Any tips for basketball tryouts?

[supermanblue79]

Dribble with both hands-attack the basket with both hands  (very underrated)
Finish at the basket with both your left and your right hand.
Crisp Passing- strong chest passes and bonce passes...lead the cutter to the hoop with the pass
Rebound- Boxing out and rebounding Guards are always standouts
Set Picks- set strong picks for your teammates, cut hard after the switch
Take Charges- coach will be very impressed
Play Defense- always keep a hand in the face of your man, nose on the ball, fight through screens, hands always up
Hustle- 100% on every play

Have Fun!

 

[pharelfor3]

lol @ the gunshot

 

[hoopsboy]

Originally Posted by Swag Odie

@ only euro-step.

Son you know damn well you're not making a high school team if you have to come for advice.

Kids these days

I don't mean ill-will or to sound like the "hater" here, but c'mon. Did you try out for the freshman/jv team ever or just straight to varsity? Why didn't you play on JV last year if you got cut by varsity?

All of the advice on here is good and all, but do you know the fundamentals of the game? Like the proper way to box out, shuffle your feet on D, being ready to catch and shoot squared to the basket, etc? I mean most of the guys on the team probably have all or most of the fundamentals down and have more experience playing than you. I'm not really sure what crossovers and mid-range jumpers are going to do for you at 5'8". EVERYONE can do a crossover dribble, whether it's just efficient or ankle-breaking like AI. As long as it gets the job done. And mid-range jumpers at 5'8" tend to be REAL tough to get off being unless you are playing against a small school. Hell I'm 5'11" and I had to get my shot off quick from outside the 3 point line in both HS and college lol.

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I played HS varsity, D3 and 1 year of D1 ball. I'm no standout. I hustled like everyone mentioned on here. All that sounds good and all, but you still gotta excel in a few things to bring something to the table. The coach needs to see this.

It's always funny to hear stories from guys who didn't make it, especially dudes who had no business being at tryouts anyway. Why don't they ever just tell the truth? Instead it's:

politics
coach had favorites
got sick during tryouts
coach doesn't like a certain race
my game is for the streets, coach didn't recognize

Go to someone real who has experience playing organized ball for advice, and hurry. What are talking heads behind a computer going to do for you? Threads like these and "What should I wear to a job interview" both make me crack up and feel really sorry for the OP.

End hate/rant

 

[stunthard]

OP don't listen to anyone telling you if you have to ask, you won't make it.

It all boils down to whether you want to win bad enough, and how hard you're willing to work to win.

Natural, "god-given" talent < obsessive dedication to an endeavor over an extended period of time.

 

[doctorshoes]

As an undersized, underweight guard, you have a slim chance of making it. Chances are the coach already has his starting and back up point guards, so you better be able to show that you can be better than them. You should have been in the gym last year trying to get bigger because big, strong, explosive guards always stand out. Go hard on defense, be vocal, have energy but don't show frustration. If you can, prove that you can play off the ball as well because that shows you can work within the team concept. Whatever you do, don't let your man score any points or grab any rebounds. His box score should be zero across the board.

 

[af1 1982]

Originally Posted by StuntHard

OP don't listen to anyone telling you if you have to ask, you won't make it.

It all boils down to whether you want to win bad enough, and how hard you're willing to work to win.

Natural, "god-given" talent < obsessive dedication to an endeavor over an extended period of time.

Uh yeah no. He has two weeks to get it together. It's 100% true that if you have to resort to a group of random internet strangers for help, you're most likely not in good shape. Maybe you're advice would make sense 6 months ago, but you can't develop the necessary skills to improve you're game in 2 weeks. It gradually takes time to master skills in basketball. 
If you're not good enough, you're not good enough no matter how hard you hustle. Especially at the point guard position, which IMO requires the most pure fundamentals and skills out of everyone.

OP described himself as a street player and as a dude who plays pickup games. I've watched countless dudes who would excel at my local gym but failed miserably at the high school level because they're fundamentals weren't polished enough. 

 

[Naruto]

All the naysayers have good points and may very well be right about me getting cut but I'm crazy enough to still think I'm going to make it one way or another.

 

[r23j]

Kind of off topic but anyone try to walk on at a big University? I was planning on going to University of Cincinnati's last week but they sent an email a day before and require a physical.

Of course I wasnt prepared...Wanted to be token white guy on team

 

[fourreal]

all i guess to say i tried out for the basketball team back in the 7th grade never again
i was some bunz
i missed a shot and i think i got crossed

 

[adobecs4]

Son said he a captain of the JV team as a JUNIOR

 

[Naruto]

Went through first tryout today. Mostly sprints and conditioning drills were done. The coach praised me throughout for running harder than everybody else but I still feel like I might get cut. I got to scrimmage maybe for 5 minutes tops and I had 3 assists and 1 basket. I'm playing pass first PG and it's hard to tell if he appreciates my want to pass and create for others. Should I start shooting the basketball and look for my shots? I am so close to getting on the team but I know that it will all depend on Friday's tryout.

 

[scshift]

Originally Posted by th3answ3r

Went through first tryout today. Mostly sprints and conditioning drills were done. The coach praised me throughout for running harder than everybody else but I still feel like I might get cut. I got to scrimmage maybe for 5 minutes tops and I had 3 assists and 1 basket. I'm playing pass first PG and it's hard to tell if he appreciates my want to pass and create for others. Should I start shooting the basketball and look for my shots? I am so close to getting on the team but I know that it will all depend on Friday's tryout.

That's not a good look man... you want the coach to praise you for your skills and your abilities on the court, not your effort. Not saying that what you're doing is bad, but you want him to be like "damn this guy is good", not "damn this guy puts in work". High school coaches want players who are already skilled off the bat, they don't have the time to develop you guys.

And we can't tell you what to do in a situation. Do what you would do. Play the game instead of wondering about what you should do if this or that happens.

 

[Naruto]

I think he meant to praise me for being the fastest kid as I won all the sprints and he told me good work and "that's how you do it!"

 

[Trey Bantz]

You're not going to make the team scrub.

 

[benssick]

Originally Posted by 504 D1 Prospect

talk LOUD on defense, hands up all the time in passing lanes, call out picks.

this

 

[jhobson5]

scshift wrote:

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th3answ3r wrote:

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Went through first tryout today. Mostly sprints and conditioning drills were done. The coach praised me throughout for running harder than everybody else but I still feel like I might get cut. I got to scrimmage maybe for 5 minutes tops and I had 3 assists and 1 basket. I'm playing pass first PG and it's hard to tell if he appreciates my want to pass and create for others. Should I start shooting the basketball and look for my shots? I am so close to getting on the team but I know that it will all depend on Friday's tryout.

That's not a good look man... you want the coach to praise you for your skills and your abilities on the court, not your effort. Not saying that what you're doing is bad, but you want him to be like "damn this guy is good", not "damn this guy puts in work". High school coaches want players who are already skilled off the bat, they don't have the time to develop you guys.

And we can't tell you what to do in a situation. Do what you would do. Play the game instead of wondering about what you should do if this or that happens.


I disagree fam. Coaches want work ethic. I mean if I was a coach I would rather 10 guys that worked hard and played harder, then 1 pre-madona who was skilled. I would OP keep giving it your all and play even harder. Coaches love a coachable kid with a work ethic. But then again I was a football player in college and high school wasnt big on basketball....
  

 

[ayedongsky]

Originally Posted by jhobson5

scshift wrote:

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th3answ3r wrote:

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I disagree fam. Coaches want work ethic. I mean if I was a coach I would rather 10 guys that worked hard and played harder, then 1 pre-madona who was skilled. I would OP keep giving it your all and play even harder. Coaches love a coachable kid with a work ethic. But then again I was a football player in college and high school wasnt big on basketball....
  

Agree with that, the coaches definitely pay attention to all these drills as much as actual scrimmage. Finishing drills strong and showing discipline tell a lot about the kid's character and potential. 
As for scrimmage, just play your game, smart moves and ALWAYS hustle on defense.

 

[scshift]

Originally Posted by jhobson5

I disagree fam. Coaches want work ethic. I mean if I was a coach I would rather 10 guys that worked hard and played harder, then 1 pre-madona who was skilled. I would OP keep giving it your all and play even harder. Coaches love a coachable kid with a work ethic. But then again I was a football player in college and high school wasnt big on basketball....

In college that's probably true. But in high school, unless you're attending a top basketball school like Montrose Christian or Oak Hill, they don't take basketball that seriously (not to mention top schools can pick whichever players they want so they don't need to sacrifice talent for work ethic, etc.).

Normal schools don't have programs to uphold like a college. They want skills which can net the team wins before they start looking at chemistry and stuff. I doubt most HS coaches even care about chemistry. They probably don't even know how the kids even feel about one another unless the kid tells them. There's no looking for potential and intangibles over skills because when it comes down to it, high school teams have 4 years to get it done before they got to start over.

 

[kiendienn]

if your 40 time is <4.5, you might be straight