Team USA Basketball Drills

I was watching some of the Team USA Select basketball practice, and came upon three different non-contact drills that I will implement to our practices this next school year.  

The first drill is where they are working on the habit pass.  The habit pass is when a ball-handler drives baseline, the guard on the backside needs to float to the corner to create a passing outlet for him.  Here they drive baseline, and the guard floats to the corner for the habit pass.  After the ball-handler makes the pass, he cuts to the three-point line and receives a pass from the coach for a catch and shoot opportunity.

You can remix the drill several ways by allowing both ball-handlers to catch and drive for a lay-up, pull-up, floater, or whatever finishing move you would like.

Below is a simple ball-screen drill that I saw.  One change I will make is that I will not have coaches setting the ball screen, but have other players setting the screen.

Finally, here is a post up drill that we will do when we do our grd/forward break-downs.  It's a good way to get a lot of shots up on certain moves.  You can dictate which move you want them to perform each time.  It could also be used for guards if you have them flash to the three point line.

Kyrie Irving's First Step

Kyrie is one of the best 1 on 1 players in the NBA, as shown by the recent championship run of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The couple of things that I noticed about his game out of the triple threat, was how effective his first step is and how he attacks the defenders body, initiating contact.  While other players' first step was often to the side, Kyrie's first step was always toward the basket.  

His second dribble was into the defenders body, and each subsequent dribble was trying to get in front of the defender and cut him off.  He even uses his off hand to shield off the defender, allowing him to beat him to the basket.

If the defender beat him to the spot, he has several counters which makes him even tougher to guard.  I tell my players all the time how important it is to have good counter moves, including the behind the back dribble and the spin move.