The process of shooting a basketball can be broken down into four parts in terms of the brain mechanisms involved.  The participant must first identify any environmental stimuli, this stimuli is then perceived by the brain and based upon these perceptions a response is selected, and finally a response is programmed.  The end result of these four stages is the motor output, or in this case the shot.

Stage 1: Stimulus Identification

In this stage, the performer has to determine if a stimulus has been presented and if it has to identify it.  Stage 1 relies on input from the various sensory systems, including the visual, auditory, vestibular and kinesthetic systems.

Someone who is preparing to make a shot will use sensory information  to form visual representations of the ball, hoop and position on the court.  As well, information regarding the size and weight of the ball may be identified.

Stage 2: Perception of the Stimuli

Once the information regarding the environment travels up the spinal cord it is distributed to pertinent areas of the brain via the thalamus.  The thalamus relays information to the visual, auditory, somatosensory and frontal cortices.  Relevant information regarding the stimuli is processed in these areas and perceptions are formed.

For example the shooter will determine their position on the court, what the situation is (game, practice, drills etc), how far away and and what angle the hoop is at, their hand position relative to the ball.

Stage 3: Selecting a Response

Once the performer has sufficient information about the environment, they must decide what, if any, response should be made.  The performer decides what response is appropriate and selects from one of the available movements.

Selection of the appropriate response is mediated by frontal regions of the cerebral cortex.

Depending on a shooter's location relative to the hoop they may select the "long shot" response or the "lay-up" response.  On the other hand, if a defender is blocking their shot, they may chose to pass the ball rather than shoot it.

Stage 4: Programming the Response

Once the performer has decided on the movement to be made, the next task is to organize the motor system for the production of the desired movement.  This involves preparing the cerebellum and the spinal cord for action, retrieval of a motor program by the basal ganglia, and organizing the plan by the pre-motor areas.

Output

The final step in this sequence of events is the shot.  The primary motor cortex directs the appropriate muscles to contract via descending spinal pathways.  The signal will tell the muscles the proper order and levels of force and timing to produce an effective shot.  Depending on the outcome, the performer may decide to modify their behavior, or try to replicate the same movement exactly.