Page 1 of 1

Unusual actions

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 5:01 am
by Crow
I know players do dribble hand offs and fake them and do decoy cuts but does anyone ever pretend to dribble without the ball? I am not sure I've ever seen someone do it (except maybe Globetrotters?) but it could play on instincts and fool some people for a bit. Maybe not the counterpart but perhaps a help defender? Anything to get a bit of edge.

Taken to an extreme, what if a player without the ball or even near it just started a fake dribble drive while something else was happening? Could be distracting and useful. Or turn it up and have several people do fake dribble drives at the same time and move the ball between them. Might drive rim protectors batty. Do it a lot or sparingly for surprise. Probably loses impact over time but a possible trick that to my knowledge would be new.

Could add completely fake passes without the ball, fake shots and possibly just random distracting weirdness (though I guess that could be called unsportsmanlike if too weird or too frequent). If you intentionally went in and out of bounds is that a technical foul? Could be some advantage tricks there. What about choreographing multiple cuts like in football with some intended crossing traffic accidents? There is some of that (including screening for the screener) but it could go much higher levels of intricacy I'd guess. Players can only be in paint briefly but what if 4 players did it at same time then went for shot / offensive rebound or exploded out into some other patterned motion? There is a lot of off ball moves but the possibilities probably have not been exhausted. The new might look / feel weird but isn't it already full of gimmicks and fakes? If you avoid contract (or don't initiate it) can one player walk or run or do some space eating / blocking bugaloo in front of a ball handler. What about 2-3 screeners close together moving laterally and providing a shooter a soccer wall?

Re: Fake dribbling

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 2:40 pm
by Crow
Quarterbacks and running backs in football fake having the ball. There is more traffic to shield the ball but it is the same concept. Perhaps pivots and spins would aid the attempted deception some.

Re: Fake dribbling

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 11:06 pm
by Mike G
Big difference is that the football player isn't dribbling, so it's plausible that he may have the ball tucked away.
Also, in most cases his role has become "decoy" for the remainder of the play. In basketball, you've got to do something useful like go for a rebound, set a pick, or get back on defense.

Re: Fake dribbling

Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 11:31 pm
by Crow
Fwiw.

Explore beyond the norm and then decide what it is worth, if anything.