When is the best time to become a better basketball player? For many players, a lot of their skill growth occurs in the long offseason months of conditioning, scrimmaging and playing in AAU tournaments.
Sophomore basketball player Aidan Liu spent his offseason preparing to transition from JV to varsity. Through his work in the following spring and summer he was consistent with working on his conditioning, strength training and overall play, making him feel far more fit to push up and down the court faster as well as use his physicality. On top of this, Liu’s shooting has been fine tuned from hours of practice and his defense has improved a lot.
Around the end of the 2023-24 basketball season in late February, the boys’ JV and varsity teams began their offseason. Their offseason the previous year proved to be an impactful effort for the teams as JV finished 8-6 in the and varsity qualified for CCS after a 7-5 record in the 2024 CIF Central Coast Section Boys’ Basketball league.
Starting in the spring, a typical week for the players included a couple days of running around Saratoga as conditioning after school on Blue Days. They also had occasional open gyms, where anyone can show up and play. They also participated in an AAU tournament, where they played under the name Saratoga Suns and competed with other AAU teams.
As they got into summer, the team spent most of their time practicing for their summer league. This summer league included playing against other schools in the area, while they also participated in one AAU tournament in which they got to semi-finals. They kept up their usual conditioning and open gyms, but now formed two teams from summer league tryouts that also practiced.
Senior varsity captain Daniel Jadali, who plays both guard and power forward, has seen his game improve especially from his spring and summer season efforts over the years.
“I think I’ve gotten more athletic … a better player overall,” Jadali said. “I think the main thing that’s improved for me since last season is my mindset and my basketball IQ, after playing so many games [throughout the] spring and summer.
Moving closer to the regular season, in fall the teams add strength training to their schedule. Players attend weight lifting sessions to work on their strength before school on Red Days, working on exercises such as bench press and squat. Alongside their running after Blue Days, their open gyms become more frequent and they have 4-on-1 training with coaches. These 4-on-1 sessions usually have four players and one coach that drills them on specific parts of their play.
Rian Khetani, a power forward/center on the varsity team, feels the fall training has helped him become more energetic and physical on the court, especially as head coach Mike Davey and JV coach Jerry Sheehy have more individualized training where players can receive personal help on their skills.
“I really like how the coaches offer four-to-ones, which is like four players, one coach. You really feel like the coach is paying more attention to you, and that’s especially how I think I got better as a shooter this off-season,” Khetani said
As both teams have now moved into preseason scrimmages, their work has become more focused on overall team performance. In the weeks leading up to their first preseason game home against Lincoln on Dec. 4, the team had scrimmages against King’s Academy and Prospect.
Liu feels their offseason work showed well in their games as they’re athleticism and physicality on the court was necessary against King’s Academy’s physical team as well as their 20+ point blowout against Prospect. Liu has also noticed players such as sophomore center Anson Hulme and senior point guard Caleb Yu showing great rebounding and defensive skills compared to last season.
“I think that the off-season has really prepared us well,” Liu said. “I hope we place high in the league this season and develop a good team chemistry while using the season to get each other in the best shape and enjoy the time we spend together.”
