How to Dribble behind your Back by the Master

Along with the hassles of changing houses, the packing and unpacking process has yielded the occasional "buried treasure."  The other day, I was unpacking some books that had been boxed for 10 years and discovered a nondescript looking, red hardback book with the faded, barely readable title, "Basketball Concepts and Techniques."  The book was written in 1970 by Bob Cousy and Frank Power (Cooz' assistant coach at Boston College).  This 509 page treasure goes into detail unmatched by even Red Auerbach's "Basketball for the Player, the Fan and the Coach" on five major elements: The Coach; The Offense; The Defense; The Game; and Coaching Aids.  Just to give an idea of the detail in this book, the section titled "The Offense" encompasses 245 pages.

Naturally, after nearly half a century since it was published, some aspects of the book are dated—but surprisingly few.  For instance, The Cooz contrasts the merits of the behind-the-back dribble with the crossover dribble as a vehicle for changing direction.  It's not at all surprising that I immediately turned to the section on the behind-the-back dribble.  While Cousy didn't invent it, I believe he perfected it.  And he didn't copy it from Bob Davies, who probably was the first to use it.  Bob instinctively used it for the very first time at Holy Cross—just doing what came naturally—when he was being over-played to his right side.  As a kid, I practiced it relentlessly outdoors in good weather and in our garage otherwise, constantly frustrated by my short arms and yet finally managing to do a reasonably decent imitation.  But, of course, I had no tutorial.

Here's what Cooz had to say about the behind-the-back maneuver (assuming the dribbler is right-handed):

For the exceptional ball handler, this maneuver is safer than the cross-over (in which the ball is exposed to the defender) and quicker than the reverse (of direction) with the same end result.  With his right hand, the dribbler bounces the ball even with his left foot as his right foot comes forward in stride.  As his right foot contacts the floor and his left leg is moving forward and out of the way, the dribbler adroitly angles the ball behind his back, causing the ball to bounce up under his left hand, which picks up the dribble.

Simple, right?  I can't understand why I ever had such difficulty with it.

As for the behind-the-back pass, he says: This can be either a straight pass or a bounce pass.  The passer either turns his head slightly or uses peripheral vision to pick up the receiver.  Cupping the ball in his passing hand, inclined at a right angle to his forearm, the passer carries the ball behind his back and releases with a back-hand flip of his wrist.  His fingers point at the receiver, and his body pivots on the right foot (for a right-handed pass to the left) away from the path of the pass.

Rapid Robert doesn't cover the twice-around-the-body layup or the combined behind-the-back dribble and around-the-body layup.  He probably didn't want kids hurting themselves.  And he deals with only two of his five techniques for launching outside shots.

It's rather amazing how, although a lot of the terminology has changed over the years, the majority of the basic principles of physics, leverage and mechanics are still pretty much the same  He does a great job of describing the jump shot, although the accompanying picture of him shows him only an inch or two off the floor.

The book even contains an actual (college) scouting report, graphically portraying complex play patterns (that are anotated verbally) as well as a typical game plan.  The strongest impression I received was how seriously he took the details of the game.  I think he'd get along with Brad just fine.

Man, I love this guy.  Perhaps I've mentioned that before.

Sam