COURT 401

LESSON 7 OF 14

LEVEL 4Teamall

Talk Is a Skill

X115YOUX5"SCREEN LEFT, OVER!"
FIG. 45COMMUNICATIONALL FORMATS
The smartest thing you can do on a court costs nothing: talk. Call out screens before they hit your teammate. Say 'I got ball' in transition so two people don't chase one player. Tell the shooter 'one more' when the extra pass is there. Silence forces every teammate to see everything themselves — impossible. Talk gives your team ten eyes instead of two. If you're new and unsure what to say, start with what you see behind your teammates: screens coming, cutters they can't see, the shot clock. You'll instantly become more valuable without changing anything else about your game.

READ THIS

Notice what your teammates can't see — the screen behind them, the cutter on their blind side, the shot clock they've lost track of.

DO THIS

Call it early, specific, and loud, three times: the screen and its direction, the coverage, your matchup claim in transition, the switch as it happens.

COACHING LINEAGE

Doc Rivers

The mental game is real: confidence is a tactical weapon. Hesitation is the most common turnover.

Chuck Daly

Physical defensive positioning: make the offense feel every possession.

IN THE SITUATION ROTATION

You're guarding your own man, one pass away from the ball — which gives you an angle your teammate doesn't have. You see it clearly: a screener is creeping in behind your teammate on the wing, setting up a back screen they cannot see. The lob to the rim comes next if nobody speaks.

Appears as a Situation of the Day · all

Talk Is a Skill