We have some football/basketball crossover news! (Soccer for you all in the US of A)
Football is the most popular sport in the world. In England. It’s THE sport. I didn’t play basketball until I was 10. That’s a disgrace in my opinion but you’re not here for my life story.
In the Barclays Premier League (Or the English Premier League) there is one manager that is using basketball to help his players when training. Gus Poyet of Sunderland. For him, basketball is a big part of his life. He played it religiously until he was 15. His father was one of the best in Uruguay. He knows a little thing or two.
“The way you turn is similar in both sports. The problem is basketball is not very popular in England – but I’m going to make it popular.”
Poyet’s conviction deepened on Wednesday. “I watched our youth cup game against Newcastle and watching the way the kids marked and moved I thought every player should be playing a bit of basketball. I’ve been talking a lot about basketball since then – and I’ve got a hoop put up at the training ground,
“If you play basketball certain movements become natural. There was a full-back in our game last weekend, somebody was running at him and he was turning, looking at the goal – you cannot mark like that. You mark facing the player and the ball and that’s the same in basketball. You never see a player in basketball running towards his own basket to mark without looking over his shoulder. These little things help you because you have to mark in a certain way.“
It’s actually not bad an idea. Don’t forget that there are some NBA players that thank football for some of their skills.
Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Tony Parker. All of those used to play “The Beautiful Game”. And they’re all future Hall of Famers. So. Gus Poyet got something going here.
