The Game of Basketball - Book Notes
by Nicholas Tuck
1. Passing and Receiving
1.1. Pass Away from the defense
1.2. The hockey assist
1.3. See the second defender
1.4. Look under the net
1.5. Catch the ball with your eyes
1.6. Turn and look up the court
1.7. Fake a pass to make a pass
1.8. Have your legs ready to shoot
1.9. Veer away from the cutter
1.10. Follow the first pass on the break
1.11. Shorten the pass by stepping to it
1.12. Use a drop pass
1.13. Making the backdoor pass
1.14. Catch the ball with feet in the air
1.15. feeding the post
1.15.1. defense guarding high denial, low denial, fronting, or backward
2. Defense
2.1. Hand discipline on defense
2.2. make the offensive player put the ball on the floor
2.3. Dictate the direction of the drive
2.4. Playing the dead call
2.5. High hands on a closeout
2.6. Think shot but play drive
2.7. do not allow the shooter to get a clean look at the shooting target
2.8. Contesting the shot is better than blocking the shot
2.9. When contesting a shot, be the second player to leave the ground
2.10. Contact on defense will negate speed and quickness
2.11. Early help is never a mistake on defense
2.12. Anticipate the offense two passes away on defense
2.13. Move while the ball is in the air
2.14. Sprint while the ball is in the air
2.15. Arrive when the ball arrives
2.16. Stay below the shoulders of the offensive player
2.17. Make the ball handler pick up the dribble on a ball screen
2.18. Drawing a charge is the best play in basketball
2.19. Force offensive player out of his sweet spot
3. Cutting
3.1. Move with a purpose
3.2. Change direction and change pace
3.2.1. Precise angle, not curve
3.2.2. "V Cut" - 90 degrees
3.3. In slow, and out fast, when cutting
3.4. Standing Still
3.4.1. counts as a chance of pace
3.5. The Gretzky Rule: Cut to where the shot will be
3.6. You must go somewhere when you move
3.7. Hands up when you come out of a cut
3.8. Start Steps
3.8.1. "direct drive", "crossover step" and "accelerating from a standing position when cutting"
3.9. Quick stops
3.9.1. "jump stops"
3.10. Jump Catch
3.11. Triple-Threat Position
3.11.1. Shoot, Pass, or Drive
3.11.2. Feet spread hip width apart with one foot slightly forward
3.12. Turn and face/look under the net
3.13. The two-inch rule
3.13.1. 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
4. Attack Basketball
4.1. Go somewhere with your dribble
4.2. Drive in a straight line
4.3. Get from the 3-point line to the rim in one dribble
4.4. Dribble with a purpose or not at all
4.5. Dribble only to sore, improve a passing angle, or advance the ball up the court
4.6. Use a pull-back crossover dribble move to beat a trap
4.7. Always aggressively turn and face the basket in a triple-threat stance
4.8. Four dribbles is all you need to push the ball up the court
4.9. The last dribble must be "hard"
4.9.1. bounce harder to get it in position for layup, chest pass, shooting pocket
4.10. Sweep the ball to create space
4.11. Good attacking offensive players are tight, strong and low
4.12. The first step should be long, low, and straight
4.13. Lower the height of the dribble as the defensive pressure increases
4.14. Pound the ball when dribbling
4.15. Only 2 moves are needed: a go-to move and a counter move
4.16. Use a shot fake to take the bend out of the defender's knees
5. Playing the Post
5.1. Line of deployment
5.2. Post-Up stance
5.2.1. legs slightly wider than hip width, knees bent 30-45 degrees
5.3. Arm and leg dominance
5.4. Chin + Check over the high side shoulder
5.5. Must take 2 defenders to guard a post
5.6. Show numbers - to the ball
5.7. Need to score
5.7.1. high physicality of post game means it needs to pay off
5.8. Pass out and reposition
6. For Coaches
6.1. Team is the most important thing
6.2. No easy practices, have a shorter one
6.3. A day off could be as good as having practice
6.4. Don't give orders that can be understood, give orders that cannot be misunderstood
6.5. You don't get stronger picking up twigs, but you can break your back picking up logs
6.6. Fewer rules are better -- be flexible
6.7. Have your captains communicate constantly with officials
6.8. Kill the clock with regular offense without shooting
6.9. Insist players use the glass on layups
6.10. Free throws and layups win games
7. Fouls and Such
7.1. Drawing the charge
7.2. Play until the whistle blows
7.3. Get to the foul line
7.4. Ability to draw a foul
7.5. Foul only for profit
8. Time-Outs
8.1. Have a routine
8.2. Teach players the good reasons to call time outs
8.3. When the other coach calls a time out
8.3.1. change up defense for a couple plays
8.3.2. substitute to confuse matchups
9. Some Game Tactics
9.1. Use a Designated Inbounder
9.2. Going long following a made basket or against a pressing defense
10. Character Counts
10.1. Great teammates inspire confidence that the team can succeed when faced with adversity
10.2. Teams with great team character, impose their will on their opponent on key possessions
10.3. Adversity and competition do not build character, they reveal it
10.3.1. we identify it, then work to rectify it
10.4. Those who suffer most, surrender last
10.5. Good players can handle criticism, great players do something about it
10.6. Know what your weaknesses are, then play to your strengths
10.7. Know what your weaknesses are and work to turn them into strengths
10.8. That hardest thing for people and players to do is serve others
10.9. Thinking only of yourself, and what you want, will make you miserable
11. Rebounding
11.1. Don't get rebounds, grab them
11.2. Grab every rebound
11.3. Use both hands, with fingers on the top half of the ball
11.4. Chin the ball
11.5. Believe every shot will miss
11.6. Anticipate where the ball will come off the goal
11.7. Equal, opposite angle
11.8. Half the distance
11.9. Tip to control - short pass
11.10. Offensive rebounds may be more important
11.11. Point guard should lead the team in defensive rebounding
11.12. You can be as selfish as you want as a rebounder
11.13. Know your arena
11.13.1. tightly fixed rims will have more bounce
11.14. Box in, instead of out, when a three point shot has been taken
11.15. Play with your hands up
11.16. Jump like a jet not like a rocket
11.17. BOPCRO
11.17.1. Block Out, Pursue the ball, Chin the ball, Rebound, and Outlet pass
12. Shooting
12.1. The most important shooting coach a player can have is himself
12.2. Hold a high, one second follow through, after shooting
12.3. If you must miss, miss it long or short, but not left or right
12.4. A basketball player must warm up his shot
12.4.1. start 2 feet from goal, then, using a routine, work your away to maximum shooting range
12.5. When a player has a flaw in his shot, correct it by working in the free-throw shot
12.5.1. keeps most things as consistent as possible, it's just you then
12.6. Point toes at the baseline when shooting a power shot inside
12.7. When shooting a bank shot, kiss the ball off the glass high and soft
12.7.1. ball strikes the glass at or above the square
12.8. Worst shot in basketball - foot on the 3pt line
12.9. A jump shooter should land just slightly forward in his own footprints
12.10. Forget the fade away shot
12.11. Sight a specific target when shooting - the more specific the better
12.11.1. maybe an inch of rim, opposite where he is shooting
12.12. Backspin is what allows misses to go in
13. Fine Tuning the Fast Break
13.1. Fundamentals are essential, and players must execute them perfectly at game speed
13.2. The best ball handler / decision maker, handles the ball
13.3. Pass for a score (one pass)
13.4. Get the ball to the best finisher / shooter
13.5. Make the easy pass, not the assist pass
13.6. Always run at warp speed
13.7. If you are going to run, run on everything
13.8. When filling the lane, get wide first
13.8.1. Pat Riley said to step out of bounds at half court to ensure they ran wide enough
13.9. Never deviate from the pattern
13.10. Turnover means the team did not get to shoot the ball
13.10.1. no excuse for turning the ball over, not acceptable
13.11. Dribble as little as possible
13.12. Less is more, don't have a ton of fast break variants
13.12.1. don't make the players think, let them use their instincts + good habits
13.13. The harder you run, the longer you have to shoot
13.14. Players must play so hard their feet and lungs burn
13.15. Conditioning is paramount
13.16. A fast break team must be more disciplined than a deliberate team
13.17. Defense is what speeds the game up, not offense
13.18. Cut in straight lines when attacking the basket
13.19. Must be able to score in a two on one, every time
13.20. Turn all three on one, and three on two, situations into two on one situations
13.21. Give the cutter the ball when he can do something with it
13.22. Cutters and penetrators must be able to finish at the rim
13.23. Ball handler should step to the corner of the lane after passing on the break, never penetrating
13.24. If a cutter cannot score, he should quick stop, and euro the ball back to the passer
14. Control
14.1. Control what you can
14.1.1. Choices he makes
14.1.2. his attitude
14.1.3. his effort