Being Aggressive on Offense is the Key

When I coach players in my private coaching sessions, I'm always amazed at how tentative they are on offense.

They catch the ball, turn and face the basket, are a little hesitant, and aren't sure if they should dribble, shoot, or pass the ball.

Forget that kind of attitude!

As an offensive player, you should be thinking one thing: be an offensive threat.

As an offensive player, there's no time to be tentative, or uncertain, or shy. To be a good offensive player, and to be a good teammate, you have to be a threat to score, and a threat in helping your teammates score. Period.

Being a threat means many things:

• Being able to score the basketball (puts pressure on your man to guard you)
• Being able to score in a variety of ways (puts even more pressure on your man to guard you and be honest)
• Being able to see the floor and make good passes to teammates
• Being able to run the offense effectively
• Setting good screens to help your teammates get open and score
• Crashing the offensive boards
  

Notice how being an offensive threat is much more than just being able to shoot the ball. As an offensive player, you're part of a team.

And as part of a team, you have to be able to run the offense effectively, make good passes, and help your teammates score as well (by making good screens, strong cuts to the basket, flashing to open spots on the floor, etc.).

Being a solid threat starts with the basic triple threat position. Once you catch the basketball, turn and face the basket in a good athletic stance. This is where your main job as an offensive threat begins. You've got to be able to keep your defender honest by being ready and able to score the ball (whether with a shot, or a drive to the basket).

In summary, being an offensive threat is much more than just having a good jump shot.

You have to be able to score (of course), but you also need to put pressure on the D in other ways: be a good passer, run the offense effectively, and above all, be confident and aggressive.

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