Basketball Concepts Good Players Should Know

Top players understand basketball concepts that beginners and even intermediate level players are unaware even exist. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Okay players can become good players and good players can become great players by knowing the right “stuff”. These basketball concepts are often thought to be innate knowledge or just “automatically known”, but they’re often not – and it really should not be assumed that they are. These basketball concepts can and should be intentionally learned and applied if you want to become a great player.

These are my thoughts on the book “Stuff Good Players Should Know” by Dick Devenzio as well as my personal notes taken while i read it. I use these notes in my own basketball coaching so they may change over time, but it also serves nicely as a book review. If you have questions about specific topics related to these notes (need not be related to the book specifically) feel free to ask them. We all get better by learning from each other!

If there are quotes in this write up with no attribution then it’s pretty safe to assume it is a quote from the book.

I will not make you wait until the end to give my recommendation. I thought that book was AWESOME. You know how you sit in math class and they teach you all of this stuff – these complicated ways to solve equations? Then, finally, once you’ve got it all figured out they tell you “great job!”. But then they follow up that praise with “now… here’s the easy way… the shortcut” and you just get angry that they didn’t just tell you the easy way first! That’s what this book reminds me of. It’s like all the little tricks and bits of knowledge that if you knew them up front would make your basketball life so much easier!

I think every player who wants to be good should own a copy. That same is true for every coach who is looking for new ways to explain important basketball concepts. It will likely give you ideas of new things to explain – things that it had never even occurred to you actually needed explaining!

Really high level summary for players

The author says “This book is sort of a giant checklist, a discussion of the little things that a good player does and is aware of. You can’t just read through it once and expect to suddenly be a good player.”

I love the checklist concept. The basketball concepts covered are all worthwhile on their own. That is they don’t necessarily build on each other which is good news. All of the basketball concepts are individually valuable actions / knowledge to add to your game – each one will make you better so incorporate as many as you can into your game over time for maximum benefit.

This book is NOT targeted at brand new players. There is some expectation that you know what’s going on and that you know how to play the game. If you have experience it is meant for you. It helps players with some experience fine tune their play to go from an okay player to a good player.

Remember: “A good player contributes in many ways that the average fan and even the average player never notices or thinks about. But coaches and winning teams know what a good player is and if you want to be a good player you’d better know too”. This book… well it helps you know!

Really high level summary for Coaches

As a coach myself I understand that in your team practices you don’t have time to coach at the level of detail that this book covers. Team practices are meant to make your team work better as a unit and so you have to spend time going over plays, going over offenses, defenses, etc. I believe that putting this book into the hands of your players that care enough to read it will pay dividends. They will get better and become smarter, more effective players.

As a coach, i love it. It feels like something I can reasonably tell my players to all go home and read about #31 tonight and know it’s only 1-2 pages of reading for them.

Personally, i find it useful to pick out a topic that i know several members of the team needs to work on, coach to the points, and then assign the related number. Or sometimes I’ll reverse it – if i’ve identified an issue but I can’t coach to it TODAY because of time constraints I’ll give pointers to the topic in the book to the players. Then I can use the book’s vernacular in practice when coaching it. As a bonus I can quiz them verbally about the topic (socratic method style as recommended by Anson Dorrance in the training champions book). At this point they will have read about it, been quizzed about, and then in practice will be seeing, hearing, and doing it. They might even have smart questions or useful comments!

Organization

The book is subtitled “Intelligent Basketball from A to Z” and so it makes sense that it is broken up into alphabetical sections where each topic begins with a particular letter. So for example, the first section is the letter A and has topics such as “Alternating Current”, “Anticipation”, “Availability”, “help Across not up” (see that cheat), etc.

There are several entries under each letter totaling 150+ worth while topics.

Each topic is about 1 page so it’s easy reading. Easy to start and stop.

Example Topics

I’m going to try to list out a topic or so from several sections just to give you a feel for the types of things covered in the book. Remember, as a coach, you probably think players SHOULD already know most of this, but it’s just not the case. EVERYONE assumes the players should know and very few actually teach it so it has to be just stumbled across via experience – the purpose of the book is to let the author’s experience stand in for the player so the player need not learn it all the hard way.

With no further ado!

“Across – Not Up!” (HELP)

When you go to help on defense, always help across or sideways on the court instead of up the court. The idea is that you need to keep your own man still in your vision when you go to help. If you move UP the court while helping then your defender is able to easily dip in behind you for an easy drop off pass.

“Alternating Current”

As a coach, i think i fell in love with this book just on this topic. In individual skills training i work often with players on change of pace. But I’ve never thought about it from an entire offense perspective until reading this section of this book. The idea is that as the ball is moving from player to player it should change speeds. So maybe a quick catch and swing pass from A to B is then to be followed by a slight hold before going from B to C. The idea is that sometimes the ball moves quick and sometimes slow. And an easy rule is that if it got to you via two passes that were quick… then give it a pause. If it got to you after a pause, then catch it and move it along, alternating the speed of the ball constantly.

You offense may require multiple passes in quick succession and that’s fine. But if not, then mix it up. Even better if you get to a point where you really mixing it up well and then you sneak in an quick pass unexpectedly you can often catch someone sleeping because it wasn’t expected.

“(Go) At Defenders to get Free”

Many players start their moves too early. As a ball handler you don’t want to choose your side of the court just because a defender is ahead of you. Go right at them and then go to your side. This gives them and their team less time to cover more court.

A lot of players will have problems understanding until you compare it to a wide receiver. A wide receiver runs directly at the defender and then explodes into their move towards where they want to catch it. If they just run towards the area they want to catch the defender can easily predict and break up the play. But if instead they go right at the defender and then make a quick move at the last moment the defender must stay ready longer. And honestly – if the defense is going to make you work – why not make them work too?

“Beg for the ball”

We’re not talking verbal begging here. But good players know how to pop out, become available, call for the ball, etc. They’re not hoping the ball will come to them rather they’re doing everything in their power and within the coaches system to make sure that the possible passer knows that they are ready and that they want the ball. A good player that is not making themselves readily available and making it known that they want the ball (for a purpose) is a waste of opportunity.

“B-U-B” – Ball U Basket

Proper defensive position put U between the ball and the basket. This is basically always the case when you are the on ball defender. And when you off the ball it is still kind of the case. You should be closer to the basket than the ball is. There are exceptions (such as sticking to a shooter) when the other team drives, but these are exceptions. If all players remember that BUB is the rule, then wide open layups and easy buckets can be drastically reduced because even if it’s not “your man” you still need to get between the ball in the basket if no one else is there. REMEMBER: Help across, not up.

This is important for transition defense also. Even if a member of the offense is being slow about getting up the court that doesn’t mean you should hang back and guard them so they get to play 3-3 or 4-4. Get back closer to the bucket than the ball and make the other team play and rebound at a disadvantage.

“Click Click Click”

A click pass is one where you catch the ball and as quick as a “click” make a pass to another teammate. To throw a good click pass you need to be thinking ahead “who is open”.

Click passes do a great job at putting pressure on the defense. And helping you to think. Even if a better pass was available, click passes are still a dangerous thing for your opponent because the ball is moving so quickly – they will have to shift substantially. You can always hit that better pass next time, and as you get more accustomed to throwing click passes you will get more accustomed to developing your court awareness and trying to stay a step or two ahead.

The book recommends setting a goal for yourself of 10 clicks a game. And if you can get your teammates to do the same then you will really see some changes in how you play.

“Complete your Passes”

It’s often the case that a close game is decided by turnovers, missed pass connections. Sure, the opponent is there putting pressure on you, trying to convince you to throw bad passes and trying to rush you into fumbling passes. But when it comes right down to it, if you can manage to simply made an easy pass enough times to finally make an easy shot, then that’s all there is to it.

Of course we all know it’s not really that easy. There will be times that passing is not an option. So ball handling is important. There will be times that an okay shot is the best you’re going to get so working on shooting is also important. But if you can’t complete your passes then you’re going to have a hard time ever winning.

“Clock Stopped”

How do you use your time when the clock is stopped? Whining, complaining about the refs, etc?

If you want to get better then spend your time more productively than any of those things. Maybe give a teammate a high five or some encouragement for a good play. Remind your team to box out and make sure everyone knows their assignments. Let your teammate know you’re looking for them because you’ve noticed that they have a mismatch and encourage them to attack.

All of those things are useful things to do while the clock is stopped – and their no harder than the bad choices. The idea is to make use of that stopped time. As an added bonus you’ll find that your team has more energy when you get back into the action than if you spent the time in negative place.

“One Dribble”

This is a one of those basketball concepts lost of many beginner players as well as potentially great players. It’s important to be able to get into a scoring position within 1 dribble and learning how to have the mindset is half the battle.

When a player can get to the basket or to a good shooting position within 1 dribble they are very hard to guard. The author argues, and i agree, that when the defense hears the ball being dribbled they instinctively begin moving towards help position as a drive is likely to follow. If however, you can make your move off of one strong dribble then the defense has gets the chance to shift. It is also the case that a player that can explode quickly to attack with just one dribble is often chased by his own defender who is trying to recover.

On a personal note, not covered in this book, i recall reading a stat somewhere that around 80% of Michael Jordan’s buckets came off of two or less dribbles.

Remember, less dribbling is less time for the defense to react to you as the ball handler. So less dribbling leads to easier buckets!

“Dealing with a Double Team”

Attitude is important. “It’s not a 2v1 for you. It’s a potential 4v3!” This will help you stay cool under pressure and make a pass that actuall leads to that 4v3 for your team.

Just in case – know which one of your teammates to pass to if you need a hail mary. Tell them. This is a player that you know will fight for the ball if it’s a toss up. If you end up having to toss it up then at least you’ve already decided on your best chance.

“Equiangular Triangles” against the zone defense

I included this because I’ve never heard it before – at least not explained this way. The idea is that offensive players should position themselves to receive the ball in such a position that 2 defensive players think that they might be responsible for the player. This causes the defensive players to have to make a decision and the zone to have to shift.

If an offensive player just rotates around the defender without relocation to make these angles then the defense never has to move and is therefore less likely to make a mistake.

A recurring theme we’ve seen throughout this book, specifically in the “complete your passes” section is that often it is the case that the team making the most mistakes loses. Therefore, it is in your interest to make that zone move as that is when the mistakes are mostly likely to happen.

As a coach intend to be purposeful about examining the offense my teams run and to make sure that players know how to freestyle their way into those hard to guard spots.

Fakes of all Kinds

Defensive fakes are rare, but often a sign of a good player. On type is to fake the offense into thinking you are beatable in one way, but to really be wanting them to go in that way. Another is to “stunt” at an offensive player in order to make them react and do something unwise (pick up the ball, retreat, etc).

Offensive fakes work. And they are not used enough. You should be faking passes, faking shots, faking drives, etc. Make sure your fakes are done at a proper speed. If you fake too fast your opponent will not be able to react to it and the fake will be wasted.

The First Pass Shot (pass it up)

Avoid shooting on the first pass. Even if it’s a good shot! It sounds counter intuitive, but remember that as the offense moves the ball the defense gets out of position and tired. This means that they cannot box out as well, they aren’t as ready to rebound and get out on a fast break, etc when they have been playing defense for 5-10 seconds vs 0-5 seconds.

Also, remember, as a good player, you can always get a good luck. Just because you got a good look early in the clock doesn’t mean you won’t get another just as good one with even more rewards at a slightly later stage.

FLING

Many easy baskets against a zone from a fling. Pass from wing to ball side elbow and “post fling on to opposite FT line extended”.

Don’t Get Fouled

This is a statement on playing smart and tough. Many times player complain that they got bumped out of bounds or that they were fouled on a shot following a move and they make the excuse that the foul is what messed them up. But coaches have a different opinion – don’t put yourself into a situation that allows you to be taken advantage of or where the ref can miss a call that costs you the ball.

The phrase don’t get fouled means be tough. Expect physicality and tough your way through it. Take shots that a little bump won’t have a huge affect on. If nothing else, don’t “get fouled” but rather make them foul you.

How to Foul Intentionally without being an Intentional Foul

I have coached two games that were close at the end (well many that meet that criteria), but that ended up where teams committed intentional fouls because they just didn’t know how to intentionally foul with committing intentional fouls. As a coach it is so frustrating to be a part of this because there’s just no real excuse for it other than we just assume our players know how to foul.

So in the book he says it quite well. Go for the steal, but be willing to chop of the ball handler’s arms at the elbow in the attempt. That is go for the steal, and any part of the body, elbow, wrist, hand, hip (borderline) that is accidentally struck or grabbed in the process is collateral damage and a basic foul.

DO NOT put your hands on the players back or upper body. Do not trip them, etc. Anything that is dangerous in terms of causing a player to fall out of control will be whistled as intentional.

Getting the Ball

If you’re not getting the ball as much as you’d like then keep in mind that you probably want the ball more than your fair share, but still there are several things you can do to get it more.

1. Call for it – be clear that you’re open, but not annoying or annoyed if you don’t get it. Then move to another open spot or give your teammate a chance to spot you if you are posted up. Do not get frustrated. You might not be as open as you thought or they just might not see you. It happens, but as you work with your teammates they’ll get better at spotting you.
2. Let your teammates know that you’re ready and that you’ll give it back
3. Train your teammates to throw the ball to you and then feed them back
4. Reward (with praise) all passes
5. Aggressively attack any pass made to you – do not let your lack of effort be why a pass to you was not completed.

Setting Goals for Yourself

NOTE: LINK TO GAMIFY ARTICLE HERE

Any time you play you should do so with a purpose. Make little minigoals that will enable you to get better. Even if you play a worse team you can set goals to improve at something. For example, drive weakhanded and finish weak handed. Get 25 clicks. Get a steal from anticipating a pass.

Coaches you can do this for your players. Heck you might even do it for yourself. Call 3 different inbound plays. Use 1 timeout in the first quarter. i knew a coach that would not call a timeout EVER until he called his first one… which basically just meant he wasted all his time outs even though his players needed rest or they needed coaching. By setting goal to call a timeout, even one that was not needed, in the first quarter the coach loosened up with those others and was able to call them when needed.

Great Passes from the Lane

To me this one is such a lie. The title is the lie. For those of you that have the training soccer champions review one of Anson Dorrance’s soccer rules is “take your player 1v1 instead of passing if you are in scoring position”. The reason is that the pass in that situation is riskier than the attack.

In my opinion, and in Dick DeVenzio’s the rule is roughly the same in basketball. When you catch it in the lane, put it in the bucket. There’s been too much work done to get it there to toss it back out. Plus, it’s very common for refs to automatically call a 3 second call if a post catches the ball in the lane and then passes the back out of the lane.

Hiding

Hiding is on offense is most often meant to describe not being available to help your teammate who is being pressured with the ball because you’re too far away. A teammate facing pressure will not be able to make a 25-40 foot pass and even if the can it will likely end up in a lob or dangerously slow bounce pass. All of this means that even if you think you are open and ready to be passed to you really are not. You need to go TO THE BALL HANDLER when they are being pressured – specifically when they have picked it up.

Another type of hiding is when a player is just not hustling to make okay opportunities into great opportunities. Turning a 3v3 into a 4v3 by beating your player down the floor is a huge benefit. Players tend to get really upset when they don’t get the ball when they think they’re open, but those same players often fail to get those easy buckets and make themselves available for easy passes by just running the court and running to the ball.

Immediately or Not At All

In a basketball game there are really only two times to shoot the ball. Immediately on catching it or not at all. Obviously at the end of a one-on-one play is another time. But guess what! There’s also only two times to go one-on-one! You guessed it, immediately or not at all.

The reason not to shoot if you fail to do it right away is that the longer you hold the ball the more out of rhythm you become in terms of shooting. Making an extra pass is probably the right thing to do here. Then if you get it back you’ll be in rhythm on the catch to let one loose.

What about attacking another player one-on-one after a delay? It mostly comes down to percentages. The longer you are holding the ball after the catch the more time the defense has to get rotations fixed and to prepare their help defense. If you attack right on the catch then that will be when the defense is at their weakest.

KUP – Keep Up Palms

Keep your palms up on defense. At all times. When guarding the ball handler and going for a steal… palms up. When going for a block, palms up. The goal here is to keep yourself out of foul trouble. Swiping down at the ball in any case has more of an appearance of a foul. The author actually recommends redefining a foul in order to help you better understand the importance of KUP.

“A foul is anytime you make contact with a player on the other team and the referee blows the whistle OR it may also be anytime you look like you make contact with a player on the other team and the referee blows the whistle.”

If you swipe down at the ball or at the other player… you’re just likely to get more “bad calls” against you. But it doesn’t matter if they are bad or not. You will still foul out. Your opponent will still get to shoot free throws or be that much closer to the bonus depending on the situation.

In the movie “Blue Chips” featuring Anfernee Hardaway and Shaq as highly recruited highschool athletes one of the recruited players mom is talking to a recruiter. He doesn’t want to “pay up” because it’s against the NCAA rules and her response is classic basketball mom. She says that she doesn’t know a lot about basketball, but one thing she does know is that “a foul is not a foul unless the ref blows his whistle”. The opposite is true during a game. That is, “a potential foul will be called for a foul if you give the ref any reason to maybe blows his whistle”. Do your best to ensure that you don’t make that ref have to make a judgement call.

Patience on Offense and Defense

Of all the basketball concepts, patience is one of the hardest to apply, but also one of the most important. The idea is to take more higher percentage shots than your opponent. This means being patient enough to not fling the ball up as soon as you’re in range. It’s the patience to make one more pass that leads to your team getting a better shot. On defense it’s the patience to not get out of position by jumping or lunging at a low percentage block / steal attempt in order to make sure that your opponent doesn’t get a high percentage opportunity.

Look Downcourt

When you get the ball – look down the court to see if someone on your team is there or heading there! Often times it makes sense to do that BEFORE you get the ball. Take a glance just in case whoever passes to you doesn’t look first – or in case you have a better angle to make the pass. In any case, there are soo many opportunities missed in almost every game where a player with the fall fails to spot a teammate streaking down the court.

Corollary: Don’t run down the court with your head down. Look back for the ball and call or signal for it to increase the odds you teammate with the ball sees you.

Losing (After a Loss)

Nobody likes to lose, but it happens eventually if you play the sport long enough! A lot of coaches and teammates will get pretty angry if after losing you are laughing as you walk of the court. Those are the ones that care. If you’re laughing you’re going to have issues. A better choice to admit to yourself that there are reasons that you lost and then see if you can think about what those reasons are so you can then set up a plan to fix it.

Be careful not to place blame on a particular person or on something outside of your team’s control (don’t blame the refs, don’t blame little susie for a late turnover, etc). Figure out what the team can do better.

It’s also worth remember to save your jokes for the next day when emotions have hopefully cooled and there will a more receptive audience that is not as full of anger about the game result.

Low Post Play

This is a full two page section, one of the longer ones in the book. I’ll try to sum it up. Get in position, call for the ball, take what the defense gives – but do is strongly.

When in doubt, tuck it under your chin, go to your strong side, right up the nostrils.

Move for a Quick Guard

Item #85 is billed by the author as a great move for a quick guard. It’s basically a wrong handed, strong handed (probably) dribble from between a wing/top of the key area to wards the middle of the FT circle while side stepping. If the defender attacks the ball, then low cross. If defender attempts to cut off side step action, then beat them with the strong hand.

Three Kinds of Man-to-Man Defense

Playing defense comes in many varieties, but when it comes to man-to-man there’s pretty much just a few ways to describe the intensity. Those are total Overplay / Pressure (high high pressure to steal passes and dribbles), passive or no pressure (just stay ball u basket to prevent layups or super simple shots), and finally just enough pressure to let them make a mistake.

Most of the time, as good player, you will want to be in the “just enough pressure to let them make a mistake” mode and you’ll want to be looking for that mistake so you can capitalize on it.

If you’re too passive, then they get too comfortable.

If you’re too aggressive you’ll often give up easy baskets. So we save this aggression for either a change of pace or for key moments where a steal is basically a necessity.

Poor players tend to be too passive and just kind of pretend to be there. They even think they’re really guarding, but they’re basically not.

Good players tend to hunt their opponent and to give them just enough room to make a mistake while at the same time putting them under just enough pressure that they hurry and make poor decisions.

Move Your Man

On offense, it’s important that you make the defender guarding you move. Making them move makes them susceptible to being out of position and to fakes. You should constantly be on the move and making your opponent move. Sometimes it’s fun to move your man just because you can! Make ’em work! Then score!

Notice, I’m not saying to dribble around to get them moving. You can move without the ball. You can flash to different areas. Even when you catch you can fake shots, passes, drives, etc. Make them move. Then make them pay.

My Fault – Take the Blame, Give the Encouragement

As a player if you make a pass that a teammate fails to secure, its tempting to blame them and tell them to “catch the dang ball”. But it’s not really productive. Instead, consider taking the “blame”. Your coach knows so blaming your teammate doesn’t really do anything other than pile on even more blame. Instead, try to take some pressure off of them by saying something like “my bad, it was a little hard (or off or whatever)”. This will help them get out of their own head and make them better for next time. If you fail to catch a bad pass then same thing – try seeing if you can think of way you could have caught it or just make it up. “Keep it coming, i’ll get it next time.” This leads to good chemistry and keeps anyone from being scapegoated in the middle of a game.

Nervousness – Take the Opportunity to Enjoy It

Every player should read this (and coach for that matter) as it might just put your pregame nerves into a whole new light. Super short version – it is a blessing that you get to do something that makes you nervous so don’t shy away from it, embrace it and enjoy it!

Always Know the Next Man (know the next play)

Know what’s about to happen, not just what is happening. Is a cutter coming? Is there a second defender when you beat the first. If there is a second defender is it because (when you get to them) they left a teammate who is now available for the disk.

Good players play the game several steps in the future. Right now is easier and easier as you get better. Eventually the game becomes about making what you want to happen come to be, and it’s about understanding what the opponent is trying to do and how to counter it.

Nod to the Coach

This should go without saying, but too many times I’ve seen players fail to do it just like the author mentions he has failed to see. It’s simple, when a coach gives an instruction, nod a confirmation that you heard and understand. This lets the coach know that they can move on and gives them confidence that what has been communicated so far has a chance of actually happening.

Nostril Time

If you catch the ball near the basket. It’s nostril time. Being aggressive in attacking the basket is one of those fundamental basketball concepts that is often preached but not really made simple. But “Nostril Time”… now that’s simple. When you are near the goal and being guarded close the ball goes up for a shot straight through the defender’s nostrils! It makes it hard to defend aggressively when the ball is IN YOUR FACE.

Out of Bounds – Inbounding ( 102)

Get you or teammate open by going AWAY and setting a screen and then coming back to the ball. If the defense switches, then the person you screened will be on your back (behind you) as you come back to the ball. If they do not switch and you set a good screen then your teammate will be open.

Also, if not setting a screen, never line up near the baseline. Give 15 feet or so. That way you can come directly to the ball – or at least generally towards the ball. If you start at the baseline then no matter where you go you will be running away from the ball – a very risky pass situation indeed.

Out of Bounds – Defending Inbound Plays ( 102)

If under opponents basket (where they score) make sure you do not over play the perimeter. A good rule is approximately halfway between the ball and your person. Then a lob pass will be required and you will be able to either steal it or have time to close out and play good defense.

In under your basket

How to Over Play on Defense (denying the catch)

Overplaying on defense is really just saying “I don’t want you to catch the ball, dude.” If you remember that then strategy becomes simple to think about. It’s really just a race. You have to beat the person you are denying to the ball, no matter where the ball goes.

The mistake many players make when denying the ball is to treat it like the race has to be fair. It doesn’t. You can and should cheat! Lining up right next to the offense, chest to chest, and then racing from there is a fair race… but we don’t want a fair race. We want to WIN. So don’t start right next them! Scoot towards the ball or the most likely direction they are going to run to try to catch it so you’ve got the advanage.

If you are between them and the ball (roughly) then it will have to he a long high pass for a catch… now we’ve got a situation to our liking! Make them throw a dangerous lob or pass through you and you’re in good shape.

Remember “The closer your man is to the ball, the closer you are to your man”. Close kind of means “distance”, but it really means how quickly the ball can get there. Playing against better players who can pass the ball longer distances crisply means you have to be closer to be able to steal a pass.

Also Remember, giving your opponent some distance when they are not really a threat to catch yet has the benefit of making you very difficult to screen. You will be able to go over or under an screens easily if there is room between you two. It also allows you to be able to help if you must and still be in a position to quickly deny / intercept a pass.

And beware the back door cut. Always see man and ball. If you lose sight of one of those for a second, let it be the ball. But relocate both as quickly as possible.

Wasting Dribbles

Concentrate on dribbling forward. Not sideways, not backwards. Definitely not just standing around. While you are dribbling the ball is at risk AND it is out of your hands which means you cannot make a quick pass if a teammate makes a quick cut. Minimizing dribbling actually enables you to make better passes because the ball will be in your hands when the receiver actually pops open instead of you having to gather the ball and deliver it in a much shorter time window.

Demo Drill: Have two guards stand at the top of the key basically each at a lane line extended and receivers at the blocks. Have the better passer of the two dribble the ball and continue doing so. Have the other top of key player hold the ball ready to pass. Have a race with the coach saying “go” and figure out which player can get offensive player receives first? The one from the dribbler or the one receiving from the the player simply holding the ball?

POOP (Pivot Out Of Pressure)

When you’re being put under pressure, POOP! It’s silly, but I love it! POOP stands for pivot out of pressure, and in terms of basketball concepts this is a big one (no pun intended). It is so important that you pivot instead of lean back. Pivoting enables you to make space and make better passing angles. A lot of players put themselves into an immediate disadvantage when pressure comes by putting the ball over their head and leaning back… both of these are awful decisions. For much more success, remember to POOP when the pressure is on.

PREP (Prime REcieving Position)

Don’t Crowd the Ball unless you are Wide Open AND the ball handler needs a target to pass to. For example, you are not in a good receiving position even if you are open if you’re in the way of a ball handler who has or can easily beat his person – you’re just clogging things up!

Applying Pressure

Pressure must be applied constantly in order to have maximum effect. Your opponent will make mistakes if you make them constantly think and constantly work hard. They should feel stressed at all moments to make a good play – and if you can apply pressure – they will almost certainly break under it.

The key is to make them you opponent have to perform several correct actions in a row. Almost anything can do the right thing once. And if they can rest do it again. But to be asked to do it many times, and to be asked to do things they’ve never practiced (certainly combinations they’ve never practiced) is a lot to ask of anyone. Apply pressure, keep it on, wait and anticipate the mistake, react and reap the rewards.

Handling Pressure

Reread applying pressure and note that it’s all mental. It’s all about trying to get them to make a mistake. In younger players where skills aren’t fully developed pressure might actually cause a player to get “stuck” and they have the ball stolen. But in players who have developed all the basic skills and who have some strength, pressure is fully a mind game. You don’t see a lot of full court or even half court pressure in the NBA… why? Because any player can get the ball up the court against any other player. And because any player can make a crisp pass to an open player so double teams aren’t an option in the full court. As a good player, pressure defense should not affect you because you have the basic skills and understand you are either just going to beat someone one on one or you’re going to make a pass that gives your team an advantage.

My “checklist” for knowing you’re prepared to be beating basketball pressure defenses. A fuller version of these basketball concepts can be found at the link.

1. Get good at moving the ball up the court 1 on 1 so you can be comfortable that if just one player is guarding you it will be okay
2. Know that “there is no spoon”. It’s all a ruse to get you worked up so you will be in a hurry and make a stupid mistake
3. Become a strong passer – put some zip on those balls. SNORT = snappy + short passes
4. Become a strong receiver – run through the ball when it is in the air to prevent steals
5. Pivot out of Pressure (POOP) so you are throwing strong passes instead of off balance weak ones
6. Stay away from dangerous court positions (stupid corner and “just over” the half court line). When you get to these places do it ON THE WAY somewhere – NOT as the target place.
7. BONUS: Attack it, don’t. just survive it. When you see the other team pressuring you should be thinking “layups and easy buckets” rather than “oh no – i hope they don’t steal it”.

Reduce Unnecessary Long Passes

Players often get tunnel vision and think “I’m supposed to pass from here to my teammate standing over there”. But that’s usually not true! Most times the idea is to get the ball to the teammate standing approximately over there AND you are STARTING from here, but nothing says the pass has to come from where you start if the defense isn’t giving it freely. Remember, you can and should dribble to Improve passing angles, reduce passing distance, put pressure on the defense and force them to play the backdoor and the passing lane.

Improving Your Quickness

Has some drills for doing so.

Quick Release Groove Shots

How to practices getting a shot off with a quick release off the dribble. Basically, face up in shooting range, get pass from a feeder or self feed, take a HARD dribble and move your feet during the hard dribble, and shoot as quick as possible as ball is back in hands. Really really hurry yourself concentrating on getting the shot up as fast as possible while maintaining good form.

Run Through the Ball

Passes should be received by player coming to the ball – not waiting on it. The book actually states that you can think about it like you are supposed to tackle the pass. Do NOT wait on it or opponents will get easy steals cutting through passing lanes.

See the Ball

In a 32 minute game you should have an eye on the ball for about 31 minutes and 58 seconds. If you see the ball then you see your teammate being pressured and can go help. If you see the ball then your teammate can pass you the ball in transition or when the opponents defense lapses. If you see the ball on defense you have a chance of helping a teammate. If you see the ball on defense you can anticipate where it will be next and greatly increase opportunities for a steal and easy score on the other end. Seeing the ball is so simple, but mediocre players are often guilty of running down the court on defense just watching their man or running to their spot in the zone. Same thing on offense. SEE the ball! SEE the game!

Seek hide, or go

Short version is that you should be either going to the ball (made of cowhide) to help out if your teammate is in trouble OR you should be going to an open place ready to receive a pass for a shot or score. Don’t just hang around.

Dribble Stop Shots – Roll Your Shoulder

You already know which foot to pivot on when getting ready to shoot off the dribble – inside foot. But many players do not realize how obvious it is that they’re going to shoot! If you will drop your shoulder that is the same as the pivot foot then your opponent will interpret that you are DRIVING instead of going to pull up for a shot. This will buy you extra time to shoot that shot!

Know the “Time and Score”

As a player you must be aware of the time and score at all times. The buzzer should never surprise you. Great players are able to bucket the time and score into “situations” and know how to play in a given situation. If you don’t even know the time and the score then you cannot possibly play with as much strategy as the game requires.

TODO: Time and score for coaches LINK

Touch Balls (on Defense)

Make it a point to touch the basketball as often as you can when it belongs to the other team. Even if you don’t steal it, a deflection against a pass causes all kinds of problems for the other team. Maybe a teammate can get the steal, maybe it is now hard to catch and bounces off the targets hands too, maybe the passer gets in their own head, or maybe you just break up a play. Getting your hands on opponent dribbles does the same – the ball doesn’t bounce straight up to them if deflected a tiny bit and they may mishandle it, you might deflect it off their foot, you might deflect it to your teammate. If you can get a few defensive touches on the basketball each game then you’re going to get more possessions for your team and more wins as a result.

Talking

Communication among players during a basketball game is key! You have to help each other verbally. There are a lot of time that bad assumptions can be avoided by players simply talking to each other during play. “A screen is coming”, “watch behind you”, “I got yours, switch, switch”, etc are so powerful and there are many many more. In fact, when you watch good teams play you can HEAR them as much as you see them. Watching mediocre teams though – you very rarely here anything other than disgust because what one player thought was obvious another player didn’t notice. If you talk though, oh boy, it becomes obvious to the entire team and mistakes can be avoided. On offense, remind your teammates where they should be, help them notice gaps in the defense, remind them to help a ball handler in trouble.

“ Talking helps a team coordinate its activities, assures that everyone is working together and encourages players to do decisively what they otherwise may do haphazardly or a second too late.”

Be Thankful

It sounds silly, but be sure to acknowledge a teammates great pass or hustle play. A simple high five or pointing at the player is enough to let them know you noticed and appreciate it. This will make them more likely to do it again. Even if you do it only for selfish reasons, thank your teammates!

Transition from Wall to Ball (Defense)

Changing from help defense to on ball or one pass away defense is HARD. If you do it too late, you’re toast. This is why we talk about always knowing where the ball is and where your man is AND anticipating where it is going.

Remember this, the ball is trying to get to your man or to the goal. That’s it. So your job is to always be in position to prevent both of those with maximum effectiveness. You want to be able to beat a pass to the player you are defending and you want to be able to cut off a dribble attack from wherever the ball currently is. To do that you must know where the ball is and where the player you are guarding is – at all times – and be ready at any time to make a pass to your person difficult as well as to stop the ball on the way to the goal.

What you will notice is that often times a back side offensive player will sneak right in front of their defender (between their defender and the ball) and get a quick shot up. This is often because the defender was resting while it appeared their offensive player was resting. On defense we don’t rest (we rest on offense), because as a defender you have to always be on guard that someone is going to try to sneak into position for an easy shot.

KEY: As the ball gets closer to your man YOU get closer to your man! If you’re always doing this, but staying ready to help if a dribble attack occurs then you’re in great shape.

Transition from Wall to Ball (Offense)

If you are two passes away, make sure you’re watching for your defender make a mistake or have a momentary lapse. If your defender is watching the ball instead of you then cut for a pass. Either cut to an empty space in scoring position or cut directly IN FRONT of your defender with you hands up. If you catch the ball on this cut your defender will be BEHIND you and you will have effectively created an easy shot for yourself or an advantaged situation in which the defense will have to rotate to you and you can drop off to a teammate for an open shot for them.

Attacking a Trap

If you see a trap, stay away from it! UNLESS your teammates are properly positioned to help and then you should be VERY comfortable attacking it because your team will get the advantage (2 opponents on you means 4 against 3 elsewhere!).

To attack a trap make sure you all agree on the method. The ball handler should have 3 helpers close. 1 in the middle and 1 to each side. The defense cannot possibly guard all 3 players and trap you without leaving the long pass wide open.

This all goes back to the pressure defense discussion. If you’ll keep your head and make short snappy passes you will get a lot of 2 on 1, 3 on 2, 4 on 3 mini breaks against a trapping team.

The Great Wall

When the ball is on the sideline the defense should treat the court as if there is a giant wall going down the center of it. Everything on the ball side of the wall, is ball side. Everything on the other side of the wall… is china! It sounds silly, but i love the phrasing. There’s just no reason to be in china when you’re playing a ball game (unless you’re literally in china – then adjust the metaphor as necessary). The point is you can play help defense ON THE WALL, but not on the other side of it. If someone trys to throw the ball all the way over the wall then you’ll likely be able to either deflect / steal the pass OR worst case be able to close out fast enough to defend well.

Make use of the Wide Side of the Court

Put simply, don’t dribble in to tiny places. When you have the option take the ball to the more open section of court. For example, when in the corner, drive towards the elbow rather than the baseline. The reason is that you have more options on the wide side and put more pressure on the defense WITHOUT enabling them to pressure you as easily (because they can’t use the sidelines/baselines to trap you).

Movement without the Ball

When you don’t have the ball there’s still a need to be moving. The author mentions “drift and burst” as being the keywords. The point is to always be drifting a little so your defender constantly has to locate you. This decreases their ability to help. And if they do help off of you then drifting will make it harder for them to recover.

As often as possible drift behind the person guarding you. And every once in a while add a burst of speed to get to a specific place. Maybe to set a screen, get positioned to shoot, etc.

Back Pedal From Mid Court on Defense

One of the basic basketball concepts is that on defense you should always see your person and the ball. That includes in transition. So rather than running all the way down the court on defense and facing the baseline you’re moving towards turn and back pedal from the half court. The only time not to do this is if there is an opponent (your man or not) down the court wide open. In that case you need to sprint to that player – get them guarded – and stay with them until the appropriate defender shows up. Any other time, if you get hit with a ball in the back of the head then that mean you’re doing it wrong. Back pedal so you can see the ball and be a threat to steal it.

Engage Two Defenders against the Zone

On offense, you can create easier scoring opportunities for you team if you can get two defenders to engage you. Then when you pass it should be 4 on 3, your team with the favorable numbers.

We do this before we get the ball by setting up those equilateral triangles discussed earlier (get equidistant from the two closest defenders) so the defenders are not quite sure who’s responsibility you are. You will get open shots if they delay, if they both take you then a quick pass should be available to another open teammate even closer to the goal, and if only one comes at you it still could be the wrong one. Don’t make it easy on them by being really close to one defender unless you are just crazy confident they are a mismatch you are looking to exploit.

If we have the ball we can do things where we just dribble from one zone attack area to another. Something like a drag dribble where we “drag a defender with us OUT of where they are supposed to be”. We want to let them stay close enough to us that they don’t want to disengage, but we want to pull them away from their home base. Their teammate that is supposed to be there will also engage, but if we’re ready we should have a wide open shot in the are we dragged the defender away from. If it doesn’t work, oh well, we’re just one on one with the player that’s supposed to be there. Keep making the other team make choices and eventually they’ll make a bad one.

Bump and Run

I love this high IQ basketball concept. Normally we want all hands on deck for rebounding. But there is a time that it makes sense to take off towards the offensive end when you should be defensively rebounding. That time is when you bump into one of your own players that is bigger than you as you head to box out. They are already there to get the rebound and they are probably a better chance of rebounding. When this happens, TALK to them and tell them you’re going, then take off. If they get the rebound they will know to look up for you because you told them.

Conclusion

This book is truly a goldmine of information for players. If you’re a player who wants to become a better player then start with this book. If you’re a coach who wants to learn ways to explain certain things or wants to make a good team great, then get this book and pick out some items to bring to the team!

That’s it. If you enjoyed my notes on “Stuff Good Players Should Know” by Dick Devenzio then I’m glad i could help you out. Take care!