Introduction

In the NBA Jr. 13-14-year-olds championship game, 8-11-19, U.S. West v. Africa, there seems at first to be no reason why the West team should have beaten the African team. The African team was loaded with at least 4 of the 5 starters who appeared to be at least 6' 5" tall. The U.S. team had only one or two players of that height. In the early stages of the game, the score was very close, while the African team may have had a slight lead much of the time.

But U.S. West began to lengthen a lead in the latter part of the 2nd half and by the end of the game were well over 10 points ahead. The African team had made 2 or 3 elaborate dunks in the course of the game, with none from the U.S. side. I felt all through the 1st half that there seemed little chance that the U.S. would win. It seemed like a mismatch, like the height (or "length") of the African team really constituted an unfair and insurmountable advantage.

But what I had noticed by the later parts of the game was that the African team had on a number of occasions failed to connect on long forward passes which sailed out of bounds. Several fast breaks for Africa went for turnovers because of ineffective passing and / or inept pass receiving.

Whenever you see insufficient passing or ineffective passing, it is my thesis that it reflects defect or deficiency in the team spirit or camaraderie among the players. In other words, poor passing reflects ill-will between members of the team.

This book is primarily about better passing in basketball and therefore about cultivating better fellow-feeling among teammates and, quite simply, having more fun when you play.