It’s that time of the year again and the Knicks are back on the court! After years of mediocrity, we have some tips from our SPORT recess program to get the Knicks back on track to win an NBA title… or at least to make the playoffs.
Staying in your assigned area
One of the first things that our instructors teach with the SPORT program is the importance of zoning. The most common injury that we see in unstructured recess time is a student being knocked down because they are running through the middle of a game that they aren’t playing in.
The Knicks could learn a thing or two about offensive zoning. After years of free-lanced, isolation-based offense, the Knicks are now expected to be in certain spots at certain times as a part of the triangle offense. The success of their team this year will be largely based on whether they are staying in their area, or abandoning their zones and running into one another.
Stick to your system
One of the things that makes SPORT so successful is the system. The Kids in the Game system involves a games book (our version of the playbook) and a games calendar for the year. Our instructors are asked to follow the games calendars closely, as they are designed to lead the students step by step towards a end of the year goal set by the Kids in the Game administrators and the school.
The Knicks have a system now, Phil Jackson’s triangle offense, and hopefully they can stick to it. Although it may seem boring or overly-structured at the beginning, when the players buy in it will undoubtedly be better than the unstructured system that they had before.
Use the system to enhance creativity
In the educational and the basketball world, there are some who say that having a structured system limits creativity. We believe that the right system enhances it. In the SPORT recess program, we allow our students to be creative within the games, to suggest new rules, and to find creative ways to be a good competitor in the given game.
For the Knicks to be successful, they must learn how to use the triangle to their advantage. For example, the Knicks can use the weak side of the triangle to create a structured isolation play for Carmelo Anthony that will keep everybody else on the strong rebounding side of the court. This would certainly be better than letting the shot clock run down and giving Anthony the ball at the top of the key with 4 seconds to create. Both are isolation plays, allowing creativity, but the systematic option allows a better chance to be successful.
Safety
What is the first part of the SPORT acronym? SAFE. Which is something that the Knicks generally have a hard time with. We believe that any successful youth program must stress safety right from the start. Many NYC schools have recess areas where extra precaution is needed, so we teach the kids simple rules like being aware of surroundings and looking where they are going. The Knicks safety rules might go something like this:
- No punching fire extinguishers (especially in the playoffs!)
- Limit JR Smith and Amare Stoudemire’s minutes in back-to-back games
- Keep Andrea Bargnani away from anything dangerous at all times
Phil, Coach Fisher, Mr. Dolan: We hope this article reaches you. If the Knicks need a SPORT recess instructor, we are a quick phone call away!