Every team hits periods of play when they feel like the ball isn’t moving, or players are hunting their shots, or there’s too much dribbling, or when players simply aren’t playing up to their capabilities. Whether it’s a few minutes, a half, an entire game, or a series of games, we all go through this — this even in the NBA.

I encourage you to think about talking to your team about the following statements:

• when you over-dribble, you under-pass
• when you under-pass, you get over-selfish
• when you get over-selfish, your results are under-whelming

These three statements are meant to get your team to understand the importance of moving the ball. In the NBA, if the ball sticks, the defenses are almost impossible to score on with any consistency. When the ball moves is when you see defenses breaking down, even at the NBA level.

Over-dribbling, not passing the ball, and selfish play lead to losses at any level. The sooner teams understand this and accept this as truth, the quicker they are on their path to a great season!