Basketball is a game that often features the individual athletic talents of its top players. However, when it comes to winning the game, it is often a team that uses the principles of team basketball that is the most successful. Players that know how to cut without the ball and set screens for teammates can create open shots when the game is on the line.
Pass And Screen
One of the most effective ways to set a screen is for the player with the ball to immediately set a screen immediately after passing the ball. In this drill, three offensive players are on the court against three defensive players. The guard on the right side of the court passes the ball into the forward. Immediately after passing the ball, he sets a screen by blocking the defensive player who is covering the other guard. Then the other guard runs toward his teammate setting the screen and will be wide open for a pass. This can lead to an open shot or a drive to the basket.
Cutting to Basket
To create scoring opportunities for your team, players have to move on the court. It is a game that requires excellent conditioning. Players who move on the court have the ability to get open. Players who move constantly have the ability to tire out the defender and get open at the key moments of the game. In the pick and roll drill, the player will set a screen for the ballhandler and then cut immediately to the basket. The ball handler will continue to dribble and once he gets past the screen, he immediately throws the ball over the top of the defense to the player who just set the pick. This can lead to easy baskets during the course of the game.
Baseline Cuts
In this drill, the forward will sprint back and forth along the baseline. In game competition, he will try to create his own screens by running the defender into his teammates. Once the defender is slowed down and the offensive player breaks open, he can receiver the pass, set his feet and fire a shot at the basket. To prepare for this in a game. Have the forward run back and forth at the baseline and when he gets to a spot 18 feet from the basket on either side, he will receive a pass, turn and shoot. Each player should take 10 practice shots while making baseline cuts.
Role Play
In the course of a basketball season, it would be ideal if all players had the same opportunity to shoot, rebound, handle the ball and set screens. But the truth of the matter is that all players on a team have varying ability levels and divergent talents. One of the keys to building a winning team is that players understand what they have to do on the court and that all jobs are important. Hall of Fame basketball players Scottie Pippen is a perfect example of this. He was No. 2 option for the Chicago Bulls behind Michael Jordan during the Bulls' championship run and Pippen had to do much of the dirty work that includes setting screens for his explosive teammate. He understood this and thrived in the role. "Sometimes a player's greatest challenge is coming to grips with his role on the team," Pippen said. The result of accepting his roll was helping the Bulls win six championships.
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