One of the best opportunities for a post player in basketball to score is off another player’s penetration, which forces the post defender to help and allows the guard to dump the ball off for an easy score. Sometimes, the post player can finish right away, but other times, the defender will be able to recover in time to take away the initial finish. In this situation, the post player must make a move to score.
This post-move basketball drill is going to work on exactly these situations. The post player will receive a dump-off pass and use various moves to score around or over the returning defender. Sometimes, this involves a quick pivot to get around the defender. Sometimes, a good ball fake can get a defender to leave his feet, allowing for a possible “and 1” situation. And, sometimes, it might require a combination of the two.
This basketball drill will challenge the post player to catch a variety of passes in a small space. It will also allow them to develop the correct footwork needed to score while being challenged by a returning defender.
Basketball Drill Overview
Drill Name: Dump Off Pivot Finish Basketball Drill
Equipment Needed: 1 basketball and a passer.
Similar Basketball Drills and Resources
Goals of the Drill
- Work on catching a variety of passes in a small area.
- Work on finishing around the basket off of a pivot, ball fake, or both.
- Develop a player’s footwork to ensure that a player can score without traveling.
- Work on a player’s second jump and tip the ball back in if the first attempt is missed.
Coaching Points
- The post player needs to keep their hands up and ready for the pass and stay in a low, wide athletic stance as they move.
- This will ensure that a pass, whether good or bad, can be caught and scored.
- As the player pivots, they need to make sure that they are staying low and athletic with a strong base — Chin the basketball to keep two hands on the ball in a power position.
- Players need to extend up on their finish and try to keep their body between the defender and the ball.
- Give a shot fake to attempt to get an opposing defender to leave his feet, allowing for an “and 1” situation.
- The finisher needs to be quick and decisive with their moves.
- The more time it takes for them to make a move, the more time you are giving the defender to establish their defensive positioning.
Basketball Drill Instructions
- The player is going to start under the basket and must always face the passer.
- The passer will start with the ball 3-4 feet away.
- When the drill starts, the passer will begin to rotate around the player, and at any time, they can dump the ball off to the player.
- The passer should mix in difficult passes to catch.
- The player must catch the ball make a quick, decisive move with a pivot or a shot fake before they finish.
- If they miss, they will jump back up and tip the ball in as quickly as they can.
- The player will get the ball out of the net and quickly return it to the passer for the next pass, always making sure their hands are ready to receive it.
- Continue the drill for the desired amount of time or makes.
Recommended Time, Steps, Scoring, and Repetitions
- Do the drill for a specific amount of time (20-30 seconds). This will help make sure that you stay on schedule with your practice plan.
- Have the player go through the drill until they have counted ten total makes using multiple moves.
- Have your player receive ten total passes to ensure that all players in the drill can get the same amount of reps.
- Whatever you decide on, make sure to execute it equally on both sides of the basket so that the player can get comfortable finishing from both sides.
Dump Off Pivot Finish Basketball Drill Conclusion
The Dump Off Pivot Finish drill will allow post players to work on game-type situations, which will enable them to process quickly what to do with the basketball when it comes to scoring around the basket. Along with working on a specific game situation, though, it will also develop post players when improving hands and footwork. Both of these skills are going to translate to other areas of the game.
Another area that this basketball finishing drill will help with is decisiveness around the basket against a defender. A decisive, aggressive finisher will give you more scoring opportunities and more chances at the free-throw line. If a post player can show that they can catch and finish a dump-off pass, it opens up a ton of scoring opportunities around the basket on penetrations.
