A YouTube coaching/analysis video explaining how Steph Curry’s elite off-ball movement creates open shooting opportunities. It highlights techniques Curry uses—setting off-ball screens, backdoor cuts, relocating after passes, and unselfish play—and gives practical advice for players to emulate these behaviors to become more effective off the ball.
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Steph Curry is the best shooter of all time and even after coming off an injury riddled season has turned his play up another notch. Everyone loves to focus on the crazy off the dribble threes that he takes and some of the absolute ridiculous things he does with the ball in his hands, and rightfully so. But a big part of what makes Steph Curry the best shooter of all time is his elite off ball movement. And there's a lot of things you can take and apply into your game that's going to create more open opportunities for you and overall make you a better shooter and a more valuable player. It's important to remember that on most teams the results there's only one or two players who are going to be very ball dominant and the rest of the players are going to be off ball guys. So the better you are at playing without a ball in your hands, the more opportunities you're going to have and the better you're going to be. Let's get into it. Teams obviously formulate their entire game plan to stop Steph Curry, so he understands that any way he can offload attention onto his teammates is going to make it way easier for him to get looks as well. The number one way he does this is by setting off ball screens. When he goes to set a pin down or a back screen for one of his teammates, his defender now has to worry about that screen action that's taking place. Sometimes those two defenders may be so worried about Steph that that actually creates an open shot or an open layup for his teammate. But a lot of the time the thing that it really does is create confusion for both of those defenders, which allows step to quickly pop or receive another down screen and get an open 3. Warriors run a ton of actions that have step setting off ball screens because they understand the fact that it's the best way to get defensive attention off of him and create open looks for him. This is why as a shooter you need to take a lot of pride in setting good screens and getting your teammates open. Because if you're good at setting off ball screens, chances are you're going to also be able to create a lot of opportunities off of a pop that's going to get you open, catch and shoot threes or closeouts to attack as well. There are even some times the warriors will have Steph Curry start off setting a ball screen for his teammates and then get the ball back into his hands and you'll find that a lot of the best shooters in the NBA also understand this concept of diverting attention away from themselves. One of the marks of an inexperienced, immature player is that they feel that they always have to have the ball in their hands so they never work off the ball to potentially get their teammates open. So part of being a great shooter is understanding that working for your teammates by setting screens is actually working for yourself because of the pressure it's going to put on your defender and the chances of great looks that are going to be created by you setting off ball screens. The other aspect of Steph Curry off the ball is that he doesn't always try and force getting a three point look. He's always looking to backdoor cut when his teammates go to set pin downs for him because defenders overplay to take away that three so much. And his willingness to keep his defenders honest by going back door, making the right read and getting a layup instead of a three is what opens up the opportunity for him to be able to next time pop and get that three. The word you can use to describe Steph Curry's game is unselfish. He never stands around and watches the basketball. He's always working off the ball, working for his teammates and that's why he's able to thrive despite the defensive attention he gets. Steph understands the mentality and the approach behind defenders and uses that to his advantage. Defenders are so on edge when Steph Curry has the ball that as soon as he passes it they immediately think job done, whether consciously or subconsciously. But for Steph, when the ball leaves his hands is usually when the job is just getting started. Steph is phenomenal at relocating, at finding open space, and many times his defender gets so caught up with what happens with where the ball goes that he loses track of Steph. And Steph can get an open shot from behind the three point line. This is such a feel thing in terms of where exactly Steph goes to. Typically he's just looking for open space or where he would typically flow out to. But the biggest thing is that he immediately relocates upon passing the ball so he has that extra second on his defender before they realize what's happening. And typically he's able to get open and his shot is so quick that he's definitely going to get it off and it's likely going in. Make sure you guys click the top link in my description below to get my free Elite Perimeter Scorer workout. If you guys enjoyed this video, make sure you drop a Like and subscribe. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Top Comment Talk to you guys soon peace.
