Coaching Basketball's Lost Art of Passing

Passing is More Than the Simple Act of Throwing the

Ball
By Brian McCormick, CSCS

Takeaways

• Pass to a target, away from the defense.

• Good passes make great shooters.
• Passing angles are a key to great passers.

While pundits and experts complain about modern basketball, the diminishing skill level
and the heightened premium on athleticism, few blame the de-emphasis of passing.
However, the failure of guards and wings to feed the post properly contributes to a loss of
back to the basket play, an area Kareem Abdul Jabbar bemoans. A guard’s inability to
deliver a good pass to a shooter contributes to lower shooting percentages which keep
Tom Nordland awake at night. And, the inability to make the correct pass in transition
contributes to low scoring, despite significant transition opportunities. Collectively, these
deficiencies lead commentators like Charles Barkley to state that today’s game is
significantly inferior to that played ten years ago.

Of course passing is not the only deficient element; however, passing receives less and
less attention (especially since the retirement of Magic Johnson) and emphasis, despite its
prominent role in every facet of offense. Simple skills like passing and catching
overwhelm some teams, leading to countless unnecessary turnovers because players
cannot catch the ball on balance or pass to the correct side of the player’s body.

As a coach, I know passing is hard to coach. It is frustrating to spend valuable practice

time working on chest passes when there are so many other aspects requiring attention.
And, with youth players, maintaining attentiveness during passing drills is nearly
impossible. However, passing instruction is imperative, or every other phase of offense
suffers.

The lack of skill and knowledge player’s possess in the area of post entry passes and the
total inability of some players to pass the ball ahead off of the dribble is mind-boggling.
This problem is more than a lack of hand-eye coordination or motor skills; the players do
not understand, or have never been taught passing angles. They reacted, and many times,
their reaction was incorrect, leading to a turnover. Or, there previous lack of success
would prohibit the player from making a pass to the post when the post was wide open.

Passing is more than just the skill of throwing the ball from one person to the other.
Passing incorporates the timing of the pass, the receiving of the pass and the intelligence
of the pass. Just as any knucklehead can throw a football, only a select few are successful
passers in the NFL. In basketball, it is not difficult to throw the ball from one stationary,
non-defended person to the other, to play catch; however, passing is increasingly a lost
art in basketball, as players fail to understand all the nuances involved.

As a player, I remember astute coaches imploring my teams during shooting drills:

“Good passes make great shooters.” The Utah Jazz were one of the best shooting teams
because John Stockton delivered the ball on time and in the shooting pocket every time.
The Jazz never had a plethora of “pure” shooters, but they take open shots in rhythm, and
that allows them to shoot a higher percentage than some teams who possess better “pure”
shooters.

I admit I all but ignore passing drills as well. I do not warm-up with three-man weaves,
nor do I spend a great deal of time teaching the proper mechanics of a two-hand chest
pass. However, I do practice passing by making every shooting drill a passing drill as
well. In a shooting drill, I penalize the team/group, if I see bad or lazy passes. Because
every shooting drill reflects our offense passers must work as diligently as the shooters.
By incorporating passing into shooting drills, the non-shooters stay focused and see
where their teammates want the ball.

The following are a few passing fundamental.

1. Post entry passes: Incorporate passing drills into post drills. Players need to know to
pass the ball to the baseline side when the defender is playing on the topside and to pass
the ball on the topside if the defensive player is playing on the baseline side. Allow
players to take one quick dribble to improve a passing angle if necessary. Also, as Rick
Majerus says: “Air passes are preferable to bounce passes.” While many coaches teach
bounce passes in the post because it is easier to catch the softer pass, the likelihood for
error is higher and the defense has more time to react and steal a bounce pass. Also, post
players are taught to keep their hands and arms high, which makes catching a bounce
pass more difficult.

2. Outside hand passes: Many turnovers can be avoided if players develop the ability to
pass with either hand, thus enabling them to use the outside hand to pass the ball. Players
must possess the ability to turn the dribble directly into a pass. If a player brings the ball
through the middle of his body to make a two-handed pass or worse a pass with the inside
hand, the defense can defend the pass and the pass becomes slower, thus getting to a
shooter a second late, rather than perfectly in stride. The outside hand push pass is
preferable and is an important pass to teach.

These two basic fundamentals (post passes/angles and outside hand push passes) will
increase offensive efficiency and decrease turnovers if perfected by your team. They are
fairly easy to learn and teach and can easily be incorporated into shooting drills or post
work. Therefore, no extra work is required, just an attention to detail by the staff and
players. By eliminating any lazy practice habits and focusing on passing, teams can
improve passing and offensive efficiency.