PRACTICE IS THE BACKBONE OF THE PROGRAM
All team’s primary defense is man-to-man. Coaches will only implement a zone defense when they feel the team has grasped the fundamental defensive concepts of man-to-man.
All Thunder team’s run an open-offense, focusing on spacing, cutting, screening, and ball movement. We feel the development of player’s “basketball IQ’s” and creativity come from rules and guidelines rather than robotic and outdated “set-plays.” Every situation in basketball requires split second decision-making. Our focus is on teaching our teams HOW TO PLAY rather than teaching them how to run plays. Players learn the importance of playing TOGETHER, thinking on their feet, and reacting to their opponents. Our player’s fundamental basketball actions become instinctual.
All players are expected to give 100% during practice. This will contribute to their own development, and the team’s development. The harder they practice, the more it will impact their playing time; coaches recognize and reward this personal commitment.
FALL PRESEASON TUNE UP: SEPT-OCT
While the competition is taking the fall off, you will be diving into your training regimen full force. Our seven-week tune up is a very specific and effective program where each session will contain two phases; a formula created by our experienced coaching staff to get our players in tip-top shape for winter basketball.
Team Drills – Learning how to play the game in layers with a strong emphasis on TEAMWORK. Players will improve their spacing on the court, ball movement, teamwork on offense, positioning, off-ball movement, and team defense.
Scrimmages – This is where the PROGRESSIVE TEAM DEVELOPMENT DRILLS come together. For the second half of practice we will hold a competitive scrimmage where players will utilize the tools they were just provided, while also improving their ability to think under pressure in game-like situations.
WINTER TRAVEL TEAMS: NOV-FEB
Travel Teams are chosen based on our tryouts. Coaches and evaluators compose two 10-player teams at every level. These teams are divided by talent and are called Red (A-team) and Blue (B-team). Not everyone at tryouts will be placed onto a travel team. We offer an in-house league for players that do not make our travel teams, giving them a chance to improve upon their skills under the guidance of our experienced coaching staff.
Our winter travel teams meet twice a week in Greenwich to practice and we play our games at convenient locations within a 30-minute drive. The winter season consists of 20+ practice hours and 20+ games. Most games will be played on the weekend.
WINTER PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
4th Grade – Mon/Wed 5:30-6:30pm
5th Grade – Mon/Wed 6:30-7:30pm
6th Grade – Tues/Thurs 6:30-7:30pm
7th Grade – Mon/Weds 7:30-8:30pm
8th Grade – Tues/Thurs 7:30-8:30pm
SPRING TRAVEL TEAMS: MAR-JUNE
Games:
Tournaments take place locally (within a 45 minute drive) on the weekends. Each tournament consists of two Saturday games and at least one Sunday game. Depending on a teams record for that particular tournament, they could advance to a semi final and championship game on Sunday.
Each team is entered into a tournament every other weekend.
Practices:
Teams practice once a week for 1.5 hours. We shift to once a week practices as many of our players are involved with other spring sports at the same time.
SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
3rd Grade – Tues 5:30-7:00pm
4th Grade – Wed 5:30-7:00pm
5th Grade – Wed 7:00-8:30pm
6th Grade – Tues 7:00-8:30pm
7th Grade – Thurs 5:30-7:00pm
8th Grade – Thurs 7:00-8:30pm
9th Grade – Wed 7:00-8:30pm
SUMMER: JUNE-AUG
For private/semi-private training sessions at your home please contact
Steve Juricek 551-427-7775
stevejuricek@gmail.com
