4th place . . . in mens' basketball . . . at a world championship?

That might be a decent finish for France, or Brazil, or Serbia. But for the US? Come on.

When it comes to basketball, the USA subscribes to the Talladega Nights school of thought.

With the Olympics about to begin, the pressure is on the US to bring home the gold.

Beyond Size and Stars: The Real Issues in US Men's Basketball

Over the past couple decades, we've seen the world close the gap on US men's national teams. A number of reasons have been posited. A couple of the most common are:

• The best players aren't playing
• The team lacks size and rebounding

I recently came across a really thought-provoking YouTube video from Michael MacKelvie titled, "The World is Teaching America How To Play Basketball - Data Analysis".

In the video, he addresses those two theories. He goes into great detail to explain why those theories are off base. They may hold nuggets of truth but don't hold up under close inspection.

In this article, we'll look at:

• The statistical value of ball reversals
• Practical benefits of ball reversals
• How to encourage more ball reversals
• The limitations of ball reversals
• How to look at ball reversals in light of the Mens' Olympic team

Elite Ball Movement = The Secret to Championship-Level Play

After dismissing those claims, MacKelvie unveils what he thinks is the real reason the US has struggled in recent international competitions - a lack of ball movement.

His analysis used ball reversals as a proxy for ball movement. He actually went back through games the US lost and showed how many fewer ball reversals we had compared to our opponents.

He even tracked some NBA games and found that teams scored at a higher rate when they reversed the ball more.

Finally, he shares his own story and how elite ball movement helped create a championship level program at his high school.

Simply put, at each level, more ball movement = more ball reversals = more points.

4 Reasons Why You Need More Ball Reversals Too

Ball reversals are an important part of a good offense, regardless of level. Here's why:

• They change the ball side and help side of the defense - when the ball stays on one side, it's easier for defenders to know their responsibilities.
• They result in more body movement - ball movement and player movement tend to work in tandem. So when your team moves the ball, they move bodies as well. This forces defenders to move as well.
• A moving defender is not in as good a position to help - They are less likely to maintain proper ball-you-man position and are more likely to lose sight of either their man or the ball.
• They give the defense more chances to screw up - many games are lost, not won. Ball reversals give the defense a chance to make a mistake.
• They make physical and mental conditioning a factor - long possessions are hard to guard! Almost everyone enjoys playing offense more than defense. So in a battle of endurance, the offense often has the advantage.

Ball reversals that result in drawn out possessions test both the physical conditioning and the mental toughness of the defense.

So should you be encouraging your players to reverse the ball? Yes. . . but with an understanding of what you're trying to accomplish.

You're trying to create an advantage. If the alternative to reversing the ball is holding the ball, it's clearly the better alternative. But there are other things to consider.

How To Encourage More Reversals

If you want to get your team to reverse the ball more, consider these ideas:

• Track it - what gets measured, gets improved! Consider alternate scoring systems in practice that award extra points for shots off ball reversals.
• Watch your mouth - consider your language. In the past, I've called the top of the key area in our 5 out offense the "swing spot." This encourages that player to immediately look to swing the ball if not shooting or driving.
• I've also drilled the idea of "opposite" on the catch. This means the player should drive or pass the ball opposite of where they got it from.
• Play .5 basketball - by forcing players to shoot, drive or pass on the catch, your offense generates more pace. When you play with more pace, the ball moves faster. When the ball moves faster, you get more reversals.
• Make holding the ball for more than .5 seconds a turnover.

Breaking Down the Numbers: The Impact of Ball Reversals on Scoring

The relationship between ball reversals and scoring might not be as strong as some think (see page 2).

Here's a couple reasons why:

• Transition offense is always the most efficient offense - at every level, transition offense converts at the highest percentage. It's easy to see why - because the offense can create more numerical and spatial advantages.

However, transition offense doesn't always translate to ball reversals. Often it might involve one pass up the floor for an open shot or layup.

Is that bad offense? Of course not! But it doesn't produce reversals.

So make sure you're comparing apples to apples. Some of the data I've seen shows the effect of ball reversals on scoring in HALF COURT possessions. In that case, it will make a big difference.

But you don't have to play in the half court all the time.

To maximize efficiency, you want to score fast when you can, and then hunt a great shot (which leads to reversals) when you can't.

Why Ball Reversals Are Not The Be All, End All

Hopefully you see the value of ball reversals. It's hard to have a good half court offense without them. However, keep these couple things in mind.

• Sometimes reversing the ball means you CAN'T score - I've coached many games like this. We are playing a good team. They are running a pack line defense or a 2-3 zone.

We reverse the ball multiple times and it produces . . . not much!

This is a crucial point - the goal of offense is not to reverse the ball - the goal of offense is to SCORE!

I've watched and coached games where the offense reverses the ball and reverses the ball and never gets an advantage.

Maybe the defense will eventually collapse from fatigue. But short of that, this situation can be even more frustrating for the offense. All their effort is producing no results!

• You may not need to reverse the ball to create an advantage - this is an important point in the debate about USA basketball.

The goal of offense is to score. The best way to score is to create an advantage and then convert on the advantage.

An advantage can be created through passing, as European teams have shown. The Golden State Warriors would be a good NBA example of this.

However, an advantage can also be created through dribbling. Think of the Mavericks and Luka Doncic

They made the NBA Finals this year. They also didn't pass very much.

It wasn't necessarily fun to watch. But it worked - and that's what matters!

Look at this year's offensive ratings. There are some teams who pass the ball a lot at the top - the Pacers, namely. But a lot of the most efficient teams are not great ball movement teams - Clippers, Bucks, and the Mavericks, to name a few.

In many of these international games, America's coaches rely on the superior ability of US players to create advantages with the dribble.

When it works, the credit goes to the players. When it doesn't, the blame goes to the coaches. Maybe that's fair. But sometimes good coaching is letting your players do what they do best.

My Story: How We Became Ohio's Second Highest Scoring Team

A few years ago, I coached the 2nd highest scoring team in Ohio. We averaged over 91 ppg and topped 100 12x.

How'd we do it? With a mix of ball reversals and an elite player making plays.

We played really fast and scored at a high rate in transition. In the half court, we passed and cut and moved the ball quickly. This allowed us to take advantage of reversals.

However, when in a crunch, we had a D1 player. In those moments, we could rely on him to generate a good shot with his elite playmaking ability. And when he did that, he made me look like a pretty good coach!

Conclusion: What Will Steve Kerr's Olympic Strategy Be?

With the Olympics coming soon, it will be fun to watch how Steve Kerr coaches offense. His tenure with the Warriors shows he's a brilliant offensive coach.

Should the USA look to reverse the ball more? Probably. Should your team? Probably. But only if you remember that ball reversals are one part of a good offense and don't make a good offense in and of themselves.

Rather than making ball reversals your desired outcome, how about a goal of shooting the first great shot, however you and your team define that?

If that happens in 7 passes and 3 reversals, great. If it happens in one pass, even better!

Bottom line - coach an offense that generates great shots. Make ball reversals a part of it but not the goal of it!

What do you think? Let us know by leaving your comments, suggestions, and questions...

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