Photo. Nike

NOTE: This is the second in a series of blogs reporting on the Nike Skills Academies by internationally renowned basketball strength & conditioning coach Alan Stein of www.StrongerTeam.com

I am back in my room at the Hilton Newark Airport Hotel, a couple of hours after finishing up the last workout at the Steve Nash Nike Skills Academy. This academy featured 20 of the nation’s top HS point guards, including Lance “Born Ready” Stephenson (NY), Tony Wroten (WA), John “The Next Derrick Rose” Wall (NC), and Abdul Gaddy (WA). It also featured 10 of the nation’s top college point guards, including LeVance Fields (Pitt), Tyrese Rice (Boston College), and Jack McClinton (Miami). From top to bottom, both the HS and college fields were extremely talented, overly enthusiastic, and very coachable.

Like the Paul Pierce Academy, the last three days were a huge success and definitely fulfilled Nike’s mission in making this a once in a lifetime event for some of the nation’s best ballers.

As I mentioned last time, Nike makes it a priority to hire a quality, veteran staff. We basically had the same core staff as the Pierce academy with the addition of Lloyd Pierce, who is the Player Development Coordinator of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Once again, the staff did a magnificent job both teaching and motivating and this group of point guards and really made it a point to coach them on both the basic fundamentals of the game as well as concepts, drills, and skills needed to compete at the NBA level.

My role at all of the nation’s top HS events (Jordan All American Classic, McDonald’s All-American Game, Nike Skills Academies, etc.) is simple – get the players talking, get them moving, and get them ready to play. I am in charge of setting the tone for the workout and given the responsibility of doing what I do best – hyping kids up and getting them ready to compete. I force the kids to communicate to each other and “show each other love” while getting them warmed up through a fast paced 10-minute series of basketball specific movements (cuts, pivots, jumps, sprints, and slides) along with some dynamic flexibility exercises (lunges, straight leg march, etc.). I pack a mean punch in the 10 minutes and am usually dripping in sweat myself.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with both the HS players and the college players, and here are some of my thoughts:

The HS kids started off with a bang and were great communicators and leaders right from the beginning of the first warm-up. As a whole the kids were very unselfish. They went hard every workout, which showed, as many of them were pretty worn out, tired, and sore by the end of the second day. While many of the players were small in stature, they were an incredible group of athletes. In addition to lightening fast quickness, several of the kids (many in the 5-8 to 6-0 range) could throw it down with ease. With the exception of Lance Stephenson, who has an NBA body right now, most of the top players were much smaller and looked the part of a prototypical HS point guard.

I don’t know what is going on in the state of Washington, but three of the top kids at the academy reside there: Tony Wroten (one of the top players in the rising sophomore class), Abdul Gaddy, and Peyton Siva all played extraordinarily well. Doc Rivers’ son, Austin, a rising sophomore, had a great few days as did Phil Pressey. I am really looking forward to working with these kids again at the LeBron James Nike US Skills Academy this week.

The college workouts were similar as well. Junkyard dog Tates Locke said it was one of the best groups he has ever worked with. Three of the smallest point guards, Devin Downey (South Carolina), Jai Lucas (Florida), and Chris Warren (Mississippi) all showed why they play at the major D-1 level. These smaller guys are fearless and extremely hard workers. Jack McClinton (Miami), Tyrese Rice (Boston College), and Stephen Curry (Davidson) also played really well and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are as potent scorers as they are distributors.

True to form, and the reason the camp is named after him, Steve Nash was amazing. He is so soft spoken and so humble for being one of the NBA’s best point guards. He was very involved at the camp and spent plenty of quality time with both the HS and college players. Here is a summary of what Nash talked about:

He explained how the key to life is being able to find solutions, in your personal life as well as on the court. Plenty of people have (and/or cause) problems, but those that consistently find solutions are the ones who are successful. He also focused on the importance of being a good teammate and a good person, someone who people want to coach, want to play with, and want to be around. Lots of guys have talent in the NBA, but the ones who have long careers, are starters or perennial All-Stars, are the ones who do the little things to get better, pay attention to detail, and are beloved by their teammates. He said this is even more important for point guards. Point guards have to be leaders both on and off the court.

Steve gives a lot of his credit to his work ethic and desire to get better. He used to make a master list of every shot he wanted in his offensive arsenal, jump shots, runners, tear drops, long lay-ups, quick lay-ups, reverse foot lay-ups, etc. Then he would make 25-50 of each of these every day. If it was a shot he wasn’t as good at, he might have made himself make 100.

He also told the kids that point guards need to be able to change direction, change speed, and be smarter than every other player on the floor to be successful. He told them the game is all about percentages (always make the highest percentage pass available and take the highest percentage shot) and angles (your angles often dictate your percentages). Steve acknowledged that most people don’t think of him as a great athlete because he doesn’t jump very high and dunk over people. He adamantly disagrees, citing the fact that there is much more to being a good athlete than jumping – hand/eye coordination, quickness and reaction, ability to control your body in space and change direction, etc. Steve also placed a high priority on being in great basketball shape, as that is a factor you have complete control over.

His off-season workouts consist of working with a strength coach three times per week with a heavy focus on core strength and stability. Many of his strength exercises add a balance component because he performs them on an unstable surface: BOSU ball, wobble board, etc. He doesn’t play 5-on-5 during the summer but instead plays in two soccer leagues, jumps rope, and runs stairs for conditioning. He does get in intense shooting workouts to keep his handle and shot sharp, but no playing! He stressed the importance of having a solid daily routine.

If you would like to contact me about this blog, my MVP Vertical Jump Training DVD, my training and/or camps and clinics, please email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com. I will respond as quickly as possible!

Train hard. Train smart.

Alan Stein, CCS, CSCS
Vertical Jump Expert

For Alan’s first training blog post (from the Paul Pierce Nike Skills Academy), go HERE