Denver’s Ty Lawson never should have fallen until the 18th player in the 2010 Draft. He was the best point guard in college basketball, yet some questioned his ability to translate his speed to the next level. Questio
ns answered:
In Ric Bucher’s article “How Fast is He?” in the March 8 issue of ESPN the Magazine, Lawson explains his though-process and development.
“In high school and my first year in college, I just went full speed, looking at the guy in front of me,” says Lawson. “Now, I don’t worry about him. I look at the second and third lines of defense.”
This is the evolution of a playmaker. Most players never move past the first line of defense. If they beat the first defender, they are committed to the drive to the basket, regardless of the other defender’s or offensive players. Sometimes, this works: aggressive players are often rewarded. Other times, the ball handler misses an open teammate, gets a shot blocked or is whistled for a charge because he did not see the next defender.
Players who see past the first line and read the second and third lines of the defense make plays because they know who is open and what lane to drive. They see the play developing before executing the skill rather than attempting to execute a skill (pass, shot) and make the decision simultaneously.
When players make this transition, the game slows down for the ball handler and their decision-making improves.
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Interesting to note that the game “slows down”. When you really get to understand what is going on the action slows down so it is actually slow motion. When I was younger I was in flight training (helicopters) and I was anxious that the instructor wasn’t ready for me to initiate a maneuver. He was still smoking his cigarette and would put it out on the floor and throw it out the door before we landed but to me everything was happening in an instant. Years later when I became a flight instructor I can see where he was comoing from. Everything is sloooooowwwww motion when you learn to see the signs ahead of time and the maneuver (or play) slowly occurs to the actor. To the fan or newbie it is “what happened!” but to the experienced player it is all in slow motion.
I assume that this is also why some defenders steal passes that nobody else sees coming; it is all in slow motion and they can see more of what is happening and anticipate or “see” it and react before he player even knows they are going to make that terrible pass.