Cam Brink on How Good Shot Selection Leads to Good Defence
“Great defence always starts with a good shot.”
The Los Angeles Sparks’ Cameron Brink isn’t necessarily a skilled shooter, but she does take smart shots. She also knows a thing or two about defence.
In her freshman year at Stanford, she had a 58.1 field goal percentage -making 3.9 of the 6.8 shots she took- and averaged 2.8 blocks a game, helping her school to an NCAA Championship.
She ended her college career averaging 14.0 points on 52.7 percent shooting, 9.1 rebounds and 3.1 blocks.
Brink knows a good shot from a bad one, and she believes shot IQ is one of the most important skills a player needs because good shot selection will make defence easier.
“I think shot selection is so important,” Brink said on the Straight2Cam podcast. “I think something I’m glad I learned at Stanford was the importance of shot selection because sometimes, like, you watch shots and you’re just like, ‘That was [horrible],’ then that leads into the defence just being harder. Great defence always starts with a good shot.”
To elaborate, when a team takes good shots, they’re much more likely to score. This gives them time to run back and set up their defence; they’ll have more time to get into position and pick up their matchups because the opposing team has to inbound the ball.
However, if a team is constantly chucking and missing shots and turning the ball over, it’s much easier for their opponents to run the fastbreak. And oftentimes, there will be a disadvantage on the fastbreak, where there will be more offensive players than defensive (for example, 3-on-2).
This is why smart shots equal good defence.
Brink also highlighted the drills she has to go through to learn how to pick shots and avoid turnovers.
She said her head coach, Lynne Roberts, sounds an air horn and yells at the players during practice every time a bad shot is taken or when a turnover is committed because this helps condition the team not to make bad plays.
Brink and her guest, Damian Lee, also talked about mid-range shots.
Her guest, Damian Lee, gave his thoughts on the shot, saying he believes it’s an important and necessary shot because it throws the defence off.
“When the game comes down to it, you know, teams are looking for threes or at the basket,” Lee said. “So, you’re going to need guys that can make shots mid-range, off the dribble, catch-and-shoot, whatever it is, just the tougher shots because when you want to win at the highest level [you have to be unpredictable].”
Brink is currently mending a left ACL injury and does not have a timeline for when she will make her return.
She played in 15 WNBA games before sustaining the injury and averaged 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.1 steals in her rookie season with the Sparks.
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