How to Steal like T.J. McConnell
The Floor General shares his secrets.
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March 3, 2021, is a special day for T.J. McConnell.
On this day, the Indiana Pacers point guard not only became a legend, but he also further proved how much of a menace he is.
The Pacers visited the Cleveland Cavaliers on this day and in the first quarter alone, McConnell, who played a tinge over 6 minutes, had stolen the ball 5 times.
By halftime, this dude had a total of 9 steals.
By the end of the game, he had a total of 10 steals (yeah, he only recorded 1 steal in the second half).
In addition to the steals, he also scored 16 points and dished out 13 assists for his second career triple-double in the 114-111 victory.
McConnell became Indiana’s leader in single-game steals after this performance.
So, what makes him such a good thief? What does he look for when he intercepts the ball?
On an episode of the Young Man and the Three, McConnell said he had built a knack for getting steals through practice.
“I feel like my instinct to get steals has always been there. I was really good at Duquesne, but we switched everything at Duquesne, 1 through 5. And when we went to Arizona, we ran packline defence, and, I mean, it’s no gambling; as solid as can be. And I feel like it really gave me the instincts to, you know, slide my feet and stay in front of guys better.”
He also gave some tips for how to increase the chances of getting the steal.
“For me, it’s just the ball pressure,” McConnell said. “The ball pressure is big. Not really letting a guy have a ton of breathing room. And even something to this day, just respecting the call, pick-and-roll wise. I mean, not trying not to get rejected is massive, especially with the packline at Arizona. Just following the gameplan as best as you can, knowing people’s tendencies -I try to do that to the best of my abilities.”
McConnell, however, believes that the most important factor for being a good defender is effort.
He said that if you go out there and give “110 percent” every night, you’ll have a chance to get stops and you’ll rack up the steals.
In this episode, McConnell also talked about what it means to play hard and how he has made a career from doing that, which you can read here.
The Floor General played in his tenth NBA season last season and averaged 1.1 steals per game.