"You don't have to shuffle the ball around" - Rachel DeMita shares Jason Williams' secret to throwing perfect pass to a shooter
By Jan Rey T. Obguia,
7 hours ago
As a former D1 college basketball player, Rachel DeMita knows hoops. However, even that did not prepare the former Old Dominion guard for her meeting with retired NBA fan favorite Jason Williams.
In one of the segments of DeMita's Courtside Clube podcast, the "NBA 2K girl" was still awestruck as she recalled J-Will sharing his trade secrets, specifically about passing to a shooter.
"Jason Williams is one of the coolest people that I've worked with. He actually taught me how to pass to a shooter," said DeMita. "What he said that he would do for his shooters is that he would line up the laces. So when you catch it, you catch it right on the laces. When he was passing to me, he was like, 'See, you don't have to shuffle it around.'"
"Obviously, when it's in-game, it's harder to line up the laces for who you're passing to, but that is something that he did, which contributed to him being such a great passer," she added.
"Huge Difference"
The training session in question was posted on Overtime's official YouTube channel . The 12-year NBA veteran shared some pointers on passing and how knowing how to pass to a shooter makes a "huge difference."
"I don't think I've heard anybody talk about that. I definitely appreciate that," DeMita commented.
"To me, I think that's part of the point guard's job to know how your shooters like the ball," he added.
As J-Will pointed out, shuffling the ball to get the perfect feel allows extra seconds for the defense to recover. By then, the shooters don't have enough room to get a shot up anymore. On the other hand, if the point guard ensures that the seams are already in place as soon as the ball reaches the shooter's hand, the rhythm becomes perfect for a catch-and-shoot.
It takes a certain level of basketball genius to think of something like that. Needless to say, the 2006 NBA champion had broken down into a science, and it showed in the way he played.
Williams was nicknamed "White Chocolate" during his playing days, dating back to his rookie year with the Sacramento Kings. As to the origin of that moniker, the 1998 seventh-overall pick said he got the style and pizzazz and was playing mostly with African American friends in his hometown of Belle, West Virginia.
Kings media relations assistant noticed Williams playing with a different type of flash and called him "White Chocolate." The nickname made too much sense, and it has stuck ever since.
Early in his career, J-Will was a wrecking ball. He made the Kings fun with various crazy passes and dribble moves he'd pull off. Coaches never saw him as a winning piece until he got to Memphis, where coach Hubie Brown told Williams to tone the flash down, making him a better decision-making point guard.
By 2006, Jason was the starting point guard for the Miami Heat and went all the way to win the championship.
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