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The Crossover: NBA Great Allen Iverson

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A crossover is probably one of the best plays in basketball. The best possible outcome -one that causes the defender to slip- is fun to watch. It is as good as, if not better than watching monster dunk. In fact, only incredible shots look better than crossovers. NBA great Allen Iverson, the founder of the crossover, definitely is more qualified. It started becoming popular for point guards in the late 1990’s. Then it spread to shooting guards and small forwards as well. These positions use the crossover the most. But it really started becoming used almost all the time after Iverson crossed up Michael Jordan. So theres a little background in the crossover. First you should have a rhythm when you are dribbling the ball. Keep it steady, …show more content…

It adds another change in momentum, which helps even more in creating space. A good example is James Harden’s “Step-Daddy”. It is a step-back to the side, and it very often occurs after he pulls a crossover on his defender. The more space you create for the shot, the more likely you will make your shot. The whole purpose of these dribble moves are to create space, no matter if its a layup, a shot, or a pass. More space equals a less contested shot which equals higher chance of making the shot. Also you can drive past your defender for the easy layup. However sometimes other defenders will arrive to help contest the shot. In that case it’s better to pass to a teammate whose defender isn’t that close to him. Then your teammate can have a high percentage to hit the open shot. The more ways you can hurt a defense, the better it is for your …show more content…

This takes a lot of practice for you to pull this off well. Nothing comes without practice, definitely not skill. I have tried and failed many times. The first time, the ball left my hand and bounced twice on the court, while I could only watch as my defender picked up the ball and dribbled down the court for a layup. I felt a sinking feeling, and decided that I wouldn’t try again until I practiced it more. So, a couple weeks later, against another team, I tried again. And failed. Again. So, I had to practice even more. If you don’t control the ball, then your defender will score, not you. It will slip from your hands, and most of the time, your defender or another defender will get the ball instead. So, next week (which was the last game of the regular season) I tried again, and it finally worked. I blew by the defender for the layup. It might not seem like much, but I got the confidence to pull that more often, and I become ok at

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