Okay, so I’ve been coaching my kid’s high school basketball team, and one thing that always comes up is, “What counts as an assist?” It seems simple, but there’s actually some debate about it. So, I dove in to figure this out, for real, on the court.
My Experiment Setup
First, I grabbed the rule book – you know, the official high school one. It says something like, an assist is a pass that “directly leads” to a basket. But “directly” is kinda vague, right?
So, I decided to watch some game footage. I picked three of our recent games and started tracking every single pass that led to a score. I wanted to see what the refs were actually calling.
The “One-Dribble” Rule?
- I noticed something pretty quickly. If a player caught the pass and immediately shot, it was always an assist. Easy.
- Then, I saw some where the player took one dribble, then shot. Most of the time, still an assist.
- But here’s where it got tricky. If they took two or more dribbles, especially if they moved a lot, it was rarely called an assist.
The “Making Space” Factor
I also started to think about why the player was dribbling. Were they just repositioning slightly to get a better angle? Or were they actively trying to shake off a defender? That seemed to matter.
If the dribble was just a small adjustment, and the shot followed pretty quickly, it usually counted as an assist. But if the player was really working to create space, driving to the basket, or doing a fancy move, then the pass became less “direct.”
My Conclusion (For Now!)
Based on my little experiment, here’s what I’m telling my players:
- Think “quick pass, quick shot.” That’s your safest bet for an assist.
- One dribble is usually okay, but make it fast.
- If you’re having to really work to get open after the pass, the assist might not count.
It is important to remember that the judgement of the referee on the spot is the final word.
It’s not perfect, and I’m sure there will still be some arguments. I’m going to keep watching and tracking, this is just a working theory. But for now, it gives us something a little more concrete to go on than just “directly leads to a basket.”
