Archie Miller Individual Skill Development by Mark Chapman

Written by Coach Peterman

I have coached at the NCAA Division 2 (Southwestern Oklahoma State University), NAIA (USAO), and JUCO Levels (Blinn College and Carl Albert State College) as well as high school. I just felt that fellow coaches especially young coaches need to constantly work on their “game”. Just like the basketball players that we coach. We as coaches need to improve ourselves. That is my story and why I do this blog.

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Basketball Coaching Clinic Notes | Basketball Drills

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October 9, 2013

Archie Miller

University of Dayton

Archie Miller is the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Dayton and was a guest speaker to a group of high school coaches in central Ohio a few years ago. He spent a few years as an assistant at Ohio State under Thad Matta before taking his current position at Dayton.

He spent time talking about individual skill development and great ways to start your practices. High energy, moving, and shooting are all a part of what he shared and the drills he shared were helpful to maximize all three of these areas.

One area that he emphasized was tracking the shots that are taken in practice. While most high school coaches don’t have a lot of extra coaches this is a great chance for volunteers, student assistants, or injured players to get a chance to stay involved in the practice. Tracking the shooting percentage of each of your players not only allows you to see where they are most successful but will support your position on where they should and shouldn’t shoot for your team to be most productive.

Two things he likes to do to end every practice are a shooting drill with his guards and a competitive drill. The shooting drill is called “Steph Curry’s”. This is set up for a 3pt shooter but can be adapted for any range or gym space. A player picks a spot on the floor (usually on the 3pt line) and will shoot for 3 min. Players usually start off strong but you’ll see them fade and get tired after a minute or two. This is beneficial for teaching players to be able to shoot when tired since it’s being performed after practice. The competitive drill to end practice can be anything from a Free Throw game to a shooting game, just make it something that the guys will enjoy and will work hard to win. After a couple practice most coaches find drills that players really enjoy competing in.

We have a new basketball coaching contributor in Mark Chapman who is the Head Boy’s Basketball Coach at Hamilton Township High School in Columbus, Ohio.