2 Tips for Driving to the Dasket
Lately i’ve really focused on watching good players and try to learn what separates them from others. Dwayne Wade has boundless energy and plays the game very hard. He’s worked incredibly on his jump shot and being a threat and is a better athlete now than he was in college. He’s really developed. What makes Wade so good, besides the fact he’s allowed to travel, is his ability to get to the basket at will. When he wants to drive in you are either going to foul him or he will score or he’ll score while you foul him. I’ve also studied Carmelo lately and watched him closely and he’s the same way except he’s a better shooter than Wade but not as good an all around player. This is part because Carmelo plays on a better team than Wade and doesn’t have to do as much but Wade plays the game harder in all areas. One thing Carmelo does well is go strong to the basket but he does a couple things better than most players in the NBA.
1. Shooting position is always maintained. Carmelo does a great job of creating space for himself despite being a very good shooter. He really gets the ball and threatens drive so well that it opens up space for himself. Tip 1 is to be able to shoot the ball. Rajon Rondo can drive to the basket but teams give him the 15 footer all day long so they back off and back off and challenge him. Carmelo can shoot yet he is still able to create space for himself because he can shoot or drive.
2. When going to the hoop take the shortest distance possible. What is the shortest distance between two points? A straight line. We all learned that at a young age. When Carmelo gets past his defender he goes right to the rim and doesn’t get knocked off his path. Here’s a scenario: Teams teach defense to beat the offense to the spot. Defenses do that by trying to keep the offensive player away from making a straight line to the hoop so they bump or chest the offensive player in an attempt to slow him down. If the offense goes in a straight line they will get a foul or a layup. Carmelo does this better than anyone in the game in that when he gets a step on a man he will be in such a straight line that the defense can’t beat him to a spot because there is literally no angle to get there.
It’s the little things sometimes that separate the best players from the good players and Wade and Carmelo are two of the better offensive players in the world. We can learn a lot by watching them.
