Passing or ball handling?

[DanL53]

Once you've got the ball across half court and set up the offense. Which is more important, and let's make this a two parter:

For the point guard.
For everybody else.

Let's assume that average is a given. Which would you prefer to be the better attribute, a great ball handler with speed as well. Or a player who can set up teammates with great passing?

Assume in both cases the players are equal shooters.

 

[WolfeHawk]

In an equal shooting scenario, provided the PG is a good passer and the recipient is streaking open for a nice lead pass, I'd go inside. As an average yet confident shooter in my prime playing at the field house, rec center, and mercer, ( I played Gatens and some of his friends at Mercer once, of course, he stood out, kid was unstoppable even against my older crew. A few of his teammates held him back a little, we were older and bigger) Anyways getting back on subject if I had a shot I'd go. If I had an open teammate I'd pass. Ok so I guess it's not a great answer but that's all I got.

 

[AZmess]

In an equal shooting scenario, provided the PG is a good passer and the recipient is streaking open for a nice lead pass, I'd go inside. As an average yet confident shooter in my prime playing at the field house, rec center, and mercer, ( I played Gatens and some of his friends at Mercer once, of course, he stood out, kid was unstoppable even against my older crew. A few of his teammates held him back a little, we were older and bigger) Anyways getting back on subject if I had a shot I'd go. If I had an open teammate I'd pass. Ok so I guess it's not a great answer but that's all I got.

That didn't even come close to answering the question.

 

[AZmess]

Once you've got the ball across half court and set up the offense. Which is more important, and let's make this a two parter:

For the point guard.
For everybody else.

Let's assume that average is a given. Which would you prefer to be the better attribute, a great ball handler with speed as well. Or a player who can set up teammates with great passing?

Assume in both cases the players are equal shooters.

I think some of it would be roster driven as to what I'd prefer or be OK with but 9 times out of 10 I'd take the guy with speed and handles. You can't teach that for the most part. I can coach a guy where to throw it or what to look for but I can't teach a guy to beat someone off the bounce.

 

[DanL53]

That's a good point by AZmess, you can't coach speed. Just as you can't coach height. I wonder though, and I'm not answering just wondering, how much one can coach passing? Isn't part of passing good vision, quick mental processing, and other more inherent talents as well? Otherwise when one gets all the way to the pros wouldn't they all be about the same at distributing the ball?

And, I wonder. Does a point guard who can penetrate and create his own shot mean more to keeping a team in the offensive flow, or does a guy that sets up his teammates keep everyone involved?

Clearly one would want a guy that does both. Of course. But if I had to pick, and I could be wrong, I'd take a point guard with excellent passing skills but for the other positions speed and ball handling.

 

[yiana]

I do love me some Boris Diaw, but I'll take Blake Griffin.

 

[unoHawkeye]

That's a good point by AZmess, you can't coach speed. Just as you can't coach height. I wonder though, and I'm not answering just wondering, how much one can coach passing? Isn't part of passing good vision, quick mental processing, and other more inherent talents as well? Otherwise when one gets all the way to the pros wouldn't they all be about the same at distributing the ball?

And, I wonder. Does a point guard who can penetrate and create his own shot mean more to keeping a team in the offensive flow, or does a guy that sets up his teammates keep everyone involved?

Clearly one would want a guy that does both. Of course. But if I had to pick, and I could be wrong, I'd take a point guard with excellent passing skills but for the other positions speed and ball handling.

A point guard who can penetrate and create his own shot doesn't have to be that strong of a passer to set up his teammates. Defenses collapse when a player penetrates into the lane, and all it takes is a kick-out to an open shooter for a quality shot.

So assuming that said player is at least a competent passer and not out of control, I'd take the guy who can penetrate/create. By creating for yourself you often create for your teammates

 

[hawkeyeguy69]

Ball handling has several areas to it - scoring penetration dribble(aka dribble drive), Passing, perimeter dribbling, pressure defense dribbling and drive & dish. You do not need to be able to dribble drive, to be a good ball handler. Ricky Davis was good at that part, but I wouldn't want him dribbling thru the press.

Then again some guys are great at drilling the ball around and distributing the ball, but I wouldn't want them to think of doing the dribble drive. MG is a perfect example of that. Sorry guy, you can't finish. But by all means do surprise us this year please!

The Passing game is one area of ball handling that is underappreciated. You can be a fantastic passer, but not be able to dribble drive. But you can distribute the ball around the perimeter or in the middle. Woody is a good example of this.

One can dribble well on the perimeter, but I wouldn't want him to break the press. AC had a horrendous sophomore year with this. But he could control the ball well enough to distribute and run the offense. His junior year he improved greatly on the pressure dribbling. This year he will improve in all areas, IMO

There are many aspects of ball handling. It is more than just being able to dribble thru your legs, pass the ball well, drive to the basket, break the press, and/or run the perimeter part of the game. Not many are good at all aspects. In fact, very few are.

There is no one on our team that does all parts of ball handling well... But we have good ball handlers. Especially as a whole. Probably top 3 in the B1G. For the team as a whole, who is better??
Whisky last year. MSU on a median scale, they had high end ball handlers, but some lower end too. Definitely not many as balanced as the Hawks. That has been improving every year for Iowa, and that will keep us on the top half of the B1G this year.

 

[hooper56]

Well in your scenario you have Trey Dickerson vs Mike Gesell. I think the good passing of Gesell wins out over the ballhandling and speed of Dickerson.

 

[Legend12]

Well in your scenario you have Trey Dickerson vs Mike Gesell. I think the good passing of Gesell wins out over the ballhandling and speed of Dickerson.

Mike's a better ball handler than Trey is.

 

[iowalawhawk]

I'm thinking about Jeff Horner vs. Mike Henderson. Both played on the same teams, so the comparison is easy.

Horner was a great passer. He saw things really well on the court and made some impressive passes nearly every game. He was Iowa's all time assist leader for a reason (of course don't get this twisted - I'm not saying he was our best passer ever). His ballhandling was OK, but he really struggled bringing the ball up the court against quick, pressing guards. Unfortunately for him, there were always Dee Browns and such while he was playing. For that reason, he was best paired with a quicker, better ballhandler, like Pierre Pierce or...

Mike Henderson. Mike could always handle well against the tightest of defenses (except his senior year with all of the palming calls against him). After that, he would always stand at the top of the key and pass to the wing. He couldn't create for others with his passing. He didn't appear to see passing lanes well. He could get the ball across half court, and sometimes score with the ball in his hands, but he didn't add value as a passer.

If I had to choose between the two, I'd take Horner. If both were equal in skill though outside of passing/dribbling, I'd probably take the guy who can handle the ball. If you can't, and you aren't a good scorer, you get Cully Payne. We don't want Cully Payne.