It's hard to separate the extremes of Yin and the Yang. "He's really talented, but plays selfishly" or "he's can really score, but he's indifferent about defense." Coaches and teammates find the proper blend.
Grind. Better to be the tortoise than the hare. The "late bloomer" who figures it out can surpass undisciplined talent. The talent who grinds becomes exceptional.
“Here’s the key: I’m not going to tell you how to change. People don’t change. I want you to trust who you already are, and get to that Zone where you can shut out all the noise, all the negativity and fear and distractions and lies, and achieve whatever you want, in whatever you do.”
― Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable
Catch and face. You hear the term "back to the basket." Nobody scores back to the basket. Get in position to score, move the defender, while protecting the ball.
Don't catch and immediately dribble unless you're attacking. Catch and survey, don't always catch and put the ball on the floor.
DO what's necessary - pass away from defenders but TO a teammate. And throw a catchable ball. "The ball is gold."
Don't rest on defense. There's no rest from pressuring the ball, denying cutters, and helping and recovering.
See the ball. "The ball scores." Your coach doesn't care that your assignment didn't score when you didn't help or rotate.
Don't force shots. Be shot ready but shot heady. The quickest path to improvement is taking better shots. You might be a great shooter from fifteen feet and lousy from twenty. Play to your strengths.
Winning means THIS possession. Focus NOW not now and then. The putback that you allowed on the first play of the game is the losing basket, just as much as when it happens at the buzzer.
Lagniappe: via @BBallImmersion
Dribble handoff (DHO) actions add versatile, powerful scoring tools. My favorite are:
- direct DHO into pseudo pick-n-roll
- backdoor cut to the handoff man
- DHO into second pick-n-roll
