Concord Storm :Moves Without Ball

Offensive basketball is played mostly with the ball in one of your teammate's hands. Four-Fifths of the time, you don't have the ball. What you do with this time has a direct relationship to your and the team's success. It all starts with your fundamental position. Your fundamental position is how you stand on the court. You must keep your body low, knees flexed, feet kept apart at shoulder's width, hands raised at chest level and close to the body. When you are in this position, your body is balanced. You are able to receive the ball and move in any direction. When quick movement is needed, your fundamental position keeps you set and ready to make them. This "basketball position", as some coaches call it, is one of the least understood fundamentals of basketball. Young players often don't fully understand its relationship to shooting and scoring. Unfortunately, they often neglect to work on their basketball position. The "perfect player", however, maintains his basketball position from the starting tip to the final buzzer. If a player is standing straight up, with his hands on his hips, he is not ready to make that split-second move. Correct positioning may not seem important; however, it is the foundation of your entire game.

Foot Placement Basketball is a game of quick moves, cuts, and pivots. To make any of these moves, properly, you must start with good foot positioning. How and where your feet are positioned has great effect on how the rest of your body moves. Therefore, it greatly effects the quality of your play. Keep your feet a shoulder's width apart, or slightly further spread. The non-pivot foot should be slightly out in front of the other, with the toes of the pivot foot on the same plane with the heels of the front foot. Either foot can be placed forward in this staggered stance. Generally, right-handed players will lead with their right foot and pivot on their left; while, left-handed players lead with their left foot and pivot on their right. Both feet should be on the floor, with the body weight distributed over the full length of each foot. A common mistake is to put all body weight only on the balls of the feet. This tires the calf muscles and will also slow you down when you begin to make a move.

Leg Position

Get in a crouched position so that your knees are comfortably flexed. When you keep your knees flexed, your muscles are "loaded," ready to give the power and quickness you want. When you stand straight-legged you lose this quickness, because your leg muscles are stretched out. Only when they first contract and then stretch out again will you be able to move with speed and power.

Arm Position

Keep your arms and hands held close to your chest. The wrists and the elbows must be flexed so you are ready to receive the ball. This, also, helps the body to make quick moves. Keep your fingers spread out.

Head Position

How you hold your head will affect your movement. If you hold it too far backward, or too far forward, your entire body is out of balance. For proper balance, imagine a straight line running through the middle of your head, body, to a spot on the floor exactly between your two feet. Your head needs to sit right in the middle of this invisible line at all times. Your head is really the most important factor in body balance.

Move Quickly and Smoothly Basketball is a game of ever-changing tempos. In order to play the game effectively you have to get from one spot on the court to another as quickly and smoothly as possible. It's quickness, rather than basketball talent, that counts for a good portion of your success in the game. If you can hit your shot consistently, you will have a certain value to the team; but, if you are slow, your offensive skills will be less value when compared to those of a quicker teammate. Speed and quickness have similar qualities; however, they shouldn't be confused with each other. Your maximum level of speed that you can run up and down the court is a gift of God. It's an inherited trait; but, can be developed through practice. Even though you may not be the fastest runner, you can teach yourself to be quick. You begin by always maintaining your "fundamental basketball position" and diligently work on your starts, stops, pivots, and changes of pace. These are simple, yet, little practiced basketball movements. They help eliminate wasted movement.

Quick Starts

Always do your best to maintain the "fundamental basketball position." Most importantly, stay alert. Be ready to react and move. When you make a movement to the right, start by turning your head in that direction. At the same time, shift your weight over to your right foot as you move. It's extremely important for you to keep low. Pump with your arms to develop a powerful drive. Keep your initial steps short and fast. Quickness is enhanced by not taking long steps. It's how fast you can move your feet that's more important than the distance you cover with each stride.

Quick Stops

Just as getting a quick start is important in basketball, equally important is being able to come to a quick stop and still be in the "fundamental basketball position." There are many times, in the course of a game, where you get the ball on the run. If you are able to stop immediately, pivot, take a shot, or make a cut while maintaining your balance, you will be a dangerous offensive threat. If you are off balance when you stop, you then have to take the time to set yourself up. This wastes time, if only for a second. This is about all it takes for the defensive man to regain any advantage you had over him. There are two good ways of stopping on the court. It only takes a little practice to learn to do both properly. After a few practice sessions, these two stops become an instinctive part of your basketball repertoire.

The Quick or One-Count Stop

This is the most basic stop in basketball. You make the stop off the run by landing with both feet on the floor at the same time. The heels touch first and your toes act as brakes to slow you down. Your knees are flexed, back bent slightly backward. Your forward movement is eliminated with this stop. By crouching as you land, you are now in the "fundamental basketball position." You are ready to shoot, receive a pass, or make a cut (a sharp, quick move made to get open) in another direction.

The Stride or Two-Count Stop

The stride stop is used when you are moving forward and need to change or reverse direction. It is also a good stop to use when you are and ready to go up for a . To perform the stride stop, land on your rear foot and then on your front foot. The rear foot becomes the pivot foot, so don't move it if you stop dribbling. Keep your knees flexed and your back tilted slightly backward to slow your forward momentum.

Pivoting

Pivoting, or turning, requires you to keep one foot, your "pivot foot," stationary, while you turn, or spin, your body around on the ball of your pivot foot. Pivoting can be done with, or without, the ball. In order to pivot properly, follow these simple rules:

1. Keep your "fundamental basketball position." That is with knees flexed and feet a shoulder's width apart, or wider. 2. Pivots should be made on the ball of your foot; therefore, lift up the heel of the pivot foot. If you pivot on your heel, you will lose your balance. 3. You can make a full (360 degree) pivot, a half, or even a quarter-turn pivot. Just remember to keep your body low and feet spread wide. 4. It is best to make the pivot by swinging with your arm and elbow pointing in the new direction. This helps the body move more quickly. 5. Pivots are made, both offensively and defensively, two ways: o A front turn is made when your chest moves around the pivot foot. This is a good way to square up to the basket for a shot. o A rear turn is made by leading with your rear end. 6. You should practice pivots on both your right and left foot. This prepares you for possible game situations.

Change of Pace

The change of pace movement is a good offensive weapon and should be used throughout a game. It is a three- part move used to lose a defensive man. You execute it by running, then slowing down your pace, straightening up your body slightly to give the defense the impression you are going to stop. Usually, this gets a defensive man to relax. If you bend over again and quickly accelerate, your defensive man will be knocked out of balance. He won't be able to react quickly. You will be in a position to set up a play, receive the ball, or penetrate to the basket with the ball. Change of pace is an important aspect of basketball. You should use this move with or without the ball. You can't be successful by playing the game at one speed.

Change of Direction

This is an explosive move that is used when you want to shake your defender, free yourself for a pass, shoot a shot, or just move to another part of the court. To change your direction as you run forward, place your outside foot down hard with the weight of your body on this foot. This helps stop your forward motion. Quickly turn with your hips, trunk, and head in the direction you want to go. Make sure that your outside foot is pointing straight. If you turn this foot sideways, you will never be able to generate enough power to push off explosively in the new direction.

Hockey Steps

As you run forward, at a moderate speed, take a series of short, quick, parallel steps. Stay low with the knees flexed. Combine this with a change of direction move and you will have your defender scrambling behind, trying to catch up. Also while you are making these steps, alternately shake your shoulders and head. This will confuse the defense because, with different parts of the body going in different directions, the defense can't be certain which way you will eventually run. Tips on Playing Without the Ball:

Screening and Cutting

One of the trends I'm seeing more consistently in young players these days is the desire to take over and win the game by themselves. This shouts to me two clear points. First, "I" am more important then the "TEAM" which has never been the case in championship level teams and never will be. And second, that most of the time playing individualistically is an obvious sign of lack of total basketball skills and understanding of the game, more then a trophy of ability. I want to provide you young players with a few tips on the importance of playing without the ball both as a screener and as a cutter and how you can develop that portion of your game.

Concept 1- Movement occupies the defense and actually creates more scoring opportunities not less.

Standing around is the cardinal sin in basketball. This doesn't mean you should move without purpose. However, if you are in a position to receive a pass and don't you should do basically one of two things: 1) if you are on the weak side of the court, you should away, 2) if you are on the ball side you should screen to the ball or cut through to the basket and away from the ball when you are not posting up. A stationary player is one who isn't prepared to move and react well. If the defense is playing aggressive and helping on penetration, a standing offense is as useful as a 12 foot ladder at a skyscraper fire. Teams that have great ball and player movement more effectively dictate to the defense how and where they must play.

Concept 2- At progressively higher levels of the game players get much better shot opportunities off of screens than by waiting for a teammate to create an open passing lane off the dribble.

The quickest and best looks at the basket occur when you have executed a great screen for a teammate forcing your defender to momentarily help on your cutting teammate. This gives you a brief second where you can cut freely to the ball without pressure from your defender. This is especially true when you have big man-to-small man or vise versa screens. Learn to use this to your advantage. If the defense switches you also improve your chances of scoring because of size or quickness mismatches. Keep your vision of the ball and the defense when you are screening so that you can react quickly when the defense is over-aggressive. Teams who have players that don't move and react without the ball are much more susceptible to trapping defense and turnovers. Good ball and player movement effectively discourages aggressive defenses. Picking the Picker is probably the most effective way to get a player open. If you are looking to create a scoring chance for a teammate go pick a teammate who has just picked.

Concept 3- When setting a pick, screen an area one step from your teammate and be ready to react to a cheating defense.

Screen an area and let the cutter or use your screen. When you screen put your chest to the inside shoulder and one step away from the your teammate's defender to avoid getting an offensive . Set your feet in a fairly wide stance and bend your arms at the elbow with your elbows slightly out and hands in to the chest. Some coaches teach having the hands down but I believe it is much more difficult to raise your hands quickly to catch the ball in this manner. Never extend your forearms or lean when you screen or you will draw a foul. When you are screening tell your teammate to wait until your feet are set to avoid picking up unnecessary offensive fouls. This also forces the defenders to make a definitive decision about switching or doubling the ball thus increasing your chances of reading the screen properly and getting an open shot. When screening weak side, down screen if the defense is loosely guarded, and if they are closely guarded. This keeps the defensive help weak side uncertain of which direction a screen may occur and makes your screening more effective. Cut behind your defender if they ever show their back to you. This simple tip will help you determine when you should go backdoor on a cut without the ball and will also get you an open shot if your defender goes to double the ball on penetration. Concept 4- How a cutter uses the screener away from the ball determines a it's success.

The cutter has the best chance of getting open if they wait for the pick to be set before cutting to the ball. Cut shoulder to shoulder off a screen to eliminate any chance your defender can slash through the screen. There are basic four options for you to read depending how your defender plays the screen.

1. Go over the top and continue to the basket when your defensive player trails you around a screen. 2. Curl over the top for the quick shot if the screener's defender allows your defender to slide behind the screen one-man removed. 3. Pop-Out or Step-back for the shot if your defender attempts to go completely behind the screener and their defender two-men removed. 4. If your defender cheats and jump high in front of the screen before it can be properly set you can either flare away from the screen in the opposite direction your defender has jumped, or you can go back door to the basket if your defender gets caught high side by the screener.

Concept 5- Screening to the ball and running is one of the most effective fundamental plays in basketball.

The same rules apply for screening on the ball as away from the ball. However you must be ready to react to how the defense plays in a slightly different manner when screening the ball. Make sure your screen is set before your teammate initiates the dribble to avoid getting offensive fouls. Starting your dribble to early gives all the advantage to the defense because you will not be in position to react to the defense or to the dribbler in an effective manner. If your defender pinches under your screen it is a good practice to change directions of the screen and have the dribbler come back the opposite direction. Defenders commonly defend the initial screen well, but start the defense of the second screen slightly out of position increasing the chances of getting an open shot, cut or dribble penetration to the basket. Slip the screen and cut to the basket if the defense tries to step outside your shoulder aggressively for a , or the dribbler. If you don't receive the pass when you have slipped also be used by a high post screener on top of the if the guard is being tightly defended, or in the open court against full court pressure. When the dribbler is double teamed off a pick and roll, be ready to loop back or pop-out away from the double team, as the dribbler tries to pull back and then split the trap hard with the dribble. You will find yourself open a large percentage of the time.the screen (also called screen and go) don't stop. Continue through the basket and then away from the ball. Two things may happen. The defensive help may take away the initial part of the cut once you've slipped the screen, but the defense commonly relaxes after thinking they've covered the top end of the cut leaving you open directly at the basket. Secondly, continued movement away from the ball pulls a defender out of controlled help position and creates more penetration space for the ball handler. If you have a size mismatch once you slipped the screen and gone through the basket you can return and post up ball side if the dribbler is not attacking the basket. If you are in the low post and a your teammate with the ball defender is being closely guarded on the wing, step out to run the pick and roll to loosen up the defense. This can

Conclusion

These are a few of the most important basketball skills you can learn when playing without the ball. The better you become at executing these movement skills without the ball the more open you will find yourself and your teammates. You must learn to read and recognize how you are being defended away from the ball and improve your scoring opportunities to become a complete player. There is only one ball, and ten players on the court. In a forty-minute game you may only handle the ball four to five minutes. So what are you doing without the ball to be an effective player? So move your tail...effectively and with purpose!