Aug. 21, 2011

Photo Gallery Video

SHANGHAI - From the outside view, there may have been a language barrier. There was Georgetown University Head Men's Basketball Coach John Thompson III. And then there were nearly 20 Chinese high school basketball coaches. What they had between them, however, was the mutual understanding of the language that can be provided in playing basketball.

That was the case on Sunday morning as Thompson instructed the coaches during a clinic at the Nike Festival of Sport in Shanghai.

Thompson arrived at the outdoor court where the Hoyas practiced on Saturday and where they will play the Liaoning Dinosaurs, a team from the Chinese Basketball Association with a chance to speak to fellow coaches.

"You guys are fortunate just because of the number of people in this country who are in love with basketball," Thompson said. "A lot of times coaches, American coaches and coaches all over the world, get caught up in plays, instead of showing kids how to play the game. And one thing we spend at least one third of every practice on is the fundamentals.

"We have a summer camp for little kids and I take the ball and throw it to the kid and ask them what they can do with it. You can dribble it, pass it or shoot it. So let's work at those things and be good at those things."

Thompson, with an interpreter translating for the coaches, told the coaches of how he introduces the game to the youngest of competitors during his camps and how it can translate to virtually any age level.

"One thing people don't do enough of is dribbling," Thompson said. "We all as coaches have our different philosophies and our own different styles, but regardless of whether you are John Wooden or Bobby Knight or John Thompson or Coach Qian Chenghai (who coached the Chinese national team in the 1970s and 1980s), regardless of what your philosophy is, you have to be good at those things."

After speaking to the coaches for 10 or 15 minutes, he brought the entire group on the floor and they ran through some sets that the Hoyas use during their practice.

The session with the coaches lasted for nearly an hour as Thompson talked to the coaches about things they see on the floor and how they can pick up on screens and cuts. The coaches were not afraid to ask questions either, stopping as the play moved to make sure they had complete understanding of what Thompson was instructing.

At the end of the actual drills, Thompson took questions from the coaches, ranging from how he handles specific players to how he picked up his coaching philosophy.

The interaction between Thompson and the Chinese coaches was amazing, as it showed there really was no language barrier with them. As soon as they stepped on the court, the language of basketball took over.