The Aztecs players and coaching staff were treated to two hours with top BBL Coach Creon Raftopoulos at Wellington College
Coach Raftopoulos was namedBasketball Journalists Coach of the Year in the BBL last season, and is set to start his fourth season with the Guildford-based Surrey Scorchers in the top flight of British basketball this year.
Born in Zimbabwe in the early 70’s, Creon represented his country before turning to coaching which has included stints at Teeside Mohawks and Guildford Heat. He has been involved in basketball in the Guildford area for close to 10 years and is a coach who has a good reputation throughout the basketball fraternity. In a quiet moment he also developed a form of the game for less mobile participants to play – and Walking Basketball is now a fast growing activity up and down the country.
The session he put on for the Aztecs was well-paced, interesting and, most important of all, fun!
“Basketball is an easy game made difficult by some poor decisions by players; the way to keep it easy is to make good decisions,”
was one message Coach Raftopoulos was keen to share with the players.
“I look for players who can give the first pass, the easy pass, the open pass and the forward pass” he said.
“If players can do that then they have a chance to be successful.”
“Obviously there is more to it than that – you have to put one orange thing through another orange thing, so I look for players to use their time wisely in the gym, and put up as many shots as they can from the moment they step through the door. Then in the game if you are open and set, do not be afraid to take a shot,” he added.
The players were quick to praise Coach Creon for giving up his time to help them, and regular training sessions will now continue as usual:
The men’s squads train at Wellington College on Thursdays from 8:00 to 10:00 pm
The ladies train at King’s Academy, Binfield from 8:00 to 9:30pm on Wednesdays.
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