The Importance Of Teaching The Fundamentals Of The Game

This is a video that I like to show my guys, especially in the off-season where we don't have the excitement or purpose of preparing for competition.  In the off-season, our guys can sometimes get bored with the skills and drills that we do to improve their fundamentals, so a little perspective and added motivation is always great to get them going and to provide importance and relevance to what we do.

Here, the guys at NBA Open Court are talking about the importance of teaching and learning the fundamentals of the game and how mastering the fundamentals is a difference maker between being good and being great.  They use Tracy McGrady, Michael Jordan, and Larry Bird as examples.  As good a player that Tracy McGrady was, and for as much talent as he had, he was much maligned for never being able to get out of the 1st round of the playoffs.

The guys mentioned that college, and more importantly mastering the fundamentals of the game, is something that might have held him back.  The guys gave a lot of the credit of Michael Jordan's success to the fundamentals and the great teaching of Dean Smith and Phil Jackson in Jordan's game.  Kenny Smith said that Jordan was the most fundamentally gifted athlete there ever was in the league, and that him being so fundamentally sound helped separate him from other great athletes at his position, like Clyde Drexler.

Isaiah Thomas talked about how Bird's flawless fundamental setup gave him more time when he got the ball in his hands.  That fundamental know-how allows them to slow the game down and allowed them to get more out of their natural talent.

As coaches at all levels, we have to teach to mastery the fundamentals of the game.  It will help accentuate the natural talents of our athletes, raising the ceiling of their potential immensely.  

Instead of just letting guys go play, teach them how to play.