Hesitation crossover

Gary Payton doesn’t often end up looking a fool on the court, but Jason Williams sure clowned him with this crossover, faking the former defensive player of the year off his feet. As with many of the best crossovers, the basic motions themselves aren’t particularly difficult to emulate here, the real challenge being that of convincing your man to bite on the up-fake.

Although the move may look similar to the Killer Crossover initially, its intent is different. The difference is here in this hesitation, which allows your defender a fraction of a second to recover and bite on the fake.

The move also differs from the Killer Crossover in the second dribble, which, owing to the fact that your defender is likely to have shifted more during the hesitation, can be taken directly towards the basket.

In this demonstration, the hesitation is mixed with a subtle head-fake. Coupled with the high dribble, this will often fool your defender into believing that you mean to shoot. If they straighten up even slightly in order to defend a jumper, it will be significantly easier to beat them off the dribble.