Two Minute Drill

Off-season or In-Season Individual Development Workout

This is the best Individual Development drill basketball we have basketball It develops:

1. Ability to shoot free throws under pressure

2. Conditioning

3. Footwork coming off of a screen or cut

4. Three-point shooting

5. Mental Toughness/Competitiveness

6. Making shots under pressure

Basketball players are highly competitive people by nature; therefore it is beneficial to design drills that provide an opportunity for players to compete against other players or against themselves. The competition increases the player's enthusiasm for the drill and results in better intensity during the training session. The Two Minute Drill requires only one player. The players compete against themselves for their best score. However, it is extremely helpful to have someone timing the drill.

Many players practice free throws by shooting 100, 200 or possibly more in each practice session. While volume shooting is an important part of developing confidence and rhythm on free throws, this type of practice does not subject the player to the same conditions that exist while attempting free throws during a game. Pressure and fatigue are just two factors that may affect free throw percentage. To be a successful free throw shooter in games, players must be able to step to the line a make two in a row while fatigued and under pressure.

The Two Minute Drill is designed for player to do just that. Players must step to the free throw line and make two pressure free throws while fatigued. The objective of the Two Minute Drill Game is for the player to move from level one to the highest level possible. In order to advance from one level to another, the player must make a power lay-up, a spin-and-catch intermediate shot and a three point shot. The player must shoot until he/she has made each shot, even if s/he misses each one four times, the level is not completed until each of the three shots goes in. After making the three-point shot the player immediately (with no rest!) steps to the free throw line to shoot a one-and-one free throw. If the player makes both free throws he/she advances to the next level and repeats the same sequence. If the player misses a free throw he/she must remain on that level.

The drill is timed for two minutes. The stopwatch only runs while the player is shooting shots from the field, like a game. It does not run during free throws. If there is no one to time the player can wear a sport watch to time him/herself. The timing of the drill is very significant to its effectiveness because the clock pushes the player to run hard after rebounds and to shoot shots that are more game-like. However, if no timer is available, the player must push him/herself to go hard. To make it competitive, the shooter can be limited to a total number of misses or to commit that the first missed free throw will end the game.

Players compete each practice session against the highest level they have ever achieved. They may also compete against other players by seeing which player reaches the highest level in a given amount of time.

The game may be altered to more benefit to post players. Post players may choose to substitute the three-point shots or the intermediate shots with jump hooks or other post moves. It is easy to come up with several other variations to keep the drill from becoming monotonous.

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Why Bob Knight Was a Great Coach

Love him or hate him, you can't deny that Bob Knight is (or was) a great college basketball coach. Born Robert Montgomery Knight, and known as the "General" to his peers and players, he is the winningest coach in Division I basketball history.

Coach Knight's career spanned 43 years (1965 - 2008) and he amassed a record of 902 wins and 371 losses (.708%). He won 3 national championships, one National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship, eleven Big Ten Conference championships, was awarded the Naismith College Coach of the Year in 1987. The list goes on and on. I've watched Coach Knight's teams play throughout the years and studied his philosophy, but the thing that impresses me the most is his ability to teach kids how to play the game of basketball.

The art of teaching college athletes the fundamentals of basketball sure doesn't get much attention in this day and age. The media fixates on the top ranked point guard in this year's senior class, the top player in 8th grade, or the list of current parade All-Americans. There are television programs, websites, camps, and publications dedicated to rating and ranking the best players. Assistant coaches scour the country (and the globe) to find the best athletes, but we often don't hear much about the coaches who focus on the purity of the game of basketball. That's why I like Bob Knight. Sure, his name pops up from time to time, but not for what he has contributed to the game of basketball on the court.

If you've ever watched Coach Knight's teams run their motion offense, it is one of the most beautiful things you'll ever see. He doesn't teach his players 20 - 30 basketball plays only to have them executed one after another throughout the course of a game, he teaches his kids how to play the game. When his team gets into a rhythm, it's poetry in motion.

Coach Knight believes in teaching kids how to read the defense and gives his players options to counter what the defense is trying to do. He teaches discipline and demands that his team carry out their strategy. I'm a huge fan of motion offense because your opponent can scout your team, but they can't be prepared for everything you do. I'm amazed that coaches don't run this type of offense more. Most programs have 2 - 3 coaches, managers, or video coordinators who break down film each week and put together a defensive strategy. They have practices dedicated to walking through the opponent's plays. I've even seen a team completely shut down their opponent's offensive strategy simply by scouting and teaching their players what the other team is going to do. I often wonder if this is why Coach Knight built his system around motion offense. No matter how well a team prepared, they couldn't predict everything Coach Knight's squad was going to do.

Here are some principles of a good motion offense.

Spacing - No matter what type of motion offense you are running (5 man, 3 out 2 in, or 4 around 1), your players must have good spacing. Meaning, the kids can't be too close to each other. They need room to move around the court without clogging up certain areas of the floor. A team that runs their offense with good spacing will also balance the floor well, which means the players are equally dispersed on all sides of the court.

Constant Movement - Coach Knight's players were rarely caught standing in one place. They moved about the court constantly and they always had a purpose for their movement. In a motion offense, the worse thing a player can do is stand around and watch his other four teammates move about the floor. Encourage all of your players to constantly move, screen, cut, pass, rebound, etc.

Pass the Ball - Almost every player would rather dribble the ball than pass it, but a team that runs a solid motion offense understands that passing the ball creates opportunities to score. A team's ability to move the ball around the court by passing increases their likely hood of breaking down the defense. Coach Knight's teams rarely came down the floor only to have a one pass and a shot.

Counters - Reading (watching) the defense and countering what they do is the most important aspect of motion offense. The unpredictability a counter creates gives the offense an advance. For example, if a player screens another, the player receiving the screen can curl, flair, pop, or back screen. That's four options the player can choose from based on what he or she thinks the defender will do. The probability of the defender anticipating the correct move is 1 in 4 or 25% of the time. Not the greatest basketball if you ask me. The chips are stacked against the defender.

I like running motion offense because you don't need the most talented players to execute on the four principles outlined above. Sure, a talented player will boost your offense, but it doesn't make or break it. Coach Knight has had some talented players in his time, but he didn't rely on talent only. He focused on execution, strategy, and teaching his players how to play the game in its purest sense. It's no wonder that he is the winning coach of all time. He approached the game from a different angel and was successful because of this.

So, no matter what your feelings are on Bob's Knight career, it's good to reflect on what he has done for the game of basketball. It has certainly changed over the years and I believe he played a big part. I'm sure we'll see someone break his win record, but for now, he's one of the best to ever coach the game.

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Los Angeles Lakers - From the Down Times Until Now

You do not have to follow basketball to know who basketball Los Angeles Lakers are. The Lakers are one of the most well known teams on the NBA. They do hold a number of records, but throughout their history, there have been a number of bad years. Through good team selection and coaches, the team has fought to get themselves to where they are today.

In the beginning, the Lakers faced a number of difficulties - they won some and they lost some. There were no championship titles or records won by the team - not in the early days.

Originally founded in 1946, the Lakers were known as the Detroit Lakers, as they were based out of Detroit, Michigan. Shortly later, they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. This move was a good one for them, as this is where they won their first championship game - as a matter-of-fact - they won five when they were the Minneapolis Lakers.

Finally, in 1960, the Lakers moved to their home town of Los Angeles. The first decade was a tough ride for the team, as they could not even get into the NBA finals.

The next decade did not look much brighter for the Los Angeles Lakers. In the 1970's they won a title, which was definitely better than the previous 10 years, but that was it.

In the 1980's the team started to make a turn for the better. During this decade is when Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - two of the biggest names in the NBA - played for the Lakers. Additionally, Coach Pat Riley coached the team on team-work and helped them jump over their hurdles. During this time, the Los Angeles Lakers won five additional championships, and had their highest number of wins in one given season.

Like any roller coaster, there was a down-slope coming. The 1990's proved to be an uneventful year for the Lakers. Not to say there was nothing to talk about, but compared to the 80's, nothing spectacular happened.

Finally, in the 21st century, things are really beginning to look up for the Lakers. They now have players like Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, along with Coach Phil Jackson. Already, in just eight years, they have won five NBA finals.

The turn-around, of events, over the past decade, has captured the attention of many fans. The Lakers fans are not your typical fan, but are die-hard fans as they have watched their team struggle and come out of it with shining colors.

At the end of their most recent season, the Lakers held one of the highest number of records in NBA history. One of which was given to them for having the highest number of wins, ever, at over 2,900 wins.

They also hold records for the highest percentage (60%) of won games and appearing in the Finals 29 times. One fete, for them personally, to beat is the number of championship wins held by their rivals - the Boston Celtics. The Lakers are only three championship wins away, but this would be a grand accomplishment for the team.

The amount of talent that has passed through the Los Angeles Lakers is phenomenal. There have been 14 Hall of Fame players, and 4 Hall of Fame coaches, throughout their history. The combination of this talent and coaching has brought the team to where they are today.

By Matt Ryan, sponsored by StubPass. StubPass sells Los Angeles Lakers Tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets, NBA Tickets and many more tickets to your favorite events around the world.