About
Brian McCormick founded Playmakers Basketball Development League in 2009 after the positive feedback that he received for his books Cross Over: The New Model of Youth Basketball Development (2006) and Developing Basketball Intelligence (2008).
McCormick has coached CYO, AAU, high school, junior college, college and professional basketball and created the PBDL curriculum to bridge the gap between the more common fundamental technical practice (shooting, ball handling) and the typical team strategy practices (set plays, out of bounds plays, press breaks).
The PBDL uses the idea of random training as opposed to the more prevalent block practice to teach the important tactical skills that form the foundation of any offensive system. While block practice leads to immediate performance improvements, random training promotes long term retention and transferability of skills from setting to setting. The PBDL is not just a season-long league, but preparation for the players’ next season, league or program.
Every player receives a copy of McCormick’s Playmakers: The Player’s Guide to Developing Basketball Intelligence. Playmakers uses the same concepts as DBI, but eliminates the drills and the drill progressions to focus on the players’ learning. Playmakers reinforces the lessons taught through the six-week PBDL and gives players a resource to use as they move to their next team, coach or league.
A six-week league is not enough time to teach, train and master every skill and concept. The PBDL goal is to introduce the concepts and train the skills to help players in the developmental process and to provide a learning-oriented environment for youth basketball players that bridges the gap between fun-oriented recreation leagues and more competitive club or school teams.
Who decided that a point guard has to be small? More importantly, what is a point guard?
We expect a point guard to be a leader and have a high basketball I.Q. Why don’t we expect or challenge all players to develop this game awareness? Why rely on only one player?
English soccer academies wait until players are 11 to play full 11v11 soccer; in Italy, youth basketball players participate in skill-oriented clinics at 6-years-old, but start competitive games at 12. In the United States, kids play 5v5 full court games and compete for national championships when they are 8-years-old.
The PBDL emphasizes learning and development. Presently, players and parents have numerous recreation options - leagues based on fun and equal participation, typically for beginners - and numerous competitive opportunities - teams focused on strategy, game preparation and winning. There are few true development leagues - until now.