The New Jersey Thunder was founded in 2010 out of a desire to develop an AAU program that stresses basketball fundamentals and team play. As co-founders Andy Talbert and Matt Tighe had a vision to develop a basketball program that could compete with other high level programs while using the player talent pool throughout northern and central New Jersey. To accomplish this the New Jersey Thunder focus on the team concept of basketball and growing the players individual skill set to allow him to compete at any level of competition. A New Jersey Thunder AAU basketball team is just that, a team working together to win a game. If you and your child want to truly learn the game of basketball that will help them in the future as they play on travel and High School teams then we would like to hear from you. Team practices are held one to 2 times a week (depending on game schedules) and work on basic skills such as: · Dribbling · Shooting · Passing · Rebounding · Boxing out as well as more advanced skills such as: · The fundamentals of man defense · Different zones · Pressing and breaking the press · Motion and Flex offense and defense · Ball movement and playing without the ball New Jersey Thunder teams are chosen based on a team concept. What players will work best together in practice and games to allow the players to improve and give them the best chance to win. Our coaches pride themselves on player development and being able to see improvement in a player’s game during the course of the season. In addition to normal practices the NJ Thunder also run specialized traiining for big men and guards as well as periodic open gyms for our players. The objective of the program is to have the players learn, improve and compete in a positive training enviornment.