Basketball drill: triple threat read defense

Requirements:

• players must have the courage to shoot defensively
• master open step and crossover step
• and master a feint followed by a dribble + shot or drive

Objective:
to decide which action to take as a forward in a 1v1 situation

Organisation:

• defender passes the ball with a bounce pass to the attacker
• and starts defending
• Attacker stands within shooting distance

Teaching points:

• foot, knee and shoulder in one line
• Hands ready to shoot
• Knees in an angle of 60 degrees (shot fake) to 90 degrees (drive fake)
• Shot fake: ball not higher than the nose + bend the knees a bit
• Drive fake: short, quick step + forward movement with the shoulders
• Open step: first step is short
• Bringing the ball to the other side with sweep/rip: bring the ball below knee height

Decide:

• defender has his hands low and/or more than an arm's length away: shoot (quick draw)
• Defender has his hand on the ball: driven directly (preferably over the front foot / along the back of the defender)
• make one fake at the most. Read the defender's reaction during your fake.
• If the defender does not react, continue the move (fake shot becomes shot, fake drive becomes drive).
• if the defender reacts, take the other option, i.e.: fake shot becomes drive; fake drive becomes shot; open step becomes rip + crossover step; crossover step becomes rip + open step
• do NOT introduce an element of competition here, to prevent defenders from making hard mistakes to avoid losing

Variations:

• instruct the defender to only defend the drive hard and leave space for the shot
• defend crossover and shot, but leave open step
• defend the shot to the full