Where has he gone? The ‘5′ man I’m talking about. The pivot. The big fella. You know, the guy who jumps center! The huge wide body that sets up above the block and looks to post his man up.
I came across a piece about Michigan State University men’s basketball recruits by way of the Lansing State Journal and there is an interesting quote from Spartan head coach Tom Izzo.
“So you’ve got to find someone who, I don’t want to say isn’t good enough, but might not be quite good enough to leave right away, but has the work ethic and wants to be a player,” Izzo said. “A lot of big guys don’t want to be players. They (just) play because they’re 6-foot-9, 6-foot-10 or 7-feet tall.”
I spoke with someone who has a lot of juice with a certain Big Man Camp that is nationally known each summer and they told me the numbers are way down. What’s that due to? I’d say we are seeing less and less natural ‘bigs’. Everyone wants to step out and shoot the ‘3” doesn’t anyone put the time in to work on their drop-step, shuffle dribble and face up game?
To all the ‘bigs’ out there – work on your drop step. Practice the Mikan drill each day, work on your footwork, learn to shoot the jump hook, work on your shuffle dribble, get into better shape so you can sprint up and down the floor and last, work on your face up series. Just watch KG or You Tube Hakeem Olajuwon.
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY!
