It’s almost summertime!

Фото: FIBA Assist Magazine

In this section, we introduce the latest books, videos, CDs, and other tools that are primarily aimed at coaches, but certainly useful for all of our readers. Please send your suggestions and comments about our basketball-related media for review in this section.

Raffaele Imbrogno has been coaching since 1980. He is an Instructor for the Italian National Coaches Committee of the Federation and has been Director of the Italian Basketball Federation Study Center. Imbrogno is also the author of several technical basketball publications.

"I feel like a field sown in the heart of winter, and I know that spring is coming. My streams will it take to scroll through and the small life sleeping in me will rise in surface to the first call."
Kahlil Gibran

March Madness in the United States ended with decisive victories for both the University of North Carolina Tar Heels (men) and the University of Connecticut Huskies (women). Both were pre-season favorites to win their respective NCAA titles, and they did.

Now, let’s take a look at the new technical materials coming from leading American university coaches that you may want to add to your book collection or DVD library. The Duke University Blue Devils didn’t reach the Final Four this year and to make matters worse, their arch-enemies located just 10 miles away in Chapel Hill (The University of North Carolina), won the National title. Still, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the Duke coach has been busy at his computer, writing another interesting work entitled “The Gold Standard - Building a World-Class Team,” which was co-authored by his older daughter Jaime K. Spatola.

Coach K starts off by noting that “In all types of leadership, if you are a coach, manager, or a parent, there are four words that can make your team, your staff, or your family give their best: I BELIEVE IN YOU!“ According to Coach K, who guided the United States to the 2008 Olympic Games gold medal in basketball, these four words can make the difference between the fear of losing and the courage needed when trying to win. In his book, published by Business Plus, Coach K describes the challenge of adapting his coaching methods that work so well with young college basketball players to his team of NBA superstars. There were many people who felt that he would not be able to adjust and that the NBA players would ignore him and his coaching ideas. Coach K proved his naysayers wrong. In describing his time with his Olympic athletes, Coach K admits that egos were not the issue. Instead, he had to get his players to stop thinking always about the team and start looking for their own shots. For example, Kobe Bryant, one of NBA’s top scorers, was so determined to prove his unselfishness that he didn’t take a shot in one practice game.

For those of you who want to read about how the U.S. was able to return to the top of international basketball rankings, Coach K’s book is the one to read. For those of you who want to understand the intricacies of the pick-and-roll and how to defend against this basic basketball play, then Dave Odom’s DVD, “Defending the Pick and Roll” from Championship Productions should on your list. Odom, the threetime ACC Coach of the Year at Wake Forest who died of a heart attack last year while jogging, analyzes many pick-and-roll situations and describes six types of defenses. For you defense-minded coaches, Ralph Willard’s “Man Defense to Equalize Talent” is another DVD to consider. Willard, a former assistant coach to Jim Boheim, Tubby Smith, and Rick Pitino, and now the head coach at Holy Cross College, shows how to make your rivals’ offense “think” by blocking its aggressiveness. He focuses on defense on the ball, aggressive switches, help from the weakside, double-teams in the post, all packed into 74 minutes.

Jim Calhoun, the coach of the University of Connecticut offers his own DVD, “Rebounding Drills & Basketball Wisdom.” In 78 minutes, the Hall of Fame coach (two NCAA titles, 16-time winner of the Big East championship, and over 700 victories in his storied career) shows us the ins and outs of rebounding. He focuses on footwork, strength, positioning, and aggressiveness.

Finally, Ganon Baker has two new DVDs: “Ganon Baker’s Ball Skills for Creating Separation” and “Ganon Baker’s Ball Skills for Post Players.” The first DVD details how to take advantage on defense thanks to footwork and strong movements to go to the basket. He has various one-on-one situations, with or without the ball. In the second DVD, Coach Baker shows the exercises that will improve dribble skills in one-on-one situations in the low post, as well as how to move without the ball. Enjoy the book, the DVDs, and the summer months!