects the whole team, and not just that person.

Some goals to keep in mind when you are trying to improve your on the court and off the court issues are as follows.

1. One realistic goal that most people like to look at off the start is scoring more points. While you cannot guarantee a certain amount of points each and every game, you can maximize on the chances that you do get. That means doing extra drills each and every practice and keeping track of your progress. Getting help from fellow team members that have a better shot then you is always a plus. You cannot watch yourself shoot unless you are videotaping, and sometimes even watching yourself on video tape, you may not catch something that someone else does. It could be something as simple as timing the release of the ball better, to something as complicated as the power that you have behind the ball. While power seems to be a “small” issue in the eyes of some, if you put too little, or too much power behind a shot, you may find yourself wasting some good scoring chances.
2. Conditioning is another realistic goal that can have its success measured rather easily. If you find yourself becoming winded in the later quarters of the game, this could be an indication that you need to focus more on your conditioning, or could also be an indication that you may be over stretching yourself. In either case, some additional time spent doing a wide array of exercises from simple treadmill workouts to intense cardio can help strengthen your body and keep you at the level of performance you need for the entire length of the game. While the physical longitude of a player seems like a minor issue to some, to the seasoned player, coach, or fan it means everything. A player that is playing at a diminished capacity can become more prone to injury, foul, or even just let points through simply because they cannot keep up or fulfill their role on the court. Which puts the task on the other players of the team and they are tired themselves.
3. Attitude is a crucial component on and off the court. It shapes not only the image you project to your team, but the image you project to your fans. This image may not be crucial to some, but to the overall team chemistry it can be a maker or a breaker. If you are a sore loser, and instead of trying to find solutions, you blame it on everyone else, it can make the team feel lower than it likely already does, and give teammates a negative image of you. If you are greedy and put yourself before your team and always try to take a shot, when you could have passed off to a teammate, and given them a chance. It sounds corny and old, but the old saying holds true. “There is no I in TEAM”.

While these are not a list of every single thing a player can do to improve overall, these items listed above are just some of the most pressing matters on and off the court that face players.

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Parental Guide – Choosing the right Coach

Posted by Eitel in For Coaches, For Parents | 0 comments

Choosing the right coach can be difficult for parents considering you really cannot get to know someone right off the bat from a few simple meetings. What you can do is inform yourself to the maximum level, and be sure that you keep your child in mind when you are chatting with the coach.

The initial step in the process is meeting with the coach and going over goals for your child, and what the aim of the team is for the coach. Depending on the age of your child you may want to choose a more fun and recreational league for children ages 12 and under, and a more competitive league for kids over 12 years. Joining competitive sports is a healthy development tool and encourages healthy competition, but only with good influences and responsible adults around to guide the way.

Coaches are an important part to athlete and team development. With the amount of time that the coach would be putting in with any of the children, parents will have to make sure that a responsible adult is in charge and going to guide and direct those in his care well.

One thing parents need to avoid is discounting a potential coach due to lack of experience. Everyone has to start somewhere, and some of the best coaches started where someone was willing to go out on a line and give them a chance to do the best they could. You should judge a coach based on what he presents, and what he brings to the table, and the directions he plans to take, not based on what a professional coach would be like.

Misconceptions can doom some of the best fits for the job before they even get out of the gate. Especially with some of the coaching scandals that have gone around in recent years. If parents are unsure, but think it could potentially be a good fit, maybe they should attend a few practices and scout for themselves. It would give them a view with their own eyes of how the coach interacts with kids, and allows the coach to show his stuff in its natural environment and not just talk about it.

One thing that is for sure in the early years of sports, you will want a coach that puts an emphasis on teamwork and having fun, and less of the emphasis on winning. These early years are the best time to instil good sportsmanlike conduct in the players and get the good habits etched in stone. If you do not get these habits set early, you could find them developing bad habits that will be hard to work out of them in the later years.

While there is absolutely no way that any parents can pick a coach that is going to be absolutely perfect and work out in every way imaginable, you will find out that as long as you arm yourself with information, and make a decision based off of it, then you will be pointed in the right direction.

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The Essentials of Coaching Basketball

Posted by Eitel in For Coaches | 0 comments

One of the most essential things coaches will run into right off the bat and combat the entire time is differing personalities. Different people learn in different ways, and different people do and say different things. While it is a coach’s job to keep and maintain a certain level of order, this can be done by developing a deep sense of teamwork and developing the team first mentality. As corny as it sounds, the saying “There is no I in team” works. A team cannot be successful by relying on one single person to carry it.

Team Development
With that in mind you have to keep an eye on your players and find out what fits their styles. While running team drills is a great thing, running individual drills will help build stamina and confidence, which can benefit the team overall. Sometimes a person better benefits the team practicing by themselves.

You will be able to detect team communication issues early on throughout practice and game observation because players may fail to pass, or may try to make a shot for all the glory to become the saviour or star of the game. If this ever becomes the case, you need to ensure that players understand that there will be consequences for actions that are detrimental to the team. Even if you like the player that did it or may know them outside of the court, you cannot play favourites and cannot let someone off the hook.

Player Development
Players are your number one resource, and as such need to be treated properly. While discipline is needed, so is respect. Sometimes one player may not be as good as another player, and this may require some special one on one attention. Sometimes it is best to pull them aside after practice or a game to discuss this, and sometimes it is best to call them out on the spot. As a coach, you will get to know your players well enough that you will know which type of response is proper for your player, and you will learn how to handle things. Remember coaches aren’t perfect and will make mistakes too!

Players that respond poorly to constructive criticism may need to be benched or removed from the team for a short time so that they know that you are serious. Some players will come in with the attitude that they deserve this spot and no matter what they do, it is theirs. The team needs to function as a team and cannot have any glory hounds on it with this attitude or it will serve as a bad distraction for your team and have severely negative impacts all around.

While coaching looks like it could be difficult and could be hard for some people, as long as you have a love of the game, are willing to learn, and can admit that you make mistakes as much as your players can make them, then you will do one of the most important things out there to a basketball team other than winning, and that is having some fun!

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Key Things to Do During a Time Out

Posted by Eitel in For Coaches | 0 comments

Timeouts seem like such a small part of the game and are often overlooked. Timeouts are a very crucial and highly misunderstood part of the game in some accounts. They can change the flow of the game, and can give a much needed breather when the game is down to those last few points and in the dying moments.

Timeouts cannot be wasted. The time they provide is precious and means it is a chance for a team to change the tide of the game, or get a quick breather for that last stand they may need to make to win. The coach needs to pick and choose the proper times when to call the timeouts because as much as it can save a game, it can also break a game if used improperly.

Some of the most popular uses for timeouts are as follows.

1. As a quick break in play to let your players get refreshed, grab a swig of water and just catch their breath. Sometimes the opposing team will just have the pace of the game going so fast and in their favour, which a timeout puts an instant stop to it, and gives your guys a moment to gather themselves and prepare a plan of their own.
2. Timeouts can be used to “ice” the other team. If as mentioned above the team is on a roll, or in a groove, the timeout also serves to put an end to their “roll”.
3. Timeouts can be used to just completely switch gears. During a timeout the coach can go over a new plan or play that might just open the hole up in the game that your team needs to nail down that win. This is the time where the coach can rally the players and implement a shift in game play meant to confuse and disorient the other team. Towards the end of a game the opposing team is used to your tendencies and will defend and attack accordingly. If the coach makes the right switch in plays, it can catch a defence completely off guard and open up a hole needed to secure the game.
4. All of the above points lead to the fact a time out wrapped into one nice neat little term, is a momentum shift. It grants the coach the ability to change the momentum of the game and give his team the chance to change direction and stop a slide, or to refresh them for the last moments. This is an invaluable resource that needs to be used with the utmost care. It not only serves the strategy aspects discussed above, but also as an instant morale booster if the coach knows his team well enough. A few well placed words and a team can come out of the timeout as good as the beginning of the game.

Timeouts and how coaches use them are as important as the game itself. Like fouls, and bad plays, a bad timeout, can change the game.

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