2 Simple Drills That Will Double Your Scoring Efficiency

Efficiency

Provided by: Online Basketball Drills

There are two ways that you can create a shot on the wing in the half court. First off, you can do it off the ball, using a variety of screens and cuts to separate yourself from the defender.

This is my personal preferred method, as it is conducive to ball and player movement, and it is nearly impossible for the defense to take away every option, and they must simply pick their poison.

Kevin Durant, Ray Allen and Richard Hamilton come to mind as players that do a very good job of using screens and off ball movement to get their shots off.

Now if you watch the NBA, your familiar with the fact that most players will isolate and break down their defender, using a series of jab, pump, and dribble fakes to get the defender out of position and either attack the rim or pull up for a jumpshot.

While this can be entertaining to watch, generally it is much lower percentage basketball, and will result in one guy standing at the top of the key with his other four teammates standing around, staying stagnant – this makes it easier for them to be defended, but also makes it more difficult for anyone else to get open, as the defender can sag off and ignore his man.

That is why the best isolation scorers will always make quick decisions, and limit themselves to one or two dribbles before either shooting or moving the ball around the horn, remembering to keep everybody involved.

Here we’ll check out some drills that will teach your players how to get themselves open off the ball, and how to beat that second defender when they are on the ball.

Cut Series

Position yourself at the top of the key, and have another coach stand on the wing, foul line extended – he will be lightly defending your players as they run through the drill.

The players will line up on that same sideline, and one at a time, will pass the ball to you up top, and perform a V-Cut, coming back to the ball. Once they catch, they can either rise up for the jumpshot, or sweep low and get to the basket for the finish.

Start off with the V-Cut, but make sure to run the drill through with every cut you expect them to be able to perform in a game, from the fade, to the curl, to even a simple backdoor.

Cut Series w/ Extra Defender

Here we have a very similar drill, but instead of standing at the top of the key, you will be on the wing. Your assistant will stand at the top of the key, and you’ll have a third player or coach stand in the middle of the key, underneath the basket.

The players will line up just over halfcourt. This drill runs the same, they pass the ball to you on the wing, run their cut, and then sweep and attack the basket when they receive a pass back from you.

But now instead of an easy lay-up, there is a defender waiting to attempt to block their shot.

Players should work on a variety of moves to beat this defender, whether that is attempting a floater up and over, a spin move to get around, or maybe even a quick cross over to get them out of position so that you can get the layup off uncontested.