A Message from Mike

THE LESSON
Many years ago when I was about 10 or 11 years old I fell in love with the game of basketball. I spent hours practicing with my older brother Jerry, at our home basketball court in New Providence, New Jersey and I just never seemed to get any better. There were a couple of problems as I recall. The first problem was finding someone who was willing to rebound the many shots that I was taking during a three or four hour afternoon or evening session (many times that would be my mother, Teresa, or my father Mickey) and the second problem was that as many shots as I took, I was taking those shots incorrectly and most were not going into the basket.

Pretty soon however, I discovered the more time I put into practicing, the more shots seemed to go in. This little lesson that I discovered a lot later in life has proven to me over and over again that if you do something long enough and repeat that action many times...what ever it is that you were doing or practicing has to get better. What I learned back then was that the more shots that I took (even without having a lot of success), the more that seemed to go in! There was a definite correlation between time put in, the amount of shots taken and the eventual success of making more shots! Eventually I made enough shots and progressed far enough to make the team as a freshman basketball player playing for John Moffitt at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains. Unfortunately for me (and I suppose him too), I was a very ordinary Freshman basketball player. I played hard and put a lot of effort into my practices and into my backyard shooting, but my shooting just didn't seem to improve. I really wanted to get better but really didn't know how to do it other than by just playing in a lot of pick-up games. I always made enough shots to be considered a good player but I wanted to get a lot better. One day in the early summer of 1966 my older brother Jerry returned home from Olivet College in Michigan and we began to play for an hour or so every evening. I watched with amazement as my brother shot and made his shots with unbelievable consistency and began to question him as to why his ball always seemed to go in and my ball did not. Jerry gave me a couple of tips that day and with a few minor adjustments I started to shoot the ball much more consistently. Jerry stressed the importance of time management and good shooting repetition when ever we worked out together. Coincidentally, later that summer a freshman basketball player at Providence College by the name of Bert Brady spent many afternoons with me shooting basketballs at Lyons Park in New Providence, and he also gave me a tip or two that seemed to work. Under Jerry's tutelage and a minor assist from Bert, our shooting method began to develop. That shooting method grew to be successful for me and later for my younger brothers Frank and Richard who became All-County and All-State players in High School.

THE PAYOFF
and...the rest, as they say, is history. I had a good high school career that resulted in my being named all Union County in 1969, a great college career playing for Jim Dougher at Stonehill College (averaging 25 points a game for 4 years) where I was fortunate enough to be named a three-time All-American. After graduation I was drafted by the Capitol Bullets (now called the Washington Wizards) of the NBA and by the Virginia Squires of the ABA. I signed a contract with the Bullets but never was fortunate enough to play during the regular season. In those days many players were put on an inactive roster or more popularly called the "Taxi Squad" (at about a half salary) which meant that you could be called at

anytime to play during the seaon if needed. While waiting for my chance I played in the Eastern Basketball Professional League for two years with a number of different teams. During the Spring I played in Europe in the Professional Leagues in both Italy and Belgium. In the Summers I played in the Rucker League in Harlem which at that time was the proving ground for all professional basketball players and where I was a teammate of Wilt Chamberlain & Nate "Tiny Archibald, and played with Julius "Doctor J" Erving, Willis Reed, Kareem Abdul Jabbar (who was then called Lewis Alcindor) and many other great players....In the Spring and late Summer I played in Europe in both Italy and Belgium.
Unfortunately, during those days it was difficult to make a living only playing basketball in the "minor" leagues and eventually I had to enter the workforce which is where I have been until now. I always managed, however, to help out as a coach with stops at Drew University in Madison, Morris Catholic in Denville (where I was fortunate enough to coach with my brother Jerry) and most recently as a varsity assistant at South Plainfield High School.

THE DREAM
It has always been a dream of mine to open a facility such as THE BASKETBALL SHOOTING ACADEMY. Someone who is a lot wiser than me many, many years ago said that dreams can come true. THE BASKETBALL SHOOTING ACADEMY is my Dream and it is truly here and I hope that all of you will take the opportunity that it presents in helping to make you all better players.
I have come across many young players who can shoot the heck out of the basketball but they just aren't able to do it in a game. In very simplistic terms that is the reason for THE BASKETBALL SHOOTING ACADEMY. Until now I have been on a 45 year journey trying to find the correct method to teach shooting quickly, correctly and have my method yield great results.
The good news is that if the child learns the correct method early in their career they had a great chance to become terrific shooters. The bad news is that they probably will not want to put the time in that is necessary to be a terrific shooter. I think that our BASKETBALL SHOOTING ACADEMY can lead a lot of youngsters on the correct path to shooting a basketball if they're willing to commit some time, focus, concentration and a little bit of hard work.
I have assembled a staff of hard working individuals...successful people who are willing to devote the time in teaching young and old players alike our method. We can proudly say that we have the most up-to-date equipment that will help any player take more than the amount of shots that is necessary to turn themselves into better shooters.
I will leave you with a quote that I once read while at Stonehill College and have tried to live by every day of my life since I read it. It goes like this...
"Anything that you vividly imagine, sincerely believe, ardently desire and enthusiastically act upon, will inevitably come to pass."

THE REALITY
It is with this in mind that I opened THE BASKETBALL SHOOTING ACADEMY in August, 2006!