TrueLeague Newsletter 9/27/2023

Welcome TrueLeague Families!

It’s been a great couple weeks of practice preparing for our regular season in the TrueLeague and it was great to see our athletes competing in games for the first time this season! Each week we want to take the time to acknowledge a few special athletes who stood out in each division.

2nd/3rd Grade Division: Ryker Wen

“Ryker showed up to all days of practice locked in and practicing hard,” said Coach David. “He did a great job using his teammates in the game and emphasizing ‘share the ball.’ He kept a positive attitude in everything he did on court.”

4th/5th Grade Division: Max MaughAn

“Max has been playing hard everyday he is at practice and always has a positive attitude!” said Coach David. “He’s a very coachable player and takes all advice from every coach to try to improve his game. He has one of the most infectious energies while he is playing, always trying to make other people happy!”

6th/7th Grade Division: Ocean Race

“Ocean is one of the hardest working players in the entire division and always plays hard no matter what,” said Coach David. “He has a terrific attitude when it comes to doing things for the first time, always eager to give his best. He has a fantastic coachable attitude and is a great kid!”

Basketball 101: Increase Parent’s Hoop UNDerstanding

We’ve seen a lot of feedback from parents asking to help educate our families on the Team Esface philosophy and overall basketball knowledge and we’d love to help each week!

This week we want to emphasize our commitment to playing man-to-man defense. As a youth basketball academy, our primary goal is to develop competitive high school players and place winning as an afterthought. Of course we’re all competitive and want to win, but not at the expense of hindering our athletes long-term development.

Playing man-to-man defense provides numerous benefits at a young age. For starters, it prepares them to play and succeed at higher levels. Most (if not all) high school coaches will implement man-to-man defense to reduce defensive breakdowns and limit open looks. It provides much greater individual accountability and allows athletes to pressure the ball and rotate to force contested shots. It leads to better transition defense and defensive rebounding principles as everyone has an assigned player to box out. Many high school coaches thank us for our man-to-man philosophy and it allows our athletes to contribute earlier in their high school careers.

So why do youth teams play zone defense? It’s simple: zones force perimeter jump shots and are far easier to teach at the youth level. While man-to-man defense requires elite communication and understanding of seeing both man and ball, zone allows players to simply stand in a spot while limiting dribble penetration. It simplifies defensive assignments and requires an athlete to stand in an area, regardless of where the ball is. When a zone defense packs in the paint, it requires teams to shoot perimeter jump shots due to the lack of driving lanes. Since youth athletes don’t typically have the strength to consistently shoot from three-point range (or even reach the rim) it limits defensive breakdowns and gives up low percentage shots.

The issue, however, is with each year opposing teams will become more and more consistent from three-point range and these defenses become far easier to beat. By the time athletes reach high school, giving up open threes will be detrimental and understanding man-to-man concepts becomes crucial. If a player is unable to guard the ball 1-on-1, it makes it much tougher to earn trust and playing time from a high school coach.

To reemphasize this point, our coaches were lucky enough to attend a USA Basketball Clinic in San Francisco earlier this year. One of the guest speakers was Clayton Valley High School coach Frank Allocco Jr., who also learned from his dad as a legendary coach at De La Salle High School. He talks about his philosophy below and references a video of former NBA head coach Stan Van Gundy talking about the youth basketball scene. You can watch the video he references here (it’s also a favorite of our very own Coach Cam) and watch Allocco’s thoughts below. We’re fortunate enough to have five college coaches on our staff who all share the same belief.

Overall we understand it can be frustrating watching kids struggle to matchup, blow defensive assignments, or simply not comprehend the idea of “man and ball.” While it might limit our win-loss record at an early age, we truly believe it will pay dividends over the course of an athlete’s career. It’s also why our 17U team had so much success and held a 26-5 record during the Spring/Summer! We encourage everyone to trust the long-term vision, even if it leads to losses at an early age.

Sign Up for Extra Skill Work

TrueLeague Level Up Training

Our TrueLeague Level Up Training program is designed to help supplement our practices and games with additional skill work and shooting taught by our coaching staff. These one-hour sessions take place every Monday at SportsHouse and offered at a discounted rate of $55 per session. There’s no long-term commitment and you can register week-to-week depending on your availability. 2nd-4th grade will take the court Mondays from 4-5pm at SportsHouse while 5th-7th grade will participate from 6:30-7:30pm.

Transformation

If you’re looking for a more personalized coaching experience in a 1-on-1 or small group environment, we highly recommend our Transformation program. This four-week program allows athletes to train once or twice a week depending on your schedule. We offer three different packages to best fit your athlete’s needs and you will be contacted by our staff after completing the interest form. We currently offer sessions on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. You can learn more about the program here.

Dr. Dish Shooting Machine Sessions

Want to get extra shooting reps? Look no further than the Dr. Dish Shooting Machine sessions. In this one-hour session, we’ll set up our Dr. Dish Shooting Machine and let athletes get their shots up in a small group setting. These opportunities are available on Wednesdays from 4-5pm or Sundays from 12-1pm, 2-3pm or 3-4pm. Register for a one-hour, $55 session below.