NEEDED! EliteDribbleCoach"Low dribble 2 ground while sprint"

[WizarDynasty]

IN Ted We Trust

Please Please Please bring in an World Reknown Elite Dribbling coach to work with Singleton, John Wall, NIck Young, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin, Jamal Crawford and Jan Vesely.

I expect to be able to see Seraphin, Vesely, Booker, and Singleton to be able to sprint with their off hand down the baseline and still maintain their dribble if a defender is trying to force them out of bounds. I expect to be able to pass to a cutting Seraphin and he be able to the ball on the ground from the free throw line and switch hands if a defenders jumps on his strong hand and still get to the basket.
we have singleton who catches the ball in the post and does even attempt to back his man down because he isn't confident in his off hand dribble. This is why our offense can't generate fouls. Our players lack agility and explosiveness with a live dribble because they don't have elite dribbling skills..directly a result of Grunfeld not mandating that players display elite ability with their off hand dribbling skills before they are allowed significant time on the court.

We need a world reknown dribbling specialist--to come in as consultant at least temporarily. It is critical that this specialist not be a current member of the organization to give an objective opinion that TEd can trust because Grunfeld seriously lacks the skill necessary to diagnose how to make hsi players dribbling skills elite. If its not at the top, its not at the bottom.

Cassell is not the answer and never was an elite dribble in
We need a world reknown dribbling specialist to quickly improve the off hand dribbling of all our players so that they become much much more agile with the ball offensively and give this team confidence and creativity offensively. We are suffering offensively this year, and in fact for many years because management has never valued making the dribbling skills of its players elite.
As a result, a poor product has been put on floor night in and night out and the wizards are joke to the rest of the league.

Just as in hockey, if a player is unskilled with the puck and his stick, he acks poor ability to be able to deceive his defender as to his intentions and is very easy to guard. Our players lack the ability to handle the basketball at an elite level with both hands and Ernie Grunfeld has not mandated that his bigmen or little men show elite ball handling skiills with their off hand. As a result, we see no improvement in ball handling ability from week to week, season to season while young teams like the 76ers are eons ahead because their management expects week to week improvement of ball handling skills until elite status has been achieve. The biggest difference between 76ers and Wizards is elite ball handling of all their players compared to wizards players. We can't evaluate our players ball handling skills until we bring in a world reknown ball handling neutral coach to give you a true assess of where our players are at currently and what they must do to reach an elite level.

this should be the a high priority in this wasted losing season for future rebuilding.
This team is absolulety horrible at dribbling the ball low to the ground and changing directions in the half court with defensive pressure.
Because our players don't dribble the ball low the ground with their off hand, most of them lack the agility to attack the lead foot of a defender because they can't dribble low the ground with their offhand, let alone their strong hand. Our players can't utilize their athleticism because they can't control the ball.
Singleton can't back his man down without turning it over,

John Wall can't stop after sprinting without turning the ball over and losing control of it.

Nick Young can't wiggle by his man on the baseline without the turning the ball over.

Trevor Booker can't dribble with his off right handle and back a defender down.

Jamal crawford loses the ball in open court with pressure applied.

jan Vesely can't dribble the ball low the ground yet he is face up powerforward.

Our team needs dribbling coaches in the worst way.

the biggest problem is that our players don't keep a low dribble while they move quickly which results in a ton of turn overs, non confidence and creativity on offense. If our players could keep the ball low and dribble with power and coordination, we could actually start tapping into the tremendous amount of athleticism that each of our players possess. Leonsis, you have to change he culture here by bringing in a dribbling specialist because Grunfeld and Saunders does not value the skill of "low to the ground dribbling while sprinting short distance" coach".
This will unlock the potential and marketability of the team to fans in the shortest amount of time and dramatically improve the product.

[dangermouse]

14 views 0 replies

[Hoopalotta]

Here it is without the paragraph breaks in case anyone's feeling nostalgic.

IN Ted We Trust Please Please Please bring in an World Reknown Elite Dribbling coach to work with Singleton, John Wall, NIck Young, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin, Jamal Crawford and Jan Vesely. I expect to be able to see Seraphin, Vesely, Booker, and Singleton to be able to sprint with their off hand down the baseline and still maintain their dribble if a defender is trying to force them out of bounds. I expect to be able to pass to a cutting Seraphin and he be able to the ball on the ground from the free throw line and switch hands if a defenders jumps on his strong hand and still get to the basket. we have singleton who catches the ball in the post and does even attempt to back his man down because he isn't confident in his off hand dribble. This is why our offense can't generate fouls. Our players lack agility and explosiveness with a live dribble because they don't have elite dribbling skills..directly a result of Grunfeld not mandating that players display elite ability with their off hand dribbling skills before they are allowed significant time on the court. We need a world reknown dribbling specialist--to come in as consultant at least temporarily. It is critical that this specialist not be a current member of the organization to give an objective opinion that TEd can trust because Grunfeld seriously lacks the skill necessary to diagnose how to make hsi players dribbling skills elite. If its not at the top, its not at the bottom. Cassell is not the answer and never was an elite dribble in We need a world reknown dribbling specialist to quickly improve the off hand dribbling of all our players so that they become much much more agile with the ball offensively and give this team confidence and creativity offensively. We are suffering offensively this year, and in fact for many years because management has never valued making the dribbling skills of its players elite. As a result, a poor product has been put on floor night in and night out and the wizards are joke to the rest of the league. Just as in hockey, if a player is unskilled with the puck and his stick, he acks poor ability to be able to deceive his defender as to his intentions and is very easy to guard. Our players lack the ability to handle the basketball at an elite level with both hands and Ernie Grunfeld has not mandated that his bigmen or little men show elite ball handling skiills with their off hand. As a result, we see no improvement in ball handling ability from week to week, season to season while young teams like the 76ers are eons ahead because their management expects week to week improvement of ball handling skills until elite status has been achieve. The biggest difference between 76ers and Wizards is elite ball handling of all their players compared to wizards players. We can't evaluate our players ball handling skills until we bring in a world reknown ball handling neutral coach to give you a true assess of where our players are at currently and what they must do to reach an elite level. this should be the a high priority in this wasted losing season for future rebuilding. This team is absolulety horrible at dribbling the ball low to the ground and changing directions in the half court with defensive pressure. Because our players don't dribble the ball low the ground with their off hand, most of them lack the agility to attack the lead foot of a defender because they can't dribble low the ground with their offhand, let alone their strong hand. Our players can't utilize their athleticism because they can't control the ball. Singleton can't back his man down without turning it over, John Wall can't stop after sprinting without turning the ball over and losing control of it. Nick Young can't wiggle by his man on the baseline without the turning the ball over. Trevor Booker can't dribble with his off right handle and back a defender down. Jamal crawford loses the ball in open court with pressure applied. jan Vesely can't dribble the ball low the ground yet he is face up powerforward. Our team needs dribbling coaches in the worst way. the biggest problem is that our players don't keep a low dribble while they move quickly which results in a ton of turn overs, non confidence and creativity on offense. If our players could keep the ball low and dribble with power and coordination, we could actually start tapping into the tremendous amount of athleticism that each of our players possess. Leonsis, you have to change he culture here by bringing in a dribbling specialist because Grunfeld and Saunders does not value the skill of "low to the ground dribbling while sprinting short distance" coach". This will unlock the potential and marketability of the team to fans in the shortest amount of time and dramatically improve the product.

[WizarDynasty]

You don't really need to respond. Just look at the tape.

It's clear that the organization does stress for their starters to display elite dribbling ability with their off hand, otherwise John Wall wouldn't fumble the ball everytimes he tries to come to a complete stop after sprinting.
We wouldn't see singleton pass the ball out of the post when he has louis williams guarding him.
We would see Seraphin actually be able to the ball on ground from the top of the key since he has been here for nearly a year and if he had been working on dribbling 2 hours a day under elite dribbler coaches supervision, he would be pretty unstoppable offensively right now.
we see Vesely show enough coordination to dribble around an opponent with his off hand an execute a pull up jumper without fumbling the ball. More important it improves offensive confidence instead of turning the ball over.

If management thinks that the John Wall's dribbling is acceptable then they are huge reason for why we are seeing a bad product on the floor.
i argue that Wall's handles, as well as Singleton, Booker, SEraphin, Crawford and Vesely off hand dribbling skills while sprinting are extremely poor and dramatically reduces their offensive ability.
I believe that these players are not spending two hours a day under an expert guidance doing drills to improve this most vital ability needed for the wizard's organization to reach an elite level and I conclude this based on the evidence i see from their play each night.
Since management has not mandated that their players show an elite level of dribbling skills with their off hand, i believe that management isn't aware that the problem exist and since they don't see a major problem, they choose not to do anything dramatic about it.
Since no one in the organization has the power to force weekly improvement benchmarks for these players I believe that only a world reknown expert from outside the organization can effectively evaluate players dribbling skills and set realistic weekly benchmarks for improvement until we see demonstrated expert elite dribbling "off hand low to the ground sprint dribbling skills" from our core wizard players with the ability to stop mid sprint under defensive pressure and show no shaky handling.

so no replies, just look at the film in you don't think our players aren't expert pro dribblers with their off hand.
Leonsis has to expect a high quality product if he wants the wizards to contend for a championship and change cultures. this is one the most important culture changes he can make and would greatly iimprove fans viewing experience, and product, improving revenue by creating a more enjoyable basketball experience.

[Silvie Lysandra]

WD has a point - the Pollin/Leonsis Wizards drafted a bunch of raw, unskilled players and then have NOT put any special time or resources into making sure they reach their potential. They basically, like many on this board, hoped the mystical Development Fairy would sprinkle her magic dust on all our fundamentals-challenged young players and they would turn into Kevin Garnetts, Tyson Chandlers, and Chris Pauls. It doesn't work that way.

[closg00]

WD was right about Mullen

[montestewart]

Mods, merge this into the fundamentals thread. Oh that's right, the Development Fairy ate that thread. WizarDynasty, can you send a copy of that post to Leonsis? He needs to lose a little sleep over this issue.

[7-Day Dray]

I don't know why WizD gets so much flack on here. Most of his points are right on the money, and I agree with this one.

I really don't think management is doing a lot to get the most out of their investment. Instead of taking action, it seems like they're content with their players flaws. This is why Grunfeld and Saunders need to be fired. They either aren't very good talent evaluators, or just aren't doing enough to get their players better.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

i argue that Wall's handles, as well as Singleton, Booker, SEraphin, Crawford and Vesely off hand dribbling skills while sprinting are extremely poor and dramatically reduces their offensive ability.
I believe that these players are not spending two hours a day under an expert guidance doing drills to improve this most vital ability needed for the wizard's organization to reach an elite level and I conclude this based on the evidence i see from their play each night.

Interesting take, WD.

I don't really know what goes on behind the scenes. I have no idea how much time of practice time is broken down between conditioning, shooting drills, implementing plays on both sides of the ball, etc. How much time is given towards ball handling?

WD, my gut reaction is that by the time these guys get to the NBA, with the travel and the marathon-like season full of games; precious little time is given towards individual skills development that you speak of. I would think by this level, most guards are considered to have great handles or not. I know my all-time bust Morris Almond was rightly flagged by Draft Express scouts as having a very poor handle (as well as no interest in passing the ball). it is almost as if once you get to the NBA that aspect of one's game rarely improves significantly. One thing about the NBA is it really does not seem to value player development.

WD, I have heard of various shooting coaches really coming in and turning teams around. The Philadelphia 76ers head coach, Doug Collins, credits his defensive coach, Micheal Curry, for turning things around. We saw what Tom Thibodeau did in Boston with their defense, and how Chicago plays. So, what your OP said about an elite coach changing the culture is spot on. The Wizards need to go all in on player development right now. I'm not sure how much of this Flip is doing. I am sure EG is drafting some raw players, though.

Personally, when I read your OP, my thought was those players need to watch the Better Basketball series. There's one on Better Ball Handling. If John Wall needs more hand strength, it is never too late to improve upon that. If he needs to improve his hand strength, ditto. That DVD might be stuff he's already familiar with, but I bet there are a few drills he's lost track of doing, or that the Wizards do not stress.

I appreciate your posts, WD, because I understand there is a lot of wisdom in what you're saying.

[nate33]

Here it is without the paragraph breaks in case anyone's feeling nostalgic.

[JWizmentality]

Here it is without the paragraph breaks in case anyone's feeling nostalgic.

F*ck! My eyes!!

[Zonkerbl]

I remember some quotes from EJ on this or a similar subject once, where he was basically "once you get to the NBA you're supposed to know how to do this." So basically "No we're not going to try to develop our talent."

I wonder if EG shares that view. I doubt it (but then why did it take him so long to fire EJ????).

[montestewart]

I remember some quotes from EJ on this or a similar subject once, where he was basically "once you get to the NBA you're supposed to know how to do this." So basically "No we're not going to try to develop our talent."

I wonder if EG shares that view. I doubt it (but then why did it take him so long to fire EJ????).

Many EG supporters attribute to Pollin EG's failure to fire EJ, and that might be true. Te quoye might have been EJ's backhanded way of pointing a finger at EG for bringing raw, low-skills players in.

The question remains, if the Wizards continue to bring in raw players with "high-upside" but skills shortcomings, do they throw all the resources that they could at addressing the deficiencies, and do they assess whether the draftees will be willing and able to make use of these resources and committed to improving their skills? Most players don't have that endless Kobe/MJ work ethic and drive, and even those like Arenas that do will not necessarily be working on all parts of their game, or really even properly identify their deficiencies or understand whether they are correctable.

Raw, low-skills, high upside draftees given a similar amount of coaching as any other draftee (as opposed to more targeted, intensive, one-on-one guidance) seems like a formula for wasting draft picks.

Next up: Does the medical staff feel that players should know how to heal on their own by the time they get to the pros?

[montestewart]

Duplicate post

[pancakes3]

I don't know why WizD gets so much flack on here. Most of his points are right on the money, and I agree with this one.

and where do you and wizD propose that we find a world-renown off-hand real-low dribbling expert?

I really don't think management is doing a lot to get the most out of their investment. Instead of taking action, it seems like they're content with their players flaws. This is why Grunfeld and Saunders need to be fired. They either aren't very good talent evaluators, or just aren't doing enough to get their players better.

i agree that our talent is underdeveloped but there are very sever limits that coaching can do to wisen up our players - especially fundamentals. they're called fundamentals because you learn them at the beginning. it doesn't take a genius to figure out how to dribble, how to shoot, or how to pass. to become proficient in it just takes practice - effort that is very tedious. IF our guys can't dribble (which i disagree with), then it's up to them to work on it. it's a professional league of grown men making millions of dollars. you can't force someone to practice 24/7, especially in the off season. so while wizD's diagnoses are many, and made with the right reasons, it's really not on Ted or even Flip that our player development is at a snail's pace. it's on our players.

furthermore, the reason that singleton can't back anyone down is because he's not a post up player. the reason booker can't back anyone down is because he's too short and alligator armed. the reason that vesely can't back anyone down is because he's too skinny and he's got zippy experience. none of this has anything to do with problems dribbing the ball too high with a dominant hand.

now the arguments on wall is that he loses his dribble when in actuality his turnovers aren't caused by him losing control of the ball. i think wall actually keeps the ball on a pretty tight leash especially considering the breakneck speed he plays with. his turnovers come off lazy passes and when he dribbles himself into a corner. decision-making based.

also, not a lot of people take these posts seriously because there are some seriously egregious grammatical mistakes strewn throughout.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

What really needs to happen is common sense.

If a player is deficient in an area that player needs specialized attention. They need remedial training, even if they have to be taken away from the rest of the team part of the time.

Another common sense solution is to stop putting time into offensive intracacies, stop spending too much time game planning specific opponents, and to put far more time into player development and skills. If the Wizards just worked on ball handling, spacing, and passing that might be beneficial. They need their guards to practice NOT jacking. Just a practice in unselfishness would be nice. If they work feed the post, McGee or Booker kicking it out, and reposting over and over, that might be beneficial.

I don't know, just a rant. Seems to me if players are raw they shouldn't be doing much more than getting individualized training. Forget running anything but really basic sets. The one thing they need to work on is getting several people to touch the ball. Movement, screens, passing, unselfishness--that's what would be indicative of a learning, unselfishness, and improving the IQ of the team.

Guys also need to put their own extra time in on shooting or ball handling.

[WizarDynasty]

What really needs to happen is common sense.

If a player is deficient in an area that player needs specialized attention. They need remedial training, even if they have to be taken away from the rest of the team part of the time.

Another common sense solution is to stop putting time into offensive intracacies, stop spending too much time game planning specific opponents, and to put far more time into player development and skills. If the Wizards just worked on ball handling, spacing, and passing that might be beneficial. They need their guards to practice NOT jacking. Just a practice in unselfishness would be nice. If they work feed the post, McGee or Booker kicking it out, and reposting over and over, that might be beneficial.

I don't know, just a rant. Seems to me if players are raw they shouldn't be doing much more than getting individualized training. Forget running anything but really basic sets. The one thing they need to work on is getting several people to touch the ball. Movement, screens, passing, unselfishness--that's what would be indicative of a learning, unselfishness, and improving the IQ of the team.

Guys also need to put their own extra time in on shooting or ball handling.

i agree. i think the problem is that we have roster full of mostly gym rats...singleton, booker, wall, seraphin, vesely, and even mcgee who need a trusted eye to help them see their own weaknesses so that they can begin to take steps to correct them. We have gym rats on our team who have done all they can to figure out how to improve but have hit a brick wall in terms of seeing the promise land as to what they can become. These are young players under 25 years old.
YOu can't teach drive and the players i mentioned have it. All you need to do with this bunch is give them a tried and true game plan for how to get to the promise land as well as structure and they will achieve it. They are just don't have enough experience to map there way to the promise land.
The young players need someone to be able to visualize what they can be with improved skills development. an expert dribble consultant knows how far trevor booker can go with his individual physique and motor coordination ...wall clearly has a much higher upside in terms of advanced dribbling ability with his off hand than booker but the problem is that neither one has come to within 50 percent of their potential.
an expert outside consultant can visualize how far a player can go and can set up an effective training regimen to get that player there ...while the player on his own...CAn't visualize what they look like if they reached their 100 percent potential.

so that is the problem folks, we have hardworkers who can't visualize what they look like reaching 100percent full potential with their off hand dribbling and therefore they can't establish on their own, an effective tailorized training regimen. this is why an outside consultant is needed because this tailorized training regimen would already have been executed if someone inside the organization was capable of effectively visualizing a players limitations as well as the skill level that they can achieve. All of the hardworking players have massive amount of upside a far as dribbling off hand ability that hasn't been realized and i conclude that no one inside organization is a qualified expert due to lack of visual court evidence and its essential that someone qualified and respected (in respect to elite dribbling skills outside the organization be brought in immediately to ensure no further time is wasted.

[nate33]

I agree with the premise that Wall has sub par dribbling skills for an NBA PG. Where I disagree is in your solution.

Dribbling isn't some dark art. There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of people who have the requisite expertise to teach "elite level" dribbling skills. I'm sure the Wizards have people on their staff that can handle this. The issue is, does Wall et al have the discipline and dedication to make it happen?

[WizarDynasty]

I agree with the premise that Wall has sub par dribbling skills for an NBA PG. Where I disagree is in your solution.

Dribbling isn't some dark art. There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of people who have the requisite expertise to teach "elite level" dribbling skills. I'm sure the Wizards have people on their staff that can handle this. The issue is, does Wall et al have the discipline and dedication to make it happen?

i highly disagree that anyone in this organization knows what it takes to get to chris paul like handles except a player that has actually achieve elite level dribbling skills and and there are only a handful. Sam Cassell is probably the best dribbler in this organization and his handles were average at best. i make the conclusion that if a former player never achieve elite level dribbling ability on par with chris paul, that means he didn't know how what it took to get there or was just to lazy to put in the work. Only a few people on this planet have achieved chris paul, steve nash like handle and we need wall to get to this level for him to be a franchise level point guard.
there are only a few former players who have achieved this level or handle or have insight as to how chris paul or other great dribblers got to their high level of dribbling ability.
anyone can say practice practice practice but what they actually did and how long it took is a mystery. I highly doubt the best dribbler in this organization, Cassell knows how what chris paul, steve nash...great pass first point guards did to get to elite level dribbling ability.
Cassell knows what he did but he wasn't great and we need wall to put in more work than what cassell did his entire career.
Who in this organization do you think has experienced at improving a point guards dribbling handles to the level of steve nash or chris paul in the wizards organization? Is it an assistant coach? Do we have any assistant coaches that worked one on one with some the greatest dribblers ever to have hands on experience at seeing what took place with their own eyes?
i don't want to experiment with wall. I want wall to be a proven system for dribbling that got nash and paul to where they are .

[sfam]

Perhaps WizD has the inside track of what happens inside the Wizards organization. You certainly get that impression reading his posts. Unfortunately I don't have this level of access. If I did, I'm not sure I'd feel confident getting into the minutia of the coaching mechanics to propose something like this, but again, each of us are different.

I do think the time to address these sorts of things are the off season, and certainly not in an overally jam-packed season with too many games in too few days. If there's any fundamental time at all, ALL of it should be spent working on shooting mechanics.

And if you buy that the off season is the time to work on these things, considering the Wizards were not allowed to have contact with the players in the off season, its kinda silly to blame the coaching staff.

Bottom line though, players making millions of dollars need to be professional enough to hire their own damn training experts if the Wizards aren't able to talk to them. Just as they should be coming into camp in shape - just as they should be looking at the tapes the coaches provide prior to the games. If the players aren't going to act like professionals, the coaches just aren't gonna be able to solve this.