Over 160 coaches from all levels attended two unique coaching clinics prior to the Great Britain v USA Basketball games, as part of England Basketball's continuing partnership with the National Basketball Association and in conjunction with USA Basketball and British Basketball.

 

On Wednesday and Thursday last week coaches were treated to on-court demonstrations which allowed them to take an in-depth look at a number of topics from British Basketball's Areas of Emphasis.

 

The clinic on Wednesday tipped off with Chris Collins (Associate Head Coach of Duke University Men's basketball team and son of NBA veteran coach Doug Collins) delivering an upbeat session on guard offensive skill development. Next up was Steve Wojciechowski, another coach who also works alongside USA Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke University. Coach Wojciechowski presented an informative examination of individual defence which included Krzyzewski's trademark 'Six point contesting drill'.

 

The final session was delivered by the Great Britain Men's Assistant Coach and Lead Performance Analyst, Tim Lewis, who explained the GB Men's defensive transition concepts and provided a brief insight into their preparations in the run up to the Olympics.

 

Thursday saw the welcome return of the vastly experienced USA Women's Assistant Coach and Head Coach of the Atlanta Dream, Marynell Meadors, who focused on the finer details of shooting and passing. Fellow USA Assistant Coach and former Head Coach of the Los Angeles Sparks, Jennifer Gillom, then engaged the coaches present with a very entertaining analysis of post play and presented a series of progression for teaching young players low and high post moves.

 

The final session featured instruction by Damien Jennings, Assistant Coach to Great Britain Women, detailing his adaptation of a 4 on 3 drill forcing decision making and communication between defenders to combat the numerical advantage of the offence.

 

Brian Aldred, Coach Development Manager commented: "We were very privileged to be able to showcase such high level coaches and encourage our coaches to develop their own learning. We want all our coaches to be able to produce great players as part of the British player pathway and we are extremely grateful to USA Basketball and British Basketball for allowing their coaches to deliver these informative clinics as part of this process."

 

England Basketball would like to thank the NBA, Manchester City Council and the players from Greater Manchester Youth Basketball Club for their help with the clinics.