YouTube Gold: The Art Of Passing

We’ve said before that the best thing about basketball, at least on offense, is passing. When you have a team that’s unselfish and willing to move the ball, basketball can go from a game where guys are trying to hit baskets to something much more ethereal.

We saw a few minutes of it this past season at Duke, when things just clicked into place. It was like a shift in consciousness. The movement of the ball was the main thing; everyone involved was just a conduit to a higher purpose (Phil Jackson would be so proud).

You can see this in clips from the early years of the Boston Celtics dynasty and the ball barely touches the ground on fast breaks.

In this clip, we see various NBA teams hit that perfect spot. The ball moves around so fast that the defenses are constantly off balance. On occasion, you also see the completely unexpected pass.

The only thing we’re aware of that’s close to this in sports is soccer, and in that sport you could wait all night for a single score. It’s beautiful, but we’ll take our game.