How to improve my “driving to the basket” skills
Both will help of course, but handles will get you there quicker...and you don't necessarily have
to be really muscular to play good ball, but hey you should still work out, it helps your game in a
lot of ways.
Main things about driving to the basket are: explosiveness, good dribbling moves to get by your
man, knowing WHEN to drive so you don't get swatted by some centers waiting under the rim,
and a good touch around the rim with a variety of different shots you can use(runner, reverse
layup, tossing it really high off the backboard, using english, etc.).
KEY POINTS
 Explosiveness off the dribble.,
 good dribbling moves
 Angle of a high toss & using good English
 A good finish
How to attack basketball man-to-man pressure defenses
In a basketball man-to-man defense, the opponents play between the ball and the player they are
guarding. Using this tactic, they attempt to force reverses and longer passes, trying to intercept
the ball. Modern defensive maneuvers require planning and innovation. Most coaches believe
this type of pressure requires an aggressive offensive tactic of quick penetration
SCORE POINTS BY “beating your man”
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Read the defense
Move without the ball
Cut using change of speed
Measuring your man
Use the screen
Know where your teammates are
Never stand still-for more than 2 seconds
KEY SITUATIONS: “How to the Basket”
 First you need to analyze the situation.(Who's guarding you?
Are they tall or short, slow or fast, fat or skinny, and many other
critical factors.
 Then find an opening or space in which you can penetrate,
again there are many factors that come into play, is the hole on
your strong or weak hand, is there a strong weak side defender,
and many more.
 After you have decided your point of attack you must pick a
move in order to beat the man guarding you. You can do the
crossover, spin,bull-rush, stop and go, pump fake and many
more.(these are just the most basic and/or the most successful ones.
 On the crossover you dribble one way fake that way and cross
over very quick to the opposite hand, your opponent should be
a step to a half step behind you and that is all you need to beat
him.
 The spin is when you dribble one way and spin, so that you
trap the defender behind your body, now you should have that
1 half to a whole step advantage that you need,
 The floater is a relatively low percentage shot if you don't
practice it, but on the other hand it is near impossible to
block(even if you are playing someone much taller than you
are) You will dribble past your man and get 5-10 feet away
from the basket and will go up on one foot while your other
foot is out and aim to lay the ball right in the basket without
aiming for the square.
 The bull rush is when there is either a very large space to
penetrate of a very weak defender is guarding you. you pick
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one side and just go full speed and try to beat your defender(this
USUALLY does not work if your defender is stronger, faster or a
lot taller than you are.
The stop and go is when you pick one side and dribble as fast
as you can to that side and suddenly stop. Your defender should
be off balance and you can pick the right shot in order to score.
The pump fake is when you fake the shot and you want the
defender to jump and then you attack while he is in the air,he
cannot change direction while in midair, (this only USUALLY
works if you have all ready established yourself as a high
percentage shooter.)
Once you have beaten your man if there is no weak side
defender than you should go straight up for the layup, but if a
weak side defender pick you up there again is a lot of options
that you can take to beat him.
One of the popular ones is the hop step. you simply pick up the
ball and take a hop. It makes it so that all your momentum is going
forward and like I said earlier in the article you cannot change
direction while in midair so you can only go forward unless some
one physically touches you and if he does it should be a foul. Then
when you land go up again and you should have beat the weak side
defender or he should have fouled you, if he has and you are
unable to take the shot just throw it up and it will seem like you
have been failed and the ref will call it and you could make it too.
You can also try to spin again all though this isn't quite as
effective but if you are one of the bigger men on the court this
will work nicely. after you spin you can go up for the shot again.
You can try the reverse lay up in which you go all the way
around the basket and do the layup on the other side. It will
work if the defender jumped before you reached the other side.
Finally you can mix and match these moves in any way you
want to create an almost infinite amount of ways to drive in.
just remember these are just the basic or most successful moves
and there are still many more out there.
WARNING: Be careful not to trip! Stay on your feet!