Is Passing a Lost Art?

One of the most meaningful statistics a coach should look at is turnovers. How many did you force and how many did you have? Obviously you want to be + in that crucial category. Among my many shortcoming was

a failure to breakdown our turnovers by categories. How many were dribbling errors? How many were pivoting errors? How many passing and catching errors? I would include 3 second violations but I think they are no longer part of the rule book! (Just an editorial opinion.)

One of the things I found frustrating in coaching was when high school

players, with limited skills, tried to imitate college/pro players. Obviously,

College/pro players are, for the most part, highly skilled. Convincing

high school athletes that they should focus on mastering fundamental

skills can be a challenge at times.

Passing & Catching Observations (And I hope teaching points.)

A. Pass with TWO hands. Yes, this is a personal pet peeve of mine. I am not

saying you can't throw a one handed pass. In fact, we taught what called

a "flick" pass but it starts from holding the ball with TWO hands. I became

a bit "unglued" with the one hand pass off the dribble. I would tell player's

unless the ball has become a rather large yo yo you are committed. There

is no pass fake with a one handed pass off the dribble. Yes, I realize if you

throw a baseball pass it is one handed pass but you still begin the pass

with two hands on the ball.

B. Catch with TWO hands. Almost every high school game I watch I see the

ball turned over because the receiver of a pass sticks up one hand instead

of using two. LACK OF FOCUS AND JUST PLAIN LAZINESS GETS YOU BEAT.

C. Meet the pass. It is the responsibility of the receiver to shorten the length

of the pass. Forgive me for pointing this out, but it seems to me the less

time the ball is in the air, the less chance it will be deflected or intercepted.

Not all passing turnovers are the fault of the passer.

D. Don't leave your feet to pass the ball. You may or may not agree with this,

but if it was good enough for Morgan Wooten, it's good enough for me. I

know our athletes are capable of leaving their feet to execute a

pass but I have issues with it for at least two reason;

1) We teach our players to only leave your feet to shoot the ball and not to

pass it. We therefore want our players to begin moving into rebounding

areas when someone leaves their feet. So they are not expecting a pass.

2) When you leave your feet to pass you seldom come down in the same

spot and thus leave yourself vulnerable to committing a charging foul.

E. Fake a pass to make a pass. This teaching point is important when

attempting to feed the post. If the defender's hands are up ball fake to

"freeze" the hands then bounce pass by the defender. If his hands are

down, ball fake low and throw the ball by the defender.

F. Pass the ball AWAY from the defender. Most passes are being defended

and inexperience as well as poorly focused players will throw the ball

directly to the receiver as if he is not being guarded!

G. Catch and face. At the half court level, catch and get your eyes on the

rim.

Looks like a flick pass to me.

If you can find the time, and yes I know all to well how difficult it is to find the time, evaluate your

game video & see how many of your turnovers are related to fundamental passing issues.

Now don't get me started on what I think of one handed rebounding!