Stockton never missed a pass
A while ago I was reading an article by Kevin Eastman about the need to eliminate ‘late passers’ from your team. Immediately this struck a chord with me as I had identified the problem he spoke about but never really defined it in such clear terms in my thinking. Passing is a key skill that all players (regardless of position) must have a solid grasp of. However this post is not about passing as such. It’s about the mentality of those players that are on the floor running your offense.
Coach Eastman uses the term ‘late passer’ to describe a player who does not hit a shooter as soon as they become free. This is a point that we must emphasise during drills to make sure it is embedded in the mindset of our team. Too often shooting drills are treated as a catch-and-shoot drill by players. Coaches must make sure players know they are a pass-catch-and-shoot drill. Without a great pass into the shooter’s ‘shot-pocket’ (the area just above his hip on his strong side where he would usually begin his shooting motion) the chances of the shot being released in time with a crisp motion are decreased. As the level of competition increases, the demand on the quality of the pass also increases.
It is easy to see why Eastman has identified this as a key aspect in his coaching role. He is constantly working with arguably the greatest catch-and-shoot player in the history of the NBA in Ray Allen. The Boston coaching staff compiles huge amounts of information on the mechanics of Allen’s shot and his particular quirks that can be honed further and further to improve his already legendary jumpshooting ability.
At the level I am working at this area is less important because defenses are slower at chasing around screens and closing out shooters. However I include in my definition of ‘late passers’ another problem which I think is vitally important to eradicate at lower level basketball and is even possibly inspired by the greatness of many of today’s premier passers.
Many players today look to make an assist on every pass they make. Passes across the top to initate an offense are boring. Passes to the wing followed by a screen away are boring. Every time these players catch the ball they are looking to make an individual attacking move to the basket or looking to make a wonder pass that leads to a basket. This can be a real problem when your team is less creative in the wing positions or you are playing against a sagging defense for example (more likely at lower levels). The defense sits off and there is no space to attack the basket for an easy score. We then must employ these ‘boring’ passes to start moving the defense and create those easy score opportunities.
‘If there’s anything that bothers Armond [Hill, Boston Assistant Coach] more than anything,’ Coach Rivers said, ‘it’s when the ball stops. You can hear him all game, “Move it, move it.” You see him in the huddle, that’s what he’s ticked off about.’
My most commonly-used instruction during practise and games is ‘move the ball!’. One of the most frustrating occurrences for me as a coach is to see potential openings on the floor and have players not pass the ball to initiate good attacking opportunities. The key word here is ‘potential’. Whereas ‘late passers’ will only see the immediate assist opportunity, those players with the ability to read the game will see the potential for a ‘hockey assist’. In hockey, the player that passes to the assisting player also gets credit for an assist, recognising the importance of multiple plays leading up to the score, rather than the immediately preceding pass.
The ‘hockey assist’ is a statistic that coaches should definitely think about recording in practise/games. I intend to do so for next season as I think it recognises (to a certain degree) those players who are prepared to keep the ball moving without waiting to make the wonder assist pass. The clear disadvantage to having ‘late passers’ of this type on your team is that the ball can become very stagnant on the offensive end and your team sets/continuity can break down very easily.
