The Game of Basketball - Book Notes
by Nicholas Tuck
1. Time-Outs
1.1. Have a routine
1.2. Teach players the good reasons to call time outs
1.3. When the other coach calls a time out
1.3.1. change up defense for a couple plays
1.3.2. substitute to confuse matchups
2. Some Game Tactics
2.1. Use a Designated Inbounder
2.2. Going long following a made basket or against a pressing defense
3. Character Counts
3.1. Great teammates inspire confidence that the team can succeed when faced with adversity
3.2. Teams with great team character, impose their will on their opponent on key possessions
3.3. Adversity and competition do not build character, they reveal it
3.3.1. we identify it, then work to rectify it
3.4. Those who suffer most, surrender last
3.5. Good players can handle criticism, great players do something about it
3.6. Know what your weaknesses are, then play to your strengths
3.7. Know what your weaknesses are and work to turn them into strengths
3.8. That hardest thing for people and players to do is serve others
3.9. Thinking only of yourself, and what you want, will make you miserable
4. Rebounding
4.1. Don't get rebounds, grab them
4.2. Grab every rebound
4.3. Use both hands, with fingers on the top half of the ball
4.4. Chin the ball
4.5. Believe every shot will miss
4.6. Anticipate where the ball will come off the goal
4.7. Equal, opposite angle
4.8. Half the distance
4.9. Tip to control - short pass
4.10. Offensive rebounds may be more important
4.11. Point guard should lead the team in defensive rebounding
4.12. You can be as selfish as you want as a rebounder
4.13. Know your arena
4.13.1. tightly fixed rims will have more bounce
4.14. Box in, instead of out, when a three point shot has been taken
4.15. Play with your hands up
4.16. Jump like a jet not like a rocket
4.17. BOPCRO
4.17.1. Block Out, Pursue the ball, Chin the ball, Rebound, and Outlet pass
5. Shooting
5.1. The most important shooting coach a player can have is himself
5.2. Hold a high, one second follow through, after shooting
5.3. If you must miss, miss it long or short, but not left or right
5.4. A basketball player must warm up his shot
5.4.1. start 2 feet from goal, then, using a routine, work your away to maximum shooting range
5.5. When a player has a flaw in his shot, correct it by working in the free-throw shot
5.5.1. keeps most things as consistent as possible, it's just you then
5.6. Point toes at the baseline when shooting a power shot inside
5.7. When shooting a bank shot, kiss the ball off the glass high and soft
5.7.1. ball strikes the glass at or above the square
5.8. Worst shot in basketball - foot on the 3pt line
5.9. A jump shooter should land just slightly forward in his own footprints
5.10. Forget the fade away shot
5.11. Sight a specific target when shooting - the more specific the better
5.11.1. maybe an inch of rim, opposite where he is shooting
5.12. Backspin is what allows misses to go in
6. Fine Tuning the Fast Break
6.1. Fundamentals are essential, and players must execute them perfectly at game speed
6.2. The best ball handler / decision maker, handles the ball
6.3. Pass for a score (one pass)
6.4. Get the ball to the best finisher / shooter
6.5. Make the easy pass, not the assist pass
6.6. Always run at warp speed
6.7. If you are going to run, run on everything
6.8. When filling the lane, get wide first
6.8.1. Pat Riley said to step out of bounds at half court to ensure they ran wide enough
6.9. Never deviate from the pattern
6.10. Turnover means the team did not get to shoot the ball
6.10.1. no excuse for turning the ball over, not acceptable
6.11. Dribble as little as possible
6.12. Less is more, don't have a ton of fast break variants
6.12.1. don't make the players think, let them use their instincts + good habits
6.13. The harder you run, the longer you have to shoot
6.14. Players must play so hard their feet and lungs burn
6.15. Conditioning is paramount
6.16. A fast break team must be more disciplined than a deliberate team
6.17. Defense is what speeds the game up, not offense
6.18. Cut in straight lines when attacking the basket
6.19. Must be able to score in a two on one, every time
6.20. Turn all three on one, and three on two, situations into two on one situations
6.21. Give the cutter the ball when he can do something with it
6.22. Cutters and penetrators must be able to finish at the rim
6.23. Ball handler should step to the corner of the lane after passing on the break, never penetrating
6.24. If a cutter cannot score, he should quick stop, and euro the ball back to the passer
7. Control
7.1. Control what you can
7.1.1. Choices he makes
7.1.2. his attitude
7.1.3. his effort
8. Further Reading
8.1. 1
8.2. 2
8.3. 3
9. Passing and Receiving
9.1. Pass Away from the defense
9.2. The hockey assist
9.3. See the second defender
9.4. Look under the net
9.5. Catch the ball with your eyes
9.6. Turn and look up the court
9.7. Fake a pass to make a pass
9.8. Have your legs ready to shoot
9.9. Veer away from the cutter
9.10. Follow the first pass on the break
9.11. Shorten the pass by stepping to it
9.12. Use a drop pass
9.13. Making the backdoor pass
9.14. Catch the ball with feet in the air
9.15. feeding the post
9.15.1. defense guarding high denial, low denial, fronting, or backward
10. Defense
10.1. Hand discipline on defense
10.2. make the offensive player put the ball on the floor
10.3. Dictate the direction of the drive
10.4. Playing the dead call
10.5. High hands on a closeout
10.6. Think shot but play drive
10.7. do not allow the shooter to get a clean look at the shooting target
10.8. Contesting the shot is better than blocking the shot
10.9. When contesting a shot, be the second player to leave the ground
10.10. Contact on defense will negate speed and quickness
10.11. Early help is never a mistake on defense
10.12. Anticipate the offense two passes away on defense
10.13. Move while the ball is in the air
10.14. Sprint while the ball is in the air
10.15. Arrive when the ball arrives
10.16. Stay below the shoulders of the offensive player
10.17. Make the ball handler pick up the dribble on a ball screen
10.18. Drawing a charge is the best play in basketball
10.19. Force offensive player out of his sweet spot
11. Cutting
11.1. Move with a purpose
11.2. Change direction and change pace
11.2.1. Precise angle, not curve
11.2.2. "V Cut" - 90 degrees
11.3. In slow, and out fast, when cutting
11.4. Standing Still
11.4.1. counts as a chance of pace
11.5. The Gretzky Rule: Cut to where the shot will be
11.6. You must go somewhere when you move
11.7. Hands up when you come out of a cut
11.8. Start Steps
11.8.1. "direct drive", "crossover step" and "accelerating from a standing position when cutting"
11.9. Quick stops
11.9.1. "jump stops"
11.10. Jump Catch
11.11. Triple-Threat Position
11.11.1. Shoot, Pass, or Drive
11.11.2. Feet spread hip width apart with one foot slightly forward
11.12. Turn and face/look under the net
11.13. The two-inch rule
11.13.1. to prevent off balance - after stopping quickly, drop buttocks two inches lower than normal and then rise back up to a normal triple-threat position
12. Attack Basketball
12.1. Go somewhere with your dribble
12.2. Drive in a straight line
12.3. Get from the 3-point line to the rim in one dribble
12.4. Dribble with a purpose or not at all
12.5. Dribble only to sore, improve a passing angle, or advance the ball up the court
12.6. Use a pull-back crossover dribble move to beat a trap
12.7. Always aggressively turn and face the basket in a triple-threat stance
12.8. Four dribbles is all you need to push the ball up the court
12.9. The last dribble must be "hard"
12.9.1. bounce harder to get it in position for layup, chest pass, shooting pocket
12.10. Sweep the ball to create space
12.11. Good attacking offensive players are tight, strong and low
12.12. The first step should be long, low, and straight
12.13. Lower the height of the dribble as the defensive pressure increases
12.14. Pound the ball when dribbling
12.15. Only 2 moves are needed: a go-to move and a counter move
12.16. Use a shot fake to take the bend out of the defender's knees
13. Playing the Post
13.1. Line of deployment
13.2. Post-Up stance
13.2.1. legs slightly wider than hip width, knees bent 30-45 degrees
13.3. Arm and leg dominance
13.4. Chin + Check over the high side shoulder
13.5. Must take 2 defenders to guard a post
13.6. Show numbers - to the ball
13.7. Need to score
13.7.1. high physicality of post game means it needs to pay off