Fundamentals of Basketball ft. Pistol Pete Maravich

"How can you make a call on that move when you never had a chance to see it before?" Pistol Pete Pistol Pete was a basketball player ahead of his time and he was a legend. He was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, and his father was a basketball coach. Pistol Pete starred in college at LSU (Louisiana State University) and played on three NBA teams until their retirement in 1980. A pistol is still the leading scorer in NCAA Division 1, with an average of 44.2 points per game and a 3662-point total. Pistol`s game would easily translate into today's game. He had Kyrie's level of handles, he had a very good jump shot and his passing ability is really just the next level of basketball. If we take a look at his highlights, and if we like to watch the NBA, we will notice that over the years his game has transcended to younger generations.

Because Pistol was such a great player, we at Hoopsking have decided to present to you a full training video where Pete Maravich will be talking and teaching his way of basketball.

The Dribbling Drills Pistol

Pete can be considered as the father of a modern dribbling and advanced passing. We can`t say that a behind-the-back or no-look pass was never used before him, but we can say for sure that it was never seen as a go-to move for any other player.

The pistol was never about pre-thought moves ( as we can see players nowadays use the same combinations every time). Pistol was all about the reaction in the given moment and in that manner he practiced his dribble moves. It was all about having full control over the ball no matter what the situation was. Just a pure instinct and reaction based on what the defense is doing in front of him. The drill that we are going to see now is not usable in game situations. Rather it will position both your body and mind in an awkward position and it will make you move and think differently. The point of the drill is to make you practice hard things which will result in a manner that the easy stuff will get easier.

Let us see the drill.

In this drill, you will do two things very differently than the "normal" basketball demands. We all know that the between-the-legs dribble is done in a way that if the ball is in the right hand and we want to dribble it between the legs, we are going to step a bit forward with our left leg and the ball will end up in our left hand. Pistol is doing it a bit differently. He starts his dribble with his right hand, he is stepping forward with his right leg and he is catching the ball with his right hand again, and as the drill goes on he is stepping with his left foot forward and dribbling the ball back to the right side. Basically, he is doing the reverse through the legs dribble.

Let us see the video.

The Passing Drills

If you ask me, Pistol is the best passer the League has ever seen. His greatness in this aspect of basketball was made upon the fact that he was able to use these circus/freestyle/Harlem Globetrotters kind of passes on a regular basis. While watching some of his games one can get an impression that it was impossible for him to make an ordinary assist.

"They don`t pay us a million dollars for two-hand chest passes!" - Pistol Pete

Pete Maravich loved to train. All his moves were made in the gym by doing so many repetitions that even he could easily lose count. One of his most iconic moves was a behind-the-back pass thrown from almost full court. The close ones were just regular stuff. There were really two drills that gave him the skill to assist this way:

1. Behind the back pass to himself

Pistol was always doing this drill just to train the feeling of throwing the ball behind his back. As it really has no in-game value, as far as the training process goes, it will make your muscle memory accept this move as something ordinary.

2. Behind the back pass to a buddy while moving away from him

This drill will put to a test your eye-hand coordination, and it will make you practice throwing the ball behind the back to a faraway target. By moving away from a passing buddy, you are constantly adjusting your passing so when the opportunities occur in games, you will be ready to throw a spectacular assist.

The Shooting Drills

Pistol Pete Maravich was a great shooter! His carrier average was 44% for 2pt and 66% for 3pt. His jumper was smooth and accurate. The main reason for this is that he had a perfect form and that he was able to keep his composure even when he was at full speed or off balance.

If you want to learn more from Pistol Pete`s training videos, click on the link below and purchase a DVD that contains all of the drills: