John Brady: Offense vs. Box-and-1 Defense

Here are some good ideas Coach Brady uses against a Box-and-1 defense.  I really like the simplicity of his attack and the number of scoring opportunities it provides.

Hope it helps.

John Brady: Offense vs. Box-and-1 Defense

Alan Stein: Measure of a Great Program - 2009 Vegas Clinic

Here is a great set of clinic note from Alan Stein from the 2009 Vegas Clinic.  Coach Stein is one of the best out there when it comes to strength training and injury prevention for basketball athletes.  He has a number of videos and I highly recommend them all.  We use a number of his dynamic warm up drills, ankle drills and in-season workout drills.  We have a seen an increase in core strength, injury prevention and muscle fatigue recovery.

Alan Stein 2009 Vegas Clinic

Coach K: Practice Planning Process

I got these great notes on practice planning from Alan Stein at Stronger Team.

Ask yourself these questions yearly and most importantly, daily:

1. Who am I coaching?
2. How old are they?
3. How much experience do they have (Not just playing, but in your system)?
4. How many players do I have?
5. What do I coach? How do I coach my system?

How do I teach it?

1. Develop physical habits that fit your system
2. You need intelligent, intensive, persistent work
3. Drills should be intelligent
4. Drills should make sense

How much time do I have?

1. Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly

What resources do I have to help me teach? Facilities?

1. How many baskets
2. How many coaches
3. Use of managers is the key to the program
4. Some of the smartest

When do we practice?

1. Use time effectively
2. Make weekly practice schedule and adapt beginning and ending times accordingly based on events-personal or school
3. Do a weekly practice plan, but make a daily practice plan each day!!
4. Keep yourself current based on your teams needs on a daily basis
5. Be flexible within the practice sessions
6. Be organized, but…"Do Not Be A Slave to Your Practice Plan"

Pre-Practice Meeting with Coaching Staff

1. Practice plan is already written; Discuss who will do what

Pre & Post practice Work

1. Have organized pre-practice work
2. Ex. Practice might be at 3:00, but you have the facility from 2:30 to 5:00; You would have from 2:30 to 3:00 for pre-practice work
3. Pre & Post Practice work on individual or small group work that individuals might need to work on
4. Can get lots of shooting in
5. Can review a drill a player didn't understand
6. Have an organized stretching routine

Practice

1. Should be no longer than 2hrs (Not counting Pre & Post Practice)
2. Eliminate as much standing time as possible
3. Allocate all of your resources to get players as many reps as possible (Especially on individual drills Ex. 1 on 1 Denial Drill)
4. Good physical habits are not developed without reps
5. Match-up players for drills so they don't end up going with the same person every time
6. Throughout practice, let players sub for each other…If you want a definite group…then call for them
7. Make drills and practice situations…Game-Like (including instructions)
8. Don't walk and talk players through drill instructions (Not Game like)
9. Have a 10 minute period where you have a "Sprint Practice"
10. Change things a bunch
11. Continually alter what you are doing on the run (Like in a game)

Practice Game Situations

1. End of quarter, End of Game, All Game Situations

Simulate Halftime

1. Vary the places and times you talk to your team (limited attention span)

Videotape everything that is 4 on 4 and 5 on 5

1. You might focus on an individual player or specific drill
2. Remember: HEAR-SEE-DO

Do Pressure Free Throw Drills

Post-Practice Meeting with Staff - Critique Practice

1. "We did a good job with this"
2. "I think we need more work with this"
3. "Let's come back tomorrow with this"
4. "I was going to come back tomorrow with this, but I think it is better that we do this"
5. DO NOT BE A SLAVE TO THE PRACTICE PLAN

Coaching Quote #22: Game Conditions

"How do your players respond under game conditions?"

--- Coach K

Attacking a Box-and-1: Dragan Sakota

1. Best attack is for an attacker to dribble penetrate the gap between the two defensive guards, opening room for a pass to a wing
2. The “scorer” should always set up outside or near the baseline to give space to teammates
3. If it is the point guard, switch positions with another player

My Favorite Drills #11: Transition Shooting Series

Being that we are a team that plays an uptempo style of basketball, it is vital that we do a lot of shooting in transition situations.  One drill that I particularly like is what we call Transition Shooting Series.  It allows us to focus on footwork, balance, triple threat and finishing in a transition setting.

Transition Shooting Series

Basketball Lettering: A Unique Approach

Lettering in basketball can be very rewarding for players.  There are a variety of different standards used by coaches when it comes to lettering.  Some coaches will set a specific number of quarters that a player needs to play in order to letter, which is the most common approach in our area. 

When I was coaching high school girls a few years back, I used a different approach.  It did involve a lot of work on my end, but I felt it was worth it because any of our players, regardless if they played varsity, could letter if they wanted to put in the effort.  In fact, one year, one of my starting seniors did not letter because she did not reach the required elements.  Her mother was not to happy, but I had clearly explained the lettering requirements to the parents and the players the year before and had sent home consistent updates on their progress.  On the other hand, I did have a number of non-varsity players letter because they had met the requirements.

I am not sure who the creator of this type of lettering process is.  I got it from our wrestling coach, after he attended a wrestling clinic.  The whole premise is for players to accumulate 50 letter points in a year.  There a wide variety of ways to accumulate points, which are all described in the files listed below.  I must stress, that it takes a lot of organization and attention to detail.

Basketball Lettering Requirements
Basketball Lettering Spreadsheet
Basketball Fitness Goal Sheet
Basketball Lettering Athlete Record Sheet

Coaching Quote #21: Will

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will."

--- Vince Lombardi

Team Perception Test

As you may have gathered, I am a huge fan of Don Meyer.  To this day, I am amazed at how he ran his program.  One of the things that Coach Meyer would do is give his players a Team Perception Test.  He would use this to get a feel about the team from his players point of view.  To my knowledge, he wouldn't show the results to the players.  Instead, it would give the coaching staff all kids of information on the team's perception.

I used this when I was coaching girls, and I found it very valuable.

Team Perception Test

Lend Me Your Ears: William Safire

"The greatest teacher makes a few simple points. The powerful teacher leaves one or two fundamental truths. And the memorable makes the point not by telling, but by helping the students discover on their own. Learning takes place through discovery, not when you’re told something, but when you figure it out for yourself. All a really fine teacher does is to make suggestions, point out problems, above all, ask questions, and more questions and more questions…teaching encourages not only discovery, but initiative.”

2012 Olympic Playbook

Just Release ---- 2012 Olympic Basketball Playbook

My 2012 Olympic Playbook has now been released.  I recorded all of the Olympic Men's basketball games and analyzed the different offensive actions and compiled them into 1 resource.  It amazes me how the International game of basketball is played and coached.  There are so many great International coaches out there.  They are so creative with their offensive schemes.  I have even implemented some of the actions used in International basketball into our high school playbooks.

2012 Olympic Basketball Playbook

John Wooden: The Coaching Profession

Here is a great thought on the coaching profession from Legendary Coach John Wooden.

"The coach must recognize that his profession places him in the public eye, and he will at times receive both unjustifiable criticism and undeserved praise. He must not be unduly affected by either. He must also realize that much of his work is being done under circumstances that are likely to be of an emotional and excitable nature involving many immature individuals."

Goals By Lamar Hunt

1. Determine what you REALLY WANT.


2. Find out what it will COST.

3. Decide if you want to PAY THE PRICE.

Coaching Quote #20: Leadership

"The followers who looked to these leaders learned from them, and so can we. As you explore their worlds and words, remember that it takes time to become worthy of followers.
Leadership isn't learned or earned in a moment." --- John Maxwell

Roy Williams: UNC Transition Game

UNC is well known for thier transition game.  Not only do they have great athletes, but they also have a great system in play as well.  Here is an in-depth look at their transition game.

Roy Williams UNC Transition Game

10 Things to Make Yourself a Better Coach

Chris Kusnerick, head basketball coach at St. Anthony High School, Effingham, Ill., provides us with 10 ways that we all as coaches can improve. 

Be a Better Coach

Coaching Quote #19: Insipiration

"When I reflect on my life, I find that the people who stand out are the ones who challenged me with words and inspired me with action."

--- John Wooden

My Favorite Drills #10: Toughness Drills

The next set of drills that I want to share are Ball Toughness Drills that I got from NDSU Men's Coach, Saul Phillips.  He shared a number of drills that he uses to teach his players how to be tough with the basketball because they are typically less athletic than most teams they see.

At practice we do guard and post positional development.  I generally work with the guards, and it is during this time that we will work on these drills.  The drills that we use the most frequently are:

Move and Counter
2 vs. 1 1/2
3 Straight Lines

NDSU Ball Toughness Drills

Kevin Eastman: 10 Ways To Defend A Ball Screen

1. Hedge

2. Soft

3. Catch - a little futher up than soft

4. Weak- not an option coming off the side the screen is set -when screen is set in the middle of the floor

5. Spread right or left - sending the ball back to strong side

6. Switch it

7. Ride the screener - push the screener.

8. Blitz or trap it - committing two defenders to the ball you better have an impact because your eliminating a defender

9. Early blitz - blitz before he gets to the screen

10. Ice it- push it to the side - take away the middle

Ball Line Defense

Here are some diagrams of the Ball Line Defense used by Tubby Smith.  Mutch like the PACK defense, this defense strives on getting defensive players into help positions in relation to the placement of the ball.  It is ideal for teams who want to plug up driving lanes while also being in great rebounding position. 

Ball Line Defense

Boston Celtics Playbook

Here is a playbook I put together a couple of years ago after watching some film on the Boston Celtics.  Doc Rivers is one of the best X and O coaches in the NBA.

Boston Celtics Playbook

My Favorite Drills #9: Nail Cut Rip and Drive

Here is a drill we use in our middle school program as a build up for our open post motion offense.  We even use this in our high school practices as well.  It allows us to teach a number of things such as:

1. Change of speed change of direction
2. Nail cut reads
3. Triple threat
4. Ripping the ball
5. Finishing

Nail Cut Rip and Drive

Coaching Quote #18: Committment

"Be committed to what you want to do well.”

--- Tom Crean

My Favorite Drills #8: Full Court Passing

This drill is a very simple drill, but it is great for teaching a wide variety of topics and can be a great drill to start off practice with.  I got the drill from Don Meyer.  It is flexible enough where you can modify it to fit your own coaching philosophy.  It is because of fundamental drills like this, is one of the reasons that Coach Meyer is one of the greatest basketball minds out there.

Don Meyer - Full Court Passing 

Wooden Observations

1) Why is it so hard for so many people to realize that winners are usually the ones who work harder, work longer, and as a result, perform better? 2) Why are there so many who want to build up the weak by tearing down the strong?
3) Why is it that so many nonattainers are quick to criticize, question, and belittle the attainers?
4) Why is it so hard for us to understand that we cannot antagonize and positively influence at the same time?
5) Why is it so much easier to complain about the things we do not have than to make the most of and appreciate the things we do have?

Coaching Quote #17: Promise

"Promise to give so much time improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others."

--- John Wooden

Todd Lickliter:8 Ways to Use a Ball Screen

1. Turn the corner (no hedge by defender) -- Guard drives low and tight.


2. Hesitate and go (soft hedge) – At level of screen, hesitate, eyes on rim. Key to make the hedge man relax.

3. Split the hedge—The most under-utilized part of offensive ball screening. After clearing the screen low and tight, explode on the split. Dribble below the knees.

4. Fake the split then inside/out dribble to the paint.

5. Reject the screen (Guards man completely blocks the path of the driver, screener’s defender is at block area zoning up.

6. Shooting behind—The on ball defender goes behind the screen. Shot must come directly behind the screen.

7. Re-screen – when screener’s defender shows big, flat hedge. Drive over the sreen, then crossover and use the screen again toward the baseline. Screener turns to the inside on second screen getting you closer to the basket.

8. Early slip—Guard’s defender jumps low (toward baseline), driver splits between his man and the screen. Counter is to fake the split.

Youth Shooting Packet

Years ago, I used to put on shooting clinics for youth players.  It was usually a 2-3 day workshoop that was solely focused on shooting mechanics and development.  I developed a packet for each of the kids so that they could remember the teaching points when shooting, as well as some shooting games / drills they could do.

Youth Shooting Packet

My Favorite Drill #7: 5-on-5 Catch-Up

Another drill that many of us have seen before or at least some variation of it is 5-on-5 Catch-Up.  This version of the drill uses 10 players.  I have used it with in a 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 setting as well.  I like drills like this because in allows you teach multiple aspects of the game, it is competitive, it is intense and the kids like it.  Being we are a team that likes to push the action offensively, it is a great way for us to simulate a game like fast break situation.

5-on-5 Catch Up

Coaching Quote #16: You're To Good

"If something works for another school, use it.  Don't act like you are too good to use other ideas."

--- Hubie Brown

Thad Matta: 11 Defensive Musts

1. Transition D (You don’t have a man in transition!)

2. Guarding the Ball
3. Awareness
4. Defending Screens Away from the Ball
5. Defending Screen the Screener Actions
6. Defending on Ball Screens
7. Defending the Post-Up
8. Rebounding & Boxing Out
9. Defending Shooter’s w/ Great Range
10. Defending O.B. Actions

My Favorite Drill #6: 5-on-4 Rotate and Communicate

5-on-4 Rotate and Communicate is a great defensive drill to teach communication and rotational defense in scramble situations.  I got the drill from head women's coach, Amy Williams, down at the University of South Dakota when she presented her transition offense at a clinic here in Sioux Falls, SD.  She did a great job of presenting her transition offense. 

5-on-4 Rotate and Communicate

Double Pump Clinic Notes

Here is a great set of Double Pump notes.  You will find lots of good coaching ideas in here to help you learn the game. 

Double Pump Clinic Notes

Coaching Quote #16: Feet

"Good shooters prepare feet before they catch."

--- George Karl 

Lou Holtz: 3 Rules for Success

Number 1. Do what's right. Be on time, be polite, and be honest; remain free from drugs; and if you have any questions, get out your Bible.

Number 2. Do your best. Mediocrity is unacceptable when you are capable of doing better.

Number 3. Treat others as you want to be treated. Practice love and understanding.

--- Lou Holtz

My Favorite Drills #5: Circle Trapping

I got this drill from Larry Shyatt, head coach of Wyoming, when he talked about his defensive philosophy at the Sanford Power Clinic a few years back.  He did a great job of presenting and justifying his defensive philosophy.  One of the drills that he showed was called Circle Trapping.  Being I am an aggressive defensive minded coach, this is a drill that I really like to teach proper trap techniques, as well as how to properly throw out of traps.

Circle Trapping

Ettore Messina: My Favorite Drills

Here is a great collection of notes and drills from Ettore Messina who is one the the best International basketball minds.  I think there will be something in these notes that you will find useful.

Ettore Messina: My Favorite Drills

Coaching Quote #16: Great Shooters

"Good shooters take the shots, the best shooters take the most of the shots."

--- Billy Gillespie

NBA / NCAA / High School Sets and Quick Hitters Playbook

Here is another playbook that I compiled a while back that gives a variety of offensive sets and quick hitters from the NBA, NCAA and High School level.  I hope that it gives you some variety to add to your playbooks.

NBA - NCAA - High School Playbook

My Favorite Drills #4: Progressive Fastbreak

One of the next drills we work on to teach transition offense and defense is a Progressive Fastbreak.  I got this drill from Mike Neighbors who is a great assistant coach for the University of Washington's Womens basketball team. 

The Progressive Fastbreak is a team drill that is very competitive and allows you to teach multiple aspects of the game, including time and score situations.  I hope it is something that will help you and your team.

Progressive Fastbreak

Coaching Quote #15: Greatness

"Men who achieve greatness do not work more complexly than the average man, but more simply In dealing with complex problems, with the simplicity that is natural to him he goes directly to the point, unaffected by the confusion of details in which another man would have lost himself."

--- Dick Bennett

My Favorite Drills #3: Sideline Break 3 Man Warm-up

The next drill that we use to teach our sideline break is another drill that I got from Tom Izzo.  We call it the Sideline Break 3 Man Warm-up.  It is an extension to our Sideline Outlet Progression.

Sideline Break 3 Man Warm Up

Coaching Quote #15: Attitudes

"Everyone can chose a positive attitude in even the toughest of circumstances."

--- Jerry Krause

Head Coach Evaluation Form

For those coaches who like to be evaluated at the end of each season, here is a great resource to use.  You could also use it as a self-reflection on your performance as a coaching staff.

Coaching Evaluation Form

May Favorite Drills #2: Sideline Outlet Progression

I have talked before about how my approach to transition offense has changed over the years, largely due to my conversations with Wayne Walters (SWARM Enterprises).  Since then, I have become a big component of a sideline break.  The sideline break has improved our overall transition game these past few years.  At practice, we have even used a stop watch to time how long it takes us to get the ball advanced up the floor, and we have found that we advance the ball up the floor 1.5-2 seconds faster (from the inbound pass to the first scoring action) when using the sideline break approach rather than a dribble break.  When we get the ball advanced up the sideline, it forces our bigs to run the floor faster.  They have to in order to beat or stay level with the advancement of the ball.  Last year in a game, we were in a free throw situation.  Our opponent made the free throw and they started running back to get set up in their defensive set.  However, we had already advanced the ball up the sideline and had a lay-up before they even turned around to locate the ball. 

One of the first drills that we use to teach this is very simplistic in nature, but probably the most critical as well.  We call it the Sideline Outlet Progression.  I wish I could say that I came up with the drill myself.  However, I actually modified it slightly from a drill that Tom Izzo uses to teach his number break.  We simply modified to be more a sideline approach.  Next week, I will post some other drills that we use to teach the sideline break as well. 

Sideline Outlet Progression

A Reflection on Coach Wooden

Here is a collection of thoughts from former players of Coach Wooden onhis 95th birthday.  It is a true testament to how Coach Wooden approach the game.

Wooden's 95th

Coaching Quote #14: Practice Planning

"I would spend almost as much time planning a practice as conducting it."

--- John Wooden

Zone Attack Principles

1. Develop an inside/out game (Post Touches)


2. Flash middle pockets and short corners

3. Basket cuts and fills to make defense rotate

4. Screen and seal in the post

5. Utilize pass fakes, misdirection passing, shot fakes and change of direction

6. 2/1 weak side board coverage

7. Use angled penetration from perimeters

8. Allow post to establish seals and flash gaps

9. Get two players to guard one player

My Favorite Drills #1: Punch and Space

I am going to start a new theme on the blog where I share my favorite drills that I have used over the years.  Some drills I used when I was coaching high school girls' basketball and others are one's that we have used with our boy's program.  Most of the drills are ones that we have borrowed from great coaches.  Sometimes, we have modified the original drill to fit what we do at our school. 

The first drill that I want to share with you is a defensive fundamental drill that I got from a Mike Dunlap video.  We use this drill frequently, usually for a couple of minutes at the beginning of practice, to teach defensive stance fundamentals.  We have seen some great improvements at our on the ball defense because we can easily transfer the elements of this drill to the other defensive drills we to build our match-up zone.

Punch and Space

The Don Meyer Way

Here are some more notes that I took during one of the modules in the Don Meyer class I took a few years back.  No matter how many times I hear Coach Meyer or read any of his material, I always seem to catch a new teaching point that I can apply or alter to fit my coaching philosophy.

The Don Meyer Way

Vince Lombardi: Coaching Matters

Today, I am sharing some great thoughts on coaching from Hall of Fame Coach, Vince Lombardi.  Coach Lombardi is well known for his ability to motivate athletes.  Even though this is not basketball specific, there are still a number of philosophical elements that we can apply to our teams.

Vince Lombardi Coaching Matters

Coaching Quote #13: Success

“Success in life is a matter not so much of talent or opportunity as it is concentration and perserverance.”

--- Vince Lombardi

Purdue Drills

Here is a collection of Purdue drills. I am not sure which Purdue team or who was the head coach at the time when these were used, however.  Either way, there are still a bunch of good drill ideas for us all to incorporate into our own systems.

Purdue Drills

David Preheim: Man Box Sets Playbook

In the off-season, one of the things that I like to do is put together different playbooks based on a particular theme.  In this playbook, I brainstormed different quick hits and sets out of a box set.  I really focused on particular actions that would give hits for guards and hits for post players.  I hope they help those of you who like running hitters and sets out of a box set.

Man Box Sets Playbook

2010 5 Star Basketball Notes: Zak Boisvert

Zak Boisvert, assistant coach at Ion College, does a great job of sharing basketball ideas and resources.  He is great about sharing ideas with other coaches and contributing to the basketball community.  Coach Boisvert put together this collection of notes from a 5 Star Clinic which feature great coaches such as John Chaney, Tom Moore, Mitch Buonaguro, Tom Pecora, James Jones, and Jim Ferry.



2010 5 Star Basketball

Coaching Quote #12: Speeds

"The game of basketball is played in a change of speeds: fast to slow, slow to fast."


--- John Chaney

Lon Kruger: UNLV Playbook

Here is a great resource of some offensive plays that Lon Kruger ran when he was at UNLV.  Coach Kruger is currently coaching at Oklahoma and just recorded his 500th win against Northwestern State.

Lon Kruger UNLV Playbook

Tom Izzo: Special Teams

Tom Izzo is one of the greatest coaches out there when it comes to designing offensive plays. Amazingly, he applies some football organizational concepts to his basketball philosophy.  Coach Izzo stresses that there are many games that are lost by 6 or less points.  Therefore, he has come up with 5 focus areas that he calls "Special Teams."  He feels that if his teams can get 15-20 points per game, they will be in a good position to win the game.  He breaks his Special Teams into the following categories:

1. Jump Ball Situation (Get the game started right): If you know you can control the tip, come up with 2 different quick hitters to start the game.  If you feel you cannot get the tip, set up a play that will allow you steal the tip.

2. Baseline Out of Bounds (Attack when they relax): You will be pleasantly surprised at how many baskets you will score if your team develops the mentality that they have a great offensive advantage when taking the ball out along the baseline.

3. Sideline Out of Bounds (Get an open 3): Many teams defend SLOBS by flattening their defense and we have found great success in screening this defensive set and bringing our shooters to an open area for a high-percentage three-point shot.

4. Free Throw Situations (Turning a miss into points): the best teams only shoot 75 percent from the free throw line, we decided to also emphasize attacking the offensive glass during a free throw situation.

5. After Time Out Plays (Execution and discipline): There may be nothing more frustrating for a coach than to call or diagram a play during a time-out only to have it improperly executed on the floor.  To combat this problem and to increase the focus and execution of our after-time-out plays, we will periodically call time-out during practice to diagram and set up a play.

Hubie Brown Techniques and Strategies

Here are some great thoughts from Coaching Legend Hubie Brown.  I always like how Hubie challenges you to think about what you do and why you do it.

Hubie Brown Techniques and Strategies

Coaching Quote #11: Key to Key

"The difference between great teams is often the time it takes to advance the ball from top of the key to top of the key."

--- Hubie Brown

Offensive Efficiency Sheet

I am in the process of designing some efficiency sheets to track some specific things during basketball games that our stat software does not record.  Therefore, I thought I would start sharing different evaluation forms that you can all use throughout the season to help analyze your players and your program efficiency.  A fellow coach shared this efficiency sheet with me a while back.

Offensive Possession Efficiency Play-by-Play

Stressing the Little Things

One of the ways that we stress a particular skill in drill work is by using a ball rack.  We will place X amount of balls on the rack.  When a specific skill is executed properly, we take a ball off of the rack.  For example, we do a daily drill called 3 on 4 Rotate and Communicate.  The basic set-up of the drills is there are 4 offensive players, and 3 defensive players.  Our defensive rules are:

1. Have to have a defender on the ball applying ball pressure
2. Have to have 1 defender in the high hole (high post)
3. Have to have 1 defender in the low hole (rim)

The offense works the ball around the perimeter working on triple threat, ball rips and passing.  When a defender is on the ball, X1 for example, and the ball gets passed to another perimeter player, X1 CANNOT guard the next pass.  The next pass needs to be covered by either the low hole or high hole defender.  This forces the players to communicate and rotate.

When players do not communicate, have a poor closeout, do not apply good ball pressure or do not fill the high and low hole, we will take off a ball from the rack.  When the rack has no more balls, we do some form of conditioning.  It has been something that has worked great for our team in terms of focus and effort.

Don Meyer: A Playbook for Winning Basketball

These notes I took while watching a Don Meyer video called A Playbook for Winning Basketball.  As always, Coach Meyer provides a wealth of basketball information in a simplistic form that any coach can apply to his/her system.

Don Meyer: A Playbook for Winning Basketball

Rick Majerus: Rules For Dribbling

When teaching players to dribble, Coach Majerus used these 3 rules.

1. To acquire balance (spacing)
2. To go somewhere (passing angle, scoring...)
3. To break a 5 second count

Rick Majerus: Beating Teams That Switch

Here are some ideas from Rick Majerus on how to attack teams that switch screens.

1. Continue to pass and cut
2. Get a big on little switch and then post up the big
3. Tight curls, slips, back cuts and drives off of flares

Rick Majerus: 4 Out 1 In Motion Offense

Rick Majerus is widely known for his 4 out motion offense.  He was a very detailed motion coach.  Here is a good resource that breaks down his motion offense.

Rick Majerus 4 Out Motion Offense

Coaching Quote #11: Best Seat

"Those to whom defense is not important will have the best seat in the game."

--- Rick Majerus

Offensive Post Play: Rick Majerus

The coaching community lost a great teacher of the game this weekend with the passing of Coach Majerus.  I was fortunate enough to listen to Coach Mejerus talk at clinic a few years back at a Don Meyer Coaching Clinic.  He was a great presenter and was very particular on the little things to teaching offensive post play.  I have attached my notes that I took at the clinic.  Hopefully you can learn a little more about this great coach.

Rick Majerus Post Play

John Beilein Coaching Thoughts

Here are some great thoughts from John Beilein who has really done great things at Michigan.

John Beilein Quips

Coaching Quote #10: Practice

"You can do anything you want in practice but not everything you want- simplify"

--- John Beilein

Don Meyer: Secrets to Building a Championship Basketball Program

A few years back I took an Advanced Basketball Theory class with Don Meyer.  During the course, we had to watch a series of videos.  Here are some notes that I took at the time over the Secrets to Building a Championship Program video.

Don Meyer Secrets to Building a Championship Program

Shooting Drills eBook

This free eBook, which contains shooting drills from a number of great coaches, gives coaches a wide variety of shooting drills to implement in practice.  You will find individual, partner, finishing, transition and team shooting drills that are competitive and high intensity.  I hope it helps with your practice preparation.

Shooting Drills eBook

Bobby Knight: Practice Planning Clinic Notes

Here is a great set of notes from legendary coach, Bob Knight.  Coach Knight provides great teaching concepts and drills to teach players and coaches how to better understand the game of basketball. 

Bobby Knight Practice Planning Notes

Coaching Quote #9: Bad Passing

"You cannot allow bad passing in practice.  If there is a bad pass, do it again"
"Most important thing about passing is don't pass it to the other color."

--- Bob Knight

Don Meyer: Player's Camp Notebook

Years ago when I was the head coach of a girl's team, I had 12 girls go attend Coach Meyer's positional camp.  One of my girl's had typed up her notes and given me a copy.  I thought I would share the teaching points that she recorded.

Don Meyer Position Camp Player's Notebook

Coaching Quote #8: Effort

"If your best player is not your hardest worker it will be a miserable year even if you win it all."

--- Don Meyer

Kevin Reilly: Getting the Most Out of Bench Players

Here are some great ideas from Kevin Reilly to get your bench players inolved in the game.

1. Establish roles for your players (i.e. defense, passing, three point shooting.
2. Try to get substitutes in end of first quarter and during second quarter
3. Reward players for their efforts in practice with more playing time.
4. Getting players in the game early gives them confidence if they are needed later.
5. Getting players in early gives you one less thing to think about down the stretch of a close game.
6. Matchup your substitutions with your opponent's substitutions.
7. Establish positive relationships between first stringers and reserves.
8. Work with second team in practice.
9. Get kids ready to play.
10. Use different combinations and different starting lineups.
11. Take kids out of a game on a good note, if possible
12. Don't yank kids out of a game after a bad pass, missed layup, etc., if possible.
13. Make all kids feel involved in the game and practice.
14. Give kids opportunities to see for themselves why they are not getting more time or playing with the first unit.
15. Talk and explain substitution process when possible.

Larry Brown Practice Breakdown

Here is a portion of some Larry Brown clinic notes.  Below, Coach Brown is discussing his approach to practice organization. 

The daily practice schedule is designed to simulate the flow of a game, from the pregame meeting through overtime (total time – 2 hours)


Playing hard is the top priority – Intensity development is built into the daily practice schedule by making all drills competitive against the clock or an opponent

Warm up (:20)

– Focuses on ball-handling and shooting

Defense (:40)

– Defense is taught in a “part” fashion, utilizing three- and four-man breakdown drills to reinforce concepts

“Halftime” (:10)

– A series of shooting drills is utilized to give the players an active rest period

Offense (:40)

– Offense is taught in a “whole” fashion, utilizing 5-on-0 and 5-on-5 drills to develop spacing and seamless teamwork

“Overtime” (:10)

– Special situations (baseline out-of-bounds, sideline out-of-bounds, end-of quarter, and delay games that often make the difference between victory and defeat are rehearsed in situational scrimmages

Practice Planning with Mike Dunlap

Mike Dunlap is well known for his attention to detail and his practice preparation.  Here are some notes with great teaching concepts for you to think about.  Hopefully there is something that you can apply to your program.

Mike Dunlap Practice Planning

Anatomy of a Timeout: Tip #5

One of the toughest places to inbound the ball is from a deep corner sideline.  You can be limited in your options if you don't plan accordingly.  Therefore, at the end of a game, what do you need to cover when you have to inbound the ball from the deep corner?  Personally, I like to have a Zipper action to start of the play because this will get a passing angle for the in-bounder.  Furthermore, I like to have the post player setting the down screen post up hard looking to get a direct pass from the corner man.

From there, you now have a wide range of options that you can use depending on your style of play, your end of game actions and what you have previously practiced.

I have added a couple of sample plays that could be used or modified to fit your players strengths for this situation.

Deep Corner SLOBs

Coaching Qhote #8: Drivers and Shooters

"Make drivers shooters and shooters drivers."

--- Duane Silver

Don Meyer Post Development

When it comes to the details of player development, Don Meyer is one of the best.  In today's basketball resource, Coach Meyer breaks down different fundamentals for post development.  This resource also provides a number of drills to help teach the fundamental skills. 

Don Meyer Post Development

Coaching Quote #7: Passing

"Passes go over or under the defense; never through the defense. Create long passes."

--- Frank Martin

High Low Entries and Sets Playbook

Here is a playbook that I compiled a while back just that just focuses on entries and sets for the High Low offense.  Many other coaches shared a number of these sets and actions with me.  I just simply compiled them into 1 resource for other coaches.

High Low Entries and Sets Playbook

Wayne Walters: Swarm Defense

I would like to throw in a plug for a coach, Wayne Walters, who I have had many conversations with over the years.  He has challenged my defensive thinking and got me to buy into a sideline break philosophy.  He has a wealth of knowledge and many unique ideas to the game.  Coach Walters is always willing to help other coaches and has a website with a wealth of free basketball resources which can be found at Swarm Enterprises.

He also has a series of instructional videos that breakdown his aggressive SWARM defense.  You can visit Hoop Kings to preview his video series.

George Karl: Advantages to Running

1. For whatever reason, refs call way more fouls in transition than in the half court
2. Everything is better early, no matter what action it is
3. Offensive rebounding increases by 10% in transition
4. Wants players to penetrate in transition
5. Coach Karl would rather have his team too wild and fast and coach them down, then the other way around.

Coaching Quote #6: Great Playerss

"Even the greatest players accept coaching and value the need for discipline and the order it brings to the team."

--- Dr. Jack Ramsey

Quick Strike Playbook

A few years ago, I put a playbook together with simple quick hits that could be used as entries into a base offense.  There are a number of options from various formations.  Hopefully you can find something in there that will help.

Quick Strike Playbook

Coaching Quote #5: Future

“You can never change outcomes, but you can try to change futures.”

--- Tom Crean

Anatomy of a Timeout: Tip #4

As I have previously noted, I like to switch up defensive schemes after a timeout. I have found that most of the time this will bust up the offensive set that was designed by the opposing team. On the flip side, I feel that it is very important to have combination sets that will work against man or zone. Furthermore, it is important that you have a BLOB and a SLOB that will work against man and zone defense as well. Many times, you are able to make simple modifications to what you are already running to attack man or zone schemes. Like always, the key is to work on these situations during practice to better help your players understand the situation and what the correct adjustments are.


I have talked with other coaches who will simply have 2 plays called. If they see that the team is in a zone scheme, they will run the zone set. If they see that the defense is in a man scheme, they will run the man set.

So the big questions we have to ask ourselves are:

1. Do you want to be the type of coach who goes over 2 different plays during the timeout and then make the call from the bench once you see the scheme? Are both of these plays going to be from the same alignment so players don’t have to get into a different formation once you recognize the defensive scheme?

2. Are you going to run 1 set and review the adjustments, whether zone or man, in case the defense switches schemes?

Coaching Principles: Seth Davis and Bill Russell

Here are some coaching principles from a Seth Davis and Bill Russell presentation. Something all coaches should keep in mind.


1. Love the game: Watch it, learn it and love it. Don’t think you know it all.

2. Know your team: When making adjustments, make adjustments your team can make. Know your strengths and limitations so you can set your team up for success.

3. Make rules reasonable: Your authority is established through proof not command. I’ve always said: the best use of power is not having to use it. If you make a rule make sure the punishment is clear: Red would fine a player $10 for being late to practice. Yelling is not a punishment, it takes a rules offense to a personal and negative level that hurts the whole team.

4. Loyalty is paramount: “I only ever played for the Celtics and I never would play for another team—they were loyal to me, and I was loyal to them”

5. Negotiation is key: Everything between a player and a coach is a negotiation. When you want a player to do something you want—you have to give them what they want. Negotiating so everyone wins is the goal.
6. Craftsmanship: Know what you need to do to get this done.

7. Winning: When I do my job and you do your job—we all win.

8. Own your decisions: When you make a mistake, when you fail to lead by example, when you do something wrong: own your decision. Accept personal responsibility, apologize and move forward. Be a model of positive decision making and turning a negative decision into a positive.

Coaching Quote #4: Parents

"Parents are not going anywhere, so must find a way to survive"

--- Frank Allocco

Vance Walberg Drills

Here are some intense pratice drills that Vance Walberg uses daily in his practices.  Each of these drills teach transition offensive and defensive concepts.  Even if you don't run a DDA/DDM style offense, you can adapt them to fit your style of play.

Scramble Drill
Texas 22
Texas 111
Cardinal

3 Ball Baseline Drive

Here is a great shooting drill to teach players proper rotations on baseline driving actions.  I got the drill from a Don Meyer clinic.  Hope it helps you in with your practices.

3 Ball Baseline Drive

Anatomy of a Timeout: Tip #3

In Tip #2, we talked about things to cover when you are trailing in a game with only a few minutes left in a game. Today, we are going to flip the perspective for the same situation. When you have a lead in a game, what items do you need to go over with your team during that timeout situation? Here are some questions and items to consider and discuss with your staff.

Offensive


1. At what point do you go into your delay game offense, if you have one? Motion coaches will probably say that they will continue to stay in their motion set, but will just be more disciplined in their shot selection. How about continuity coaches? Do you stay in your continuity or do you go into some sort of delay offense? I have seen coaches go into a delay to soon and their teams become stagnant, thus turning the ball over and losing momentum. When you are in your delay offense, whatever it is, what are the points of emphasis you need to relay to your players? We emphasize the following items.

2. First, we need to keep high and wide spacing. The defense is going to be in a gambling and aggressive mentality. Therefore, we need to have good driving lanes and cutting lanes on defensive overplay.

3. Second, shorten the pass by meeting the pass. In other words, we want to close the gap when passes are being made to prevent the defense from shooting the passing lane.

4. Third, catch, rip, and triple threat. Again, the defense is going to be in our comfort zone so we have got to be tough with the ball. We tell our kids that we have got to be confident with the ball and if they can take their man to the rim, DO IT. We are happy to get to the free throw line during this part of the game.

5. Fourth, if you are denied, it is an automatic back cut and fill out. Absolutely no standing.

6. Fifth, our best players always need to be 1 pass away. The reason for this is because we our best players to get the most touches and we want them to get to the free throw line.

7. Have you practice a full court, ¾ court, and ½ court special designed to get the ball in when the other team is trying to get a steal or foul?

Defensive items

1. How are you going to handle late game screening situations? Are you going to switch?

2. How are you going to defend drive and kick situations? The offense is going to be aggressive to the rim.

3. Do you know who the weakest player(s) is on the other team? Are you going “dork” defend him in order to help shade towards the other team’s best player who will most likely get the most touches?

4. If you are up 3 with a few seconds left, do you foul to put them in a bonus free throw situation in order for them not to get a 3 point shot off? Do your players know how to properly foul and WHEN?

5. On a made basket, do you want the in-bounder to get the ball in quickly or do you want your team to take their time and get set up in your press break?

6. On a made basket, does your in-bounder know whether he can run the baseline or not?

The answers to a lot of these questions are determined by your philosophy as a coach. As always, it is vital that you work on these situations during practice. It is hard to cover them all, but the more you practice them, the more prepared you are for those situations when they com

Shooting Drills eBook

Here is a variety of shooting drills for you to incorporate into your practices.  A number of coaches were nice enough to share them with me, so I am just passing along the resources.

Shooting eBook

Zone Sets

Here are some great zone set actions that will get you into a 1-3-1 base.  Hope they help.

Zone Sets

10 Commandments of an Enthusiastic Team

1. Help each other be right–not wrong
2. Look for ways to make new ideas work–not for reasons they won’t.
3. Help each other win and take pride in each other’s victories.
4. Speak positively about each other and about tour organization at every opportunity.
5. Maintain a Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) no matter what the circumstances.
6. Act with initiative and courage as if it all depends on you.
7. Do everything with enthusiasm–it’s contagious.
8. Whatever you want–give it away.
9. Don’t lose faith–never give up.
10. Have fun!

Coaching Quote #3: Mistakes

"What to do with a mistake--recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it."

--- Dean Smith

Anatamony of a Timeout: Tip #2

There are times during a game where you are going to be down X number of points, with little time left and you will be in a timeout situation and your players are going to be looking to you for guidance as to how they can come back and win the game. What topics do you cover in those 30-90 seconds. Hopefully, you have practice these situations a number of times throughout the season so your players have some prior knowledge to go off of, but here are some questions to think about that you will probably need to cover in a timeout situation.


1. How much time is left on the clock and at what point do you need to start shooting 3’s to get back in the game? Obviously, this is going to depend on the current score, but if you are down 8-10 points and there is 2 minutes left, do your players clearly understand your offensive expectations of getting a quick 2 or at what point do they need to be looking for a 3?

2. When you are down 3-4 points with a couple of seconds left on the clock, do your players understand how to miss the second free throw, and what everyone’s responsibilities are on the miss in order to get the offensive rebound and another FG attempt to win or tie the game?

3. Do your players know at what point they need to start fouling in order to extend the game? Do your players know how to properly foul? Do you have a verbal and nonverbal signal?

4. Do your players clearly know your defensive objectives on defending delay game offenses? Do they know who the best free throw shooter is in order to deny him/her and who the worse free throw shooter is in order to foul him/her?

5. If you are able to get back in the game, do your players know whether they should push the ball in the final seconds and try and score before the defense gets set, or should they call a timeout?

Again, the true success of these situations is preparation in practice. This not only prepares your players for these situations, but also helps you as the coach in those situations as well. A few years ago, I took an Advanced Basketball Theory class with Don Meyer. One of the things that he did frequently was work on a special situation at a random time during practice. For example, after or during a drill, you as the coach could call “timeout,” have half of your players go to one coach, and the rest go to another coach where you work on a time and score situation. You can make it a 30 second timeout or a 60 second timeout. The 2 teams would then go and execute the discussed game plan. This simulates stress and spontaneity to your players. This does require some planning with the coaching staff in order for all the coaches to be clear as to what the situation is and what the expectations are.

Coaching Quote #2: All Stars

“You can no longer beat great teams with just a group of all-stars.”

--- Jerry Colangelo

Kevin Eastman Coaching Notes

Here is a great set of notes from one of the greatest assistant coaches in the NBA, Kevin Eastman.  Coach Eastman does a lot to grow the game of basketball.  Check out his website, Kevin Eastman Basketball, where he has tons of coaching resources. 


Kevin Eastman Notes

Coaching Quote #1: A Champion

I am going to start a running collection of coaching quotes.  I will keep them indexed so we can better keep track of them and add them to our own collection of coaching quotes.

“The Vision of a Champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, and at the point of exhaustion, when no one else is watching.”

--- Anson Dorrance

Anatomy of a Timeout: Tip #1

Many games are lost and won with a timeout. There are so many things to consider during timeout situations, so it is vital that you practice different timeout situations during practice. Today, I am going to talk about the advantage of switching defenses after a timeout. Coach Bobby Hurley Sr. mentioned in his defensive DVD that at least 1 time during a game, he will switch defenses after a timeout in order get an advantage for 1 possession. Many times, coaches will design a set or quick hitter during a timeout. Therefore, I love the idea of making a defensive change while coming out of time out. You can make a very subtle change or you can get really creative. The type of change you make should depend on what you have practiced, the time of the game, and the collective basketball IQ of your players. Here are some ideas to consider:


Subtle Changes

1. All out deny the other team’s best scorer

2. Trap the other team’s best player on catch or dribble

3. Switch from man to zone or vice versa depending on what you were playing prior to the timeout

4. Switching all screens to disrupt the flow of a set or quick hitter

Aggressive Changes

1. Box and 1 or diamond and 1 on the other team’s star player

2. Triangle and 2 with chasers on the point guard and best scorer

3. Show zone defense and then match on the first wing pass

4. Show man and then zone on the first wing pass

5. Aggressive trapping scheme such as trapping wings/corners/post entries

As I already noted, there are many variables that play into what a coach should switch to after a timeout, such as your style of play, time and score of the game, your opponents, or what you feel your players are comfortable adjusting to. The last thing you want to do is over coach the kids and have a defensive break down.

Don Meyer's Questions For Seniors

Don Meyer, one of my favorite coaches, is a mastermind at building a strong team culture.  Today, we take a look at questions that he asked his seniors each year. This gave him a player's perspective as to what they needed to improve on for the next year. 

1. Who is going to control the locker-room next year?
• Who needs to step up and take some control over the locker-room and off-court stuff next year? Who will other people listen to?
2.  Who will be the best practice player?
3. Who is the toughest guy coming back?
4. Who are the potential problems coming back? Why?
5. Who would be in your fox-hole? Who is out?
6. Who will be our best…?
• Defender?
• Rebounder?
• Team attitude?
• Leader?
• Scorer?
7. Anything need to be done differently at the regional tournament with all the spare time?
8. How can we get better in the weight room? What needs to be emphasized more?
9. What else should the coaches be worried about for next year? Any other potential problems with players, recruits, etc?

Russia Flip Set: 2012 Olympic Games

I have been watching and dissecting a lot of Olympic basketball lately.  It is amazing the unique actions that you see in international style of play.  Some amazing stuff.  Here is a Flip action set ran by the Russian team that gives a variety of different scoring actions.  Hope it helps.

Russian Flip Set

2011-2012 Spurs Playbook

Here is a short playbook that I put together on the San Antonio Spurs from last year's playoffs.  Gregg Popovich is a master at offensive play design for getting the ball into the post.  I hope you can find something in this playbook to help your team this year.

2011-2012 San Antonio Spurs Playbook

2012 NCAA 24 Hour Marathon Schedule

Tuesday November 13, 2012 the NCAA 24 Hour Marathon will begin.  The scheduled games will be as followed:

Midnight: West Virginia at Gonzaga


2 a.m.: Davidson at New Mexico

4 a.m.: Houston Baptist at Hawaii

6 a.m.: Stony Brook at Rider

8 a.m.: Northern Illinois at Valparaiso

10 a.m.: Harvard at Massachusetts

12 p.m.: Temple at Kent State

2 p.m.: Detroit at St. John’s

4 p.m.: Butler at Xavier

7 p.m.: Michigan State vs. Kansas (Champions Classic, Georgia Dome — Atlanta)

30 minutes following MSU/KU: Duke vs. Kentucky (Champions Classic)


This is one of my favorite times of the year as there looks to be some great match-ups.  Last year I compiled a playbook, called 2011-2012 NCAA Marathon Playbook, with different plays used in the games from all of the teams participating in last year's event.  I plan on releasing another playbook this year as well.

Being On Top - Kevin Eastman

"The most successful people in life control the controllable things in their life. Those that stay on top of these have a chance 2 be on top!" ---- Kevin Eastman

Thoughts from NCAA and NBA Coaches

1. If your bigs are still terrible at ball handling by their senior year, it’s your fault. - Geno Auriemma
2. Make sure your team is full of 2 hand rebounders. Rebs. grabbed w/1 hand scream SOFT! - Tom Izzo
3. Get your players to get their ball to the back half of the basket on their shots. 80% of missed shots are short. "Get the ball in the back half" - Don Meyer 
4. Dribbling is the widely abused skill in basketball - John Chaney 
5. Give your team 1 timeout per practice. They can call it at anytime to regroup. - Kevin Eastman 
6. To be a good a good offensive coach, you need to know defensive actions (like a football coach) - Brendan Suhr
7. Know who want to take the ball out at the end of a game. - Doc Rivers 
8. Plan each practice as if Hubie Brown was going to come watch that practice. - Fran Fraschilla 
9. As a coach, it your job to give your players the answers to the test before they take it. - Lawrence Frank
10. Everything that happens or fails to happen is your responsiibity. - Eric Kapitulik

10 Important Questions Coaches Should Ask Themselves

1. Why do you want to coach? Explain the driving force for wanting to be in the coaching profession.
2. Are you willing to dedicate yourself 24 hours a day, seven days a week, if necessary for your players and fellow coaches?

3. Is your family willing and able to bear the sacrifices?

4. Are you willing to lead by example in everything that you do? This will require you to live your life in a “fishbowl” with your professional and personal life always open to view.
5. Do you have the personal courage to live by your core values and make tough decisions regardless of the consequences?

6. Are you passionate about teaching and dedicated to helping others improve their lives?

7. Do you possess the knowledge, energy, and tenacity to lead your program to excellence?

8. Are you willing to take full responsibility for everything that happens, or doesn’t happen, in your program?

9. Do you understand that loyalty is a two-way street?

10. Are you entering the profession fully understanding the risks in coaching and knowing that you may be relieved of your job at any time?



-Taken from Coaching Team Basketball by Tom Crean and Ralph Pim

Don Meyers Defensive and Offensive Absolutes

One of my favorite coaches out there is Don Meyer.  I have a huge appreciation to his approach to basketball and living.  If you have ever listed to Coach Meyer talk, you know what I am refering to.  His attention to detail and his expectations of having good character is like no other. 

Coach Meyer also has a way of simplifying the game.  Today, I wanted to share with you his defensive and offensive absolutes.  Regardless of your style of play or philosophy to the game, we can all stress these principles. 

Defensive and Offensive Absolutes

Scouting

Scouting is an important part of game preparation. However, as coaches, we all go about scouting differently. Some coaches will travel to watch a team play and do a live scout. Other coaches will get game film and break down specific things they are looking for. Other coaches will email another coach asking for a scouting report. Regardless of your method for scouting or what it is you are looking for when you scout, scouting can give you insight on a particular opponent and help you plan practices accordingly.


Personally, I love to scout teams. Over the years, I have changed our scouting form to better fit our needs. When I go scout, I am less concerned about what types of sets or offenses they run, but more concerned about tendencies. For example:

1. Do they front the post?

2. Do they pressure or pack?

3. Do they tend to switch defenses after a time out?

4. How many players do they typically play?

As I mentioned above, it does not matter as much to me if the team runs a flex offense, DDM, or Princeton style offense. How are we going to appropriately simulate those types of offenses in practice? We couldn’t. Therefore, we try to keep a simple focus. For example, do their posts locate the ball in transition defense? This is important to us because our posts really run the floor hard and we would really want to exploit this situation.

I have included my scouting template. As you will see, it is very detailed. This is simply a coaching tool. The players do not see this as it would be information overload for them. They would get a much more condensed version focusing on a few game objectives and points of emphasis.

Scouting Template

4 High Blast Set

Here is a 1-4 High set play that will give your players a variety of different read options including hand-offs, high/low action, and ball screen.

4 High Blast

I Do Have Favorites

I came across an interesting resource called "I Do Have Favorites."  Not sure where it came from or who wrote it, but I found it rather interesting.  It kind of gives a different perspective on player accountability. 

I Do Have Favorites

New BLOG Contributor

I want to take a moment to introduce a new author, Tim Hansen, to the basketball BLOG.  Coach Hansen and I have been colleagues and friends for 10 years and he has been a tremendous resource for me.  He is true student of the game and has a wealth of knowledge to all aspects of coaching and teaching.  Coach Hansen and I routinely get together to talk hoops, which usually ends up in both of leaving with notes written down on the napkins of the restaurant we met at.  We are constantly challenging each other’s coaching philosophy which has made me a better coach.  I think you all will get a wealth of knowledge from Coach Hansen. 

Developing a Strong Feeder Program

I really believe that developing strong feeder programs is vital to the long term success of a basketball program. As with anything, there are a number of different philosophies and methodologies to successfully implementing a successful feed program. Today, I am simply going to discuss my philosophy to a successful feeder program. I won’t be talking about X’s and O’s as much as much as the philosophical elements of the program.


To me, the purpose of a feeder program is to provide an opportunity for youth players to develop program specific individual fundamental skills, program specific team skills, and to have competitive fun. Too often when I watch youth basketball games or go to youth basketball practices, I see an overwhelming emphasis on the end product, winning, rather than proper process of developing fundamental skills.

As a coach, I am not concerned with the number of games that the feeder programs win. Instead, it is more important that kids develop proper footwork, on the ball defense, help defense, spacing, cutting, ball sureness and so on. The development of these types of skills will actually provide more long term success down the road. Granted, both of these, the product and the process, can be achieved, but too often coaches lose sight of what they are there to do, which is improve fundamental skills and prepare the players for the next level of play. For example, I attended a youth basketball tournament a few weeks ago. A team I went to watch started out playing man defense, which I was pleased to see. However, it was not long until they began to have problems defending the cutting actions of the other team. Therefore, the coaches had the team sit in a pack 2-3 zone in order to defend the cutting actions. The really frustrating part, as a coach, was that the high school coaching staff had clearly explained the philosophy that they wanted taught, and nowhere in that discussion was zone defense talked about. Instead, winning became the primary goal. Granted, they ended up winning the game, but I feel that the process suffered along the way.

Another element that I think gets over looked is playing time and how teams are divided. I was talking with a good friend of mine and great coach from a rival school district. He was explaining to me how he was going to use a different approach to splitting up his teams. Traditionally, most teams will be divided by an A Team, which is made up of the top 10-12 players and then a B Team, which will be made up of the remaining players. However, he is taking his top 10-12 players, and is going to split them evenly between 3 teams. The same thing will be done for the other 3 teams. I thought that this was a great idea. If those top 12 players were all on the same team, how much development would players 7-12 get? Instead, these players will get more minutes in a totally different capacity when they are split up from the other top players. They will now have more responsibility in leadership. Furthermore, this will now open up more development opportunities for kids who don’t typically get a chance to start or be one of the top reserves off of the bench.

These are just a few of my thoughts regarding feeder programs. There is so much more that goes into a successful feeder program than what was touched on here, and there is more than one way successful way to run a feeder program. I like to win more than anybody, and it is something that we strive for extensively at the high school level. I just strongly believe that in feeder programs, the proper learning process, which might mean you lose some games, is more important than the number of games you win and ultimately, that process will get you more wins in the long run.

I highly recommend the following websites if you want to research some great ideas for youth basketball development.

1. Brian McCormick Basketball
2. Mike MacKay

Preparing for the 1st Game

As we all begin to develop practice plans for the upcoming season, there are always a certain amount of items that we need to get in before that first game. Granted, these items can vary from team-to-team, but there are some definite constants. I have generated a list of items that you can keep in mind when preparing for your first game.


Offense

1. Base man offense

2. Base zone offense

3. Primary break

4. Secondary break

5. The number of sets and/or quick hits (Man/Zone)

6. The number of BLOBS (Man/Zone)

7. The number of SLOBS (Man/Zone)

8. Man/Zone counters / reads

9. Delay game

10. End of game full court specials

11. End of game ¾ SLOB specials

12. End of game ½ SLOB specials

13. Dead corner SLOB specials

14. End of Game FT transition special

15. End of Game FT Miss, offensive rebound, and put back

16. Jump Ball Tip (offensive / defensive)

17. End of game rebounding

18. Come back game approach (when to start shooting 3’s to make a comeback, quick 2’s)

19. Approach to a Triangle-2, Box-1

Defensive

1. Base defense

2. Complimentary defense (man, zone, match-up, junk)

3. Press defense

4. Trapping / stunting schemes

5. Defending off ball screens (narrow pins, wide pins, double staggered, doubles, cross, back screens, flex, shuffle, away…)

6. Defending ball screens (flat, wing, points, corner, staggered, double, hand-backs, drag…)

7. Delay defense

8. Defending with the lead

9. When / how to foul?

10. Pick up points

11. Verbals

12. BLOB defense

13. End of game rebounding

14. End of game foul court defense situations (lead/behind)

15. End of game ¾ SLOB defense situations (lead/behind)

16. End of game half court SLOB defense situations (lead/behind)

17. Post defense (front, 3/4, full front)

This is just a generic list and a lot of it depends on your philosophy to the game. The important thing is to plan with your coaches and figure out in detail what it is that you MUST have in for the first game. It is our job as coaches to do the planning and preparation to equip our players with the skills they need to succeed.  I have attached a planning resource that you use to input your items in an organized manner.  Hope it helps you prepare for that first game.

1st Game Checklist

Keys to Effective Practices

One of my favorite things about coaching is designing practice plans. I love the attention to detail involved in designing a practice, the competitive atmosphere that a well design practice creates and the environment that it creates for players to improve a particular skill. Here are some key factors that make a practice effective.


1. All drills must serve a purpose and must match the philosophy of your program. There are thousands of great drills out there. However, when selecting a drill, it should be designed to teach a concept that is important to your philosophy as a coach. If you simply use the drill because it is a good drill, but it does not fit with your system, is it really helping your players for game success?

2. Length of drills: In our practices, we like to have short drills that are usually 5-10 minutes long. In these drills, we focus on high intensity, competitiveness, and lots of reps. We really try to minimize the amount of stopping the drill to talk to a player. Instead, we try to pull that player aside when he is out of the drill so that we don’t stop the flow of the drill for the rest of the players.

3. Player Reps: One of my biggest pet peeves in practice is players standing on the side watching other players do drill work. We really make an emphasis when designing practices to get as many reps for our players as possible. If players don’t get the reps, the skill does not become a part of muscle memory and they end up thinking too much which will slow the reaction time.

4. Competitive atmosphere: There are many ways that drills can become competitive. You can keep score on specific items during a drill. For example, during a shell drill, keep score on items that need to be improved (effective ball pressure = +1, strong box out = +1, poor closeout = -1…….). When we work on defensive closeouts, we will put 3-4 basketballs on the ball rack. For every poor closeout or lack of proper verbals, we take off a ball from the rack. When the rack has no balls left, we do a form of conditioning to get our focus back. We keep score on our shooting drills, free throws and anything else that we do to create a competitive atmosphere. There are drills where we will put a team at a disadvantage. For example, we might be working on a transition shooting drill for our sideline break. We will have 3 teams (Varsity, JV and Freshman). We will start the Freshman at +12, the JV at +6 and the Varsity at 0. We will put 2 minutes on the clock and the winner does not have to do conditioning. This improves the player’s effort and serves as our conditioning as well.

5. Assigning names to drills: This is such a detailed item to practice planning, but it is so important. Mike Dunlap stresses this a lot. He talks about giving a meaningful name that will trigger an automatic reaction and having the players echo call out the drill (coach tells one player the name of drill and the player yells the drill out to the rest of the team).

6. Don’t become a slave to a drill or to time: There are times where a drill just is not working. As coaches, we need to be able make practice adjustments just like we need to be able to make game adjustments. There are times where a drill becomes counterproductive. When that time comes, it is time to move to the next element.

7. Setting the tone in practice: How you start your practice can determine the success of your practice. It is vital that your players get engaged physically and mentally right away. Using a competitive shooting drill or defensive drill is a great way to get your players invested in that particular practice.

There many other factors that can determine the effectiveness of a great practice. I highly recommend that you research Mike Dunlap and Don Meyer. These are just 2 of the great practice coaches out there.

BLOB Playbook

A while back, I was contacted by a coach, Troy Culley (@troyculley), to see if I would be interested in collaborating with him on a free playbook focusing on nothing but Baseline Out of Bounds plays.  I am always interested in collaborating and helping other coaches so I took him up on the offer.  We compiled a playbook together and started sending it out to coaches.  Coach Culley posted it in a basketball forum and I sent it out to my listserv.  Coach Wayne Walters, SWARM Enterprises, then contacted me and asked if he could contribute some BLOBs that he has used over the years. 

I have posted the link to the playbook.  Hope it is of use to you as you begin to plan for the upcoming season.

BLOB Playbook

Both Coach Culley and Coach Walters are great about sharing information and helping other coaches.  Their contact information can be found on the front cover of the playbook.

Competing with Less Talented Teams

Most coaches at some point in their careers will experience a team that is lacking in talent. This was my case a few years ago when I was coaching girls. We won 4 games over the course of 2 years. At practice, we did a lot of fundamental development focusing on passing, dribbling, footwork, shooting and ball toughness.

My thought at the time was that in order to keep ourselves in the game, we need to minimize the number of possessions that the other team would have and play really good defense. Looking back at this approach, especially the offensive side, I can see that this approach was not ideal. I could see it working had our players had a good base of fundamentals. However, it was a struggle for us to get ball reversals, find quality shot attempts and ultimately we had a large amount of turnovers each night and were struggling to score 30+ points. Regardless of how good our defense was, it is tough to win games if you are scoring 30-35 points.

Over the years, I have done some research, talked with numerous coaches and watched some videos on this topic. Granted, I came across many different philosophies that emphasized slowing down the game, but ultimately, my opinion has changed. If I could re-coach those 2 years with those exact same players, in a nut shell, my approach would be as followed:

1. We would look to do the bulk of our scoring out of our transition offense. We would spend a large portion of practice working on a sideline break that would also serve as our press break. As I noted above, we had a hard time scoring out of our half-court offense because of our fundamental ability, style of play and the athleticism of our opponents. Rarely would we get a quality shot that was not contested. Therefore, getting the ball up the floor as quickly as possible with the pass and attacking the rim in transition would have probably given us better quality shot attempts. It would have also given us a better chance of getting offensive rebounds and more free throw attempts, both of which we struggled to do in the half court set.

2. I would have also been more aggressive with our defense (full court and half court). I probably would have stayed with our match-up zone, but would have been more aggressive with trapping. I would also have extended our defense and played the game full court. Granted, we were going to get with some of our rotations, but we would also force a few more turnovers that would have led to higher quality shots that we were not getting in the half court set.

3. In both our transition offense and defense, I would have had to play more people in order to play that aggressive style for a full game. In reality, there was wasn’t much difference in ability from players 1-12. Not only would more kids have played, but I think kids like to play this style anyways, so we would have probably been a happier team regardless if we would have been winning or losing.

4. I would have continued to use a simple have court offense that emphasized attacking the basket with the dribble and with the pass regardless if we saw man or zone defense. I would have also reduced the number of sets and quick hitters.

5. Fundamentals would continue to be taught in practice. I would have just incorporated more multidimensional drills that incorporated combination skills in the transition game (being that is where most of our game would be played at).


I don’t know if we would have won any more games than we did those 2 years, but I know I would have enjoyed coaching more and the kids would have enjoyed playing more. In my opinion, even if we lost those same games, but were scoring 50 points rather than 30 and more kids played that were probably about the same ability level anyway, it probably would have been a better couple of years.


We are currently using this approach this year with our boy’s program. We have done a lot with statistical analysis and have found that the numbers (FT attempts, shooting percentage, turnover differential and points per possession) support this style of play for us. We have an athletic group which makes it even more enjoyable to coach and play.

Youth Offense Philosophy

As coaches, we all know the importance of having a well-established feeder system to help build the longevity success of our basketball program. As always, there are multiple ways to organize a feeder program. These are just the steps that we go through each year.

We feel that it is important that our feeder systems have the foundational fundamentals built into them. It is our responsibility to equip the feeder coaches with the proper offensive and defensive philosophy, the proper verbals and language, and proper fundamental development. We feel that if our youth can learn these 3 elements along with team chemistry and effort that they will come into our high school program with a good base. We meet with our feeder coaches before the season starts and discuss with them our expectations and philosophy to the game. We explain to them that we are more concerned about the fundamental development of the players rather than the number of games or tournaments that they win. The feeder coaches are given a packet of fundamental drills and offensive/defensive elements that we would like them to implement. Therefore, listed below are some of the specific items that we emphasize in our feeder programs.

1. Man-to-Man Defense: At the high school level, we play an aggressive 1-1-3 match-up zone with our boys’ team. We apply lots of ball pressure all over the court and use a variety of trap and stunt schemes. However, we feel that in order to properly play this style of defense, kids need to know how to defend the ball, get into help position, front the post, get the ball to a side and force baseline. Granted, you can do all of these out of a zone set, but we feel that man-to-man is better at teaching these concepts to youth players.


2. Base Offense: We feel that all players need to be confident passers, dribblers, cutters, shooters and understand proper spacing. Therefore, we believe that using an open post offense allows us to effectively teach these elements. Too often, players are labeled as post players just because they are tall and never develop any skills away from the basket. Years later, that same kid has not grown at all and is now expected to play on the perimeter but has never developed the skill set to be successful. We just start with basic pass and cut principles and driving actions with proper spacing. From there, we start building in other elements such as down screen and curl.


3. Transition Offense: After years of running a traditional middle break, we made the switch to running a sideline break package. I had numerous conversations with a coach name Wayne Walters, founder of SWARM Enterprises, and his justifications for running a sideline break just made a lot of sense to me. We started putting it in at the high school level and had a lot of success with it. Therefore, we are starting to put it in with the feeder programs. It really allows us to advance the ball up the floor quickly and put constant pressure on the defense.


4. Fundamental Development: All of the drills that we have our feeder programs use are drills that we use at the high school level or at least teach the same fundamental concepts (footwork, language, shooting mechanics and so on). This has tremendous carry over to the high school level because they have a foundational knowledge base that they can continue to build on the first day of high school practice.


By no means is this a perfect setup. We are constantly making improvements and adjusting our methodologies. If you have any interest in studying youth basketball development, I highly recommend contacting Brian McCormick. He has some amazing stuff on youth basketball development.

Game Winning Specials

A while back I did some research, watched a lot of game film and compiled a bunch of special situation plays.  I included a bunch of different scenarios and some different approaches for each scenario. 

Check out the eBook and hopefully it will help you out.

Game Winning Specials

Parent Meetings

As we prepare our teams to get ready for the upcoming season, there are number of things to do on our "to-do" lists. One item that we have every year is parent meetings. This is extremely beneficial to communicate expectations of coaches, parents and players. Many potential problems can be put to rest right away before the season starts if appropriately presented at the parent meeting.
Here is a list of items that we have gone through in the past with our parents.

1. Reading of Parent Pack
2. Introductions of coaching staff.
3. Being a part of the Titans Girls Basketball Program
4. Physicals
5. Activities Handbook
6. Once the season begins, you may not be a part of another basketball team, such as Y ball or Traveling Teams.
7. Coaching philosophy and expectations for the year
8. Practice attendance and expectations (excused and unexcused absences), and protocol if player is going to miss practice
9. Playing time
10. Academic expectations
11. Appropriate way to handle conflicts
12. Seniors last game (how that will go and what to expect)
13. Question and answer session

It is definitely not going to fix every problem, but it does help communicate expectations.

Mike Dunlap Videos

After watching the Mike Dunlap’s latest DVD’s (10 Points for Better Coaching, Shell on Steroids, Organized Anarchy Defensive Transition) released from Level X Hoops, I can see why Coach Dunlap is so highly respected in the coaching community. His attention to detail and approach to the mental aspect of learning and teaching is clearly portrayed in all 3 videos. He is constantly challenging you to think about your approach to learning, coaching and teaching. For example, one of the questions Coach Dunlap presents is do your drills fit your philosophy to the game or do you use drills just because they are new and fun? Coach Dunlap is constantly asking questions like this to make you think about what you are doing as a coach.

I was also impressed with how the teaching points from each video carried over to the other videos. The methodologies presented in the 10 Points for Better Coaching were very prevalent in the Shell on Steroids and Organized Anarchy Defensive Transition videos. Regardless of your philosophy to the game, you will be able to find a drill or coaching point from these videos that will challenge you and ultimately improve as a coach. Without a doubt some of the best stuff I have seen in a while.

Check out Mensbasketballhoopscoop to read more reviews on Coach Dunlap's dvds.