Rim Finishing: How To Coach It?

Within basketball, the ability to convert at the rim is universally applicable and necessary. While players who are poor passers or loose-ball handlers can be protected by a well-designed scheme, a player or group of players who cannot finish at the rim creates a frustrating limitation on their team's offensive ability.

My opening paragraph is not exactly an earth-shattering revelation. Offenses that struggle to finish at the rim must find creative, difficult solutions if they hope to remain effective. I believe that's a commonly held opinion, but how to improve a player's finishing is a more crowded debate.

In my experience in coaching, scouting, and evaluating high school basketball, all of the noise has not helped young players. In my opinion, teaching players a more complex style of finishing has actually diminished their in-game effectiveness.

This article is my attempt at improving my ability to coach finishing. To begin with, I will break down video examples to detail my perspective and goals. After that, I will construct a developmental framework to implement within practices to help players become better finishers.

Boring Basics

I have seen many coaches and trainers start the developmental process right at the rim. While certainly valuable to practice touch and angles, I find that it does not address the two common issues players have as finishers. The first being the inattention to physicality and space. Followed closely by knowing when to finish (reading help).

This section will dive into the role of catches and the downstream impact of quick, small advantages. Starting at the catch, it creates a different perspective on finishing, focusing on a more process-driven approach. Looking at a variety of catches, I will detail how players can utilize them to simplify their rim attempts, thus improving finishing efficiency.

Catches

Building directly off of the .5 second decision-making rule that many coaches have begun to teach, there is a value and ease that players lose out on since they don't use their catches. Regardless of the defense, players will hug the three-point line, catch the ball with no momentum, and lose time with a false step while driving to their dominant hand.

These minor decisions listed are examples of players losing opportunities because of a lack of preparation. The result is subtle but significant. Players who use their catches are like a sprinter who gets a jump on their competition, even sprinters like myself (I was always more of a long-distance guy) can win if I get a big enough head start.

For lower levels, I would recommend starting with Step-Ins and Lifts. These two catches are less aggressive options that still emphasize movement, momentum, and magnanimous(ignore the last one, just felt like I needed another M word). Anyways, the movement and momentum are the key components. It is making the defender move to the ball while the offensive player moves to the rim, naturally creating an advantage for the player to attack their defender.

Step-Ins

This style of catch is closely related to the heralded triple threat position but using different terminology allows for me to redefine its usage and inject more life into the action. The term itself is rather self-explanatory in its nature. Players are stepping towards the rim as they are catching the ball.

The difficulty behind this move comes from the importance of players planning their positioning before they get the ball. In a practical example, this means players are positioned one to two big steps behind the three point line, allowing room for them to step-in for the catch. If I was providing a more in-depth answer I would dive into the value of spacing as a team concept and how the positioning impacts gap defenders but I will leave those stones unturned.

Stampedes

The best example of using a catch to beat the defender is the Stampede Catch, a move gaining popularity as teams have realized its effectiveness versus closeouts. It works like a head start in a short race. As the defender is sprinting to the perimeter, the offensive player is moving into their drive, creating a one or two-step advantage.

There are two types of stampede catches. One is running to meet the pass, typically effective versus vertical closeouts or non-advantage situations. If you want to separate types of stampedes, I like to call this an "Eager" stampede; the player can't wait for the catch, so they run to get it.

The second stampede variation is what I call a "Gap" stampede. Instead of sprinting into the catch, the offensive player is turning a horizontal pass into a vertical drive before the catch. It is a great way to attack pack-line or zone defenses because those defenses have more horizontal recoveries. Basically, this stampede is great when there is no defender actively between the offensive player and the rim.

Lifts

A Lift catch is very similar to Step-Ins in the simplicity of the action. There is nothing special about the move, making it accessible to every player. The subtle change of location changes defenders' angles and closeouts, it keeps the defender moving for a longer period of time, and a moving defender is easier to beat.

The Lift is normally used by players in the corner, changing the defender's closeout while opening a baseline drive. Against more aggressive gap defenses that like to deny, this catch will be less effective. Players will be tempted to lift themselves all the way to halfcourt to try to get a catch. Lifting for a catch does not outweigh the importance of catching the ball in a scoring position (on or just behind the three point line being the outer limit).

Drifts

Probably the most difficult catch in this list is the "Drift" catch. I would be more careful teaching this because it moves a player's momentum away from the rim. This could be a gateway to a bad habit if not used selectively.

Yet, it is included on this list because when used correctly, the Drift catch causes panic and can compromise the defender's positioning. It can cause an over-adjustment, which allows the offensive player to plant hard and attack the middle of the floor (A no-dribble change of direction). This can also create poor closeouts, either stopping too short, which creates a catch-and-shoot shot, or not stopping their momentum, leading to a drive.

There are different ways to get to this catch through different footwork. The more common is drifting away from the pass and planting hard onto the outside foot on the catch. This creates a power point to push into a drive while setting up a natural "plant, tap, go" shot fake.

The other option is drifting into the path of the pass. This is more natural but usually involves adjusting to an errant pass with inside-outside footwork; the shoulders will be open to receive the pass before realigning to the rim on the catch. (See the first clip of Kon Knueppel, for example).

An important note with all of these catches, the first foot on the ground decides 90% of where the drive will go. If the left foot is first, the ideal drive is going to the right hand by pushing hard of the left foot. The same is true for the opposite.

Finishes

Now, for the fun part of what to do when players do get to the rim. This section goes through my three pillars for finishing, primarily relying on film examples to demonstrate. At the end, I will go into passing and emphasis the balance between finishing and passing with, you guessed it, more film!

Bump Finishes

I like using "bump" in my terminology, but I have heard "veer step" (one foot) and "stride stop" (two feet), which are both more specific "bump" finishes for me. No matter what you decide to call it, the bump finish prioritizes physicality before the finish. The early bump creates space and stunts a defender's ability to jump, creating easier finishing chances.

This finish is great for driving finishes with a defender attached to the hip. Notice, these attempts work because there is no help defender, and the on-ball defender is turned (shoulders facing the sideline). I refer to this as gaining a shoulder advantage. Once the hips are turned, the offensive player can utilize their shoulder/forearm to create space.

Euro Finishes

These are the more fun, exciting finishes that have gained significant popularity in the NBA. These are incredibly effective in isolation and space because of their horizontal component. A potential problem for younger ages is trying to force this style (one foot, avoid contact) in crowded situations.

The euro is a great way to beat help defenders that rotate early or on-ball defenders fighting to get back in front of the drive. In both situation, the defender is getting their shoulders squared to the ball handler which creates an opportunity to use the euro to avoid the defender.

Jump Stop Finishes

Oddly, jump stops may be the hardest style of finishing for younger players because it relies on controlling pace. It is effective against scrambling defense (transition, blowby) as it disrupts the defenses timing and makes them stop. Meanwhile, the offensive player stays on-balance while giving them more time to make decisions.

Because of the time extension that jumpstops create, it also allows for more options than the other finishing styles. Players can go straight up, shot fake, step-through, pivot into a jumper, etc. For more advanced players, using Barkleys (drives turned into post-ups) is a great way to turn a well-defended drive into a deep post-up.

Two details on jump stops are very important when teaching them. The first is to use the jump stop to get to space, jump through a gap, or past a defender's hip to create valuable advantages. Second, maintain control through balance ("nail" a foot into the ground, ball security).

Development

This is the part of the article that is heavily influenced by my coaching style and goes into my untested approach for developing players finishing. The simplified explanation of my coaching style revolves around the importance of repetition and its role in confidence. Catching, finishing, and cutting (checkout my Saint Louis or Beautiful Game articles) are integral parts of my offensive philosophy, therefore I will dedicate daily practice time towards their development.

Shootout (Individual)

Starting with a 1 on 1 drill, offense starts at half court (move closer if needed), defense is in a square stance (hips pointing towards the offensive player) with their heels on the three point line. Drill starts with the offense attacking (simulating transition) and trying to gain an advantage. If they gain a slight advantage (shoulder past their defender), either a bump or jumpstop finish is best. On blow-bys, it is either a bump finish (basics), but they can also go into one foot finishes (euros vs secondary defenders, veer finishes to cutoff defender, or early pickups to keep the ball more secure vs handsy defenses).

Two rules for the drill: offense has to stay between the lane lines, and there is no backing up. It is a shootout style, so you can go as slow forward as you would like, but the offense always has to be going forward. This again simulates in-game transition situations, transition opportunities typically end when the ball stops.

Hot Potato (Individual)

Another 1 on 1 drill, this one is focusing on using the catch to create an advantage. Offense starts just behind the free throw line with defense matched up, both players are tossing back and forth (like the ball is a hot potato) and the drill starts when the offense catches and attacks.

Encourage the offense to shuffle to either side along the free throw line (stay between lane lines). We want to see players use their body movements and position before the catch to create the driving advantage.

Nova (Individual)

This drill isolates the pin down screen to help players control their pace with great footwork. We are working on contested catches to stay on-balance versus contact and using jumpstops effectively (find space, protect ball). The drill has the offensive player underneath the rim and a dummy screener on either side of the floor, a step outside of the first hash above the block. The offensive player is going around both screens, catching the ball on a curl, reading a dummy defender to use the jumpstop to get around the dummy defender, going left or right on either side.

An important part of this drill is the footwork on the curl. To me, the safest and most effective catch is two feet in the air, planting the front foot with the body protecting the ball from a trailing defender. As the front foot is planting, the offensive player uses the footwork to cause a delay, get eyes to the big, and read the situation.

If the defender hasn't worked back in front of the curl, there is a drive read with the trail foot stepping towards the rim. If the defender does fight back in front, an easy counter is flowing right back into a ballscreen with the pin defender or getting into pitch action with the passer.

The finishing part of this drill comes from reading the screener's man. With good footwork on the catch, the offensive player should be in balance and ready to move towards the rim (no drifting). The screen defender is playing dummy defense, either turning their hips or shading the driver to go in a certain direction. The offensive player is taking one dribble, maybe two depending on spacing, and jumping into space to the correct side of the defender for the finish.

Twitchy Start (2 on 2)

I like this drill idea enough to include it in this list. I think the two-rep burst is a good idea though potentially problematic for certain age groups if you task them with playing "random" just because that can turn chaotic and not help build good habits. Yet, the deep finishing and playing through 1/2 dribbles is a good way to encourage physicality and quick-decisions while introducing cutting/passing to a players finishing package.

For the deep drive, I would encourage coaches to give the players 2 dribbles while starting them slightly further out than shown in this video. A deep drive without an advantage is not a good place for players to put themselves. Encourage that could lead to poor carry over into games. Starting further out allows players to recognize a finishing advantage or if they need break off their drive (jumpstops, barkleys, nashes). Love the addition of the second player with the cutting advantage, great time to emphasis cut timing (don't cut until you are active).

Advantage Finishing (Team)

The drill starts 5 on 5 in your teams default alignment, usually 4 out around 1 in the dunker area opposite to the ball. The ball can start in the slot or corner, and the goal is to manufacture an advantage that the offense has to play from. Either the offensive player can have the ball on the back of the defender who is turned to face the rim, drill begins with the offensive player picking a side and attacking.

The focus for the ball handler is carving space with physicality while protecting the ball. If the defense doesn't send help, the preferred option is the bump finish, but a euro may be effective as well because it is 1 on 1. If there is help from a gap defender, we are looking to get into the jump stop series, either getting to the rim and continuing to score or touching the paint and making a pass on-balance. Finally, if the help comes at the rim, we can use a euro if there is a blow-by to start or jumpstops to create time to make decisions.

This drill is meant to isolate your team's ability to play from advantages, and each player's ability to finish is a big part of that. Being physical and in balance with the ball initially forces the defense to react. After the initial advantage, it is up to the teammates to space, cut, and use their catches to capitalize on the advantage.

Paris (Team)

Shoutout to Adam Pike (@GrizzliesFilm) for putting together this video compilation. I love this 5 on 5 setup for a corner catch. The video shoes multiple stampedes and lifts within game context, great film to show your team along with being a great drill setup.

For this drill to work, it is very important that the defense doesn't cheat their tagging responsibility. As your team gains comfort in this drill, adding things like the initiator reading the tag with the option to hit the roller are great ways to empower each position. The setup is 5 on 5, so all of the spacing, cutting, and passing reads from the game carry over into this drill (corner cut, Gortat, interchanges, etc).

Finding ways to create closeouts within your teams pick and roll offense is another fantastic way to create advantages even if your roster doesn't have a fantastic P&R playmaker. Just a simple setup like this action creates catches versus a moving defense. Another option is playing 3 on 3, this adds a processing burden to the ball handler, forcing them to make passing reads while maintaining their physicality. The more decisions, the more game-like the drill.

Implementation Gameplan

To me, there are three parts to teaching players how to finish. The first, players have to be taught and given the space to practice the catches and finishes. Secondly, providing video examples of what you are teaching will help players to understand the goal behind the process and know what it looks like when the concepts are applied correctly. Finally, using in-game examples of the good and the bad finishes to encourage or correct players through their own game film.

I start the process on the court, teaching the catches and finishes from the ground up. Focusing on footwork, ball-placement (keep the ball away from your belt buckle!), and decision-making. Starting on the court creates a personal connection to the concepts and allows them to better understand the feel of the movement. On-court develop should be a near daily part of practice to give players time to build the technique.

Next comes the film, using high-level examples of the move within a game context. This shows the players what it is supposed to look like. Also, it provides different situations or combinations in which the action can be applied.

Finally, the game film from your team should be used as a measuring stick for your team's progress. This is not a linear process; there will be good and bad games. Using film as a teaching tool is a valuable way to applaud the good and explain why the bad needs to go away.

Conclusion

As with all of my articles, I greatly appreciate those who made it this far. I would greatly appreciate any support through sharing interacting with my Twitter @sambourne04 or sharing this article!

If you have questions or advice/disagreements with anything I said I would love to hear from you. I can be reached through my Twitter or email sbourne2020@gmail.com.

Thank you!