Pass the Ball

Last weekend, I had a chance to watch some of the action at the Futures150 Basketball camp for high school players at Hazelwood Central, which was put on by Rivals.com. On Saturday, I took a special interest in watching the 3-on-3 tournament, which started out the day of activity.

 At the end of all of preliminary games, three teams were still in the hunt for the championship. Team #1 took on Team #2 in the first game with Team #3 waiting to play the winner for the championship.

 The game between Team #1 and Team #2 took about two minutes to play. In a game played to 10, Team #1 needed only six field goal attempts to destroy Team #2 10-0 in a great exhibition of basketball. Why was it so great, you ask? Passing. The ball movement displayed by these three young men was terrific. On each possession, they made at least three passes and moved and screened for each other. The end result was an array of wide-open 3-pointers, easy drives to the hoop and easy layups off nice passes to the open cutter. It was surgery and the players from Team #2 did not know what hit them. It was old school basketball at its best.

 As the players from Team #2 sheepishly took their seats on the floor with the rest of the campers, they had the endure the taunts and laughters from the rest of the campers, plus the ridicule of the camp director. Meanwhile, Team #3 took the floor for the championship game. I was waiting and ready to see Team #1 put it on this other team as well with its perfect execution.

 I am still waiting.

 Instead of passing, cutting and looking for the open man, Team #1 turned into a trio of individual players who tried to take their men off the dribble and go one-on-one to score. Team #3's defense was not any different from Team #2's, yet Team #1 inexplicably resorted to individual play. One pass. One shot. It was And 1 time or the quick 3-pointer off the first pass with no movement. As you would expect with bad shot selection, you saw the ball clanking off the rim. I was wondering if this was the same trio of players that I had watched put on such a clinic in the first game. Were these young lads invaded by body snatchers and replaced by a trio of Allen Iversons?

 Anyway, Team #1 wound up losing to Team #3 for the championship and I was left scratching my head.

 As I walked across the gym to go outside, I ran into the father of one of the players on Team #1. He had smoke coming from his ears. He was a former coach, so naturally, he witnessed the same thing I did. I commented on how beautiful that first game was, but I wasn't sure what happened in the second game. He could not hide his frustration.

 Those two innocent games of 3-on-3 serve as a cautionary tale for young players. I'm fully aware that we live in an age where the killer crossover moves, the And 1 fancy stuff and ESPN Sportscenter highlight reel moments are the order of the day. We love to celebrate the individualism of our youngsters. I enjoy watching young players express themselves on the court as much as the next guy. HOWEVER, the game is still at its best when the basketball is moving and players are moving without the ball.

 When you share the basketball and keep it moving, everyone gets a chance to eat and do their thing. The game becomes easier for everyone, even the players who have those wonderful individual skills. It's easier to guard one guy when he's trying to go one-on-one all the time as opposed to a team that keeps the ball moving. That one extra pass will often lead to a wide-open 3-pointer, a layup or a thunderous dunk. And just watch those shooting percentages increase and those victories add up. It's just that simple.

  Pass the ball, youngsters. Believe me, when you do. It becomes contagious. When you pass the ball to the open teammate, that teammate is going to pass you the ball when you are open. When one player goes off by himself, then everyone feels like it's time to get theirs, and that's when everything breaks down. The end result is usually a loss.

  I guess what I'm trying to say is that, you can showcase your vast individual talents even in a game where you are moving the ball and passing it to one another. If you don't believe me, go to YouTube or to ESPN Classic and check out some of the old highlights of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. They are two of the all-time greats. Make no mistake about it. What made them even more special was that they made passing the basketball cool during the period of the 1980s' when they revived the NBA from death's door. Those Lakers and Celtics teams were full of future Hall of Famers, but they knew how to play with each other. That is also what made the original Olympic Dream Team in 1992 so special. Not only were these men great players, they were worldwide icons because they knew how to play the game. The 2008 Redeem Team rolled everyone to the gold medal because they got back to playing sound basketball. And this was a team with the likes of Kobe, LeBron and D-Wade.

  We, as basketball fans really missed out when Shaun Livingston suffered that serious knee injury four years ago. He was the best young passing guard I've seen since Magic. It was a shame when he went down because I think he would have influenced a new generation of passing wizards. Not having a healthy Shaun Livingston is really our loss.

  So, if you want to remember one thing from this little rant. Remember that PASS is not a four-letter word.

  O.K. That is my little soapbox for this week from an old-school geezer who still enjoys ball movement and team play.