Decision-Making in Basketball: The Interplay between Cognitive Processes and Motor Execution

This study aimed to explore the relationship between dribbling behavior preceding passing and shooting patterns, and its implications for the interplay between decision-making efficiency and motor execution across four competitive basketball levels: the National Basketball Association (NBA), the EuroLeague, and European national teams, and the under-16 (U16) and under-18 (U18) European national teams. A total of 32 games (eight from each level) were analyzed to identify performance variables associated with success. Actions involving zero dribbles and sequences of three or more dribbles (3+) emerged as the most effective offensive patterns, reflecting the complementarity between rapid, intuitive decisions and deliberate, well-planned actions. Moreover, at the higher competitive levels, assists were more frequently produced following zero-dribble situations, underscoring the efficiency of quick, collective ball movement among elite players. Professional players were more likely to draw fouls during extended dribbling sequences, suggesting greater technical adaptability compared to lower competitive level players. Overall, these findings emphasize the integration of decision-making and motor execution as hallmarks of basketball expertise, highlighting the importance of developing both intuitive and deliberate decision processes in training.