NBA How To: Using Footwork To Create Opportunities On The Outside
In my opinion, good footwork is something that gets taken for granted when watching the NBA. Good footwork is key for a NBA player because it is what players use to create space without using their dribble. Both big men and guards use footwork to put themselves in better position to score, even if they do it very differently. Today we are going to look at how players use good footwork on the outside to create open looks and scoring opportunities.
On the outside, there are a few different ways that guards can use footwork to get themselves an open shot (or a drive to the lane). Footwork is important in just about every aspect of the game on the outside, whether it be a player jab stepping with the basketball, a shooter squaring up their body when catching and shooting, or a ball handler hitting a step back jumper. In each instance there are a few different players who really succeed at this aspect of the game:
Pivot Moves
In the NBA, you don’t see many players utilize the pivot move too effectively (on the outside), but one player who does is Kobe. You often see Kobe using fantastic footwork to spin in and out of trouble and get himself in position where he can get shots off.
On this play, Kobe Bryant pump fakes getting Kenyon Martin up in the air. Most players are content jumping into Martin’s body, drawing the foul and getting the two foul shots. Not Kobe. He is going to try and find a way to pivot out of the play and find a way to get the shot off. On this particular play, Kobe’s left foot is established as his pivot foot.
Kobe turns his back to Martin and is spinning out of the play. Notice that Kobe Bryant keeps his left foot down on the ground in one place.
Kobe completes the spin and he is now once again facing the basket. Kobe still has his foot planted, and this is key. Because if Kobe picks up his foot at any point during this play while his right foot is still on the ground, it is a travel (since he is basically establishing a second pivot foot).
To prevent this, Kobe jumps up in the air and gets a shot of. He knocks it down as he gets fouled by Martin. So instead of taking the two foul shots, Kobe pivots and puts himself in a situation where he can get three points. Here is the play in real time:
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It isn’t just spin moves either. Kobe uses his pivot foot to help create body position and space that allows him to get off tough shots.
Here, Kobe Bryant is driving baseline and he wants to try and get a pull up jumper off. Ray Allen is playing good defense though, so instead Bryant simply pump fakes.
Ray Allen doesn’t jump in the air on this pump fake, but he does lean a little bit. Kobe takes advantage of this leaning and steps through with his left foot.
What this step through move does is put Kobe’s body in between Ray Allen and the basketball. This allows for Kobe to rise up without fear of getting his shot blocked since Ray Allen would have to get through Kobe’s body (and eventually fouling him) to get to the basketball.
Ray Allen is forced to just stand there with his hands up because he doesn’t want to foul Kobe. Kobe is able to hang in the air and knock down the jumper. Here is the play in real time.
Jab Step
The next move on the outside that you see is the jab step. The jab step is basically used to get the offensive player’s defender off balance and leaning in one direction. This gives the offensive player an advantage with the basketball. In my opinion, the player with the best jab step in the league is Carmelo Anthony. Carmelo uses the jab step a ton and can do a lot of things off of it, and that is what makes him so dangerous.
As the basketball gets swung out to Carmelo, the Miami Heat defender is trying to close out on him, in this particular instance, Carmelo is able to use this to his advantage.
Carmelo loves going baseline. He probably goes baseline more than he goes to the middle, but you can’t overplay him. Here, Melo jabs as if he is going basseline, and the defender bits hard, almost as if he is trying to beat him there.
However, it was just a jump stop. As Melo’s defender heads towards the baseline, Melo takes one or two dribbles and squares up for a jumper.
Melo pulls up and knocks down a jumper. Look at all of the space Carmelo was able to create by just using a simple jab step. Here is the play in real time:
Catch & Shoot
Footwork may not seem important when a player is taking a catch and shoot jumper, but if he is a good shooter working off of screens or on the move, it is very important. The reason is that you want to get your body behind the basketball and your feet in perfect position BEFORE you catch the basketball. This is because you want to be able to catch and fire in quick succession before the defender can have time to challenge the shot. If you catch, get your feet and body in correct position, and then shoot as a defender trails you, you are going to have your shot blocked every time. Two players who have really good footwork when they catch and shoot off the move are Ray Allen and J.J. Redick:
Here, Ray Allen is coming off a screen where he is going to catch a pass and then shoot right off of that. When you watch this, you want to pay attention to his footwork. Notice how he curls it so that he can catch the ball, take one final step, and jump off of it.
This is another interesting clip. Here, Redick is coming off of a screen, and instead of coming off of it on a straight line he curls it. This is what allows him to catch, square up, and shoot it all in one motion. If he comes off the screen on a straight line, he can’t do that.
Step Back Jumper
The final way a player can create space/help get shots off with footwork is the step back jumper. These usually come off of the dribble, with the offensive player putting their man on their heels and then stepping back and shooting before the defender can recover.
Here, Kevin Durant starts to drive towards the baseline, but he quickly pulls it back and before his defender can recover, he knocks down the three. What makes Durant so dangerous when he does this is that he has such long legs that he step backs further than most ball handlers. This forces the defense to try and make up a lot more space than they usually can.
Here is another step back jumper, this time coming from Deron Williams. Here, Williams is being covered by Nene on the outside off of a switch. Williams knows that Nene is going to give him space and try to cheat on the defensive end because of the difference in speed. Williams takes one hard dribble towards the rim, and Nene reacts to it, wanting to stay in front of Williams defensively. However, Williams pulls the basketball back with a crossover dribble, and Nene can’t recover. Williams knocks down the open three pointer.
There is one more step back jumper that I want to take a look at. It comes from the man who we started the post looking at, Kobe Bryant.
Here, Kobe Bryant has the basketball and he is being defended by Ray Allen. Allen is obviously trying to force him along the baseline. This is because the baseline is where all of the Celtics’ help defense is coming from.
Kobe briefly plays into the Celtics hands as he starts towards the baseline. However, Kobe Bryant just takes one dribble towards the baseline before stepping back.
As he makes his step back move, you can see what makes the move so effective in general. On step back moves, the offensive player knows where he is going, but the defensive player doesn’t. Make your move quick enough, and it is hard for the defender to react. That is exactly what happens here. As Kobe is moving back towards the three point line, Ray Allen is still heading towards the baseline.
The result is a wide open three point shot that Kobe knocks down as Ray Allen is trying to close out and recover.
This is a good angle of the result of Kobe’s move. Look how much space that Kobe has to get his shot off. Here is the play in real time:
