Looking quick, like a guy with lightning speed, is often more a mat- ter of using the defender’s quickness against him rather than having lightning-quick feet of your own.

You can have great quickness, but if your habit is to fake out your man and, instead of taking advantage of him, fake again and let him recover, then even though you are quick, you don’t particularly look quick because you don’t get anything done. It is better to dribble downcourt and give your defender the impression that you are about to switch hands and direction. Then, when he thinks he is cleverly anticipating your move and darts out to get the steal, you fly on by him to the basket leaving him leaning the wrong way.

A lot of players use too many fakes, or they make their fakes from too far away from the defender. These fakes are not effective. You want to learn to move up near the man guarding you and to control the ball well enough that he can’t take it from you. If you can let a defender stay close to you without fear of losing the ball, every slight nod and lean of yours will force a quick reaction on his part that you can take advantage of, if you are ready.

Of course, it is not easy to learn to control a ball so well that a quick player cannot get to it, but if you practice, and if you are conscious of the fact that it is possible, you can use the man’s quickness against him. You can control the shifting of his weight and keep dictating the action so that you, not he, looks quick.

You will always look quicker than a man you maneuver into leaning the wrong way at just the moment you decide to go the other way. It is easier said than done, but there are good players who do it. So can you.

From Dick’s book Stuff