Basic Hoops

Learn from the Memphis Tigers mistakes at the Foul Line

2008-04-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

I have always felt free throw shooting is one of the most important aspects at the end of a basketball game. The poll on this site shows that most readers feel the same way. Here is a video of the free throw shots that Chris Douglas Roberts and Derrick Rose missed at the end of the NCAA championship game:

If you watch Douglas Roberts' shot, you'll see that he bends his legs properly, but his shot starts from his arms and body and not from his legs. That is why the shot is short. In addition (and Billy Packer points it out), he leans backwards after the shot not following through the whole shot, which takes momentum off the shot as well. You'll also notice that Derrick Rose backs off the free throw line before the shot is complete. The momentum to push you back might begin before your shot completes, thus taking momentum off the shot. That is why you should stay on the line with your follow-through until the ball goes through the hoop.

Shooting in general needs to start from the legs, because that is where the power comes from. In addition, follow through the shot and hold the follow-through until the ball goes through the hoop. If you lean backwards after the shot or lean from one side to the other, the ball will tend to move the way you lean because you more than likely start the lean before the ball is released.

Like a golf swing, there are a lot of things to think about when shooting and thinking through these things during practice and reptition should make shooting shots (especially free throws) routine in a game and you do not have to think about it.

Boxing Out

2007-12-20T19:56:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since my last post due to coaching, but after half a season now, I felt the need to blog about boxing out. Rebounding the basketball has a lot to do with effort, but having good position is much more important. As I watch not only my team's games, but other high school and college games, more and more players stand and watch the shot versus working to get good position for the rebound.

The first thing you have to train your players (or yourself if you are a player) is to not watch the ball on the shot and first find a person to box out. When playing a man defense, you usually box out the person you are guarding, in a zone you box out someone in your area. I have seen so many games where players simply watch the basketball and do not get the rebound because someone else was able to establish better position on the rebound. As a coach, you have to notice when players are doing this in the game and call them on it. As a player you have to get yourself into the habit of not watching and first looking for someone to box out.

Once you find the person that you are going to box out, you have to make sure that you position yourself such that the player is behind you and you can feel exactly where they are. This way, if they attempt move into a better position you can prevent them from going there by moving with them and keeping them behind you.

After you've established good position and maintain contact with the player then you can watch for the ball and attempt to go for it. This has a lot to do with timing and reading where the ball is going to come off the rim. This is where practice comes into play. Practice throwing the ball off the rim and seeing where it tends to bounce to. On flat shots, the ball tends to go long off the rim. On high arching shots, the ball tends to bounce off the rim nearby the basket.

Here is a good video that emphasizes the basics of boxing out:

Once you've gotten the rebound, be sure to secure it by holding it with two hands and having your elbows out. This way other players cannot come in and easily swipe the ball away. In the middle of this next video, Dwight Howard talks about securing the ball after rebounding it and turning the appropriate way for the outlet pass. In addition, he provides some nice offensive rebounding tips that most coaches do not teach:

Offense - Getting open without the ball (v-cut)

2007-09-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

During my years of coaching youth, I see over and over again kids that just stand in spots waiting for the ball to get passed to them. Standing just gives the defense an opportunity to deny the player the basketball. Another problem I see is the person trying to get the ball goes towards the ball carrier and brings their defender with them as well, which makes it difficult for the ball carrier to do anything. The person trying to get open should perform a v-cut in order to free themselves enough to allow the ball carrier to get them the ball.

The way to perform a v-cut is to move into the key (preferably from the spot you are to receive the basketball). Once you get into the edge of the key stop long enough for the defender to stand still and then cut back to the spot you want to get the ball. That moment of stopping will give you the opportunity to get to the spot without your defender. Preferably long enough to retrieve the ball and face the basket in a triple-threat position.

Coaching - Swinging the basketball

2007-08-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

As you get into higher levels of coaching, one thing you learn about is swinging the basketball around the perimeter of the basket. In essence, swinging the ball means to move the ball from one side of the basket around the perimeter at a quick pace to get the ball to the other side of the basket. Why is this important? Well, one of the keys to a good offense is to keep the defense moving. Anyone who has played the game can tell you that it is easy to play defense if you can just stand there and watch the person with the ball standing there or trying to make a move to the basket in addition to your man standing there and watching as well. In a good offense, players off the ball are moving around to lose their defender and get into position to score. The same holds true with the ball itself. You want to move the ball around the court so that defenders lose track of where the ball is or they focus on following the ball and they forget to keep track of where their man is.

A classic example of when a team should swing the ball is when the point guard initiates the offense on one side of the court and nothing is open. When the point guard gets the ball back, they go right back to the same side of the court to initiate something. When this happens, the next time the point guard gets the ball back, I usually yell to the team to swing the ball to the other side of the court. This will force the defense to shift and if one or two players do not shift properly, then something might open up. In a good offense (particularly against a zone), if you swing the ball around a few times, eventually something will open up.

Coaching - Great drill for conditioning

2007-07-20T00:19:00.001-07:00

If you want to get your team in good shape for the season, try this 2 on 2 full court drill. You should perform this drill with 6 players or more. You have to divide your team into teams of two. Have two teams start out in the center of the court and have them jump ball for possession. The other teams have to wait for their turn at half court. Whoever gets the ball on the jump ball chooses a basket and attempts to score there while the opposing team defends. At this point, the teams on the court are playing 2 on 2 full court (each team has to score on their own basket). When a team finally scores, then they get to sit out and the opposing team takes the ball out of the basket and heads to the other goal. The next team waiting on the sideline jumps onto the court to defend the team that just got scored on. Now these two teams are playing 2 on 2 full court. This will go on until one team scores a certain number of points or the activity is managed via time limit.

Coaches, be careful that one team doesnt stay on to long. This drill can tire players out quickly and if a team is on too long, they may get over-heat or decide not to play hard. In cases like these, even if a team scores you should tell the opposing team to sit and the scoring team to stay on. With this drill you will quickly see your players huffing and puffing, but its a great way for them to get in shape for the season.

Offense - Flash, Roll and Fade off the Screen

2007-07-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

When using an off the ball screen, there are a few things that a player can do to get open. The player using the screen can either flash, roll or fade off the screen.

If the defender cheats over the screen, in other words going over the screen in front of you, then instead of following, flash behind the screener so that you are between the basket and defender in good position to receive a pass and score.

If the defender follows you around the screen, then curl to the basket so again, you are between the basket and defender in good position to receive a pass and score.

If the defender avoids the screen completely by sagging towards the key they have an advantage whether you flash or roll. In this scenario, you can not use the screen at all and fade towards the three point line. This gives you plenty of space between the defender and you so you can setup and shoot. Here is a link to a video where Rick Pitino demonstrates how fades work off the screen: Pitino Training Video

These off the ball mvoes can be used if they do not disrupt the offense the team is running. In some cases you cannot do these things unless the offense allows for these different cuts off the screen.

Offense - Setting a good screen

2007-06-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

If you watch the NBA nowadays, you'll notice that a lot of teams incorporate the pick and roll into their playbook. This play is one of the oldest plays, but still one of the most effective. The main reason is that it makes the defense have to make a decision... do you switch men on the screen, possibly creating a mismatch situation, or do you try to fight through the screen and risk being out of position to defend the player with the ball. One of the most important aspects for this type of play is to set a good screen. Even when someone is setting a screen for his teammate off the ball in the midst of a play, if the screen is not set properly, then the defender can properly defend the player and the play is not as effective.

A good screen involves not only the screener, but also the person they are screening for. The person that is going to use the screen needs to set their man up so that the screener can get in good position to make the screen. If the person using the screen does not have the ball, then they need to position themselves such that their defender is in the spot where the screen is to take place. The person using the screen must then stand still so that the defender is still and the screener can track them down and position themselves so that they can screen the defender. If the person using the screen has the ball, then they have to manuver themselves with the ball such that they keep the defender still. This may require the ball handler to have their back towards the defender so they cannot swipe at the ball. If they handle the ball well enough, they can face the defender and keep them in one place without getting the ball stolen.

The appropriate way for the screener to set the screen is to put their chest on the defenders shoulder. This way, it is difficult for the defender to slide through the screener because they have to work around the wide part of the body. The defender will have to either go over the top of the screen (following the person being screened) or go under (which gives space between the person using the screen and his man).

Coaches need to pay special attention to their players when they screen. Don't be satisfied with lazy screens, where either the screener does not set a good screen or the person being screened for does not set their defender up for the screen. Make sure to point out these fine details and once players perform them properly, your plays will become that much more effective.

Shooting - Establish a routine for free throws

2007-06-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

When preparing to shoot a free throw, it is important to focus on three things before even attempting to take the shot: Position, Your Routine and Focus.

Position:
On most official basketball courts, there is a point on the free throw line that signifies the exact 15 foot mark from the center of the rim. In most cases, its a small hole on the line where a nail was used to measure the center of the free throw line to the center of the rim. When setting up on the line, you should use this point to help you position yourself on the line. In order to shoot the same shot everytime, it would be best setup your shot on the same spot everytime.

Routine:
The one thing free throw coaches or shooting coaches have players do in order to improve their free throw percentage is to come up with a routine. Perfecting your shot is simply a matter of consistency, in other words, try to shoot your shot the same way every time. This is the reason coaches have players come up with a free throw routine in order to help the player shoot the same shot everytime. If you watch players in the NBA or college, you will see that different players have different routines. Jason Kidd actually blows a kiss to the basketb every time he steps to the line. Here is a video of Jason Kidd's free throw routine:

Focus:
When working on free throws with my players, the one thing I always emphasize to them before they actually shoot the ball is to find the target. What I mean by target is the place on the rim to aim for. For instance, let's say the player chooses the front of the rim as their target, then they should think to themselves as they look at the basket to aim the ball just beyond the front of the rim. If they choose the back of the rim as their target, then the goal is to shoot the ball just in front of that target. If you step into your free throw without a mental objective, than your shot will be dependent on what you think about each time. If your mental objective is the same everytime, than it minimizes the variation that can come into play on your shot.

Here is a clip from Eddie Johnson that summarizes a lot of these topics as well.

Here is another video that summarizes these three points. In the video, JJ Reddick, one of the greatest free throw shooters in college history, summarizes these points.

Once you have established your free throw shot, it is important to practice as much as possible. I have experienced a number of games where free throw shooting was the difference in the game, so don't let free throws ruin the outcome of your games.

Offense - Jump stop, a lost art

2007-05-21T22:34:00.000-07:00

One of the things that kills me while watching most college and NBA games is out of control players that commit charging fouls. It's almost automatic when that happens now that I yell at the TV "Jump Stop". Coaches seldom teach it, players never practice it, but the Jump Stop is one of the most fundamental basketball moves that all players should master.

To perform a proper jump stop, a player will start out in motion dribbling the ball. When they are ready to stop, they should perform a small hop prior to where they wish to stop. In the middle of the hop, they will grab the ball with two hands chest high. As they are coming down from their hop, they should land on two feet about shoulder width apart. It is important to land on both feet at the same time, because a pivot foot will not have been established yet, so if the need arises to have to pivot a certain way, you are not bound by having only one way to pivot. You will notice also that the position you land in should mirror the triple threat position, so you can at least perform 2 of the 3 basketball moves from the triple threat position, pass or shoot. One thing to note is that the faster you are travelling prior to the jump stop, the harder it will be to stay on balance when you stop, that is why this skill should be practiced daily.

As a coach, every time in practice I have at least one or two drills that emphasize the jump stop. One drill is to simply have players start at one baseline, driblle full speed to half court and have them jump stop at the half court line. They will then continue to the other baseline full speed and jump stop at the other baseline. Another variation to this is when they jump stop at the half court line, have them pivot 180 degrees so they are facing the baseline they started from and return there and jump stop where they started. Another drill where you can emphasize the jump stop is on fast break drills. Have defenders stand at the foul line and force the person bringing the ball up the court to jump stop in front of the defender and pass the ball to the open man running the lanes.

Passing - The chest pass

2007-05-13T22:00:00.001-07:00

The chest pass seems like the easiest skill to learn, but because of that, players tend to never practice the correct way to make a chest pass. In addition, players neglect to perfect their accuracy as well. The chest pass is best performed from the triple threat position (see previous blog on triple threat here). On a well executed chest pass, the ball will start near your chest with both hands holding the ball with elbows out. You will extend your arms forward straightening out your arms towards the target. The index fingers and thumbs should be the last fingers to touch the ball. At the end of the extension, your fingers should be pointing down towards the ground.

The following video demonstrates the proper execution of a chest pass. Pay attention to the thumbs at the end of the motion.

The chest pass is one of the most basic basketball skills used by many but hardly perfected. Players should practice this pass in different situations. Younger or beginning players should practice this pass standing still with a partner or against a wall. Like all types of passing, find a target and practice hitting the target with the pass. For more advanced players, they should practice the chest pass while on the run especially in a break our outlet situation. The most important thing a player should realize during their practice is how fast they can get the ball to travel and at what distance. Over and over again I see passes in games where the player doesnt realize that they cannot throw far enough, or the velocity is not fast enough to beat the defender to the target. The more players practice passing, the more they will realize what they can and cannot do on the floor.

Offense - The triple threat position

2007-04-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

The game of basketball by its nature is a fast sport. As the sport has progressed, the game has sped up quite a bit at all levels. That being said, it is important that players are in a position to manuever without any wasted motion. When a player has the ball and has not given up their dribble, best practice states that the player should be in "triple threat" position. This position should allow the player to do one of three things: shoot, pass or dribble.

To get into triple threat position, you should hold the ball with both hands and keep the ball close to your chest. If you hold the ball to far away from your body, it makes it easier for the defender to poke it out. By holding the ball in this fashion, you will notice that your elbows are bent and pointing to the side. You also want to have your feet at least shoulder width apart to maintain a good center of gravity so you are on balance for whatever move you are about to make. In order to be a scoring threat, you must be facing the basket. If you are not facing the basket, then the defender knows you will either pass or dribble.

When you are in this position, you can easily do one of the three offensive moves stated. You can begin your shot from this position. One can also initiate their dribble towards the basket or some other point on the floor from this position. You can also perform a chest pass or even an over the head pass from this position with good balance and power.

One thing that is an important and is not mentioned much by coaches is that you as an offensive player want to try and keep the defender guessing as to what you are going to do. If they can consistently anticipate your next move, it makes it that much easier for them to react to any type of move you make. If you are on offense and holding the ball in the triple threat position, the defender has to play you honestly for any one of those three moves you can make from this position.

Dribbling - The basics of dribbling

2007-04-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

The one thing I would discourage players from watching are the "And 1" mix tape videos. It is amazing what some of those guys can do with the basketball, especially dribbling. In a real game, 95% of what those guys do is illegal. If you are a player and your dream is to join that team, then this blog is definitely not for you. What I'd like to talk about in this article is the basics of dribbling.

Dribbling is a lot like shooting, there are mechanics involved and once you master the mechanics, dribbling becomes almost second nature. The proper way to dribble the ball starts with top of your dribble. You almost want to hold the ball like you are about to shoot it, but your palms are facing down. You also want to grip the ball like you are going to shoot, in other words, the center part of the palm should not be touching the ball. As you push the ball down towards the ground, its almost as if you are shooting the ball straight down. You want to make sure you rotate your wrist like you do when you shoot, except with dribbling, you do not want to hold the follow-thru like you do on your shot. Once the ball releases from you hand and rolls off your finger tips you want to prepare your hand for catching the ball back on the way up. You want to make sure your fingers are spread so that the ball has a bigger target to hit on the way back up. As you practice dribbling, you will start to get a feel for how the ball will travel back up based on the way the ball left your fingers. When you obtain the ball again on the way back, again, make sure you grip the ball without the center of your palm touching the ball and bend your elbows a bit to absorb the contact of the ball reaching your hand. At this point, you are ready to dribble the ball again. The more you dribble the basketball, the more you will get a feel for how the ball reacts when you dribble the ball.

Begining basketball players should just stand with their feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. Dribble the ball with your right hand for 100 dribbles. Try your best to keep your head up and eyes looking straight ahead. This might be difficult at first, but make this your goal if you cannot achieve this. After 100 dribbles with the right hand, do the same thing with the left hand. If you or your players are struggling with this drill, then have them continue until they can do it with relative ease. After this, gradually introduce walking with the dribble. Again, try to keep the head up and eyes looking forward. Once you or your players master this, then graduate to running. As you move faster with the ball, the dribbler must start bouncing the ball ahead of them so they can run at the ball otherwise the ball will be left behind.

There are goggles available on the market that cover the lower portion of your eyes, so you cannot see the ball when you are dribbling. Here is a link to a version of this product: Dribble Specs (EA)

Hope this describes the basics of dribbling to you. If players cannot master these simple aspects and dribble without watching the ball, then they will have a harder time in the games because they will have to focus on dribbling and not where their teammates are on the court.

Shooting - The touch

2007-04-22T19:28:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of factors to keep in mind when shooting. One of these factors is the touch. Often times you will hear announcers during a basketball game talk about the "shooter's touch" or "he has a nice touch". What do they mean by this? Well with a proper shooting touch, the ball will manuever through the air with a particular rotation and you will notice that the ball will not bang off the hoop or backboard. So how do you achieve this touch? The answer is to have a basic understanding on how to hold and release the ball in addition to practice practice practice.

First of all, you have to make sure that you are holding the ball properly at the start of your shot. The key is to grip the ball with your fingers spread and the ball must not rest on the palm of your hand. Again, I will say this again, because it is very important... the ball must not rest on the palm of your hand. If you were holding the ball like a waiter holds a serving platter and pointed your fingers away from you, you should see a small gap in between the palm and the ball. The ball should be resting on your fingers and the pads of your hand at the bottom of your fingers. Now still holding the ball like a platter, have the fingers pointing towards you as if you were ready to shoot the ball. When shooting, you should use your wrist to help roll the ball off by rotating your wrist forward. The ball will naturally roll off your fingertips and you should use your fingers to help guide the ball towards the basket. If you watch the rotation of the ball after performing this movement, the ball should be rotating back towards you, the rotation should occur on an axis that is parallel to the floor. If the ball rotates in a side to side motion versus a front to back motion, then you are rotating your hand when rotating your wrist forward, so concentrate on having the palm of your hand facing the floor at the end of the shot, if the palm is facing any other way, then you will not get the right rotation. The best analogy is to create a goose neck. Imagine that your hand is the head of a goose with your fingers being the beak and your arm being the goose's neck. After shooting the basketball, you hand and arm should form the goose neck and you should maintain that position until the ball reaches the target.

The best drill to achieve touch that I teach players is quite simple. Stand close to the basket and hold the basketball like the waiter holding the serving platter. Make sure your shooting elbow is at a 45 degree handle. With one hand, and one motion straighten out the elbow and rotate the wrist forward and have the ball rotate off your fingertips towards the basket. Do this a number of times trying to swish the basketball (in other words make the basket without hitting the rim and touch nothing but net). As you continue shooting, adjust your shot and feel how the ball should come off your fingertips in order to swish it. Remember to maintain the goose neck when doing this drill. The goose neck assures you that you are following through the shot and not stopping in the middle of your shot. Lack of follow through will force you to compensate your shot since its not being executed the same way everytime. If you are a coach and you are watching your players do this drill, continue to remind them to maintain the goose neck until the ball goes through the basket. Once you make 10 swishes in a row (harder to do than one would think), take a step back and continue shooting in this manner and make another 10 swish shots in a row. Keep stepping back until you have to use a 2nd hand to guide the ball and your legs in order to shoot. Then start shooting normally and you will feel that the touch you achieve from the closer shots in your normal shots. This is the kind of drill players should do prior to a game or practice on their own to get their touch. I still perform this drill prior to playing in city league games.

Shooting - Start with balance

2007-04-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

When shooting the basketball, whether its a free throw, jump shot or set shot, the 1st thing that all players must establish is balance. Proper shooting techniques state that at the end of a shot, the player's body should remain relatively in the same place from where it started. This is made easier when your body is balanced prior to the shot.

Balance is achieved by having your feet shoulder width apart and having your knees slightly bent. The best way to demonstrate proper balance is by standing straight up with both feet together and having someone genly push you. This gentle push with will cause the person to lean and have to re-establish themselves so they don't fall. In other words, the person loses their balance and has to adjust in order to regain that balance. Now try the same exercise, but with feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. It is much harder to lose your balance this way. Another thing to keep in mind during your shot is to keep your body upright and try not to lean in any direction. Leaning forces the body to naturally compensate in order to be on balance, that being said, you will have to adjust your shot based on this natural movement. The key is to minimize the amount of compensation you have to perform on your shot due to your body naturally trying to balance itself. All this said, when practicing your shot, focus on starting out on balance.

When I'm watching a basketball game, I can almost always predict whether a shot will make it in the basket or not based on the player's stance prior to the shot. If the player is leaning or running into their shot, a large majority of the time, the shot won't go in. There are few players in the world that can consistently make off balance shots, but most of those players are professionals that have perfected the basic on balance shot. If you are a coach, make it a point to tell players when they are off balance prior to their shot and instruct them that it is a bad shot.

Welcome

2007-04-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

I am a former college basketball player and current youth basketball coach. If you watch basketball in this day and age and you are a student of the game, you will see that very few players utilize basic basketball skills. For instance, how many times in a professional basketball game do you see a guard bring the ball up on a fast break and jump stop at the foul line? I don't know how many times I yell "jump stop" at the television when players charge into the defense. I guess that is the coach in me... my wife always asks me who I'm yelling at.

So I have decided to build this blog dedicated to sharing the skills that I was taught as a player as well as pointing out scenarios in games on television that highlight common mistakes made by not executing basic basketball skills. My hope is that players and coaches alike are able to read the entries and either learn something new or reinforce something already learned. This blog won't work if there is no feedback either. If you are a player and a particular article has helped you with your game, let me know. It's always great to get assurance for your efforts. If you are a coach and you see a tip or drill that you havent learned before and it helps your team, please provide your feedback as well. If there is an article that you feel is incorrect or can be described in another way please feel free to comment as well.