After 15 seasons of basketball, you can imagine how many coaches and trainers Reed has worked out with.  We discussed what concepts and approaches lead to actual growth and success for him as a player. “If you watch your game and you see zero of the complicated double and triple moves you spent hours drilling, then you’re not getting anything out of those sessions” he told me.  So what actually creates a player’s ability to improvise a successful and complex combination move? 

First, players need to master the underlying simple moves and footwork of each individual move of the combination. When coaches move to complex moves before their players have mastered the basics, they create only the illusion that the player is capable of executing the complex move against live defense (and not a cone).  Once the player has a solid foundation of fundamental concepts, they then need to develop their own creativity and instincts by playing against live competition.  Your young players will create and execute moves you never even dreamed of.  Trying to instill complex creativity using cone drills is like trying to build a house using pictures of tools.