Inbounding blends four key team skills - passing, cutting, screening, and spacing. Poor inbounding fails initiation of plays, turnovers, and occasional violations. How many times have outcomes changed because of unreliable inbounding?
What skills do inbounders need?
- Decision-making
- Execution of passing
- Patience
- Finishing (often inbounders become the object of scoring such as during "America's Play"
- Get the ball in safely
- Initiate scoring actions
- Understand the risk and reward. (Don't force what's not there.)
Improve the skill. Practice situationally.
Tips and traps.
- Know the situation. You can 'run the baseline after a made basket.'
- For BOBs and SLOBs, plays start as the ref hands the ball to the passer.
- "Fake a pass to make a pass." That includes ball fakes and looking off defenders. Use peripheral vision.
- Do NOT inbound behind the backboard.
- Do NOT telegraph the pass.
- Teammates: "finish your cuts" so not fake out the passer.
- Don't stand too close to the boundary...unless you're in the rare situation of trying to draw a violation (touch) from a defender encroaching on that space.
- Be patient. The first option may not be the best or intended one (see below)
- Develop an inbounder that you trust with decisions and execution.
Lagniappe. "Everyone wants to go to heaven. Nobody wants to die."
It's not enough to practice. Use "deliberate practice" to find your four ways to score and to have the skill to become a GO TO player in winning time.