Welcome to the Fifth Issue of
As The Planet Hoops

Issue #005-April 2006

Hello, and welcome to the fifth issue of "As The Planet Hoops" E-zine, brought to you by Planet Hoops and www.Hoop-Hype.net.
This is the fourth of many monthly E-Zine posts so stay tuned and please tell us what you think.

It has been 2 months since our last newsletter so let's get started. Thanks for signing up and thanks for reading. Happy Easter. Just wanted to let you know I just celebrated my 41st birthday and my wife's birthday and my 3rd anniversary, all on the same day. Yes, you heard correctly.

As we have said before we are going to bring you the highest quality, most recent information about basketball from around the world. We know that basketball is a tremendous game and that it is played in almost every country of the world and it is growing all the time. I think this is so because basketball is so much fun to play yet challenging, almost like golf.

We will bring you coaching tips, playing tips, tips on how to get a basketball scholarship, information about basketball recruiting videos, basketball video games and much, much more. Please let us know what you want us to write about because this is your e-zine.

DV Coach (Digital Video)

Basketball Overseas

This is a definitive reference book on getting Basketball Jobs Overseas. This book has over 120 pages full of basketball contacts worldwide and available for your immediate download for only $19.97. The Basketball Overseas Ebook has free updates for all buyers. Contact us for more details.

Sports Agency

Blog

Be sure to sign up for our RSS and XML pages too. If you don't know what they are they are the next wave of how people will collect information on the internet. For detailed information and help with RSS just click on any of our pages and scroll down to "What's an RSS feed."

Clutch Hoops

Watching the NCAA’s this year, as with every other year, were seeing a lot of clutch hoops. Guys coming down the court weaving their way through traffic to get off a fall away jumper with no time on the clock. I love it. The drama the suspense that’s why they call it March Madness.

But we all know those plays just aren’t made, they are practiced and practiced and practiced over and over and over again. Any kid who has had a ball, a basket, and a back yard has made those shots a thousand times. In their mind anyways. But still it’s about the clutch. It amazes me how many guys in the NCAA finals have it. With less than 10 or 15 seconds to go we could see at least 4 or 5 clutch shots in that period. That’s good basketball. That’s clutch shooting.

I’ve hit a few big shots, but none of the magnitude of the shots that these guys are hitting. Someday, if not already, you will be required to hit those shots. You’ll be the go to guy, the guy they’re looking for to hit the big shot. The money man. Here are a few pointers to help you be the money scorer, the guy who hits that game winning shot and seals the victory.

1. Have a repertoire of game winning shots; three, four or five different shots from different areas of the floor. Shots that you practice over and over and over again until you know you can make them 100% of the time.

2 Know the clock. Practice the seconds. Count in your head and if possible, in a gym, practice with a clock so you get used to the time counts without actually looking at the clock. After a while you’ll know how long five seconds is and how long 2 and one tenth of a second is.

3 Know the foul count and what your opponent may do. If there is a bonus situation you may be able to draw a foul and get to the line without having to hoist up a shot to seal the win. Also you may be able to draw a foul on the shot so if the shot is missed you will go to the line.

4 Know how many fouls your opponent has. Players never want to foul out of the game even in the last second. If your defender has four fouls he may not play you as hard for fear of fouling out. Use this to your advantage.

5 Shoot as close to the buzzer as you can. Always leave a second or two but no more. In the event that you miss the shot, your teammates will have a chance to tip in the ball. That’s all. It doesn’t give the other team a chance to secure the ball and race down court for another shot.

6 Practice your free throws. There is always a good chance you will get hit on that last second shot and go to the line to win the game. You will need to hit those free throws to win the game.

7 Cut hard and want the ball. You may get a screen or two before receiving the ball. Cut hard off the screens and want the ball. Once you have the ball go quickly into your shot as the defender may be lost in the screens and you can get off an uncontested shot.

8 Your last second shot may need lots of arc, more so than you regular shot. The defender may be coming out hard and fast, so get lots of arc on that ball so it gets over the defender and into the mesh.

9 In the event you do miss the shot and your team is still down be prepared to foul, so that you can stop the clock and send them to the line. This is a game situation decision. But be prepared for the next play.

10 Practice these situations in practice over and over again with different scenarios. Down three with 15 seconds left. Up two with 10 seconds. Tied with 20 seconds to go. You get the gist. All these situations will happen eventually in your basketball careers. Get ready. Will you be the man? 3...2...1...Money.

Podcast

Site Build It

F.I.B.A.

Thanks very much for reading today. Remember if you liked what you read then please help a friend and help us by paying it forward. Send them a copy of this e-zine or send them

here to sign up

Comments? Ideas? Feedback? Please, we would love to hear from you. Just reply to this e-zine and tell us what you think! Thanks a lot, and keep hoopin'.
The Team at Planet Hoops.