Jake’s letter

Here's the full picture of what you're working toward this summer.

You're a point guard who can read the game, make decisions at full speed, and compete without rattling. That's a real foundation — and it's not something every player has. A lot of kids your age are still figuring out the basics. You're past that. This summer isn't about starting from scratch, it's about taking what you already have and adding the pieces that make you genuinely hard to stop.

• You see the floor. You know when to push the pace and when to pull back, and that feel for the game is something most kids your age are still developing. It's one of the most important things a point guard can have and you already have it.
• You're mentally tough in a real way. When something goes wrong you don't carry it into the next play. You reset, you refocus, and you keep competing. That's not something that gets coached easily — it's a part of who you are as a player.
• Your ball handling gives you options that most players don't have at your age. You can attack, you can create, and you can change pace. Defenders don't know what's coming. That's your foundation and it's a strong one.
• Your shot has been developing. The mechanics — the footwork, the wrist, the release — have been getting cleaner with the reps you've been putting in. That work is real and it's showing up.

Four things are on the list this summer — your shot, your left hand, your pace and hesitation, and finishing in traffic. They're all connected, and together they add up to something bigger than any one of them alone. Think about it this way: if you can slow the game down when you want to, finish with either hand at the rim, hit a pull-up when the defense sits back, and get to your floater when the big steps up — there's no defense that has a clean answer for you. That's what you're building. Every session this summer is one more piece of that puzzle. Pick a target every time you go out there. Put a number on it. Chase it. Then come back next time and try to beat it.

The driveway in July isn't glamorous. There's no crowd, no scoreboard, no buzzer to beat, no opponent to measure yourself against. Some days it's going to feel like the reps aren't adding up to anything. That feeling is normal — and it's also wrong. Every left-hand finish you commit to, every hesitation move you drill until it feels automatic, every shot you take with the right mechanics even when you're tired — all of it is stacking up whether you can feel it or not. The players who show up in September having taken the biggest jumps are almost always the ones who did the quiet work in the summer when nobody was watching. You have the competitive wiring to make this summer count. You have the mental toughness to push through the days that feel like nothing is happening. And you have a real game to build on. This is your summer to put it all together.