Scoring Without Dribbling

Learning how to dribble and handle the ball is an important skill for any basketball player, but just like anything in life you can over do it. I've seen many young players who love to demonstrate their ball handling skills to the detriment of their team. These guys are frequently guilty of showing off dribbling trying to look like Curly Neal or Allen Iverson and don't even realize they have multiple teammates wide open in scoring position.

Most people assume if you are a good scorer you need to dribble a lot, but I'd love to thank Klay Thompson for showing you can still be a deadly scorer while having minimal contact with the ball. The video clip below features highlights from a game where he scored 43 points with only 4 dribbles.

43 POINTS WITH ONLY 4 DRIBBLES!!!

It helps that Klay has such beautiful shooting form and a quick release. Other players that moved well without the ball and can square up and got shots off quickly include Jeff Hornacek, Ray Allen, and Kyle Korver. I love pointing this type of play out to young and frequently selfish players who would rather dribble excessively in order to break someone's ankles and look cool than to find the open man and help their team score. Practice your ball handling skills but don't feel that you have to dribble all over the court to make a positive impact. Oh and did I mention he scored 43 POINTS WITH ONLY 4 DRIBBLES!