Teaching Elite Point of Attack Finishing in Basketball

• By Grant Young

A basketball guard can have all the dribbling skills, quickness, and athleticism in the world. But if they don’t have decisiveness and finishing ability at the point of attack, then they’ll never be able to develop into a lethal score and all-around elite player.

For those who don’t know, the “point of attack” is where a guard (or any other basketball player) makes split-second decisions on whether to finish on one leg or two or with their inside and outside hands. In other words, it’s the moment when a guard must decide how they’re going to finish a drive without their shot getting blocked by a taller player. 

Practicing a floater is a great start to this for many players. But if a guard wants to keep playing past high school, they’ll need to develop a great point of attack finishing package that includes more than one finishing move. And Doug Novak is one of the world’s best when it comes to teaching guards how to excel at the point of attack. 

Doug Novak possesses nearly three decades of college basketball coaching experience, and most recently joined Northern Kentucky Women's Basketball as an assistant coach before the 2023-24 season. Prior to that, Novak served as the associate head coach for the men's basketball program at Army West Point during the 2022-23 season. Before West Point, he was the interim head coach for the women's basketball program at Mississippi State in 2021-22. 

Before his lone season with the Mississippi State women’s team, Novak served as the Head Men's Coach at Bethel University from 2013-21. There he composited an overall record of 131-68 in eight seasons, leaving with the highest winning percentage (.658) of any Bethel basketball coach in program history. 

A main focus for all of Coach Novak’s teams is being able to finish effectively and efficiently in the paint. This is why his ‘Point of Attack Finishing’ course should be required for every basketball coach to understand so that they can not only help their guard score more points in the paint but also help increase these guards’ chances of making it to (and succeeding at) the game’s next level. 

Mastery

Learning how to execute a jump stop in the paint is a powerful skill in a basketball player’s point of attack repertoire. And Coach Novak utilizes one drill that helps how players get this ability. 

The drill starts with three lines standing along the baseline. The first player in each line will then run out to the elbow and stop on their right foot while bringing an imaginary ball up to their right ear. They will then pivot 360 degrees around them (simulating them weighing their options as to whether they should pass or shoot) before releasing and jogging through half-court. 

Once each player has done this once or twice, the same drill can be done with a basketball being dribbled in both the right and the left hand. 

The goal of this drill is to coordinate the players’ feet so that they can eventually finish one or two feet without measuring their steps. Teaching and drilling this simplicity with footwork will help players not take unnecessary steps during the actual point of attack decision. And because a split second can be the difference between getting a shot blocked or it going through the basket, being efficient with one’s foot movements is of paramount importance. 

Euro Step

The euro step is perhaps the most romanticized point of attack finishing move in the game of basketball; and for good reason. 

Euro stepping is an extremely effective way to avoid defenders while trying to finish a basket and often frees up enough space for a player to get their shot off without having to worry about getting their shot blocked. 

And the best thing about the euro step is that it’s a deceptively simple move to make, once a player has practiced enough. 

Coach Novak teaches the Euro Step by having players get in groups of three under each basket. One player will start at about one step in front of the free throw line, the other player will be playing defense (although more so just standing with their hands up), and the third player will be waiting for their turn and passing the ball to the first player.

Once the pass is made, the player catching it will execute their euro step by first stepping right then left, arcing the ball across their eyebrow as they go up for a layup on that left step. The players will then rotate positions for a few rounds before rotating to their opposite foot and hand and executing the drill again. 

Shimmy Hook

Point of attack finishing decisions aren’t reserved for guards. While post players usually won’t have to worry about the dribble and drive aspect, they still need to have a few different finishing moves that can be made on the block to either finish the basket or draw a foul.

And the shimmy hook is an excellent skill for any player. 

This drill is simple. In order to do it, a player will be at the post with another player at the baseline, feeding them the ball. The player receiving the ball will catch it, make a pivot on their pivot foot, shimmy to either side and then finish the play with whichever hand is farthest away from the basket. 

After a few rounds of this, a defender can be added to get a better feel for how to decide which way they should pivot. 

All of these various point of attack finishing drills will get your team scoring in the paint and developing their skills to succeed as they progress in their respective careers.