Kentucky basketball recruiting has not really picked up like I expected it to under Billy Gillispie. Yes, UK has signed Andre Liggins and Darius Miller, but I expected UK recruiting to be getting a lot more interest from some of the top McDonald’s all-Americans by this time.
I noticed UK basketball recruiting has involved a lot of junior college players recently. Nothing against these players, but there is just not enough data to show these recruits pay off very often. I guess beggars can’t be choosers sometimes. I have no doubt Billy Gillispie is trying to take UK basketball recruiting to the next level.
Nobody has really mentioned that recruiting has been effected by replacing a black head coach with a white head coach. Now, this doesn’t cause any concern to me. I know that Tubby Smith was treated like royalty at UK and he got the respect he deserved, but I have to believe there are many African American players that may not like the fact UK chose to hire a white coach after Tubby Smith left. I hope this doesn’t effect Kentucky recruiting because it shouldn’t.
Coach Smith definitely had an advantage with some recruits at UK because he was African American so we will see if Billy Gillispie and basketball recruiting can quickly regain some of the top recruits’ attention at UK. I know he has already garnered the attention of a few top profile recruits, but this coaching change and its effect on the Kentucky Wildcats basketball hasn’t been fully absorbed yet.
I believe Billy Gillispie will start to lock up all the top in-state talent because he works harder than Pitino as a recruiter and his down-home Texas style will be very appealing to many Kentucky high school players and their families. In addition, after watching the improvement of Crawford and Bradley under Coach Gillispie, players are going to soon discover they can elevate their games tremendously under Coach Gillispie who develops talent as good as any coach in America. This will also boost UK basketball recruiting.
Billy Gillispie could form some truly amazing teams at UK once he gets top talent at the University of Kentucky. This could be the best UK basketball recruiting we’ve ever seen.
By: T Cornett
Archive for the ‘Baskets’ category
Origin of Basketball – Part 1
April 25th, 2010
Basketball is a sport with a history that is very different from many modern sports. While many of the present day team sports evolved from variations of past sports, basketball is unique, having been invented by Dr. James Naismith, a physician and minister working for the college for YMCA professionals (later called Springfield College, in Massachusetts). Seeking a rigorous game that could be played indoors during the New England winter to occupy restless young men, Naismith sat down in December of 1891 and developed the first set of rules for the game.
Legend has it that Naismith nailed a peach basket ten foot high on an elevated track. The first game was played on January 20, 1982, in the YMCA gymnasium, with nine players and a court half the size of a present day NBA court. A student suggested calling the game “basketball”, which seemed to be popular and stuck.
The original game was played with a soccer ball, and the first designated basketballs were brown. However, due to their lack of visibility to both players and crowds of fans, Tony Hinkle developed the modern day orange basketball in the late 1950’s nnd it is still used today. The college and pro basketballs are different from one another.
By: Peter Portero
Basketball Fast Break Conditioning Drills
April 25th, 2010
Many talented basketball teams get beat because they aren’t in as good of shape as the other team. At the end of a game, the player that is intense and has great stamina will always out-perform the naturally gifted athlete that hasn’t taken conditioning very serious.
The following basketball drills are perfect for getting players in shape. They promote intensity, concentration and are flat out tiring. They also provide players with the opportunity to practice the fast break.
4-4 Defensive Drill
This could have been my least favorite drill to participate in as a player because you get so tired. It is a drill where I encourage players to be physical and to play hard at all times. It is easy to run and can be done on teams of 6 or 8 if you just shorten the amount of players that go against each other. Start with 4 players on defense and 4 players on offense. The offense starts at the end line and the defense starts at the foul line facing them. In order to make sure that this is a drill focused on defense, I would only reward stops and not points. At the start of the drill the coach calls out two names of the players on defense who must touch the end line before running to play defense. This gives the offense the advantage early on. The coach will throw the ball to the offense and they will run down and attempts to score while the other two defenders try to slow down the ball or stop it altogether before the others get there. This drill has been performed at every level and I’ve seen players run this drill very physically. Remember to force the ball to a sideline and away from the middle of the court. Remember to try to force the ball to be backed up or reversed. In this drill, just a small second can allow everyone to catch up and have it be equal. The first team with 3 stops wins the drill. A stop is a steal or a rebound. The losing team either runs or stays in the drill longer. It is a punishing drill and I’ve seen players get sick to the point of throwing up because they couldn’t stop the other team from scoring.
2 Man Speed Drill
I hated this drill when I was younger because it is such a killer conditioning wise. This drill involves 2 players. Player 1 takes the ball out of bounds and throws to player 2 who immediately takes the ball and speed dribbles to the opposing foul line. Player 1 meanwhile runs to the mid-court sideline and then cuts at an angle to the basket at full speed. Player 2 throws a pass to player 1 who lays the ball in the basket. Player 2 gets the ball, before it hits the ground, and takes it out of bounds. The drill then starts over with the positions in reverse. Each tandem should go down and back before another group goes. This drill will get you tired. For coaches, make sure that the players that are filling the lane are running full speed to get there. Don’t allow them to loaf down the floor and don’t allow the point guard to dribble slowly. Basketball drills need to be done at full speed in order to be truly effective.
By: Brian Schofield
