Assists are called “dimes” in the NBA. What does that mean? Why is it called a dime? And what is an assist exactly? In this article, we will be answering those questions and more!
What are assists?
An assist is a pass or “touch” that leads to an easy basket. It can be either from the passer who sets up the scorer for the score or after dribbling past and defender with speed and skill before finding another teammate open under the hoop for an easy two points!
In basketball, you have to be an intelligent player in order to avoid turnovers and shoot well. An important part of that is a good passer, which is why assists are considered so valuable – they often lead to easy baskets!
There’s more than one type of assist, though: A “regular” pass or touch before shooting is called a general assist. If the passer had to dribble past a defender, it’s called an “assist off the dribble.”
The assist is technically considered just as valuable as a basket, though assists are still often given less importance than scoring points!
An assist can be any touch that leads directly and immediately to another player making a shot. This includes both regular passes and those that happen after the ball has been dribbled past a defender.
So, Why are assists called ‘Dimes’ in the NBA?
The reason why a dime refers to an assist has everything to do with the payphone. The answer lies in the common term used for this device – ‘dropping dimes.’
It was 10 cents peruse, and people would either drop them into the phone or give you one if they had nothing themselves.
The term dropped dimes became synonymous with giving someone an assist. It was also a great way to describe the act of passing the ball, which is all about dropping it between two players.
why are assist so important in basketball?
Assists are the primary way that points are scored in basketball. They’re also a good indicator of how efficient and productive you’ve been on offense, with an assist being worth just as much as a shot from the field or free throw.
An average NBA player will usually have about seven assists per game while playing at least 28 minutes. You can see some pretty eye-opening statistics when it comes to who has the most dimes in league history: John Stockton is first place all-time with 15,806 assists, followed by Jason Kidd (12,0907) and Kevin Porter (11,205).
A lot more goes into getting your teammates involved than just passing them the ball – they need help scoring too! That’s where assists come in. An assist is typically defined as a pass that leads directly to a score by the recipient, but it can also be given for an extra touch after getting them the ball if they have scored without any dribbles or shots taken.
Some of the different types of assists in the game.
In this section, we explore some of the different types of assists that players can attempt in a game.
-Dribble Penetration: when you’re coming down the court and your teammate is on the wing, they may run to a spot or fake as if they were going to cut across the lane. If this happens, then you have an open window for a bounce pass that could lead them into some space where they can make their own basket. This will also be harder because there are only two defenders instead of three, so it’s easier for them to get around one defender and shoot from anywhere in front of the hoop.
-The Swing Pass: You should use these passes when playing with someone who has good handles but not great shooting skills like Lebron James or Kevin Durant because as long as he gets past his man, he can go inside and beat his defender for a layup.
-The Lob Pass: This is an advanced pass that you should only be using in really tight situations because it requires precise timing to make sure your teammate can get the ball before they’re blocked out by the defense or trapped on the other side of the court when playing against zone defenses.
-The Overhead Pass: This is not a common pass because it’s hard to do, so you only want to try it in the right situation. If your teammate is open and has his man on his heels, he can shoot with little effort from just about any spot near half-court or three-point line.
How can you improve your passing skills to increase your overall assist numbers?
You can improve your passing skills by practicing them both on and off the court.
On the court, you can improve by practicing different types of passing drills.
Here are some passing drills you can do on the court:
-Dribble the ball to a spot and then make an easy bounce pass to a teammate
-Dribble the ball to a spot and then make an overhead pass or bounce pass back to yourself before passing it off to your teammate
-Passing in between cones or around obstacles
-The chest drill: One player starts by passing the ball off to their teammate, who then passes it back. The players continue passing until one of them misses a catch or fails to get rid of the ball in time.
Off the court, practice by playing basketball with friends.
Here are some Off-court passing drills you can do off-court:
-Practice making passes around obstacles
-Practice with a partner by alternating who has the ball
-Play games such as “Around The World,” where you have to make it around an obstacle course while passing the ball off to your teammate.
There are many different aspects of basketball you can work on to improve your passing skills.
If you want to increase your overall assists numbers, it is important that you work on improving these skills and keep practicing them.
In the end, what matters most are the goals you set for yourself!
