Smart cant dribble with his left and Young cant dribble with his right

[Tr1boy]

Im noticing teams defending our youngsters a certain way.  Trying to make smart use his left hand and young  his right. Both youngsters look like they hit a wall when this happens and pass the ball to somebody else.

What are the chances these guys can develop their "weak" hand?

Is it common or rare to see guys develop their "weak" hand for ball handling once they reach/play in the nba? 

[Chris22]

It just takes practice.

[letsgoblue86]

Im noticing teams defending our youngsters a certain way.  Trying to make smart use his left hand and young  his right. Both youngsters look like they hit a wall when this happens and pass the ball to somebody else.

What are the chances these guys can develop their "weak" hand?

Is it common or rare to see guys develop their "weak" hand for ball handling once they reach/play in the nba?

Smart isn't as bad as Bradley with the left but he's no Rondo.  He'll improve.

[pearljammer10]

And Bradley can't dribble with either!

[manl_lui]

Im noticing teams defending our youngsters a certain way.  Trying to make smart use his left hand and young  his right. Both youngsters look like they hit a wall when this happens and pass the ball to somebody else.

What are the chances these guys can develop their "weak" hand?

Is it common or rare to see guys develop their "weak" hand for ball handling once they reach/play in the nba?

Smart isn't as bad as Bradley with the left but he's no Rondo.  He'll improve.

as a rookie Smart is already a better ball handler than Bradley, not an issue imo as I see him constantly improving. James Young is only 19 years old! This kid will improve. Yesterday was awesome, seeing the two kids shine

Smart may had a bad game offensively (posting 4 points) but other than that, he had an absolute solid game on the boards and the assists, and his defense has been spectacular. He is definitely showing more confidence out there and showing why he deserves being the starter.

I feel Young will be there soon after the all-star break...he seems more confident and just looks like a kid having a lot of fun out there...Excited for the future tbh

[Dedalus]

I noticed, too, that they're off-hands could use some work. Trying to draw a positive, I realized it's also important for those guys to learn how to efficiently pass against NBA defenses. Young has a small data size and Smart is coming along slowly. They might benefit from some work like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMhBnNlZaBs

I really hope this is our backcourt of the future and that they're focused on out-working their opponents behind the scenes.

[Eddie20]

Ginobili, Dragic, and Harden immediately come to mind as primarily being strong hand dominant ball handlers. K Leonard doesn't really have a great handle with each other, but he usually goes right.

[TwinTower14]

I am not concerned about Smart developing at all.  Look how much he has gotten better since the Summer League??  His ability to knock down 3's and run the offense have gotten so much better since then it's crazy.  Smart is a tireless worker that will maximize his talents which I think will eventually land him on multiple All-Star teams...

Just a hunch but I bet Smart makes a huge jump next season....

[droopdog7]

I suppose guys can improve a little but I would not expect huge gains.  Frankly, 19 years old is ancient in basketball development terms.  Because my son plays competitively now (and has since he was seven), I have insight into what kids can do at a young age.  The best kids could pretty much do what they can do now when they were kids.  The biggest difference is strength and size.

So yeah, smart and young will improve like bradley did.  Take that for what it's worth.

[Eddie20]

I suppose guys can improve a little but I would not expect huge gains.  Frankly, 19 years old is ancient in basketball development terms.  Because my son plays competitively now (and has since he was seven), I have insight into what kids can do at a young age.  The best kids could pretty much do what they can do now when they were kids.  The biggest difference is strength and size.

So yeah, smart and young will improve like bradley did.  Take that for what it's worth.

I don't think this is accurate at all. You have plenty of examples the other way of players that have improved significantly even from college. Players like Curry, Klay, Leonard, J.Butler, Lowry, Dragic, Lillard, etc. would be playing closer to their draft position, rather than their current all-star level status if what you said was accurate.

[Tr1boy]

Some good points. The question again is can they develop their off hand for ball handling?  How many guys have succeed once they arrived in the nba??

I know there is quite a list of guys that have failed. Jeff Green, Stacey Augmen back in the day (pure lefty),  AB etc. 
Some guys like westbrook also is not very strong going to his left still but is a exceptional athlete to "cheat" .

Both smart and young both are not exceptional athletes and really need to develop their off hand to keep the defense guessing. Hopefully it happens

[TwinTower14]

I suppose guys can improve a little but I would not expect huge gains.  Frankly, 19 years old is ancient in basketball development terms.  Because my son plays competitively now (and has since he was seven), I have insight into what kids can do at a young age.  The best kids could pretty much do what they can do now when they were kids.  The biggest difference is strength and size.

So yeah, smart and young will improve like bradley did.  Take that for what it's worth.

I don't think this is accurate at all. You have plenty of examples the other way of players that have improved significantly even from college. Players like Curry, Klay, Leonard, J.Butler, Lowry, Dragic, Lillard, etc. would be playing closer to their draft position, rather than their current all-star level status if what you said was accurate.

completely agree with you - guys like Jordan, Bird and Kobe would add something to their game every year to improve their overall game.  Just for an example, Jordan and Kobe going into the post latter in their careers??  Guys improve all the time, it's the ones that put in the time...

[Tr1boy]

I suppose guys can improve a little but I would not expect huge gains.  Frankly, 19 years old is ancient in basketball development terms.  Because my son plays competitively now (and has since he was seven), I have insight into what kids can do at a young age.  The best kids could pretty much do what they can do now when they were kids.  The biggest difference is strength and size.

So yeah, smart and young will improve like bradley did.  Take that for what it's worth.

I don't think this is accurate at all. You have plenty of examples the other way of players that have improved significantly even from college. Players like Curry, Klay, Leonard, J.Butler, Lowry, Dragic, Lillard, etc. would be playing closer to their draft position, rather than their current all-star level status if what you said was accurate.

Dragic , Lillard, Lowry , Curry before entering the nba were able to go left or right. Not sure about the others

[Eddie20]

I suppose guys can improve a little but I would not expect huge gains.  Frankly, 19 years old is ancient in basketball development terms.  Because my son plays competitively now (and has since he was seven), I have insight into what kids can do at a young age.  The best kids could pretty much do what they can do now when they were kids.  The biggest difference is strength and size.

So yeah, smart and young will improve like bradley did.  Take that for what it's worth.

I don't think this is accurate at all. You have plenty of examples the other way of players that have improved significantly even from college. Players like Curry, Klay, Leonard, J.Butler, Lowry, Dragic, Lillard, etc. would be playing closer to their draft position, rather than their current all-star level status if what you said was accurate.

Dragic , Lillard, Lowry , Curry before entering the nba were able to go left or right. Not sure about the others

He was speaking in terms of pure development and not just ballhandling.

[Tr1boy]

I suppose guys can improve a little but I would not expect huge gains.  Frankly, 19 years old is ancient in basketball development terms.  Because my son plays competitively now (and has since he was seven), I have insight into what kids can do at a young age.  The best kids could pretty much do what they can do now when they were kids.  The biggest difference is strength and size.

So yeah, smart and young will improve like bradley did.  Take that for what it's worth.

I don't think this is accurate at all. You have plenty of examples the other way of players that have improved significantly even from college. Players like Curry, Klay, Leonard, J.Butler, Lowry, Dragic, Lillard, etc. would be playing closer to their draft position, rather than their current all-star level status if what you said was accurate.

Dragic , Lillard, Lowry , Curry before entering the nba were able to go left or right. Not sure about the others

He was speaking in terms of pure development and not just ballhandling.

Honestly im talking about just ball handling.

As a guard-sf able to go left or right will make your life easier or a possible nightmare if you cant. Some of the best players (g-sf) in the league in the past or present are able to go left or right. Like lebron, kobe, pierce, durant