Join Cerberus Basketball

At Cerberus Basketball our journey begins with teaching the footwork and biomechanics required for the game of basketball.  Focusing on proper technique in the fundamental skills is key to successful development.  We focus on individual skills like dribbling, passing, shooting, pivoting, rebounding, defensive movement, and positional skills; team skills, such as how to move off-ball, how to execute and defend ball screens, and how to execute multiple-person actions such as cutting, setting picks, or dribble hand-offs.  We are here to build a strong foundation in the game of basketball.

For our individual skills, we focus heavily on biomechanics, strength, and coordination.  We like to start our athletes out with a lot of hand-eye coordination drills involving two basketballs or a basketball and a tennis ball.  Using two basketballs while dribbling simultaneously forces the brain and body to cooperate, challenging your non-dominant hand to copy and mirror the coordination of your dominant hand.  Similarly, using a basketball and a tennis ball creates a lot of hand eye coordination and the ability to move your arms independently from each other to perform different actions.  For example, having one arm dribbling the basketball whilst your "off-arm" is actively protecting the basketball from defenders.

A philosophy of the Cerberus Basketball program is to jump stop, play off two feet, and to pivot, not panic.  Especially earlier on, basketball athletes often travel because they aren't sure which foot is their pivot foot or because they remain in motion before they were able to pass or shoot the ball in a desperate situation.  So, whether they are catching a pass, picking up their dribble, or getting a rebound:  jump stop, jump stop, jump stop!

For passing, we advance from stationary passing to passing in motion.  We focus on different types of passes for different situations.  For instance, we teach when to use a bounce pass versus a chest pass, overhead pass, or a hook pass.  We work heavily on how to “kick-out” pass from the lane out to the perimeter off of a drive.  Off that “kick-out” pass we practice to either shoot, attack the basket again, or “swing” the ball using the phrase “one more (pass)”; after we learn to swing the basketball, we can effectively work on “skip” passes around the perimeter and entry passes into the post.

Shooting the basketball is a combination of explosive action and fine motor skill.  Our earliest focus is shooting form and footwork.  We stress the importance of form by repeating drills such as line shooting to improve the alignment of your shot, shooting over the backboard for proper shot arch, and shooting off the jump stop vs establishing a pivot foot through a 2 step stop.  Another philosophy Cerberus Sports is being shot ready when you are waiting to receive a pass while stationary.  We move on from spot shooting to shooting in motion.  Conventional and power layups, floaters, midranges, and 3-point shots all require proper footwork and biomechanics to be effective and efficient.

Once we have a basic foundation of how to play basketball on an individual level, we work heavily on full court and half court team aspects, starting with how to work together to get the ball from one end of the court to the other in different situations.  Whether a fast-break occurs from a defensive rebound, a steal, or an inbound, we train to dribble through the middle lane in the back court, pass towards, and push the ball up sidelines through half court, and look to outnumber the defense by the time we reach our half of the court, while simultaneously incorporating defensive strategies such as a “wolf” defender that runs up on the offensive player dribbling the basketball from behind, assigning a defender to cover the basket as well as assigning a defender to cover the ball.  Meanwhile, the other defenders cover the “next pass”.  We train our athletes to then recover to their assigned player after the defense catches up and the offense settles.

Our half court offense begins with teaching how to perform different cuts, such as a ”face cut” or “back-door cut” and how to fill empty spots; how to set “off-ball” screens, such as a pin-down screen, and how to execute a dribble hand-off. Once those lessons are administered we move towards how to execute and defend against different “on-ball” screens strategies, such as a pick and roll.

We have a tremendous love for defensive tactics and strategies at Cerberus Sports.  Early on we start with full court 1v1 defensive footwork drills against live offense.  They learn to slide, turn & sprint to cutoff and square back up with the offensive player dribbling the ball.  These drills also teach the offensive player dribbling how to change directions by spinning or performing a crossover.  We practice repetitions of defending team scenarios such as a handoffs, cuts, or various forms of screening.  We repetitiously drill weak-side help defense using the phrases “I got help” when you are leaving your assigned player to help defend the basket on a drive from the other team and “I’ve got two (players that I’m defending)” when the nearest player on the weak side guards two players giving their teammate the freedom to be the “help” defender.  Also, we learn to “cover” any “help” defender whose assigned offensive player is “posted up”.  Understanding defensive rotation is crucial at higher levels of basketball.

As they start to develop we begin to hone in on individual strengths.  We prepare each athlete for a specific position that they enjoy and are likely to succeed in based on their strengths and body type.  At this stage in their development, we start to look into the deeper aspects of their roll on the court.  We begin working with our guards on being perimeter players, showing them how to handle the ball while changing directions, playing off the bounce, working on perimeter shooting, learning to play off picks/screens, and performing advanced dribble hand-off & cutting strategies.

We start working with our post players on “posting up” or playing inside the 3 point line.  We teach how to perform handoffs and set different screens as well as the different ways to play off of both of those actions.  They learn how to seal off their defender for a guard player to have an open lane to score.  We feel it’s crucial that our posts know when to score versus when to kick (pass) the ball back “out” to the perimeter.  Most importantly, as a forward or center, your first job is rebounding the basketball and either putting the ball back up to score or finding a perimeter player to keep ball movement.

We incorporate each individual roll into our full court strategies on both offense and defense.  Forwards and centers learn to be rebounders, rim-runners, screeners, and facilitators on offense.  On defense, larger players are usually the last line of defense nearest the basket.  Guards are often looking to push the ball up the court quickly.  It’s crucial that each guard knows their specific job, whether you are sprinting to half court near the sideline to receive a pass and push the ball forward, or sprint to the corner waiting for a kick-out off the drive.

From a deep understanding of biomechanics to a deep understanding of basketball, it’s our mission at Cerberus Sports to build a strong foundation and deep understanding of the game for every athlete that accepts our services