If necessity is the mother of invention – one of my own mother’s favorite expressions – then the recent glut of specialty basketball camps in Maine is an indication of the need for breaking down specific fundamental teaching units into a camp forum.

Enter our state’s own shooting guru, Bob Cimbollek, who, along with a popular instructional manual and a nifty shooting device, is traveling the region, preaching the structure and skill of accurate shooting.

This guy is no stranger to basketball success, as evidenced by his 10 state championships as a player and as a coach. In fact, Cimbollek is known far and wide for his numerous roles – all of them successful – in a game that has dominated his life for most of his 68 years.

Spend a little time with this guy, and you’ll come away thinking that there’s no aspect of hoop life that he hasn’t mastered or experienced.

But if you want to engage Bob Cimbollek in a lengthy, detailed conversation, talk to him about shooting a basketball at a rim.

Hey, coach, tell me four things kids don’t know or aren’t taught about shooting.

He’ll list them in no particular order: Stance, holding the ball correctly, where to aim the ball, and proper backspin top the laundry list for any kid who wants to master the skill.

“Kids today aren’t spending enough time alone shooting,” said the 1955 Bangor High School grad. “Problem is, they are also not getting the proper fundamentals of shooting in their own basketball situations at school.”

Case in point: Where to aim the ball.

Cimbollek is a proponent of shooting toward the middle of the hoop. Some coaches teach aiming over the front of the rim – I count myself among them – while others demonstrate a preference toward the back of the rim.

What does the coach think about those two axioms?

“Wrong,” Cimbollek states emphatically. “Too much margin for error.”

That seems reasonable, I’m thinking, reasonable enough to convince coaches and kids to align themselves with these theories from June until August in such places as Narraguagus High School in Harrington, Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, and Harbor House in Mount Desert.

What’s the attraction, coach?

“Success,” the wily veteran explains. “Let’s face it, the two orange rims were hung at the ends of the gym for one reason: The team who scores the most points wins.”

Cimbollek has been performing this shooting service since 1988.

Today, in addition to his shooting camps, Cimbollek offers individual instructional lessons for would-be swishers at $30 per hour. His camps are reasonably priced at $150 for the 18-hour sessions. Parents who are camp-minded will find this program to be a bargain.

Interested parties may reach Cimbollek at 945-6787, or at 356-6787.

If you want to learn to shoot a basketball properly and accurately, it is money well spent.

BDN columnist Ron Brown, a retired high school basketball coach, can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net