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How to Play Basketball with Bad Teammates? | Tips

We have all been there as basketball players, your teammates suck, there I said it. You hate playing with them, they really do suck, while your out there losing every game you’re getting humiliated in the process.

You rather not play because nothing is worse than playing a game when you know you’re going to lose. 

Well, just how do you play basketball with bad teammates? This familiar situation happens often, you are teamed up playing alongside players in a pickup game or on your school team.

The quickest way to learn to play with these players and adapt to their terrible style of play is to identify what they are actually good at and help them use their strengths to their advantage. 

When you need to pass them the ball make sure you do so when they are good scoring position and they are able to utilize their strengths.

During the game tell them where they need to be and what to look for on offense when you have the ball. While on defense, help them understand what their man likes to do and have them guard that player in a way that takes away their strengths.

Sound simple? Maybe not. You are probably in season right now and your team is one of the worse in the league. Or maybe you play pick-up often and come across these awful basketball players.

Whichever the case, here are some more tips to help you not lose your mind on the basketball court when playing with below-average in-skill teammates.

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Bad Basketball Players Identified

It’s frustrating losing time and time again, and while you’re losing your teammates aren’t getting any better.

They make the same mistakes over and over again. You can’t understand why they try to block every single shot and jump for every single pump fake.

They think they can shoot like Curry and can dribble like Kyrie,  they mix in a step-back three from because their favorite player James Harden does it.

They dribble in corners unable to pass the ball while their head is down and your wide open. Sound familiar?

Let’s further identify what type of players we are talking about here. These are generally players with below-average skill and experience when compared to yourself or the competition.

Basketball may not be their best sport but they enjoy playing it. These players have a hard time understanding basketball concepts, they definitely don’t score a whole lot of points (but love to shoot unnecessary shots) and recognize that they aren’t the best player on the court.

These are also players who look like they have no control of their bodies.  Although these players are not very good, they do get by on their less than ideal basketball skill level. 

What do you notice about these terrible basketball players?

The reality of basketball players who lack skill is they aren’t trying to play bad basketball. Remember when you first started?

It was difficult putting the basketball into the hoop and scoring with someone in front of you. Nobody wants to play poorly, these players are behind in experience and practice.

But what do you notice? You may have noticed that they often pass you the ball because they know you’re a good player and they trust you.

In fact, you may be the player on the team that takes the majority of the shots because you are able to score. See where I’m going with this.

They also try really hard on defense and although they might get beat often a few tweaks can help them become a better defender.

You may have even figured it out already but you know who to pass to get the basketball back into your hands.

Are you good enough to make players around you better?

 Good basketball players make everyone around them better, even the terrible ones. Here’s your opportunity to do just that.

Talk to your teammates on the court while in play, help them understand what they are supposed to do during different game situations.

This is an undervalued skill that pays big dividends in basketball, it’s called communication. 

Remember you want to use their strengths on the basketball court to the team’s advantage. The best approach is before the game know what each player on your team’s strength is.

If these players don’t know what their strengths are tell them where they should be. You could also hint at them if you don’t want to be direct by saying “nice rebound, we need more of those big guy” etc.

Making players around you better isn’t feeding into their weaknesses like a bad player standing at the three-point line who is waiting for the basketball on a 3 on 2 fast break.

This would be a poor pass to make even though they are wide open based on their shooting percentage ( 1 for 10 in practice).

You’re using your brain this is also called basketball IQ. You also don’t want to pass the ball to a player deep in the corner as inexperienced players love to dribble the ball in the corners because it worked once before.

Now every time they do it they are trapped or throw the ball away.

Defense

Defense may be the most difficult basketball skill for new players. Experienced players can pick these players apart without much effort.

Players who are not very good at basketball get beat or don’t understand the defensive game.

A very simple tip especially if it’s a mismatch ( doesn’t have to be a height mismatch but we’re talking about skill mismatch) is to force their defender to the closest teammate on the floor this way the player has help on defense.

This will not work 100% of the time but it’s worth the effort.

The second tip is to have your teammate play physical on defense, many basketball players hate contact, that’s why they’re always calling fouls or And 1 during games.

This can throw players off their game. Always have an arm on the player will drive them absolutely crazy, and if your teammate has a hard time controlling his body cause he’s new to basketball even better, he will make the guy he’s guarding believe he is going to hurt him.

The mental side of basketball is undervalued by young players.

Embrace the challenge….

What’s really telling about your own basketball game is how well do you make these players around you better.

Can you win basketball games with these types of teammates? Do you accept the challenge at all costs without complaining about your team?

Are you able to get these players involved and be the assist man when necessary? Or do you fold under the pressure?

Let’s face it, playing with less talent on your team is difficult. Basketball is a sport when a team is full of Allstar players generally that team is favored to win. But it doesn’t mean they will. 

It is always going to be a challenge to play with these players as teammates. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

The benefits are many, you become tough and resilient. Believing you can win at all costs can make you mentally tough, many players lack these skills on the court and rather complain about how bad their teammates are. 

But you can change that and challenge yourself to prove others wrong and show yourself that you are able to play against the odds of winning and challenge the adversity along with it. 

Not to mention you get to shoot the majority of shots which will help make you a better player in the process.

How good do you think you are at basketball? Self-evaluation

How good are you at basketball? No, really? Do you ever hear a song and say that’s a good song who’s it by?

Realizing that it’s an artist you hate. Then you think it sucks now that you know who sings it. What you are doing is what you call optimism bias.

You think what you like is good and everything that you don’t like sucks. What about your basketball game?

Are you as good of a player as you think you are? Do you play a lot of minutes? Or are you a player that blames the coach for the lack of minutes?

Do you score a lot of points or are you blaming your teammates for not passing you the ball?

If you make a lot of excuses and answered yes to just one of these questions I am willing to bet that you’re not as good of a player as you think you are.

Maybe you should take a step back and re-evaluate your game, it may just take you to the next level.

As a player sometimes we have to endure hardships to advance to the next level of play.

For example, in my junior year in high school, my coach played mostly the seniors, although this statement was true I thought it was because I was a junior and that is why he didn’t play me.

This was further from the truth. That year I believed I was better than I was and I almost quit the team because I was not happy with the playing time I was getting that year.

Basketball is a long season and I wasn’t having fun, I wanted it to end. Sure enough, I stuck it out and came to the realization that I wasn’t the worst player on the team but wasn’t that good either.

Had my coach played me as much as I thought I should have played I may have never improved my game the way I did in the offseason after that year.

What did I do? I told myself that I am going to be so good at basketball next year that my coach will have no choice but to start me.

I didn’t want to leave any question in his mind as to if he should play me or not.  I worked on my game as soon as that season was overplaying every day and working tirelessly on my jump shot.

I made no more excuses and put in the hard work, and it paid off. It doesn’t matter who sings that song, it’s a catchy song and should be played. 

 

Being a Good Teammate

Bad basketball players know they are not the best player on the court. But one thing that may stick out and that you notice is that they are really trying hard and give a lot of effort.

This is the time to be a good teammate and encouraging by using positive words. This does one of two things, it gives the players confidence in you and to play well when they make a good play.

If you’re playing pickup basketball games that player will likely pick you up the next time they are waiting for the next game.

In reality, it’s is not like the player doesn’t want to play well, getting mad and swearing at them will only make them play worse or upset them, It’s really pointless.

I have never seen someone yell at a teammate and then all of a sudden that player who was yelled at started playing with newly developed skills that made them take over the game.

But the opposite is shown to be true, constantly yelling at players doesn’t make them play better.  Encouraging and yelling good bucket can help a player play even better.

Positivity will only encourage confidence, therefore, helping your teammates play better.