Basketball Tryouts coming...

[Alcoholic]

There was an orientation today, tryouts for incoming freshmen (not me) are on June 2, Thursday, while tryouts for already enrolled students (like me) will be on June 3...

I've been trying to practice all year long for this.. sometimes I feel good when I look back and think of my improvements, but then during the orientation I was looking at the 40+ other people that were trying out.. some of them probably have better chances then me. For example, I'm 10th grade going 11th, the coach said that he has 4 years to work with freshmen, as opposed to only 2 years with me.

I have to try out for junior varsity. There is a freshmen team, a sophomore team, junior varsity, and varsity. A player can move up to a team, but once they are up they can't go down. For example, an 'MJ' like freshmen would go straight to varsity. A not so good freshmen might be playing on the freshmen team. There can also being a freshmen on the sophomore team, and also the JV team, because you can always move up, not down. So since I'll be an 11th grader I have to try out for junior varsity.

The thing about that is, (I get all this stuff from the coach because I was asking him after I signed up) he has 12 players on his JV team. He knows in his head 3 people he's going to cut. He said there could basically be 4 spots on the JV team. Also theres the fact that the sophomores on the sophomore team can also move up to JV. All that with maybe 20 people that have a legitimate shot at making the team makes the odds seem pretty stacked against me. One of my friends is trying out too, he is 10th grade too, same height as me, thin like me, only he is basically faster and stronger. If I have any chance of making the team, he would definitely have more chances.

The coach said he wants to take guys that are willing to work, willing to learn. Hard work and hustle will get you on the team. Theres nothing in paticular he looks for other then determination. I have about a week before tryouts. What I really need to do is get my conditioning improved, because then I figure I can really hustle and give it my all. The problem is I don't know where to start. If you guys could really help me get a good workout to basically improve conditioning and overall endurance (on the court) it would be great, because I'm gonna try to be Manu Ginobili out there, hustling and doing everything.

[Indy]

Good luck buddy.

I have done so many tryouts in my life, and all I can say is don't try to hard to impress the coach. Just work your ass off. Believe it or not, the coaches see more then you think.

[Alcoholic]

That's another thing I was thinking. There are 6 baskets, 3 coaches. I think what they do is look mostly at the same place together and discuss.. it feels hard to get noticed.

[-BHZMAFIA-]

Well I've been through 4 try-outs since I've been in school, my 7th grade, 8th, 9th grade and 10th grade and I've made the team 3 out of the 4 times with the 7th grade year being the one I didn't make. What made it so hard about the first year I actually tried out for a team was that you don't know what to expect and you get nervous. Then what I learned the other years is that if you just play like how you play when you are like in your backyard and don't worry about who is watching, you will do good.

One problem I had was that I was too worried about who was looking at me and what not and I ended up messing up on things that I usually don't mess up on. What my coach looks for is hustle as well, but he also looks for skill because we didn't win the state championship for nothing this year. My best suggestion for you is to go hard on everything you do. Like if ya'll do layup drills or something, go strong and as fast as you can to the rim and lay it up and just use your energy. When he ask to run sprints or suicides, run like you running for your life and show that your putting in the effort. No matter how tired you get, just keep going and go until you pass out if you have to Once he see that, you will force him to like you. Also, whenever you have the oppurtunity, draw charges. When he see that your sacrificing your body, he will love that and that's what I do alot during try-outs. When we scrimmage, I try to draw the charge at every oppurtunity.

Learn how to use your feet real well too. If someone tries to like embarrase you and try to cross you over, first find out which way he likes to go the most judging by which hand he shoot with. And just make sure you have basketball knowledge. Like if you know you have help on one side, protect the opposite side because you know you have help. Set picks for your teammates during scrimmages and all of that. That's all I really have to say, so if you need anything else then let me know.

[Indy]

That's another thing I was thinking. There are 6 baskets, 3 coaches. I think what they do is look mostly at the same place together and discuss.. it feels hard to get noticed.

The worst thing you can do is look over your shoulder and think, man I don't think he saw that after a good play. Play your ass off, and Don't even think about the coaches. The recognition will come.

[Riot]

Coaches notice hard work. Trust me. I made the team purely on good defense and hard work. I was practically the only guy who wanted to guard the black guys.

Like Indy said, coaches see more than you think. I mean, I can't hit a freaking shot so it certainly wasn't my offense that blew them away. Just work hard and do the little things and coaches will take who is best for the team. I mean, I made the team when honestly there were better players and athletes than me who didn't. Just play your game and work extremely hard.

[Colin]

Work hard in the defensive drills, I've given up on my school's sorry excuse for a basketball program, and it's even sorrier(is this a word?) coach. But whenever I did get minutes it was because he pulled his head out of his ass long enough to notice it.

[cyanide]

I miss tryouts. Those were the days, just running your ass off, jumping, playing hustle defense, and all that intensity... man, coaches love it! I just gave away some hints, so good luck out there and don't be a friggin showboat Be confident, not cocky!

[J@3]

Go nuts on defense. Don't bother on offense, scoring isn't everything and anyone who knows anything about basketball will be paying more attention to the weird guy running around everywhere on D than on the guy throwing up 50 shots and hitting 15 of them. Chase EVERYTHING... go for loose balls, go for steals, look for blocks and first and foremost play the passing lanes. There's nothing more impressive IMO than someone who can pick a pass out of the air without anyone even realising it was there to be taken. Don't get TOO intense because you'd just end up fouling all the time, but if you can wear yourself out playing D you'll be fine. Most high school teams have alot of guys who want to score, very few have specialist players other than "the really tall fat kid who gets rebounds".

[Matt]

go Artest on the mofo's.

[j.23]

yeah coaches are pretty much concerned with rebounding and defense
believe it or not in tryouts a couple years back some dipshit called me dirty because i kept poking the ball away from him, and stripping him too. coach didn't care though and praised my defense. don't worry about your opponent, do whatever you can so he can't score. (reasonably of course) .. as far as scoring goes, GO FOR LAYUPS. don't fuck around and hoist up 3 balls like q rich. and no gay and1 shit, he'll cut you before you know it

[point-guard]

play good D..communicate with ur team mates..and no and1...scoring is not the first option during tryouts..unless u can hit like 6 out of 7 3 pt...but if ur a mediocre shooter..try to slash in..and dish out to an open guy...good luck

[Matt]

like everyone else said...defense first, do the things no one else will. Then on offence take the open shot, set up other people, move around etc and hustle back after a score because coaches love playes that can cover a fast break or setup the defence early.

[The X]

yeah, you don't have to be the most-skilled person....in my senior year, we had a junior (grade 11) kid who had come over from South Africa and never played basketball (he was a good cricketer, I opened batting with him, but that's irrelevant) but he made the senior team and became our starting centre with no experience at all....

basically, he was strong as an ox (big, meaty South African), had good hands, but most of all, he just played hard and was a dynamo on the boards, especially the offensive boards....kinda like a Ben Wallace-type player....we won title that year, and we did it with a team that was probably the least talented that I've ever played on, but everyone hustled, boxed out, etc....

so basically to cut a long story short, as everyone has already said, play hard and play D....don'g getting beaten on the boards....make sure to box out....use your arse and forget about being a poof as it could possibly be the difference of making the cut or not....it's all on the defensive end....as for the offensive end, don't push anything as everyone will try to be scoring....make good passes, handle the ball well, don't look lost out there and hit the open shot and you'll be fine....

of course, it's always easier said than done....play hard....and good luck alco and lay off the bacardi 151's as they're a killer for your bball skills

[FendeR`]

I had my first ever make-or-break basketball tryouts were last winter and our 7th grade basketball team. I don't know how many shots I made in the 3 days of tryouts, but it was not very good (especially because I'm normally a pretty good shooter with good form). But I still made it because I play good defense and I try hard. I still had to work a lot in practice for playing time, but I enjoyed it. The one thing I'd say you need to make sure you do (and I didn't do last tryouts) is be intense. I'd don't mean like just normally, I mean you basically want to take down anyone who's in your way. Once I do that I do alot better on the boards and on defense (I can pretty much lock down anyone besides their best player, I'm sort of like Bruce Bowen standing on the line of physical and dirty).

[Alcoholic]

Well.. thanks for all these replies, the main message I seem to be getting is work hard on defense, and just try to set others up on offense. What about help defense? Like coming to double a guy who is driving inside. In the beginning of the school year when I tried out we played 3v3s, my friend was on my team (he is the sophomore team pg, jv probably next year) and there was a big guy on our team. The big guy was good, he was only like 1-2 inches taller then me, but he was well built and buff (and our team was skins so he got to show off his bod to the girls watching ). Every play we would pass to him and he would just power drive his way inside, and I'm sure that didn't make the other team look good (the coach liked him because he was attacking over and over [and hitting those inside shots] but he stopped trying because he told me he smoked too much and his lungs were hurting). How would I look good coming in to stop the other teams best scorer?


Oh yea and another thing is, when I'm offball on offense, what exactly should I do? The problem is I can't hit 3 pointers at all, if they leave me open at the 3 point line I CAN'T take the shot because I'm destined to miss it.

[Jowe]

just keep on cutting into the lane if u're off the ball, run around set screens. Basically don't just camp outside the 3, always keep on moving.

On help defence, just make sure you don't leave your man too wide open. If u're gonna be doubling some1, make sure you can shut them down not letting them make the the outlet pass.

[J@3]

Yeah, you've gotta be careful on help D. Don't go too early because then you leave your guy wide open and also look stupid... I'd go in late if anything, get there in time to make it look like you made an effort.

[Strike Freedom]

Alcoholic, what's your height and what position do you play?

[Jackal]

Just pee all over the court & the opposing teams bench, they'll think you're a psycho-whack job & just accept you to the team because they'd be too afraid to turn you down, God knows what kind of antics you might pull off then.

Besides, which team wouldn't want a guy that pee's on the oppositions bench at the beginning and end of every game?

[FendeR`]

Just pee all over the court & the opposing teams bench, they'll think you're a psycho-whack job & just accept you to the team because they'd be too afraid to turn you down, God knows what kind of antics you might pull off then.

Besides, which team wouldn't want a guy that pee's on the oppositions bench at the beginning and end of every game?

Really, Jackal, keep your strange and bizarre experiences to yourself.

[Jackal]

Hey, it got me on to the team so I decided I'd share my success formula with him.