Friday, April 19, 2024

Basketball: Timing

A post or comment often leads to a broader conversation.  

In Sources of Power, Gary Klein writes about "recognition-primed" decision making. Firefighters don't fly to fires to have meetings. They use knowledge and experience to fight the fire. Military radar operators assess flight paths and acceleration (timing) to judge whether an ascending object is a commercial aircraft or a threat like a SAM.  

Timing changes everything. 

1) CARE - concentrate, anticipate, react, execute. Defenders may anticipate a player's "favorite" move, get legal guarding position and a stop or draw an offensive foul. 

2) On-time and on-target passes turn separation into hoops. Look at the high post a certain way and he slips to the basket for an easy lob and score. Similar action occurs between a point guard and a backdoor cutter. 

3) In the "run-and-jump" defense, knowing when to leave, then "trap and go" to disrupt offense takes practice and experience. 

4) When receiving a screen, learn to 'wait' for the screen, set up the cut, and explode. We taught players to say, "wait, wait, wait" to help. 

5) Timing the steal off the dribble is personal. Players like Kawhi Leonard go for the downbeat. I preferred attacking the upbeat. Leonard also goes for "poke" steals with the outside hand and other techniques.  


6) Timing is awareness. 

7) Disrupting timing adds value. Fly-bys on three-point shooters forces some to reset after a shot fake or to side-dribble. Many players are less efficient than with catch-and-shoot threes. 

Lagniappe. Get players on the same 'team defense' page.  

Lagniappe 2. Excellent thread on cutting.  

Lagniappe 3. Curry mechanics, an excerpt from his MasterClass. Few young players have the discipline to warmup correctly. 

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