Five Tool Player – Kobe Bryant

Five tools of a great basketball player:

1. Shoot - Off the dribble, the post, three point range.
2. Pass – Correct pass at the right time, give it to a teammate in a position where they can make a play.
3. Dribble – Handle the basketball, go left, go right, create the shot.
4. Defend – Guard multiple positions.
5. Intangibles – Know the time, read the situations, rise to the occasion, make the right play to win the game.

Steve Nash On the Art of Passing

Steve’s guidelines for different types of passes and what is important to become a great passer:

• Chest pass: Always be on balance and put a back spin on the ball.
• Bounce pass: Ball needs to go half way and a third of the way to the teammate.
• Alley oop: Right timing and throw it in the air so that it comes down soft.
• No-look pass: Behind the back pass just to create an angle. With behind the back pass you get the same efficiency as with chest pass without the need to spin around.
• In one-on-one situations you need to be a scoring threat – that opens up space to your teammates.
• The most important weapon is to be able to pass with the left hand and with the right hand.

Sweep Step Basketball Passing Drill

Ganon Baker, one of my favorite teachers of fundamental basketball drills, is showing how to sweep the ball with a step and pass the ball. While this may not be a drill appropriate for very young players, it is the best type of drill because it requires a player to do actions in sequence. Often, you can’t just pass, you have to either fake it first or sweep the ball as in this drill. Once mastered, this will help you reduce significantly the number of turnovers off passes.