Marena Whittle, an Adelaide Lightning Player and SEDA College Ambassador, came in to visit the BSA Campus during the final week of term 3 to run a training session and talk about her experiences playing for team Australia in the FIBA 3×3 World Cup. She explained to the class how she made the team, struggles and successes with the team, and encouragement to give 3 vs 3 a bigger try.
She introduced new drills, gave advice on form and tactical decision making, and ended the session with a miniature 3vs3 round robin.
The training began with the regular warm up of stretching, jogging, and 3–5-man weaves. Marena put a large emphasis on ball handling and dribbling skills. The key drills we participated in were dribble drives where there would be cones and instructions of what move to do. We also had short drills where players would run dribble hand off actions, running through a screen and passing the ball out to the corner for a three-point shot.
The session ended in a Three vs Three mini carnival, taking place across four courts. Using half of the court per game, we followed classic 3 vs 3 games, first to 21 points or most points in 5 minutes. Teams consisted of 4 players, with one player on the bench. Teams played very unstructured and free-flowing offense, mostly using isolated pick and roll plays, and using big men in the post on switches.
Marena did a great job of creating a competitive but supportive environment and improving players ability to do both skill-based moves and split-second mental decision-making ability. We always love having guests in to help, and we hope to see more in the future.