Sophie Cunningham’s new No Hesitation podcast with world-renowned basketball trainer Drew Hanlen promised to be more basketball-centric than its predecessor, Show Me Something. And true to that promise, the two have dedicated quite a number of episodes to reviewing basketball films, plays, and players’ performances. This time around, however, Wednesday’s episode was spent reviewing Cunningham’s own game footage.
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As it turns out, Hanlen’s breakdown and analysis of Cunningham’s old clips led the Indiana Fever guard to recognize one aspect of her game that she appears to have gradually abandoned. And after revisiting those plays, Cunningham could not help but admit that she had been limiting her own potential.
“I’m limiting myself. So I need to get back to repping this type of stuff,” Cunningham said.
The specific aspect of Cunningham’s game that led to that admission was her ability to make catch-and-shoot attempts. As shared by Hanlen, she shot an impressive 43% from the field, making 65 of her 151 attempts in those situations last season. That included 38% when guarded and 48% when left open. For Hanlen, those were elite numbers, and Cunningham should certainly continue building on them.
“I would say is, no changes on catch-and-shoot stuff,” Hanlen said.
However, Hanlen believes she needs to revisit her ability to create scoring opportunities through off-ball movement. Specifically, he wants to see her become more comfortable coming off screens, running off pin-downs, and flaring out to find open looks.
Rather than relying primarily on stationary catch-and-shoot situations, Cunningham could become a more versatile offensive threat by moving without the ball, preparing her feet and hands early, and getting her shot off quickly after receiving a pass.
“I would like to see you be more versatile, though. You go off screen and knock it down… You know, moving without the ball and getting it off quick. And so one of the things I think that you can improve on is just doing a better job of, when you’re moving without the ball, whether it’s off screens or just moving in space, being able to get your shot prep ready, get your feet ready, get your hands ready,” Hanlen added.
As Hanlen further revealed, his review of Cunningham’s old clips showed that she had executed these plays effectively in the past. And so, it’s something she could easily adopt again.
“So you’ve done it in the past. I love you moving more without the ball. I love you firing off screens. And I love you working on getting your shot off quickly instead of just being kind of a catch-and-shoot kind of player that spaces the floor,” Hanlen said.
Of course, Cunningham acknowledged that she had stopped practicing those movements. However, the reason was that they were not frequently featured in her team’s offense.
Perhaps this is one change fans could see in her game next season. And if she remains with the Fever, adding more off-ball movement and the ability to shoot off screens to her offensive arsenal could prove beneficial to the team’s overall offense.