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By SportsLover, June 1, 2011 11:48 am

If you love watching basketball, this is the best time of the year.  The NBA Finals are upon us as the Miami Heat play the Dallas Mavericks for the NBA Championship.

As fun as it is to watch the greats play, it is better when you go out and try to do the things you have seen the pros done.  Countless times I have counted down the clock as I took a fade away jumper for the win (ala Michael Jordan).  Now fans are emulating LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Durant, and others.

There are many ways you can play basketball.  You can play five on five, one on one, horse, speed, etc.  In my opinion playing 3 on 3 is the best ways to practice and use the moves you’ve seen on TV.  Like the Rajon Rondo fake layup turn around hook or the fake behind the back pass to layup.

You need to practice basketball drills to be like the NBA greatest players.

Dribbling Drills-To be a good basketball player you need to be able to dribble the ball.  Especially because so few of us are blessed with being 7 feet tall.  The shorter you are the more you have to be able to dribble.  Good drills are dribbling two balls at the same time.  This helps your weak hand to be as good with dribbling as your strong hand.  Other important things to practice are crossovers, between the legs, and behind the back dribbling.  These skills will help you get space from your defender which will allow you to drive or give you space for a jump shot.

Passing Drills-Passing is another very important part basketball.  Bounce passes, chest passes, cross court passes, and lob passes are fundamental abilities that you need to know.  As you master these passes you can also try more flashy passes such as behind the back, off the backboard, and no look passes.

Shooting Drills-Nothing else matters if you can’t score.  You need to be able to make shots to win any basketball game.  Free-throw shooting is one of the most important shots to master.  Nothing is more frustrating when you miss a free shot at the basket.  You should be able to make all shots such as mid range shots, three point shots, hook shots, and lay-ups.  But you should practice the most with where you will get the ball.  If you are a center practice hook shots more.  If you are a shooting guard practice mid range and three point shots.

Team Drills- It is necessary to work well with your team.  You need to know where someone will be on offense so you can pass to them.  You also need to trust your teammates to help you on defense.  Your team chemistry will come as you play more together and get to kn0w each others tendencies and how to best play with each other.

Basketball Conditioning- There is a lot of running in basketball.  You need to be in shape to stay on your man on defense and have enough energy on offense to blow by your defender as you drive to the hoop.  To improve your conditioning you should do wind sprints, run laps, push ups, and sit ups.  Also, if you want to play in the post, the more body building you do the stronger you will be to back people down and score easier in the post.

Basketball is a great way to get outdoors, get exercise, and have a lot of fun.  If you practice these drills you can be like the pros and dominate your competition.  You will be better as you practice more, and remember you are doing this because everyone wants to be like Mike.

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By SportsLover, May 4, 2011 1:56 pm

Now that it’s summer, it’s basketball time! Playing basketball outside with friends is a really fun and unique experience every time that it happens.

Here is a great variant of basketball games that can be played with friends in casual settings, in case the normal game play isn’t as fun anymore.

Speed- This game involves a line of people that take turns shooting in order to get each other out. The game is a fairly simple one in nature. there are two basketballs that are used, and two people at a time take turns shooting in sequence. When a basket is made, the person throws it to the next person down the line, then runs to the back of the line immediately after. If someone behind another person makes it first, the person before them is eliminated.

The game continues on until every person but one is eliminated.

When a game is completed, people line up in reverse order of how they got out, pick a new spot to shoot from, and continue on with the game.

Playing this game variant will give people some much needed variety and will inject a bit of spice and fun into the equation. Plus, if you happen to be awesome it, then you can dominate in multiple settings.

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By SportsLover, February 19, 2011 12:00 pm

Righto! …I don’t have any given sport that I feel like talking about today. Instead, I’m gonna ramble about the things I’m going to do outside once the weather gets just a little bit warmer. Cool? Spring is just around the corner, and once people can get outside then they can start enjoying outdoor sports again. After a long and difficult winter (for the East Coast, anyway) it will be good for everyone to spend some time outside. So, here’s what to look forward to in the spring.

Hiking -I’m excited for hiking (obviously). The snow runoff can make streams and waterfalls particularly gorgeous, so being able to go check that out is going to be exciting.

Frisbee- I’m definately stoked to get back out and enjoy the local parks. Playing some utlimate with friends will be awesome. Crushing them will be even better.

Basketball- I know that some of us have been playing Basketball inside for months now, but there’s nothing quite like the feeling of chasing the ball down a hill after an errant shot outside. Ahh… memories.

Kickball- Yeah, I said it. Kickball is great. And if you can get a group of friends together, then an intense and relatively violence free time can be had. Remember to call dibs on being Team Captain.

Those are a few of the sports that I’m excited to play in the spring. It will be great to be outside and be warm again. The table tennis games I’ve been playing have recently turned tense with our mass case of cabin fever, so this will be a good release.