Learn to Pass the Rock and Get a Game

by Alan Lambert (www.bbhighway.com)

Hey young players get a game! I hear almost daily the endless stream of trash talk from wannabe college or professional superstars who can't defend against penetration, can't deny an entry pass, don't block out consistently, take poor percentage shots, and can't locate an open player or pass to a spot even if it were the last second of the NBA Championship game seven and the world title depended upon it. Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of very talented young athletes which continue to pump new blood into the growing world popularity of basketball. But being an athlete with one or two skills doesn't make you a player any more than being able to use a saw to cut a 2 x 4 makes you a finish carpenter.

Today's Playground Pointer is focused on giving you some basic tips to become a better passer. In the 1960's there was a famous song titled "Where have all the flowers gone" and it would be appropriate to substitute the word passers for flowers in today's modern game. There have been numerous articles about the drop in shooting percentages in recent years and I would say with no hesitation that a decent portion of the blame can be placed on the decline in good decision makers and passers. My old coach use to call them hero plays. A fancy pass wows the crowd but percentage wise you lose games by taking this mentality instead of making sure passes for easy scores. Make the simple pass, and best pass wins games. Making the extra pass makes teams and not groups of individual players.

Concept 1- Practice for Strength, Control and Concentration

How many of you players spends 10-15 minutes per day practicing passing? Yeah I know, "you don't have anybody to pass to!", Hogwash. Find a flat wall or surface and get to it. You play basketball in a 5 on 5 game. I'm positive that you pass the ball in a game three or four times more than you shoot it. So how can you say you're working on your GAME when you spend no time practicing passing and several hours shooting. Besides practicing passing makes you a better shooter because you are building wrist strength, learning to control the balls movement, and enhancing your ability to concentrate on getting the ball to one specific spot. It is difficult for me to believe that a great shooter can't be an even better passer. It is mostly a matter of will. Larry Bird, Arvidas Sabonis, and the up and coming Keith Van Horn are three examples of great shooters who may have been even better passers.

Concept 2- Walk the Doggie

Start with simple chest passes and see if you can make 25 or 50 consecutive passes against a spot you pick out on the wall. It may take you a few practices but stay with it until you have it mastered. When you can do that, then walk yourself slowly backwards to about 15-20 feet and then again forward seeing if you can still make than same chest pass to the same spot every time. When you've become consistent at this, then add bounce passes, two-hand overhead passes, hook passes, and bent-elbow push passes. You can even practice a few behind the back to learn control of the ball (but please only 10 feet or less from the wall). As your passing skill level off the wall progresses try hitting four different spots in a specific pattern, or change the speed of the passes. If works even better if you have a friend, brother, sister, or parent to pass to but there are no excuses for not spending time to develop your passing if you have a ball and a wall. The Toss-Back machine is a great tool if you or your school have access to this device. In many gyms I've seen this device sitting in a storage room gathering dust.

Concept 3- Get the Ball to the Open Player Closest to the Basket

Having good passing fundamentals doesn't necessarily make you a good passer. Great passers get the ball to the open player closest to the basket. The closer to the basket the ball is consistently passed, the greater number of high percentage shots a team will get over the course of a game. If your team gets 40 shots in the paint you will likely win most games. However, the key point here is to get the ball to the "most open" player.

Make sure of your passes. This means don't throw a pass you are not sure you can complete. This doesn't mean however to avoid practicing your passing so that the variety of passes you can successfully complete never grows. When you are playing a very good team, one of the sure ways to win a game is to successfully complete all of your passes. If you take that mentality into a game against even the best teams you will have a chance to win. Focus your concentration and complete your passes to win.

Look off your defender when you pass. Too many of today's young players look directly where they want to pass. The defense has eyes too. You must see the open passing lane and be able to complete the pass without directly looking at your passing target. This takes practice, but is a must to be a complete player.

When you pass, move your mass. The defense is most vulnerable to cuts and screens at the very moment a pass is made. This is because the defender must momentarily adjust their defensive position relative to the ball. On a pass, either cut to the basket, cut to screen on the ball (if you're on the perimeter), or screen away from the ball. One of the oldest moves in the game, "the give and go" still operates very successfully on this most simple of principles. Even if you just move quickly to the left or right of your collapsing defender you will enable your post player a clearly return pass and most likely a wide open shot.

Always fake before you pass. A simple short pump fake will cause most defenders to move their hands or body position enough in one direction to open up a bigger passing lane. Your fakes should be small movements and believable.

When you make a pass, snap the wrists. The quicker the release the more velocity you can get on your pass. The quicker the pass, the less air time and chance for the defense to intercept or deflect a ball.

Hit the cutter or receiver in the chest or chin. There are several reason for this most notably most receivers don't want to be hit in the head with the ball. More importantly passing to this hot spot normally puts the ball very close to most players "ready-shoot" position which allows them to get a shot off quickly and accurately without having to adjust the ball and allowing the defense very little time to pressure the shot.

Concept 4- Passing Is an Integral Part of Successful Team Play

Pass to teammates who are open and who can make the shots. It amazes me to see so many "passing or motion" game type teams that move the ball senselessly. Each pass should have a purpose of either hitting an open player who can score or positioning the ball by the pass to another player who can. It's that simple. Teams shouldn't have to create shots. Well executed offenses in combination with timely and accurate passing create high percentage shots.

On any passes, move to create good offensive spacing on the court. Regardless of the offense your team runs you should have a set of interconnected and equally spaced (15-16 feet) triangles which improve passing angles and make it difficult for defenders to cheat and help on passes without opening up other scoring opportunities.

On a pass into the paint, power to score. On a post pass front outside the paint, wait one second to see if the defense will double you before initiating your one on one post move. If a double comes kick the ball out and re-establish your post position from movement.

Guards passing to the post from above the free throw line extended leaves only bad angles and results in turnovers. Either penetrate below the free throw line extended to pass to the post, or move the ball to a player who has a better passing angle.

Pass to interior players only when their shoulders are perpendicular to the path or flight of the ball. This means the post player has presented the broadest possible target and made it difficult for a defender to come from behind to deflect or steal the pass.

If your defender sloughs as passing lane to deter interior passes use a hard penetration dribble looking shot to draw the defender to you to open a passing lane. It is critical that you penetration is made with your eyes on the basket with the intent to score etched on your face.

Pass to a players scoring hot spot not just to the player. The majority of young players today think that getting the ball in proximity to their teammates means they have done their job. The is in fact farthest from the truth. If your team and teammates have worked thirty seconds to get a man open and your pass is slightly behind and low, you might as well have thrown the ball out of bounds. The results will almost be the same. High percentage shooting teams like the NBA's Utah Jazz, are blessed with some of the games most accurate passers. It is no coincidence that these two go hand in hand.

So players, learn to pass the rock and you will go a long way toward getting a game. Give me five great passers who are average shooters and I will take them any day over five great shooters who can't pass a pea in the ocean.

Check back next month for more Playground Pointers courtesy of The Basketball Highway®.