Situation:
You have caught the ball on the perimeter around the 45. You landed with a 1-2 pivot so your outside foot is now your pivot. Your defender closes in and forces you to the outside. He is not giving you middle. But you are going to take it. He also thinks he is forcing you to your weak hand but you don't have a weak hand.
I'll introduce 4 basic pivots to help you gain an advantage on your defender. I'll then give you some advanced-moves drills so that you can have fun practicing and imagine yourself in a game, pulling off combination moves to beat your defender. The first two pivots start with attacking to the middle. The last two start towards the baseline. Remember, your outside foot is your pivot foot.
Pivot # 1
With your non-pivot foot, take a long step to get outside your defender's inside foot (foot closest to center court). If he is really crowding you, you'll have to make this step back towards half-court. Rip the ball through or bring the ball up and over. Since your dribble lands outside his inside foot, you are now able to attack the middle. It's what you do next that counts; here are some drills you can practice one on oh. Imagine there is a defender in front of you and always practice at game speed. Remember to practice on both sides of the court so that you develop both hands, and complete footwork.
Using Pivot #1,
i) drive middle for layup
ii) drive middle, pullup for jump shot
iii) drive middle, step-back dribble, jump shot
Now lets try using some more advanced moves.
Start with Pivot #1 and
iv) drive middle, *crossover, drive outside for layup
v) drive middle, crossover, pullup jump shot
vi) drive middle, crossover, pump fake, reverse pivot, jump shot
vii) drive middle, crossover, spin dribble, drive middle for layup
ix) drive middle, crossover, step-back dribble, crossover, drive middle for layup
x) drive middle, crossover, behind-the-back crossover, drive middle for layup
*watch Tyreke Evans perform a very effective crossover*
xi) drive middle, *pull-back crossover, jump shot
*try a derrick rose pull-back crossover*
*try a dwayne wade through-the-legs pullback crossover*
xii) drive middle, *between-the-legs crossover, drive outside for layup
xiii) drive middle, between-the-legs crossover(x2), drive middle for layup
xiv) drive middle, between-the-legs crossover, behind-the-back crossover, drive middle
xv) drive middle, between-the-legs crossover, *killer crossover, drive middle
*watch Andrea Bargnani's between-the-legs crossover*
*check out Stephen Jackson with a killer-crossover on LeBron*
