AAU Magazine, Attn: Bree Greenawalt, PO Box 624, Brookfield
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o e s THE REAL AAU Basketball I May 2012 D EPART MENTS 4 The Opening Tip FEATURES 4 tips for bonding 8 Rising To The Top with your players. Former Chicago Bull Dickey Simpkins quickly building a winner with Next Level Performance. 6 AAU Alumni Female Division 16 Offensive Options Out OfThe 'Horns' Set Lindsey Harding of the Increased floor spacing creates better shots for your team. Atlanta Dream. 22 Creative Fundraising Can Lead To Big Revenue Unique ideas like community-wide events reduce costs for your program. 26 Match-Up Full-Court Press Frustrates Your Opponents Create disruption for the opposition by switching to a match-up defense. 30 8 Tips For Building Positive Relationships With Parents Develop a communication plan and stick with it. 32 Perfect Practice Drills Get your players game-ready with these intense, proven practice drills. 34 Basketball Playbook Coaches from all levels and programs allow you to see some of their favorite plays. 36 Product Showcase Get the latest information on AAU's Next Level Performance. the hottest basketball products. 38 AAU Sports For All Getting to know 22 AAU president. Fundraising strategies Discover unique ways The Real AAU ~~MiJ"i..2Sll2. CLessi!er to make money. Publications In c., 20 12. All rights reserved . No part of th is publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical. includi ng photocopy, recording or any info rmation storage or retri eval system , without written permission from th e publisher. Cover: Wisconsin Playground Warriors POSTMASTER: Please send change of address to Th e 1OU assistant coach Alexander Briggs. Real AAU Magazine, Attn: Bree Greenawalt, PO Box 624, Brookfield. WI 53008·0624 USA Photo by Darrell Bruggink May 2012 I THE REAL AAU Basketball 3 Former Chicago Bull Dickey Simpkins quickly is building a winner with Former Chicago Bull Dickey Simpkins (center) maintains Next Level Performance close contact with Next Level Performance players, teaching them to play basketball the right way. By Kevin Hoffman. Associate Editor school level. The program achieved success in just its sec ond year when its 17U team finished sixth at the AAU Na t's logical to assume because former Chicago Bulls tionals in Orlando. forward Dickey Simpkins was a member of one of On top of that, NLP has helped 31 team members move I the greatest teams in NBA history, he learned a little on to play college basketball. That includes th e University something about breeding success. of Illinois' Brandon Paul, who was the 2009 Illinois Mr. While that's likely true, a winner was built long before Basketball and recruited in high school as one of the top then, when Simpkins was a young man playing basketball guards in the nation. at a Maryland high school and traveling on the AAU cir The reputation as Chicago's fastest growing AAU pro cuit. It was there he learned the principles that helped him gram is nice but Simpkins is dedicated to maintaining his establish Next Level Performance (NLP) based near Chi core values within NLP. That means taking a unique ap cago and develop it into a national force only years after proach and working with children in a way benefiting them its creation. beyond the hardwood floor. "In ninth grade, a guy came up to me after a high school ''I'm really proud ofthe fact that we stick by our princi game and asked about playing AAU," Simpkins recalls. ples in our foundation and how we go about things profes "I went and showed up, and a lot of things I do with this sionally as a team, and I won 't jeopardize, compromise or foundation was learned from my experiences playing AAU sacrifice any of those things just to get children to play for basketball and from my AAU coach." us," Simpkins says. ''I'm proud we can find the diamonds NLP was created in 2006 as a training company. Simp in the rough." kins says he started it because it accomplished what he wanted to do in coaching and training by teaching chil Building A Winner dren about skill development and basketball on and off the NLP started playing AAU basketball in 2007 with c court. group ofguys Simpkins says nobody knew about. The 17L During the winter of 2007, the parents of the children he team was all the program had, giving coaches an opportu was instructing asked him about coaching AAU basketbalL nity to focus all their attention on this new crop of players "At first I kind of didn 't want to do it but they continued Most programs start with younger players and work thei to ask about it," Simpkins says. "I said, 'If I'm going to do way up, Simpkins says, so NLP had the challenge ofwor~ this, I'm going to show AAU, travel basketball and every ing with high school players who already had develope; one how to do it the right way. '" their own styles and tendencies within the game. That year, NLP hit the AAU circuit with one team and "We had one team and we basically collected a group c since then has expanded to 10 teams with five at the high guys people didn't know anything about but they wante 8 THE REAL AAU Basketball I May 2 01 2 to play and their parents wanted them Simpkins is proud of how the the best staff and implementing til, to play," Simpkins says. " Basically, program began but its second year right structure that's going to help th , we wanted to build the foundation is when the AAU basketball world players reach their full potential. It al of where we're a family and we're started to take notice. The l7U team starts with practice. a foundation based on skill develop fought its way to a sixth-place finish A team's preparation should hi ment and learning." at Nationals- a feat relatively rare for taken seriously and few others pu Competing the first year wasn't too a program still in its infancy. more time and effort into their prac difficult, Simpkins says. The group Michael Murphy, a coach with tices than NLP. Murphy developed; took the floor and gave the game ev NLP, says the program 's second sea practice format, which assures hin erything they had, and some children son earned it credentials and placed it the players spend some time focusinl were playing up from their age level. on the map nationally. NLP continues on all aspects of the game, includinl Paul was one of those playing up and to find its way into the national spot mental preparation. it helped Simpkins develop a founda light, last year earning a second-place Murphy advises all programs t( tion to help the program blossom to finished with its l6U team in the Divi start practice with a theme, whicl five teams in its second year. sion II Nationals. can include a motivation quote. Put That's a significant accomplish "We go after a certain kind of ting your players in the right mindse ment, especially for a program trying child," says Murphy, echoing Simp helps you get the most out of you to compete in the Chicago suburbs lit kins' philosophy about working with short practice time. tered with AAU organizations vying the rigl)t type of player. "We want to But what's most important is Mur for the area's best talent. Because the make sure they're not necessarily the phy avoids wasting time on irrelevan program got off to such a fast start, most talented, but coachable, and ac drills or schemes not benefiting hi and because it was backed by Simp cept what we provide for them and the players in the long nll1. It's easy to as kins ' name, it made recruiting players benefits from that. slime because your player is 6-foot-4 easier. "One of the keys to our success is he or she belongs in the post. But i But that's not the main goal, Simp we do have structured offenses and the individual thrives on the perim kins says. He's looking for talent, but we do work on defenses. If you do not eter, find opportunities to exploit tha he 's also searching for children who have structured practices it makes it asset while at the same time workinl want to learn and strive to do things difficult and you're not holding your to strengthen the player's weaknesses the right way. That's the core philoso kids accountable." "We believe in taking advantag< phy, which Simpkins says won't be of our players' individual strength : compromised for anything. Behind The Scenes and putting them into positions when "We want to help these boys grow NLP's accomplishments in such they can be successful," Murphy says and be men and be able to handle the a short time are impressive but it's "That's a core philosophy we have a real world when they move on from not luck that brought the program to coaches. lfwe have a guy on our tean basketball," he says. this point. Murphy says it's finding that can knock down shots, it's our re sponsibility to get that guy open or ge him into his favorite spot on the flo a to get him that shot." Murphy says NLP coaches idel1l tify key parts of a player's gam because they scout their own tean members before hand.