So first of all here's some background information for you;

I live in Britain I played basketball up until I was 13 years old, my High School didn't have a team and I pretty much just gave it up, as a teenager, I had other interests (let's be honest, girls). Fast forward 11 years. I am now 24 years old and have recently taken up the sport again. Although I stopped playing, I never stopped watching, I follow the NBA religiously and watch any college games that air over here (which isn't many outside of March Madness).

Anyway, I recently joined an Amateur Club who play in a relatively local division. Anyone is welcome to train with them, so I've been training with them for a few weeks, but I'm looking for some advice and tips.

It feels like everything I knew as a kid has gone. I remember so little, I'm back to square one.


1) Being the new guy (and not very good) I don't get a lot of touches. So what sort of things can I be doing to help the team win or help my team mates get better looks? I would usually set off ball screens but my coach is running a read and react offense which I wasn't really familiar with (aside from seeing it on TV) and he wants us using circle movement. I'm not sure how to use (or whether I should use) any off ball screens, it feels awkward with the circular movement, I can be moving to set a screen but when someone see's me move they think I'm rotating in that circular movement and they move before I can get set. What else can I do without the ball to help my team aside from just moving around in a circle? I find it frustrating, I don't mind not getting touches, I understand that to an extent, I just don't know what else I can do too help.

2) Laker cuts. I find passing the ball (with my back to the basket, to a cutting team mate) very difficult, I try and always pass it a little ahead of the player, more "where they're going to be" as opposed to passing it right to them, the problem is a bounce pass feels more "right" in that situation and my bounce passes always seem to go awry. Do you have any tips for bounce passes in particular, how to make them more accurate? Or more specifically passing from that position. And what's the best course of action if the cutting player is being guarded too heavily? Pass it back out to the perimeter? And then what? Move back out? Cut?

3) This is an awkward question, there is not a lot of outdoor courts in my area and indoor courts cost too much for one guy to pay just to practice... are there any drills I can do in my house without a ball to improve literally any area of my game? Every thing needs work at this point.

4) Fundamentals. Any tips on how to stop my guide/assist hand from interfering with my shot so much? I shoot with my right and my left thumb always seems to push off as I remove my left (assist) hand and it puts a spin on it to the right. Also lay ups, If I drive right it's fine. Left is just a case of more practice... but when I drive down the middle, how do I finish? I don't even know what leg I'm suppose to go off when driving straight down the middle.

5) Defense. How do I get better at staying in front of my man? I tend to sag off guys a little if I know they're not much of a shooter but I can never seem to stay in front of them. Also, any tips for 2-1-2 zone? We've been running that a lot and I'm usually at the 1 or the 2, I'm never sure how much help to give, there's been a few times where nobody has been in my zone and I feel like I should be doing something to help but I don't want to leave my area in case someone runs out too that side.



Thanks in advance for any tips and advice, sorry for the noob-ish questions and the amount of them lol.

1) If you run the Read and React, learn as much as you can about that. You need to play i context of your coaches offense. Ask your coach for more info, maybe he'll share the dvd with you, and/or search on google for read and react videos. I can't comment on what to do because it depends which pieces of your coach uses.

2) Again this is a question to ask your coach because he might have a specific way of doing things. I'm sure he will appreciate your interest.

3) If you don't have a ball, there's not a whole lot you can do at home... other than maybe some strength and conditioning.

4) http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/fundamentals/shooting/5-shooting-mistakes.html

5) Check out the On Ball Defense links from this page:
http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/defense/man.html

If you don't have a ball, the only thing I can think of is mental rehearsal or visualization. This article tell how to do some of that.

http://www.breakthroughbasketball.com/mental/visualization.html