DON'T BE BLINDED BY THE BASKET - SEE THE D

One of the many things I consistently preach to athletes is to always race the ball down the court and look for an "easy" basket....but if an easy basket is not there, don't force the ball inside, but instead set up the offense and run your plays.

I attended a boys varsity game on Friday (that went to OT) and watched a talented athlete succeed in racing the ball down the court trying to beat the defense... but for some reason, he was not able to recognize that the defense was often in position to contest penetration.  The athlete in question repeatedly forced the ball inside over and over again without ever making a pass, which resulted in numerous missed shots that were off-balance and rushed (which in-turn became defensive rebounds).  He also ended the game with six TO's, mostly from ball handling mistakes in traffic.

An athlete must be able to recognize the difference between an "easy" shot and a shot that will likely be contested...and that comes from reading the defense.  Athletes must also understand that a defense typically begins to breakdown after 3 or 4 passes.  Although the goal on offense is to score... it's sometimes necessary to force the defense into playing help and recover until it shows it's weak spots before actually attacking the basket.

Don't get so focused on attacking the basket that you blindly ignore the defense.

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