When this season started it was unimaginable that Oklahoma City would be in the playoffs; the Thunder were not only coming off of a horrific season with a record of 3-29, they also had a rough start at the beginning of the year. No one thought that with their roster – the same as last year’s – they would be able to turn things around and end as the eighth seed of the Western Conference, giving them a spot on the playoffs.

For this transformation, Brooks received 71 of 123 first-place votes and 480 points, finishing ahead of Milwaukee’s Coach Scott Skiles’ 26 first-place votes, 313 points, and Portland coach Nate McMillan’s 9 and 107. The selection was determined by 118 broadcasters from both the US and Canada.

Oklahoma City General Manager Sam Presti stated that he felt very proud and happy for Brooks. He also described Brooks as a very consistent person, hardly affected by adversity; on the contrary, Presti asserted, Brooks fights back until he gets what he is looking for.

Even though Brooks received the award and is very excited with it, he knows that he has to focus now on the playoffs, for which he is looking for another turnaround as the Thunder are losing the series against the Los Angeles Lakers 0-2. He is also very aware that they are playing against the best team in the country, and the Lakers are determined to defend their title as champions of the NBA.

“This is the first-time playoff experience for a lot of us, including myself, and you’re playing against one of the best coaches of all sports, one of the best players ever and a team that has 1,000 [games of] playoff experience to ours,” Brooks said. “But you learn from playing against the best players and the best teams, and we’re going to keep fighting and figuring out ways to beat them.”

Even though these are his first playoffs as a coach, Brooks is trying to teach his players that they don’t have to give up even if they are playing against such a renowned team.

When Brooks took over the coaching position from PJ Carlesimo in 2008, his job wasn’t easy. He modified a few player positions and since then the team has been improving. Kevin Durant, for example, was moved from shooting guard to a forward and this increased his productivity. Now Durant is the NBA’s youngest scoring champion this season.

Brooks has been teaching the Thunder that every day they must practice harder, to improve as a team. Noticeable improvement awarded him a multi-year contract with the Thunder last year, even though they ended up with a 22-47 record. He took the position as an interim coach and was given the chance to make progress with the team; Sam Presti is very pleased with the results.

Much more impressive is the fact that Brooks did all this with the same group of players from last season, as well as rookies James Harden, Serge Ibaka and Eric Maynor.

Brooks started in the NBA as a player and spent 11 seasons playing with teams such as Philadelphia 76ers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. He was also a member of Houston’s 1994 NBA Championship team.

The biggest scandal to happen in recent years is that of Tim Donaghy. He was caught a couple years ago, but his gambling began much earlier, around 2003. He began placing general bets around this time but by December of 2006 he was releasing sensitive information to gamblers. He and his buddy Jimmy Battista began a gambling strategy that included Donaghy getting $2000 – $5000 for every bet he guaranteed with his calls. He would tip off high-stakes gamblers with some inside info and careful recommendations on what teams to gamble on. If he was right he was paid around five thousand dollars a pop. Once he was convicted, he was released on a $250,000 bond and faced up to 25 years in prison if the maximum charges were prosecuted. His sentence was not nearly that long but it was nice to know the government was taking it seriously. Along with that, he was responsible for paying a $500,000 fine to the NBA as well as $30,000 to the government. This event rocked the entire league, and many questioned the integrity of the sport as a whole.

Commissioner Stern has gone to great lengths to try and fix the wrongs that have been made, and the league is taking precautions to try and make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again. The sad thing is that these kinds of things not only happen in professional basketball, but have gone on in almost every sport. If the money is worth the risk, many referees of different sports are willing to throw away their integrity for a few extra bucks.

It is the hope of every sports fan that referees will call game from an unbiased perspective, and let athletes compete at the highest level without playing favorites. This Tim Donaghy scandal opened a lot of people’s eyes to the shortcomings of men in power, and hopefully stricter regulations will prevent these kinds of things from happening again.

Donaghy, along with Battista, pleaded guilty to two felony charges and spent around 15 months in prison. While these were the only two to be convicted and sentenced to jail time, it was suspected that 13 other referees were involved in the scandal.

The moment of injury is unclear, but it seems to have occurred when Glen Davis blocked a shot with just seven minutes left in the first half. The Cavaliers asked for a time out shortly after the incident to take O’Neal out of the game. The sprain left the player on the bench for the rest of the night.

Shaq then missed a game on Friday due to continued pain and underwent an MRI on Saturday. An examination on Sunday by Dr. Thomas Graham at the National Hand Center in Baltimore determined that Shaq would need surgery to repair the damage in his thumb. Dr. Graham was to perform the surgery as well.

The typical recovery time for this type of injury requires 6 to 8 weeks: first 2 weeks in a cast then another 4 to 6 rehabilitating. With 7 weeks and 22 games left in the regular season, the Cavs look like they will be missing their new center.

The team is hoping Shaq will recover in time for the playoffs.

Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry has been supportive of O’Neal and his injury; he stated that the team could wait for a proper recovery for the postseason.

“Our guys have done a very good job of stepping up this season. We are confident they will do the same in this situation,” Ferry said. “We are fortunate to have some depth in our front court that can keep us moving forward while Shaq recovers and returns to play for the postseason.”

The Cavaliers signed O’Neal last year after being eliminated in the playoffs by the Orlando Magic. The team was hoping that the player would boost its competitiveness for the postseason.

O’Neal has had a great season so far with the Cavaliers, with an average of 12 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in the last 53 games. He has helped the team go 4-1 in its games against both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic, both teams against which Cleveland has struggled in the past two seasons, especially in the playoffs.

This is the second time in his career that Shaquille has injured his thumb. The first injury occurred in 1995 when he played with the Orlando Magic; he fractured the same thumb and missed 22 games.

This season, Cleveland is leading Orlando by six games; if the Cavs can keep up this winning streak, they will end the regular season with the best record in the season. The two will not face off again until the Eastern Conference finals, which, if they maintain their positions as the top two seeds, will begin in May.

In the meantime, the Cavs, who have been struggling with injured players throughout the regular season, will hope to continue their success without Shaq.

Then you have the other group who believe that practicing the sport is the best option and not wasting time copying these movements in a weight room. There are a few ways you can help improve your overall power, thus helping your jump. By increasing your force and distance, decreasing time, and conditioning your excess body fat you are well on your way to being able to improve the height of your jump.

Because strength and force are related, increasing the force applied to any given sport is a great way to improve on your jumping technique. In order to master this idea, you must improve your current strength level. Strength is defined as the ability of skeletal muscle to produce force. This means that if you increase your strength you increase your ability to produce force. An increase in force directly results in athletic power. Practice does indeed make perfect when applying the principle here. High Intensity Training is recommended, but you do have people out there against it.

In order to effectively increase your strength, you should subject your body to constant tension until you are unable to withstand it anymore. This should help your game in the long run, and should greatly improve your chances while learning to jump higher. Another idea that will help you learn how to jump higher is to increase your distance. Increasing your distance kind of runs in sync with increasing your flexibility. By doing this, you are teaching yourself how to basically move your body better. If you can master this, your jump should come along readily. There are special strength training exercises you can do, and you may even want to check out a stretching program to see if that can help you further.

Decreasing time is another method of learning how to jump higher and to improve your overall function. This is actually a good way to get faster at learning any given skill. This increases your athletic power. If you practice hard enough, you should be able to utilize this. Just be sure and practice everyday what you would do in an actual game and this will be greatly beneficial in the end. Start conditioning your body, as well. By doing this, you are trimming excess body fat that can hinder aspects of your game. This is perhaps one of the single most important things you can do to help your jump. Conditioning your body helps your overall body function and improves your flexibility. Keeping a conditioning routine in tact will help you maintain your body and keep your skills at their best.

In conclusion, these tips should help you tone your body until your jump extraordinarily increases. These tips are very important, and you should utilize them as often as possible. The only thing out there that can make sure you improve upon yourself is you, so hopefully you try these on for size. Hopefully they have provided some insight on how you can learn to jump higher.

Here are 3 tips to increase your jumping ability and have you soaring to new heights in no time flat (WARNING – these tips should be used with caution as they have helped many people increase their vertical jump to 44 inches in less than 3 weeks):

1. Jump some rope – how in the world will jumping rope help you increase your jumping ability? A couple things – by consistently jumping rope you are not only building up your endurance, but you are also building your leg muscles. Jumping rope will help build your glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves. All of these muscles are essential to getting air.

2. Stretch – appropriately stretching does 2 things. First it lengthens your muscle bellies so that you are more limber. Second, it allows more blood to flow to the muscles. The combination of these 2 things will help you not only be more agile, but they will also help prevent injury. Be sure to stretch appropriately before and after any practice or game for the best effect.

3. Lose some weight – If you are serious about increasing your jumping ability, drop a few pounds. You will be amazed at how much higher you can jump with even a few pounds gone. Additionally, the lower weight will lighten the stress on your knees and hips and help to make you more explosive.

There are a number of other tips and strategies you can use to increase jumping ability, but when used wisely, these will definitely get you headed in the right direction.

There are two ways for you to build your own basketball court: you can do it from scratch or simply purchase a DIY basketball court kit.

Starting from Scratch
Skills – You need to have intermediate carpentry skills to successfully build your own basketball court from scratch. Firstly, you have to make sure that the ground you’ll be building your basketball court on has a smooth even surface to prevent accidents and decrease the risk of injury. Secondly, you’ll need to build your own basketball ring. Thirdly, you’ll need to paint your own court lines.

Costs – It’s possible that you’ll enjoy lower costs when it comes to building your own basketball court from scratch. Most DIY basketball court kits include flooring, which would just be an unnecessary expense if you already have an appropriate floor surface for your basketball court. You can also choose your own materials for your basketball stand and ring and even painting materials and ensure that you’ll pay less for them.

Production Time – Of course, building your own basketball court from scratch will take a longer time than it would with a DIY kit. This is because instead of simply having to assemble things only as is such the case with a DIY kit, it’s entirely a different procedure when you’re determined to build one from scratch.

Firstly, you’ll have to take appropriate measurements. Secondly, you’ll have to go shopping for the necessary materials and tools before you can finally get on to the building part.

Material Sources – You may have a difficult time procuring the required materials for your project especially if you’re looking for things that are only sold wholesale in the market.

Using a DIY Basketball Court Kit
Model – Make sure that you’re purchasing the correct DIY basketball court kit. Most DIY basketball court kits differ according to court dimensions and whether or not it adheres to NBA or collegiate standards or the likes. Check also if the kit is for half or full court models.

Skills – Basic or moderate building skills are all that’s necessary to get your basketball court assembled. You will need however to read instructions carefully and thoroughly because the assembly process leaves no room for errors. Skipping a step can spell danger for you in the long run as it compromises the safety of your basketball court.

Cost – Expect to spend a small amount of money on a DIY basketball kit, although this is certainly money well spent because DIY kits include absolutely everything you need to make your basketball court entirely professional and fit for the NBA!

Tips on Installing Poles for Your Basketball Court
Whether you’re building your own basketball court from scratch or using a DIY kit, you’ll basically undergo the same process in properly installing your pole.

Firstly, you need to dig an appropriately sized hole for the foundation of your basketball pole. At least one foot and three inches of your basketball pole must be set underneath to ensure its stability. Once you’ve secured the pole’s position, cover the hole with concrete. Make sure it’s completely filled and doesn’t have any air pockets. Afterwards, fill the pole with concrete as well. When that’s done, check if the pole is plumb positioned accurately.

Important Measurements for Basketball Court Building
The NBA and NCAA are both using the same court dimensions: ninety-four feet in length and fifty feet in width. High school basketball courts use the same width but a shorter length at eighty-four feet. Junior high basketball courts are seventy-four feet in length and forty-two feet in width.

Regardless of whether you’re using an NBA, NCAA, or Junior High basketball court, you should concentrate more on honing your son’s skills in basic basketball skills like dribbling and shooting if you want him fully prepared for a professional basketball career. But most important of all is to ensure that you and your son have fun playing. Shoot for your dreams!

Basketball is a team sport. Unfortunately, a lot of basketball players, make the mistake of thinking that they can win games and championships by solely outscoring their opponent(s). Not a single basketball player, since the invention of basketball by James Naismith in 1891, has ever won a championship without involving his teammates–that is over 100 years and counting!

Even Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, did not win his first NBA championship ring until after he learned how to “share” the basketball with his teammates by creating scoring opportunities not only for himself but also for his teammates–in essence, he improved his basketball passing skills. In a nutshell, great basketball players know how to pass the ball.

With that said, there are different type of passes that you can make as a basketball player: Bounce Pass, Chest Pass, Overhead Pass, Underhand Pass, Baseball Pass, and the Hook Pass. Each type of pass is useful for different game situations. And, you as a basketball player should definitely try to master all the different type of basketball passes. However, only the chest pass will be covered in this article.

How To Make A Chest Pass.

The chest pass is one of the most important passes in basketball. To make the chest pass, do the following:

1) Place one hand on either side of the ball, fingers spread evenly and loosely; 2) Hold the ball in front of your chest; 3) Pull your hands together until your thumbs are about four inches apart; and, 4) Keep your el­bows close to the body.

How To Make A Chest Pass To A Teammate:

1) Step directly toward him with either foot; 2) Thrust your arms toward him until they are fully ex­tended; and, 3) At the end of the arm thrust, press your thumbs downward, snap your wrists up slightly and turn the backs of your hands toward each other.

Note:

The ball should be drilled at some point between your teammates shoulders and waist. As the ball travels, it should have good back spin.

The chest pass is effective for many reasons:

1) It enables a player to easily make a fake before an actual pass. 2) It can be fired quickly. 3) It is accurate. 4) It can be used with good power, cutting down the possibility of interception. 5) It can be used at close and medium range. 6) It can be con­verted into a bounce pass.

The correlation between the success of any basketball player and his ability to pass the ball effectively cannot be emphasized enough. To score in a game of basketball, you must first have an opportunity to shoot the ball. Since there are five opposing players, you cannot always create this opportunity alone. Most of the time, only an accurate pass will lead to a score. This is the epitome of teamwork.

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Variety is one of the things that makes basketball such a popular sport. With all the ways to play the game it is no wonder that people all over the world are playing the game. That’s true no matter who they are, how old they are or what limitations they may physically have.

Game Variation 1: Wheelchair Basketball

Wheelchair basketball, as the name suggests, is played in wheelchairs. The chairs are specially designed so they move quickly and easily down the court. They also are made so players can be agile, much like players in traditional basketball.

Wheelchair basketball is a serious sport that is regulated by the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF).

Game Variation 2: Water Basketball

Water basketball, again as the name suggests, is played in water. It can be recreational or as a team regulated sport. In water basketball the rules are a little different. The rules for water basketball combine rules for traditional court basketball and water polo. There is, obviously, no dribbling involved in water basketball.

Game Variation 3: Beach Basketball

Beach basketball is played on the beach and is quite different than other types of basketball. It is not as strict and much more of a physical game than basketball.

Beach basketball is played on a circular court with no backboard on the hoop. There is no dribbling because it is too difficult on the sand. The ball is moved down the court instead by passing or 2 ½ steps. There is also no out of bounds in beach basketball.

Game Variation 4: Informal Basketball

Informal basketball really is not an actual name for a type of basketball, but it is used here to simply describe the type of basketball that most people play – basketball where you are just playing for the fun of the sport. The best kind!

Informal play can have any rules you like, as long as everyone playing agrees to them. There may not even be any organized play, but rather people simply making baskets and having fun.

Basketball is a very flexible sport. It can be played almost anywhere and in anyway you can imagine. In fact, it probably has been played almost everyway imaginable because it is such a popular sport. The thing about basketball that remains the same is making the basket. Every variation of the sport involves a ball and basket with the ultimate goal being to get the ball through the basket to score.

So, no matter how you play basketball it is the right way as long as you have the ball and hoop. You can play whatever way feels best for you with whatever rules you want. You can play with as many players as you want on whatever type of court you want. The bottom line is that you just have fun while you are doing it.

The Standards of the Basketball Uniform

The common basketball uniforms are made up of a tank-top shirt which is mostly called the jersey, the shorts, the socks, and the sneakers. These days for practicality’s sake, the modern types of basketball uniforms are comprised of the moisture-wicking and lightweight materials. These qualities particularly aid in the control of the temperature and body moisture accumulation. Just imagine what a hassle it would become for the players to be wearing relatively thick basketball uniforms.

All of the popular basketball teams own their own basketball uniforms with distinctive designs. Each of the players has his respective number and surname on their uniforms so they can easily be identified. It also follows that alternative basketball uniforms are ready for everyones use. It has been likewise a common practice that basketball uniforms are changed per season. More so, for basketball varsities, color coding has become an obsession. It typically goes that the home team wears a light colored basketball uniform whereas the visitors wear the dark colored one.

The Styles of Basketball Uniforms

Basketball uniforms are always aimed at the comfort level of the wearers. These basketball players perspire a lot so they won’t be needing textiles which prove to be more of a hassle for them. Generally, basketball uniforms are created with the polyester, rayon, and nylon materials, and these are nonetheless synthetic cloth. There are those that are comprised of satin fabrics. There are cases when the basketball uniforms are comprised of either the contrasting or matching colors. 

The adapted basketball uniform styles range from the rounded or v-shaped necklines to the cap sleeves and sleeveless tops. Some teams opt for the mesh side that gives room for air to regulate the body’s temperature. The shorts, on the other hand, are either drawn with elastic waistbands or the drawstrings but are oftentimes irreversible.

There is really no limit with regards to the choice of color when it comes to basketball uniforms. The decision as to the design and hue is of course upon the team coordinators.

The best coaches know for a fact that basketball defense should be made the topmost priority. After all, basketball defense determines the after-effect of the players’ efforts on the courts. But are you sure that your team knows how to play basketball defense the right way? Will their knowledge on basketball defense satiate the requirements for bringing home the bacon?

Being cultured with the proper basketball defensive knowledge is hard to deal with especially with the lack of effort and time spent both by the player and the coach. Getting into the core of basketball defense is all about desiring to improve the rest of the fields of the game. Basketball isn’t only about passing, dribbling, or shooting. Furthermore, it is all about learning basketball defenses so these aspects will be perfected. Most dedicated coaches can attest to how vital basketball defense is especially when a team’s heart is into winning.

Here are the valuable tips that need to be kept in mind as one learns the ropes of basketball defense:

You’ve got to quicken your hands and feet.

Know how to repeatedly and swiftly jump.

Practice your instincts and reflexes so you can immediately jump into action. Be with a coach who prioritizes commitment and focuses not only on the individual members of the team but basketball defense as well.

Learn the different basketball defenses such as half-court trap, man-to-man defense, full-court press, and many others.

Be quick in your transitions from that of the offensive floor end to the defensive positions.

Comprehend the overall grasp of the game alongside its strategies and concepts.

Be an expert in handling not only the strong side basketball defense but also the weak side.

Constantly practice the necessary positioning, defensive bearings, and footwork. 

The fans usually roar as they spot their favorite players handle the basketball defenses the flawless way. In reality, basketball defense is actually all in the mind and being in the right attitude. If one truly desires to win, his heart extends to being willing to handle basketball defensive learning. Remember that playing basketball isn’t only a matter of shooting the ball and scoring. Executing the best defenses should likewise be vitally played.