I had the great opportunity to speak at a summer camp last week at Central College (thanks Coach Hamilton!). The camp was comprised of high school aged student athletes, both males and females.
I spoke about the fundamentals of 3 v. 3 basketball and focused on moving without the ball. I decided upon this subject after spending the last couple weeks on the recruiting trails. I realized that the athletes that most caught my eye were the one's that really moved well without the ball. Because of their movement they had more touches, caught the ball in more advantageous situations, and created more opportunities for their teammates. They might not be the scorers, but they were often only one or two passes away from the score.
Cutting is so fundamentally simply but so few athletes really understand how to make their movements most beneficial. Cutting has an aspect of acting to it, getting your opponent to buy into a fake and then exploiting their decision to believe. Many athletes lack the patience to execute a success head or shoulder fake, as they play the game too fast and too hectic.
This year we are going to focus on perfecting cutting. It will be essential in our offense that we can get open in exactly the place we want. We will need to learn how to direct our opponent one way and then explode the other. Changing pace and changing direction is the key, as well as effective and precise footwork.
My goal is at least one back-door cut per game. Wouldn't that be beautiful?
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