Being Efficient off the Dribble

I see many players that waste a lot of energy by dribbling the basketball way too much. My college coach use to call it "spinning your wheels". I tell the players I train that they want to be efficient when attacking the rim. You don't want to take 3 dribbles when you only need 2. Don't take two when you only need one and don't dribble at all if you don't need to. Over dribbling or "spinning your wheels" can have a negative effect on your teams play. Let's take a look at three ways how this can hurt your team.

1. You look selfish: When you have the basketball and you are dribbling around not going anywhere, it looks like you are only trying to get a shot off. What you should do is look to attack and if you get cut off, retreat and look to reverse the ball. This will get the defense to rotating and create gaps to attack in.
2. Allows the defense to get to their help spots: The more you dribble the longer the defense has to get to their help spots. Once the defense is set in their help position it makes it even tougher to penetrate and get the ball in the lane. This also allows the defense to become more engaged and alert to what's going on.
3. Stops flow of offense and makes teammates stagnant: While you are dribbling the air out the ball you will have teammates standing around watching you put on a dribbling exhibition. This causes the offense to become stagnant and stops offensive movement by your teammates. Ball movement and player movement is key to finding gaps in the defense. As the defense rotates on ball reversal there will be opportunities to attack to make plays. At that time you have to be efficient with your dribble and get into the paint as quick as possible. This will then cause a chain reaction to your teammates relocating to open areas of the floor.

Below I have a video of Michael Jordan playing vs the New York Knicks. In this highlight you can see how efficient MJ is when he attacks the basket. He shoots a lot of 1 and 2 dribble pull ups and doesn't waste a lot of energy by over dribbling. He catches and attacks quickly to ge to his spots before the defense can adjust. 

If you have any comments or questions you can leave them below or send an email to coachtj@nbnbball.com.