Bobby Knight has a great quote, “The most underutilized weapon in basketball is the shot fake.”
In so many ways, basketball is a game of deception. Good players are very deceptive and understand that to “sell” a fake, it has to look like the real thing.
Shot fakes need to look like …. shots!
Pass fakes need to look like … passes!
Fake spins need to look like … spins!
Good players understand this but great players take deception to the next level of instantly reading and reacting to the defense. They don’t pre-determine what they are going to do (e.g “on my next touch, I am going to shot fake and drive to the basket”) .
Great players start to shoot with the full intention of shooting and If the defender overreacts, the shot motion instintively turns into a shot fake.
Great prlayers start to pass with the full intention of passing and if the defense overplays the pass, the passing motion instinctively turns into a pass fake.
This is why great players like Kobe and D-Rose seem so creative — because they themselves don’t know what they are going to do until they read what the defense gives them in that split-second instant and then make the necessary adjustments.
Fakes for great players are not predetermined, they are reactions … which is why their fakes look so real.
"Your time is never wasted if you are doing your best. If you lapse into complaining, as is so common in many pickup games, you are wasting your own time." Dick DeVenzio, Stuff
Wisdom From Coach Wooden
“It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” Coach Wooden
Bobby Knight has a great quote, “The most underutilized weapon in basketball is the shot fake.”
In so many ways, basketball is a game of deception. Good players are very deceptive and understand that to “sell” a fake, it has to look like the real thing.
Shot fakes need to look like …. shots!
Pass fakes need to look like … passes!
Fake spins need to look like … spins!
Good players understand this but great players take deception to the next level of instantly reading and reacting to the defense. They don’t pre-determine what they are going to do (e.g “on my next touch, I am going to shot fake and drive to the basket”) .
Great players start to shoot with the full intention of shooting and If the defender overreacts, the shot motion instintively turns into a shot fake.
Great prlayers start to pass with the full intention of passing and if the defense overplays the pass, the passing motion instinctively turns into a pass fake.
This is why great players like Kobe and D-Rose seem so creative — because they themselves don’t know what they are going to do until they read what the defense gives them in that split-second instant and then make the necessary adjustments.
Fakes for great players are not predetermined, they are reactions … which is why their fakes look so real.