Basketball: We Love Footwork. Teach Handwork Tricks.

What is your core message? "It's always about more than basketball." But a first principle is getting separation to force defensive errors. 

Everyone teaches the Pete Newell core of footwork, balance, and maneuvering speed. But do we teach how to use our hands offensively enough? 



Rip series. Villanova beats teams fundamentally. Handwork is critical, rip (or swim) low, fast, and hard to get separation. I team players to avoid the "strike zone" (knees to letters) where defenders go for steals. The Jay Wright rip series separates.




Shot fakes and pass fakes. 

• A great shot fake is a "shot not taken." 
• "Fake a pass to make a pass."

I recently showed the Kelly Olynyk shot fake. Pass fakes can involve the eyes (looking off, no-look passes), footwork including pivoting, and arm movement. Detlef's video is extremely basic. 


Jason Williams lived at the other end of the spectrum, the razzle dazzle.


The Harden. James Harden scores full mastery including drawing fouls by hooking defenders and rising up through their arms. His long-range shooting forces defenders to cover tightly and he finds ways to make them pay. 

Foul avoidance. All coaches preach verticality to contest and block shots. Use the catchphrases, "elbows behind the ears" and "show your hands" to the officials. Make it harder for officials to whistle you for lack of discipline. 




Pick-and-roll. Steph Curry is a brilliant player (not news). In his MasterClass video, Curry emphasizes proximity to the screener and using the inside hand (against the screener) to lock out the ball defender. In the BBallBreakdown video, he does neither. 

Screenshot, MasterClass (Steph Curry Teaches Basketball)

Realistically, reasons exist why theory and practice differ. NBA screens can knock defenders into another dimension and if the ballhandler comes too close, crafty defenders will sometimes 'influence' (nudge) screeners into the ballhandler. That's reality. 

Teach holistically, using all the tools at our disposal. 

Lagniappe: People ask my opinion about MasterClass. I'm working on my fifty-sixth class (Misty Copeland) and I start each day with MasterClass. I even have a bluetooth portable speaker to listen to a class in the shower. 

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And that doesn't even include Bob Woodward, who shows up in the "Business, Politics, and Society" category for his "Investigative Journalism." 

"Don't be a know-it-all. Be a learn-it-all." - Kevin Eastman

Happy New Year and may 2020 bring health, joy, and prosperity to you and yours.