An off-hand comment

[billsin01]

Watching Christmas and Coleman repeatedly go -- with relatively minimal success -- to their right hand when attempting to finish on the left side of the basket is honestly infuriating. I can't really fathom how this is possible -- Christmas is in his second year and is literally an elite level athlete ... but he can't make a left-handed layup? Seriously? Cal was dying to get Coleman at UK and he's a legit 6-10 or whatever and he can't extend his left hand and bank it off the glass?

I sound like a much older codger than I really am, but the inability of talented big men and swing men to finish with their off-hand is amazing to me. KJ, Fab, Jackson, Fair, Xmas, Coleman ... the list is endless. A guy like Onuaku is a rare breed these days and all he did was basically make lefty laups with the occasional baby hook. Compared to the aforementioned folks, he might as well have been george mikan.

 

[OttoMets]

Same - this kills me. Very few of our guys can finish with the off-hand, and it costs us a ton of points.

How can a player make his middle school team without this ability? It's astonishing.

 

[shermstheman]

It's funny to see the contortions players make to use their dominant hand. It's not just the Cuse, this trend has gone on since I was was young, back in the days of Atila and Nero.

 

[Briggsky]

It's funny to see the contortions players make to use their dominant hand. It's not just the Cuse, this trend has gone on since I was was young, back in the days of Atila and Nero.

Nero did have a good left hand.

 

[RF2044]

Doesn't anyone practice the Mikan drill anymore? Seriously...

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Same - this kills me. Very few of our guys can finish with the off-hand, and it costs us a ton of points.

How can a player make his middle school team without this ability? It's astonishing.

When you are 6' 5" in middle school, you're making the squad. Just sayin.

 

[OttoMets]

When you are 6' 5" in middle school, you're making the squad. Just sayin.

This is true

 

[Gabjon]

Its not that easy! It's one thing to make it in drills its another with a big defending you. Being able to adjust your shot against a contest with your opposite hand is harder than people think.

 

[TexanMark]

Its not that easy! It's one thing to make it in drills its another with a big defending you. Being able to adjust your shot against a contest with your opposite hand is harder than people think.

But...if you want to make the NBA and not the D league...this is the little things you do in your free time.

 

[Gabjon]

But...if you want to make the NBA and not the D league...this is the little things you do in your free time.

Agreed but he is a true freshmen! I would like him to learn how to finish with his right hand first.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Same - this kills me. Very few of our guys can finish with the off-hand, and it costs us a ton of points.

How can a player make his middle school team without this ability? It's astonishing.

I thought the middle school coaches would select kids with solid fundamentals too. Nope. They picked height, girth and athletes. My son was one of the most fundamentally sound basketball players for his age at the tryouts. He can use both hands driving and finishing. That didn't seem to matter. Kids are allowed to coast through on height and athleticism. You would think that sooner or later it would catch up with them.

It hurt him to get cut, but I told my son that all his hard work will pay off when he gets to HS. Nothing like a little extra motivation.

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

Same - this kills me. Very few of our guys can finish with the off-hand, and it costs us a ton of points.

How can a player make his middle school team without this ability? It's astonishing.

They all want to be like Dwight Howard.

 

[SBU72]

This is true

Especially when the next tallest player is 6 foot!

 

[samspann]

Its not that easy! It's one thing to make it in drills its another with a big defending you. Being able to adjust your shot against a contest with your opposite hand is harder than people think.

Disagree. It's really not hard at all, provided you actually work on it with purpose. There is no excuse for Christmas to not be able to make a lefty layup vs smaller opponents like CCSU. No excuse.

 

[reedny]

Same - this kills me. Very few of our guys can finish with the off-hand, and it costs us a ton of points.

How can a player make his middle school team without this ability? It's astonishing.

CJ does have a rightie layup.

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

CJ does have a rightie layup.

And it helps to make him our most effective inside scorer. You are correct - the defense has to respect his ability to go right, and it makes his left hand all the better.

 

[reedny]

And it helps to make him our most effective inside scorer. You are correct - the defense has to respect his ability to go right, and it makes his left hand all the better.

He still makes offensive moves to shoot it leftie -- on the right side he drives to the middle, and from the left side he drives to the center and then rotates back to shoot with his left. But at least he can make a rightie layup if he has to.

 

[Gabjon]

Disagree. It's really not hard at all, provided you actually work on it with purpose. There is no excuse for Christmas to not be able to make a lefty layup vs smaller opponents like CCSU. No excuse.

If it was easy everybody would and could do it! Its easy in drills its very hard at game speed with someone trying to stop you. The problem is it is easy to lose control of the ball when the defense forces you to adjust your shot in mid release. People who are naturally ambidextrous can do this easily, but most people are not ambidextrous.

 

[Gabjon]

CJ's issue going right is with his feet. He is so left leg dominate that is body is in the wrong position to finish right. He needs to set his feet like a right handed person and react to the left. As a natural lefty he will always be able to go left (feet set or not) to go right he needs his feet set as a righty.

Driving layups with your weak hand and post moves with your weak hand are two very different things. The post moves are harder because usually you have to shot over or around someone and the defender is almost always pushing on you or effecting the shot in some way, which means you need to have very good control of the ball to make very quick adjustments in the air. Driving layup are more about beating your guy off the dibble and getting your feet set finishing through contact isn't as big of and issue plus you will get more fouls called on the drive vs the post.

 

[samspann]

If it was easy everybody would and could do it! Its easy in drills its very hard at game speed with someone trying to stop you. The problem is it is easy to lose control of the ball when the defense forces you to adjust your shot in mid release. People who are naturally ambidextrous can do this easily, but most people are not ambidextrous.

I'm not talking lefty hook shots, or things like that. In that case I would say you're right...some people just have more ability with their off hand. But I'm talking about a simple post up, one dribble drop-step, and left hand layup. There is no excuse for Xmas to not be able to do that.

 

[HarrisonJBounel]

I'm not talking lefty hook shots, or things like that. In that case I would say you're right...some people just have more ability with their off hand. But I'm talking about a simple post up, one dribble drop-step, and left hand layup. There is no excuse for Xmas to not be able to do that.

Agreed. Having ANY move to the off-hand makes the dominant hand much stronger. To me, the most savvy post player of all time was Kevin McHale. If I were a coach I would make viewing and practicing his moves for at least an hour a day a requirement for all my big men.

 

[Gabjon]

I'm not talking lefty hook shots, or things like that. In that case I would say you're right...some people just have more ability with their off hand. But I'm talking about a simple post up, one dribble drop-step, and left hand layup. There is no excuse for Xmas to not be able to do that.

He can do that! He normally dunks that ball

 

[Gabjon]

Agreed. Having ANY move to the off-hand makes the dominant hand much stronger. To me, the most savvy post player of all time was Kevin McHale. If I were a coach I would make viewing and practicing his moves for at least an hour a day a requirement for all my big men.

LOL! There is a reason he is considered one of the two greatest post players ever! Kevin McHale himself has been working with post players for 20 years and he can't get them to play like he did! Why can't everybody be a hall of famer?...because you can't teach a gift!

 

[OttoMets]

CJ does have a rightie layup.

He doesn't show it off much. He missed one right-hander from the left side in three consecutive games in the middle of the month. Off the top of my head, I can't remember a righty make from him.

Surprising, too - I expected him to come back with a strong right hand in anticipation of an increased offensive role.

 

[reedny]

He doesn't show it off much. He missed one right-hander from the left side in three consecutive games in the middle of the month. Off the top of my head, I can't remember a righty make from him.

Surprising, too - I expected him to come back with a strong right hand in anticipation of an increased offensive role.

I'm not saying it's a big part of his game, but I've seen him lay it in with the right hand a few times. But no doubt, he should practice his moves using both hands so he can bust out both hands during a game. It makes him that much more versatile and harder to defend.