A is the Answer (Orig. release 4/27/2010)

On the way to NBA Success…

There’s no denying environmental factors play a role, but all things equal (physically , technically and environmentally); why does player A find consistent NBA success, while player B struggles?

I’ve been bombarded recently with questions on the distinguishing factors of top players in the NBA. Of course, top players are able to focus on what’s necessary for success in the moment of exchange. Looking around the league, there are so many players with physical and technical gifts.

Why is it that some players – regardless of their talent, find it difficult to have consistent success?

So many mega-stars lose their luster once they hit the league. There’s no denying environmental factors play a role, but all things equal (physically, technically, and environmentally), why does player A find consistent NBA success, while player B struggles?

It all comes down to application or execution of skill sets. The A in PTAG (Physical skills, Technical Skills, Application of both, Grit-focus factor). Physical and technical skills are great if properly applied.

I’ve said before that many of the top players in the NBA do the same things. I’m going to list the Top 6 "defaults" successful players incorporate into their play consistently.

1) Successful players are “Stay-first” artists, which means they understand the A-B-C’s of play. The Law of Leadership grants the offensive player the right the be "A" or first and thus, force the defender to respond to an action as "B"; then the offensive player gets to “C” what to do and be continuously contrary to manipulate.

2) Top players typically have outstanding ROM (Range-of-motion) with the body and extended ball-side arm. ROM (with the body) is the range of movement forward with the head and shoulders without committing to actual movement with the feet. This mechanism slurs the motion of offensives players forward and gives them more time to process the “B” movement of the defenders. ROM (ball) is the range of movement with the arm toward the lane, without committing to the dribble.

3) Top players use “hover” and “false-leg” maneuvers (off-the-dribble) and quick-sticks and up-fakes (off-the-catch) to stay first and contrary.

4) Top players represent themselves with their shoulders or “Blades” during play and flex on contact.

5) Top players use “fractions-of-steps” to manipulate and play at a moderate to slow pace. These players are rarely out of control and exploit defensive foibles with explosive and decisive action.

6) Top players have a broad “Scope-of-vision”. This is the ability to see up from the floor and the rim at the same time. This provides "early vision" of the environment and slows the action of the game down (perceptively, making processing and decision-making much easier.

There are optimum defaults for every facet of the game. Make a point to start identifying how certain players are having success and how certain situations are handled during gameplay. The more you watch, the more you’ll realize:

"OMG (bling, bling)... they’re all doing the same things”.