Steal the Show! by Alan
Lambert
President, The Basketball Highway
www.bbhighway.com
Introduction
I was recently asked by a coach to cover a topic which
is seldom written about in the literature, stealing the ball. I think
good coaches teach preparing yourself for the steal by being defensively
fundamentally sound. But having my interest peaked by his question I
thought it would be a good topic for my latest Playground Pointer. So
here goes and watch your wallet.
Stealing Doesn't Mean Gambling
The reason many coaches don't encourage you to steal
the ball is because the majority of players who have quickness either
end up in foul trouble or because of poor technique and decision making
end up getting beat a greater percentage of the time than they actually
pick the ball. This puts tremendous pressure on your defensive teammates
to cover up your exploration for the ball. I'm going to say this once
and only once, stealing doesn't mean gambling. Stealing the ball means
being in position to deflect the ball or intercept a pass by being in
the correct position at the correct time with balance and the ability
to recover your defensive position in the event you don't get the ball.
Anything else is a gamble. The games best defensive player, such as
Gary Payton, Mario Elie, Stacy Augman, and Eddie Jones, get their 2
or 3 picks a game, but they rarely get beat defensively. This trait
is to me what it takes to be a great thief of the ball!
Skills or Traits The Great Thief's Demonstrate Mental Alertness-
Steal increase when you are mentally alert and looking for windows of
opportunity. I would almost guarantee that you will have two or three
passes a game fall into your lap without over exerting yourself if you
just stay alert to the defensive end of the court on each possession.
Hey are you paying attention HERE!!! Responding to an event involves
both reaction time and movement time. If you not are alert, and processing
critical environmental information (your man is not a threat to score
so you can help more, the dribbler has their head down or turns their
back to you, or the passer has a weak left hand) you will be slow to
react. Some players are alert for periods of time but inconsistent.
Alertness I believe has a lot to due with your heart and desire to be
a good defensive player. Great offensive players are constantly looking
for shot or drive opportunities. Conversely, great defensive players
are always watching for doors of opportunity. Stay alert every possession.
Be In Proper Position - Proper defensive technique
and position give you more opportunities than just using your athletic
ability. Over the many years I have played and coached almost without
exception the best thieves in the game are fundamentally the most sound
defensive players. When you can close-out with confidence to a wing
cutter low the ground, lead arm extended, palm out, and with balance
(your head over your based of support- area between your two feet),
with vision on your player, the court, and the ball you will get more
picks. Confidence comes from hard work and practice on the defensive
end knowing how far you can push the defensive envelope without getting
beat when you pressure a passing lane.
Just as importantly having great slide footwork when pressuring the
ball and being able to transition between sprint and slide footwork
without losing your balance or getting beat on penetration dribble enables
you to focus on those brief moments when your attacking opponent exposes
the ball in an irrecoverable position. If you are out of position and
just sprinting to recover your position you won't be alert or prepared
to steal the ball when you opponent exposes it.
Proper position also means being a great help defender and constantly
adjusting your help position with all player and ball movement so that
you are nearly always one step off the line of the ball and one step
away from your defender for each pass they are away from the player
with the ball. If you turn your head on defense, you miss those brief
windows of opportunity just as easily as if you move and stand, move
and stand on defense.
A Hand in the Lane is Worth Two on the Bench- Simply
by keeping your hand constantly in the passing lane you will likely
get one or two steals a game. How many times have you found yourself
in the game, seeing the ball coming but extending your defensive lead
arm just a second late. Practice all your defensive drills with a hand
up in the passing lane. You build this skill into your defensive motor
program that over time and practice becomes automated so you don't even
have to think about it. When your feet move, your arm goes up and your
hand is in the passing lane. When you extend your arm, do so down in
your stance so you maintain your balance, and if you miss the ball,
you can recover your head over ball position on the attacker you are
guarding who has just received the ball. If you cannot do this consistently
you are exhibiting poor technique and lunging too much. The close-out,
arm-up position looks more like a fencer attacking then an outfielder
lunging to catch a ball.
Commit Thy Hands Not Thy Head!- Trying to control
your balance and quickly change directions is virtually impossible if
you can't control your head. If you learn to move your body (via footwork)
and flick with your hands instead of lunge you will be on your way to
thief-hood excellence. Unfortunately far too large a percentage of players
I watch play as if their heads were bowling balls attached to a 2 foot
rope. The head is the heaviest single part of the body accounting for
as much as 30% of our body weight. Once you have learned how to control
your head and body, then learn that when you reach your hands or arms
in full extension is normally causes your upper body to move. To avoid
this practice flicking your hand or arm in extension like a frog's tongue
zapping a fly, instead of a bull charging the red caped matador!
Deflect Up and Away- When you must reach flick up and out and
never down and in! This is one of the first rules I learned as a young
player but is almost ignored in today's teaching techniques. This requires
that you learn to rotate your forearm and hand outward which is awkward
then you first start. There are several reasons for this one of which
is you'll foul less. I probably haven't seen 10 foul calls in 30 plus
years of basketball where a defender flicked out away from a dribbler
or player and was called for a foul. But I have seen about 75% of all
inward flicks quickly whistled because it looks like a foul. If you
are a wood chopper as a defender consider changing your technique.
The other very positive aspect of flicking up and away is that the ball
is more difficult to control by an attacker when it is up in the air,
or moving away from them. When it's up in the air, they cannot quickly
regain control of it with a dribble but must stop and grab it in air
to regain possession. Simply put, they can't attack on a gamble where
the ball is up in the air. If you are a good defender and can anticipate
where you'll flick the ball, flicking away can also put you closer to
the ball than the attacker. Here is another reason for the up and out
technique. Remember that even the strongest players can have the ball
dislodged from two hands when the arms are fully extended. Try this
in your backyard. Have your best friend or teammate try to knock the
ball out of your hands with the ball tucked near your chin with your
elbows bend, ball close to the body. Pretty tough to accomplish. Then
fully extend your arms and see what happens, lost it huh? So why would
you flick inward to the attackers position of strength.
Finally keep in mind that it's more difficult to lose your balance when
you reach up and outward. A downward and inward reach invariably pulls
your shoulder toward the attacker pulling your upper body forward and
causing you to lose your balance in the direction opposite of the attackers
most advantageous direction if you reach and lose, going toward the
basket. You can't be moving two directions at the same time, and if
you miss the ball, you'll almost certainly get beat to the hole.
Reach When the Ball Begins It's Flight- Any ball passed
or dribbled must be in air a given amount of time so use time to your
advantage. If you think of the ball as a yo-yo, why if you wanted to
knock the yo-yo out of your friends hand would you reach at the very
last minute as it returns to their hand. The same principle is true
when you reach on a dribbler. Time is your friend as a thief if you
will let it assist you. Practice timing your reaches just as the dribbler
releases the ball without breaking your balance and see if you don't
improve your steals.
Practice Your Closing Line- How you close down to your player as the
ball moves through the passing lane will determine your success ratio
on steal opportunities. Two things commonly occur when you are playing
a passing lane away from your man and see an opportunity to steal a
pass. You either close way to far away, so that if you miss the steal
or deflection you have no chance to recover, or you close directly at
the receiving player and plow into them causing a foul. Think like a
defensive back in football. They close near the player and look to make
the hit just as they receive the pass or if balanced and in position,
step in front just at the last minute. Practicing closing down low and
on a passing lane just in front of the receiving player teaches you
good team and individual defensive technique and keep you in a position
to recover if you miss the ball. When you close down on a passing lane,
close like a cat and not like a dog- chasing a car down the street.
A cat moves in a sticky balanced bursts able to change direction quickly
and explosively. A dog lunges and skids. Be a cat!
Act!!!, When They Can't Attack! - When you've studied your opponent
learn to read their skill weaknesses and be opportunistic when they
cannot attack you when you reach. Does your player have a weak hand?
Can they speed dribble twice to the left before they must go right?
Do they use the same killer crossover move and can you anticipate not
the first fake and reach but where the ball will hit the floor or move
through the air off the second movement? Bate your attacker into quick
sand and throw the rope in with them. What I mean by that is almost
all players have skill patterns that are fairly predictable even with
great skills. Look for those patterns and use their strengths to deke
them into a momentary position where their skills or confidence level
discourages them from attacking the basket when you reach. Study your
opponents even as you sit on the bench or in warm-ups and watch for
those patterns. Does your player look at the ball before they shoot?
Do they turn their back in certain locations on the court? Keep asking
yourself these kinds of questions and be ready to act, when they can't
attack.
Closing To become a great thief, stay alert at all times, constantly
work to improve your defensive technique and be a student of the game
and play percentages. Anticipation is a great part of thievery but the
best ball hawks play position basketball which greatly improve their
steal ratio and opportunities. Now get to work and practice some of
today's pointers to see if you can't STEAL THE SHOW!
