How To DOMINATE As An Undersized Guard (Jalen Brunson FULL Breakdown)

Jalen Brunson has had a huge emergence this year at the legitimate NBA star, and he's helped transform the Knicks into a legitimate contender in the East. What makes this emergence even more impressive is the fact that Jalen Brunson doesn't necessarily have the physical attributes that you would expect from somebody putting up these sorts of numbers. At only 6 foot 2, he's definitely undersized for a guard in the NBA. But despite that, there are certain qualities he does have that allow him to still thrive and be successful. Successful. And these are things that you can take and add to your game. Whether you're undersized or not. They'll help you to be a much more effective player and score the ball and make plays for your teammates at a much higher level. Jalen Brunson is elite at changing his pace, but he does this in a couple different ways. Changing pace doesn't just mean changing how fast you're going. It also means changing the level that you're playing at. So sometimes you're playing nice and high and relaxed, and other times you're low and explosive. But he's very deliberate about when he's playing high and relaxed and. And when he's playing low and explosive, he's extremely deceptive when it comes to utilizing this change of pace. And again, he does this in a couple of different ways. A lot of times he'll come to a complete stop where he almost freezes himself, which then forces the defender to also freeze. And because the reaction is always going to be slower than the action, as soon as he makes another move, that defender is always going to be playing catch up. A lot of times he does this by using a hang dribble or a float dribble, which allows him to get the ball outside of his frame. And by letting the ball travel outside of his frame, he's able to get himself to almost a completely frozen position, which sets him up to be able to take advantage of a defender who's also frozen. Now, he also gets to this frozen position by utilizing different partial stops or shot fakes. This not only slows down the defender, but typically forces them to raise up to react to the threat of a shot happening, which again, gives you the advantage as that offensive player to attack them. He also loves being deceptive by getting to this push cross, where he might utilize a crossover or a hang dribble to get his defender relaxed and moving one way before he explodes the opposite way. He's also really good at changing up his pace in transition and only hitting that top gear when he needs to, when he's ready to get to the basket. Otherwise he's playing around at different speeds in between slow and fast. Now, going along with that is another quality that he's exceptional at that allows him to be so effective, and that's his ability to finish these tough in between shots like floaters, fadeaways and short jumpers. For guards in general, but especially for undersized guards, it's crucial that you have the ability to play in this in between area, meaning that you're able to hit these floaters or these short jump shots, because once you get to a certain level, you just won't be able to get all the way to the rim all the time. And because Jalen Brunson can hit these in between shots at an elite level, it makes him so much harder to guard because he can stop at any given time and put the ball in the basket. And the quality he has that really allows him to thrive in this area is his ability to not only play through contact, but to initiate it and use it to his advantage as well. For an NBA guard, Jalen Brunson may be undersized from a height perspective, but when it comes to strength, he definitely doesn't lack in this category. When he initiates contact, he's taking away the space between him and his defender, which then allows him to decide when and how he wants to recreate that space, which makes it significantly harder for a defender to use that length or size advantage to contest or block a shot. And this highlights a big point I want to make across the board in basketball, but especially as an undersized guard. This is why it's so important to become as strong as possible to hit the weight room so that you're able to not only play through contact, but use it to your advantage, with which becomes increasingly important when you're undersized. Let me know your guys thoughts in the comments down below and drop a like and subscribe. If you're new, make sure you also click the top link in my description below to get my free Elite Perimeter score workout. I'll talk to you guys soon. Peace.