Good players beg for the ball, not so much with their mouths (though they do sometimes shout) as with their body movements and facial expressions. Good players want the ball, and that want is obvious to whoever has it.
The average fan would likely say that all players want the ball, and they do, but not like good players want it. Good players want it in a way that puts them always close by, always “popping out,” always looking at the guy with the ball with a sort of desperation, as though two points would be automatically marked on the scoreboard just by completing the pass.
This whole desperate begging business would really seem like some sort of nuisance except that mediocre players don’t—can’t—do it, too. You have to be a good player to know how to beg with your body and your eyes and the muscles in your face. Good players don’t have to say a word, but everyone knows a beggar when he sees one.
Do you beg for the ball? Or are you usually out on the periphery, hoping the ball comes to you? There is a huge difference between begging and hoping.
From Dick’s book Stuff
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