This is my second year at camp. I was so excited to come to Warriors Basketball Camp this year. I was talking the whole ride from my house in Saratoga. My friend Doug is coming with me again. He came last year with me and it was so much fun. We both learned a lot of things and it helped me prepare before I play in my school and youth league. This year I’m really excited because I hope it will help me improve my skills so I can play on my high school team.

Once I arrived, I received a Warriors jersey, then Doug and I shot around and warmed-up together. The camp started the same as last year with the whole group doing stretching drills. Then we broke off into station groups and played one-on-one. This can get really competitive and really helps my ball-handling. Right before lunch we played full-court five-on-five, our team was the Lakers. We lost by only one point to the Rockets. I took a charge during the game and our coach was really happy and he cheered me on and gave me a high-five! I hope we play again.

After lunch Nate Thurmond spoke to us. He told us to keep staying with it and the hard work will pay off. My parents later showed me Nate’s visit was in the paper!

When Nate finished speaking to us we started my favorite drill, NBA 2-Ball. Doug was my partner for 2-ball today. Doug started at half court, and he comes up to shoot at one of the six spots marked on the court. After Doug shot, I rebounded the ball for him and then I took a shot while he rebounded for me; we made sure we rotated between the marked spots. We went on for a minute, sometimes you can also earn points. It’s definitely my favorite drill and helps me with my shooting a lot. (What is NBA 2-Ball?)

We started today with a lot of the same stuff as last year, but some of the stations were different. We did a cool lay-up drill that I’ve never done before and I am going to tell my coach at school about. It really helped me.

Another drill we did was “Air, Sea, Land.” It’s a listening drill that we did last year (and I wasn’t very good). We all stand in a square around the basketball court. We find a line we can jump over; I chose the baseline right next to Doug. When one of the coaches yells “AIR” we all have to jump, when the coach yells “SEA” we have to jump forward over the line; if they yell “LAND” we have to stay behind the line unless the line is behind us and we have to jump back. This year I did much better, but didn’t win, maybe next year.

We also played five-on-five again. I met a new guy name Ansol, he’s from Los Altos. We talked a bit about what we would be doing if we weren’t at camp and we both said the same thing. We’d probably sitting at home and doing nothing. Playing some video games or something. We were both glad we were at camp, not because we were playing basketball, but that we are learning some new skills. I’m starting to get a lot lower on defense and moving my feet better. My free throws are starting to improve too.

I met Troy Murphy today! I was able to talk to him about what it’s like to be a player in the NBA. He said you have to work really hard get to where he is. He worked really hard over the summer, working out every day, and is trying to get better and it showed. It made me believe hard work pays off. He gave me his autograph on my camp jersey!

Tomorrow is the one-on-one championship. Doug and I talked about it last night and we are excited to show off our new defensive skills. Ansol and I talked about our five-on-five team. Our team is doing OK. The first three games we lost, but we’ve now won our last two games. So we are turning it around at the end. I’m excited for the five-on-five tournament.

We didn’t have a guest appearance today, but I hope there is another guest appearance. I would love if Jason Richardson would come to the camp.

DAY FOUR: Championships

I made it to the second round in one-on-one, but then I lost. Doug made it a little farther than I did, so I watched him.

My five-on-five team won our game before lunch, so we played in the championship game after lunch. And we won! Ansol and I were so excited and our coach was jumping around! Our team also won the three-on-three championship.

The competition was definitely a lot better than last year. I felt there were a lot more people with better skills, and it helps me a lot since I’ll be going to try to play on my high school team.

It was a GREAT day! A good day to end my camp, I’m telling my parents that I want to come again next year!