Photo from Odalaigh via Flickr
After the 6-foot-5 shooting guard committed to play for Kansas, coach Roy Williams called him his most gifted recruit ever.
via Stevenson follows dad’s dream to NBA | Associated Press (7/22/00)
DeShawn Stevenson was highly regarded (to put it lightly) coming out of high school. Knowing what we know now, it’s a bit of a farce. But back then, he had the defensive mindset, he had the jaw-dropping athleticism. He had an NBA-ready body, and looked every bit the part of a star. Today, he’s a champion, but the role he played on the Dallas Mavericks is far removed from the notions we had of him as a prospect. He’s a defensive specialist, and an improved spot-up shooter. But what turns an athletic dynamo destined for stardom into a yeoman-esque opportunist?
Well, DeShawn Stevenson can’t dribble very well. And when you can’t take the ball where you want it to go, you’re not going anywhere as a headlining scorer. But DeShawn isn’t the only one. There have been plenty of incredible athletes in this league that eventually drift off into the perimeter — or into oblivion — because of their lack of handles.
I’m not using plenty lightly. Mickael Pietrus, Trevor Ariza, Corey Brewer, Rodney Carney, Donte Greene, Al Thornton, Sonny Weems, Joey and Stephen Graham, and Jamario Moon are just a few of the names. If you were to combine the ball-handling ability of every player listed, it wouldn’t amount to a single Allen Iverson crossover.
What I wanted to find out was whether the root of the problem (and by extension, the solution)Â is a systemic issue, or an individual one. In search of wisdom, I had a discussion with Anthony Macri, Player Development Consultant for Coach David Thorpe’s Pro Training Center, and NBA/NCAA Analyst for Hoopsworld.com.
My initial thoughts gravitated towards the individual. For someone like Stevenson, it’s been more than a decade since he’s been in the league. I figured the problem had to lie in Stevenson’s lack of creativity. (Which, by the way, sums up how I view basketball perfectly.) Â
Macri’s first thoughts were on the other end of the spectrum. “I think NBA teams have a very specific (in some ways myopic) view of developing players,” he said. “So the desire is to to take a decent athletic wing who can play D and get out in transition, and instead of asking him to work on his game and become more of an individual scoring threat, they think about how they can ask him to make the most of their current system.”
The process of developing a player’s ball-handling ability is an exhaustive process which requires a large commitment to the player from the coaches and trainers. On the other hand, teaching a player how to spot-up is a much less tasking process, and as Macri states, “it is small investment for a more guaranteed payoff.” While spot-up shooting is mostly a product of repetition and confidence, to grow into a more creative offensive weapon, a player would have to learn how to read angles, and develop instincts that the player may not inherently possess. Time is money, and sometimes there isn’t enough of either for that kind of development.
But dribbling is still an improvable skill. Unfortunately, Macri feels players aren’t working on “game-applicable” techniques. Videos showing players dribbling two balls with each hand may be an entertaining, but it doesn’t necessarily translate to a better handle in the game. “It’s great for confidence and coordination,” Macri says, “but it really doesn’t make you that much better in a game.”
Advanced ball-handling doesn’t have to resemble an And-1 Mixtape Tour. In creating space, more isn’t necessarily better. Macri stresses that one or two techniques executed very well is infinitely more important than having an arsenal of less effective/flashier maneuvers. In an excellent article on Hoopsworld, he details the key points of ball-handling when it comes to shooting guard development:
Younger players may be looking for the next amazing move they can pull off in a pick-up game, but our focus is on what is effective (on what works). The best dribble moves a player can have do not involve a wicked Tim Hardaway double tap crossover, or Jay Williams-esque ability to bounce the ball off a body part to keep it alive. Instead, our guys would be taught and drilled about the importance of changing speed, status, and direction.
via Coach: Developing a Shooting Guard | Anthony Macri, Hoopsworld.com
A player’s development can’t be seen in black or white. Team need and individual ability both account for growth and regression in certain areas. There is a reason why there’s a dearth in offensive stars at the wing positions. The combination of innate basketball sense and ability has to be packaged with a team willing to develop them further. And it’s really rare. For DeShawn Stevenson, star-power might not have been present, but an unteachable relentlessness on defense was. Looking at his stints in Utah, Orlando, Washington, and Dallas, Stevenson played behind superior offensive options each step of the way. Each step reinforced the importance of his role as a stopper, and more recently, as a floor spacer.
It’d be fun to imagine how these players would be with better handles, but it’s not always in their control. …But it’s not always not, either.Â
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Special thanks to HoopSpeak‘s Beckley Mason for setting me up with Coach Macri.Â
