Basketball Daily World

Tobin Anderson explains what the receiver of the pass needs to do to put yourself in the position to be passed to and then to catch the pass.

Credit: Five-Star Basketball

Often, I say that passing is more difficult than shooting. When passing, you are trying to hit a moving target, you don’t solely depend on yourself but on the receiver of the pass, there is no goal tending when pass is intercepted, there are more decisions to be made in short time than when you decide to shoot, anticipation of the receiver movement is critical which is not the case when shooting the ball. I could go on and on. There are fewer good passers in NBA, and any other league, than shooters.

Yet, good passing is critical for success of a basketball team. Good passers make it easier for everybody else to score, and when scoring is spread out defense is in trouble.

The paradox is that I’ve never met a young player who is willing to work on his passing. As soon as kids are beyond 4th grade they start thinking that passing is too easy. The adopt the “everybody can pass, I wanna shoot” mentality. Then, you go see games and more than half of them are lost on bad passing and thus caused turnovers.

Tobin Anderson explains the mechanics of good passing

Credit: Five-Star Basketball

Here’s one of the best European players of all time. A born winner. Why am I putting him here? Because of his basketball intelligence. Watch his moves inside, that extra step, or quick dribbles with right and left to change direction… his passing.

If anybody doubted whether he could have played in the NBA, search for the videos of Yugoslavia vs. USA in the World Championship in Indianapolis from several years ago. Bodiroga dominated that championship; not with dunks, but with intelligence, efficiency…

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This video teaches you something very straight forward: how to make a pass. Well, things are not all that simple when you are pressed and there are 30 seconds to go. You have to get the ball to your team mate, otherwise the team cannot execute the play.

Watch, and try in practice. Have two guys to work with you, one to press the ball, the other to be the target of the pass.

Credit: http://www.five-starbasketball.com

Making an overhead, 2-handed pass is an essential tool to playing offense. There will be lots of times when you need to make a long pass to a teammate who is across or up the floor from you.

Have a teammate stand 20 to 25 feet away from you. Put the ball above your head, and hold it with both hands. As you step forward with one foot, move the ball back slightly so it’s above your head and slightly back (so it’s not directly above your head, but just above and behind it). As your foot hits the ground, extend your arms out so you make a good, strong pass, and your arms end up full extended, out in front of your head.

Practice throwing these pass over farily long distances, because that is the typical situation in which these passes will be thrown in game situations. As you practice passing to your teammates, keep moving back so you have to throw the pass over longer and longer distances.

Credit: http://www.bestbasketballdrills.com

Quickness
The ball must be passed quickly (before the defender has time to react).  The pass should be snappy and crisp, but not too hard or too easy.  A quick step is usually made in the direction of the pass, providing more force in the pass.  When a quick pass is thrown, a “ping” sound is heard.  When thrown too hard, the pass slaps loudly as it is caught; when thrown too soft, no sound is heard.

Target
Each pass must be thrown accurately to a specific target.  A raised hand or shoulder away from the defender is commonly used as the target.

Timing
The ball must be delivered when the receiver is open and not before or after.

Trickery
The passer must use deception to confuse the defender, who is reading the passer (especially they eyes) and anticipating the pass.

Passers should visually locate all teammates on the court as well as defenders, concentraing on the potential reciever without staring.  This can best be done by surveying the whole floor area with the ball in the triple-threat position.  When the receiver catches a pass, he/she should always be prepared to shoot when open and within range; if not, they should look to pass before dribbling.