Dribbling

Ideally, all players on the basketball team should be able to dribble the basketball in order to advance the ball up the court, to handle defensive pressure trying to prevent a dribbler to advance the ball up the floor and finally, to help the team or the individual to manufacture a shot. 

If a team doesn't have five guys who can dribble the ball, then the team will not be as good as it could be.  The coach and the players will have to come up with a scheme to protect the poor dribbler either by keeping him away from the ball or by getting the ball back out of his hand quickly.

For these reasons, we need to develop every one of our player's dribbling skills.  Our first drill in our prepractice is to dribble the ball.  To change speed and change directions while imagining a defensive player pressuring and trying to steal the ball.  We also will do 1 on 1 dribbler where the ballhandler will be defended and in this drill the defensive player will take chances and try to steal the ball or poke it free or just to be a general nuisance by making the dribbler protect the ball or turn from side to side.

It is vitally important that we work on our dribbling and dribbling vs pressure every day!  That is one of the reasons why we incorporate this 'fundamental' in our fundamental prepractice period.