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Basketball teams need to know how to defend, run the offense and take care of the ball, all of which are important to winning or losing games.
But any coach would readily admit that sinking free throws is just as important as any play made during the course of a game. It’s one reason why both hoops teams at Bolingbrook High School spend so much time at the charity stripe during practice.
Boys coach Rob Brost has said making free throws has been a big key to several of the Raiders’ wins this season (just as poor free throw shooting has led to a few losses).
“That’s one of the signs of a good team,” Brost said of making shots from the charity stripe.
And that’s one of the reasons the Raiders have several drills designed to improve free throw shooting. Brost and his coaching staff do everything but pipe in crowd noise in an attempt to mimic the myriad of game situations in which a free throw might come.
“Sometimes if they miss (free throws) we run, sometimes we shoot sets of 10, sometimes sets of 20, sometimes we shoot two and rotate,” Brost said. “We like to change it up and put some pressure on them. We also run for all of our turnovers and making free throws can get them out of that running. It’s all part of the deal. Every coach has little tricks they like to use.”
For Lady Raiders head coach Tony Smith, that includes free throws at the beginning and end of practice.
“We do shooting at the beginning and after that we shoot free throws where he have them shoot 10 or 12 free throws at all six rims in the gym,” Smith said. “When they’re tired and they want to be done at the end, everybody has to make two or else they run.
“That translates to games because the pressure of losing a game is like the pressure of running. They don’t want to run and they don’t want to lose games.”
What a start
In an attempt to slow down Bolingbrook’s boys basketball team, Lincoln-Way East started Friday’s game in a zone defense.
The Raiders were in a different kind of zone, hitting two 3-pointers right off the bat and using pressure defense to force a slew of Griffin turnovers in the early going. That hot start led to a nearly eight-minute scoreless stretch for East as Bolingbrook’s 7-2 lead ballooned to 26-2.
Basketball teams need to know how to defend, run the offense and take care of the ball, all of which are important to winning or losing games.
But any coach would readily admit that sinking free throws is just as important as any play made during the course of a game. It’s one reason why both hoops teams at Bolingbrook High School spend so much time at the charity stripe during practice.
Boys coach Rob Brost has said making free throws has been a big key to several of the Raiders’ wins this season (just as poor free throw shooting has led to a few losses).
“That’s one of the signs of a good team,” Brost said of making shots from the charity stripe.
And that’s one of the reasons the Raiders have several drills designed to improve free throw shooting. Brost and his coaching staff do everything but pipe in crowd noise in an attempt to mimic the myriad of game situations in which a free throw might come.
“Sometimes if they miss (free throws) we run, sometimes we shoot sets of 10, sometimes sets of 20, sometimes we shoot two and rotate,” Brost said. “We like to change it up and put some pressure on them. We also run for all of our turnovers and making free throws can get them out of that running. It’s all part of the deal. Every coach has little tricks they like to use.”
For Lady Raiders head coach Tony Smith, that includes free throws at the beginning and end of practice.
“We do shooting at the beginning and after that we shoot free throws where he have them shoot 10 or 12 free throws at all six rims in the gym,” Smith said. “When they’re tired and they want to be done at the end, everybody has to make two or else they run.
“That translates to games because the pressure of losing a game is like the pressure of running. They don’t want to run and they don’t want to lose games.”
What a start
In an attempt to slow down Bolingbrook’s boys basketball team, Lincoln-Way East started Friday’s game in a zone defense.
The Raiders were in a different kind of zone, hitting two 3-pointers right off the bat and using pressure defense to force a slew of Griffin turnovers in the early going. That hot start led to a nearly eight-minute scoreless stretch for East as Bolingbrook’s 7-2 lead ballooned to 26-2.
The Raiders led 36-13 at the half, were up 43-13 early in the third quarter and went on to win 68-38.
In addition to all-around production from Nick Malonga, Chad Cooke drained a pair of 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 13 points.
Cheer for the champs
Bolingbrook’s cheerleading team captured the co-ed division title at Saturday’s Joliet Central sectional, and did so in decisive fashion. The Raiders tallied an 85.57 to top runner-up Thornwood (82.93) by nearly three points. After the Raiders and Thunderbirds, the next three finishers were separated by less than a point.
Now the Raiders will aim to bring home another title when they head to the state competition this weekend at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington. Bolingbrook will compete at 4:50 p.m. Friday in the hopes of qualifying for Saturday’s finals.
