Basketball's Most Underrated Skill - How To Move Without The Basketball

I put out a video a while ago about how to double your scoring average. If you guys haven't seen it, I'm gonna link it up above.

You should check it out.

But in that video, I talk about the importance of off ball movement and how, learning how to properly cut, when to cut, how to cut, the best times to do it. That can easily add points to your game overnight. And I want to get into a little bit more detail with that, too, and show you some prime examples of the importance of moving without the basketball. Today, we're going to break down Jeremy lin. Jeremy lin's rise to fame came with the new york knicks with lindsanity.

But he was able to carve out.

A very lengthy and successful NBA career even once he became a little bit of a journeyman towards the end of his career. Now, the reason that jeremy lin could succeed on any team that he went to is because of his ability to play without the basketball. A lot of guys need to be ball dominant to be effective on the court. Jeremy lin showed that he didn't need to have the ball in his hands all the time to still make an impact on the offensive side of the floor. And the skill of being able to score without having the ball in your hand is a skill that coaches love and that teams know is invaluable. Every team is going to have scorers, but not every team has guys who are great at moving without the basketball. But teams who do have guys who.

Can move without the ball in their hands and still get open to score.

Are usually the best teams. In this video, we're going to go through some of jeremy lin's game film, and we're going to take a look at the way he cuts, and you.

Guys are going to be able to.

Take what you learn here and use it in your own games to become better off the ball. I'm telling you, this is one of the most overlooked skills in the game of basketball. But the guys who are great at it open up the floor for themselves and and for everybody else.

If you can get great at moving.

Of the basketball, you're never going to struggle to score points. Let's get into it. So before we get into the specifics of moving without the basketball, we're going.

To talk about the mindset you need.

To have if you want to be great at scoring without the ball in your hands. And essentially what this is is that you're always on the lookout for opportunities for times to cut to the basket, and that's what jeremy lin is great at.

And that's why he's.

That's why he's so great at this. That's where it all starts from. His constant determination to look for opportunities to score. And you're going to see it right here. He understands. When is the pain open? When is my guy not paying attention? When do I have the opportunity to cut and get an easy layup? That's what he's looking to see. That's what he's constantly looking to find out. And you're going to see it again right here. So Kemba's got this ball coming down the court. You're going to see he's getting down into the corner. Now look right here. Jeremy Lin sees that the entire defense has shifted to focus on what Kemba's doing. You know, Pat Patterson really isn't even guarding anybody right now. He's kind of hanging in no man's land. And Jeremy Lin sees that there's this wide open lane to the basket right here. Now, even if you're a great shooter, you might have this three if it's a quick skip. But Terence Ross is playing up in the wing, really athletic defender. So you got to be aware of that. He might be able to close out in time. So if you cut to the basket right here, you're going to get a wide open layup. That's going to be the best look right here. So you're going to see Kemba sees this. Jermyn Lewis sees this cut to the basket. Easy layup. All starts with the ability to understand when you have the open lane, when you have the opportunity to cut, and always taking advantage of it. This is about court awareness, okay? And that's something you develop by playing and specifically by looking for it. So if you don't have this skill right now, it's a skill, meaning you can develop it if you practice it. So when you're playing, always be looking for opportunities to cut to the basket, and you're going to be rewarded with easy points. Just like you saw right here.

One of the best times to cut to the basket is doing what we call a weak side cut. All that means is that when you're on the weak side of the floor or the side of the floor that's opposite of the ball, a lot of times the defense is going to shift all their focus to that side with the ball, the strong side, and everyone's going to be turned facing them. And a lot of times that's going to leave you with the opportunity to cut to the basket. You're Going to see Jeremy lyncho this right here. So he's got the ball in his hands. This ball is going to go up to batum. Then we're going down to that right corner. So you see he's going to bump out right here and right here. So like I said, Jeremy Lynn's on the weak side and batum is on the strong side. And they're bringing brooklyn. Lopez brings a little bit of help right here. So again, another opportunity where it's a three on two on that weak side. Jeremy Lin sees this. He's got two defenders who are hanging on the outside of the paint right there. And now he sees he's a perfect opportunity to do a weak side cut. So this is another opportunity. This is another example. So this is another example of him having great court awareness, taking the opportunity, surveying the floor, knowing when to cut. And you see right here, he's rewarded with a pass for an easy open layup.

One of the best times to cut to the basket is when the ball gets entered into the post. And you're going to see it right here, right now. You're going to see if you enter the ball into the post and immediately cut what a lot of times you're going to get as an opportunity. So we'll see it right here. This ball is going to go down to Jeremy Lin in the corner. He's going to enter it in. Now look right here. He's immediately cut into the basket. His guy's flat footed right now. Not expecting that. And because there's no help right now, Kemba's guy is clearing through the paint with him. He's going to have an easy pass.

Right here, an easy finish.

So you see it again, easy opposite side finish. So we'll take a look at this again. It's all about knowing exactly where you want to get to. And again, knowing your opportunities and seeing them when they come. So Jeremy Lin sees that the paint's wide open as soon as he passes that ball. This is just a good habit to get into for a bunch of reasons. But even if you don't get the ball right here, you essentially leave your big to go one on one with their big. And if your biggest good in the post, then clearing out and giving him space is going to be a good thing to do. But regardless, a lot of times you're going to be able to get this pass right here because your guy is going to be trying to keep up with you.

So we're going to take a look at this again when that ball Gets entered into the post, knowing to cut to the basket. So this time we're going to look at it from a different angle. And this is an angle you're going to see yourself in a lot if you play on a team where you have a post and you try and get the ball into the post. Now, a lot of teams will coach this regardless. A lot of teams that I played on, coached on are going to teach when the ball gets entered into the post, somebody on the opposite side is going to be cut into the basket. Now with the Hornets, they love to get the ball to Al Jefferson and clear out form. So you're going to see it again right here. This ball is going to go to Batum. Gonna go back up to Jeremy Lynn. He's gonna go right to the post. Now you see Jeremy Lamb, he's gonna clear through to the opposite side to give Al Jefferson a one on one in the paint. So you're gonna see that. Oh, Jeremy Lynn's guy right here, Larkin, he's going down to double it. And I don't really understand this defense because you're kind of giving Jeremy Lynn again. Jeremy's a smart player, so he's going to recognize this. Some guys might not. His guy's going to go to double the post. Jerry Lynn's immediately cut into the basket and he's got a wide open layup now because he recognizes if my guy goes to double, where's the opening? Well, now all of a sudden, the lane is wide open. No one's on me. I'm cutting to the basket. Easy layup, easy finish. This is something you guys gotta look for. You gotta look. When that ball gets entered into the post, cut to the basket. But be patient, though. If your guy goes to double, then you automatically know I'm cutting the basket. So let's take a look at a similar situation. This ball is gonna go to Jeremy Lin out in the wing. He's gonna go back to Al Jefferson into the post, and he's going to do that same thing, cutting across every single time. That's what the Hornets do. That's what a lot of teams are going to do. So he's going to go here to the wing. He's going to go into Al Jefferson. Now he's going to make this cut. Now a lot of guys right here like, okay, I've done my job. I'm not open. I'm just going to clear out to the opposite side. Let my guy go to work. Jeremy Lin understands, though, a lot of times teams are going to double their post, Al jefferson. So jeremy lin is going to slow down a little bit and kind of hang out to wait to see what jason terry is going to do. Jason terry decided that he is going to go double. That means jeremy lin has has a layup wide open. If he just is a little bit patient and waits for this ball. So he's here. Now terry goes double. Jeremy lynn is right there waiting for the ball, layup finish. So I talked about the importance of being smart, and that's just a smart play right there. Understanding what the defense is trying to do and knowing that you got to see how your guy plays. If your guy is going to leave to go double, you're cutting to the basket and you're going to have an opening. So in basketball, it's about being less robotic. You don't want to just go through the motions every single play. You want to have court awareness again, which is what jeremy lin has developed, which has made him into a guy who can sustain a decade long NBA career. So let's talk about one of the most important cuts in the game of basketball. That's the backdoor cut. Now, this is typically going to be used in two different situations. One is going to be when your defender has turned his back to you and is looking at the ball. That's the first one we're going to look at right here. So hornets have the ball coming down. Jeremy lamb's got this driving out to the baseline, Is going to bring it right back out. Now this ball is going to go up top. Look at this right now. Jeremy lin is right there on the wing. Derrick rose is guarding him. Derrick rose is completely ball watching right now. So if jeremy lin takes a couple steps lower, Derrick rose won't be able to see him at all. And that's how you know that it's a great opportunity to back to a cut. Jimmy butler's in the side with batum, but he's going to move out a little bit as that ball rotates. Now, jeremy lin recognizes that derrick rose is looking at him, and he immediately cuts. So what's important to recognize in this situation is that we saw the ball rotate from the left side of the court to the right side of the court. And jeremy lin knows that the best time to cut is when the defense is still rotating and scrambling, adjusting to the ball moving. So this ball was on the left side. Derrick rose has been helped. Ball got swung back over to the opposite side. Then he had to jump into, into deny into the passing lane. And because of that jimin recognizes that if he goes right away, he's gonna catch him off guard. If jeremy lin would have waited two or three more seconds, Derrick rose probably would have recovered. And jokin noah probably would have been far enough over and help to at least stop the layup. But because he recognized derrick rose is looking at me, I need to back door right now. He gets the ball right here and gets an easy layup uncontested. That's what it's all about. So a key takeaway from this is recognize when the defense isn't looking at you. And understand that the best time to cut is going to be when the ball rotates. So if you're on the weak side and the ball rotates over to your side, look to backdoor cut, Then a lot of times you're going to be open because the defense is rotating and guys are going to miss assignments and all that type of stuff. Great way to get easy points. Let's take a look at the same situation again. So what's going to happen here? This ball is going to get entered into the post, and they're going to roll a little action off of this. Kembler's going to go through this ball's going to come tuba tomb up on the top, and it's going to come back to this side. Now, again, jeremy lin is looking at his defender. His defender sees that batum is close to turn the corner on mirotic right here and getting downhill. So he's going to step in to help. But the key thing is, again, he's not looking at jeremy lin. And jeremy lin's going to recognize this.

And make that same cut to the.

Basket he made last time. Oh, his defender goes. And by the time that jeremy lin starts moving and aaron brooks starts to recover back to him, it's too late because jeremy lin's got his head start. He's going downhill. Batuma made this pass to him again, Easy layup. And one other thing I want to talk to you guys about Is that jeremy lin is an incredibly skilled finisher. And that's something you got to have if you want to be great without the ball in your hands, Is when you get the ball around the rim, you, got to be able to finish it. So what are you doing to become skilled at finishing? And I'm going to link a workout up above. You can check that out if you need some work on your finishing. But that's a little side note. Also important that goes along with jeremy lin's game. So I mentioned before that There are two main times you're going to look to do a back to overcut. And we talked about the first time where your defender isn't watching you. He turns his back to you, and then you have the opportunity, opportunity to backdoor cut. But the other time when you want to do it is when the defender is too high up in the passing lane. So think about this situation. Have you ever been trying to get open on the wing, and no matter how high up you get, your defender always seems to stay in the passing lane, and there's no lane for your teammate to get you that pass. In that situation, you have to backdoor cut, because what that's going to do is a lot of times it's going to give you a wide open lane to the basket. Your defender is playing too high up, you quickly backdoor cut him. Now all of a sudden, you're going to go downhill and get a layup. But also it's going to make that defender play more honestly with you. So next time, he's not going to be able to jump out as high. You're going to get the ball in the wing. You're going to see the situation coming right here. So this ball is up top, going to get answered to the post, and you're going to see right here that Austin rivers jumps up into that passing lane. A little bit too high up gives jeremy lin an easy backdoor cut opportunity. So what jeremy lin does a great job of here is using his defender's momentum against him. As soon as Austin rivers jumps into that lane, Jeremy lin is immediately going backdoor. So again, by the time that Austin rivers recovers, it's too late, and jeremy lin's easily catching this ball and getting a layup. So knowing when to backdoor cut is an extremely valuable skill to have. And I wish that we would talk about this a little bit more because we always want to focus on shooting, ball handling, and all those drills, which are very important. But being able to play good team basketball is just as important. And so what you need to do is think about situations where you have these opportunities. Think to yourself, what are times in games where I've seen my defender turn his back to me, or my defender's been playing really high up in the passing lane? I've had opportunities. What are times when I've been able to pass the ball into the post, but I haven't cut? I've stood still. One thing Jeremy lin is great at is he's never standing still. If that ball gets moved, he's Cutting. When he passes the ball to his teammate, he's cutting. He's not just going to pass and stand. The worst teams are the ones that don't have movement. Guys pass the ball and they just stand there waiting for something to happen. You got to make things happen by being active, off the ball and moving. So backdoor cuts, weak side cuts, cutting when the ball is entered in the post. Those are three things that you can do that if you start doing them well and you start doing them often, you're going to reap the benefits of them and you're going to score a lot more points. Hopefully. This video really illustrated for you the importance of cutting without the basketball and why it can be so effective. What I want you guys to do going forward is take these two keys that are going to help you to become better moving without the basketball. Number one is always be surveying the court and always be aware of what's going on. This is something that you're going to develop as you focus on it more. But kind of developing your basketball instincts is what this is all about. So recognize when the best opportunities to cut are and always be surveying, looking for them. Number two, when you pass the ball, you want to cut. The worst thing you can do in basketball is pass the ball and stand around. And unless you're running a set play that your coach is called where you need to stand. If you're going to pass the ball, cut to the basket. Because the more times you do that, the more likely you're going to get open, you're going to be able to get an easy layup. If you want to score more points than giving basketball and you want to become a player who is going to get consistent playing time, consistent points on offense, you have to be able to play without the basketball in your hands. There's only one basketball and there's five guys on your team, okay? So if you're the one guy who doesn't need to have the ball to always score, then you're going to become an extremely valuable piece to a winning team. At the end of the day, that's the important thing. If you just like this video, I want you to join my private basketball training group, which is linked below, and it's completely free, giving you guys free workouts, personal coaching, a bunch of stuff. So link in the description below, go ahead and join it. I'll see you guys in there and make sure you guys like and subscribe and hit this little black button you see on the screen for me. I really appreciate it, guys. And drop a comment for me too. Let me know what you want to see next. That's it, guys.

Peace.