Gandolfi - The complete book of offensive basketball drills game-changing drills from around the world

GAME-CHANGING DRILLS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

GIORGIO GANDOLFI

Dedicated to my late parents,
Tina and Antonio Gandolfi

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ISBN: 978-0-07-163677-3

MHID: 0-07-163677-3

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Long before basketball went worldwide and names like Dirk, Yao, Nash, and Manu became commonplace, Giorgio Gandolfi was building bridges between hoops-loving people on different continents. This rich treasury of offensive basketball wisdom is essential for the library of all coaches and players who want to maximize their understanding of this beguiling game.

No part of the globe has a corner on sound, savvy basketball knowledge, and Gandolfi offers a truly global sampling of the finest thinking on how to attack the basket or get a shot off against a tough defender. Whether its the half-court rigor of the American college or high school coach in teaching how to get free for a shot, or the NBA mentors knack for finding mismatches and exploiting isolations with pinpoint passing, or the fast break and dribbling drills of the Yugoslavs and Argentines, or the perimeter and inside player development secrets of the Spanish, youll find examples here.

As he assembled this collection over decades of visiting coaches, camps, clinics, and practice sessions around the world, and breaking down videos and DVDs, Gandolfi ultimately didnt care whether the offensive drill originated with a big international name or a small club coach, or someone in between.

If its effective in helping a coach to improve his players pull-up jump shot or make a power move to the basket, its here. Gandolfi has done the game a huge serviceand made Planet Basketball a more intimate placewith this timely and invaluable book.

Alexander Wolff, Sports Illustrated senior writer and author
of Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure

KEY TO DIAGRAMS

The Complete Book of Offensive Basketball Drills: Game-Changing Drills from around the World is totally devoted to offensive drills. A generally held opinion is that defense is more important than offense. Defense wins the games and the championships. This opinion seems to be true at all levels, from high school to the NBA to the Euroleague, the European championship for clubs. However, in this book, we would like to give you an array of offensive drills, which we consider to be of equal importance in winning games and championships. In this chapter, we will evaluate different aspects of drills and give some simple suggestions for choosing the drills that can help your players and, consequently, your team, to improve. If you think its simple to choose a drill for a certain practice or to improve your players skill, read the following before you decide.

Is it only to impress your players with your knowledge?

Wrong: They need drills that suit their skills, ones that will be effective in helping them improve individually and as a team.

Is it because a drill was used by a famous and winning coach?

Fine: But are you sure that the level of the competition, as well as the size, the physicalcondition, the skills of your players, and your philosophy on offense, are suitable for that drill?

Do you choose a certain drill just to break the boredom of a practice?

Fine: But, more important, the drill must be useful and have a specific purpose or purposes.

You are starting to plan your practice. You decide to run drills that cover certain fundamentals and some game situations. Thats great. But are you sure that you have evaluated the many different technical aspects tied to a drill? Choosing drills for a practice is not a simple task. On the contrary, we will show you that there is more than one detail to consider when you decide to adopt a certain drill. Consider the following: