Chalk Talk Archives

Competitive-Fun Drills
Most Aggressive Gut Check Drills
Variants to the 11 Player Break Drill
Most Beneficial Drill
Practice Warm-up
Practice Planning
Keeping Practice Fun
Scrimmaging
Scrimmage Teams in Practice
Scrimmaging: Running your offense when the defense (your own players) know what s coming
Ways to Scrimmage to Involve All Players
Using Managers in Practice
Team Managers
Running as a Punishment?
Hustle
Conditioning in Practice
Stretching during Practice/Warm-up
Time Spent on Shooting in Practice/Number of Shots in Practice
Closed Practices or Not?
Do you let parents watch practice?
Practice Planning Before 1st Game
Deciding what to teach in practice

Tryouts (6)

Try-Outs
Drills For Tryouts
Your Best Drill for Tryouts
Main Things You Look For In A Player During Tryouts
Tryouts: How Many to Keep & What to do With the Rest
Cutting Players

Running A Program (14)

Turning around a program
Feeder Systems
Fundraising
Off-Season Workouts
Play Year-Round?
What is your focus in Summer League Games?
Pulling up a Freshman
EARLY SEASON & NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULING
Coach to Win or Develop in 8th grade?
How many players you need (not carry) for your system?
Open Gym
Preseason Organizational Meeting w/ Staff
Saturday Program For Elementary Kids
Your Program: Secrets of Success & Problems You ve Faced

General Coaching Advice (8)

Make Sure You Always:
Make Sure You Never
How to Coach Young Centers
General Advice
Being a Better Bench Coach
What Makes A Good Coach At The Youth Level
What have you learned from experience
The Hardest Thing in Coaching Basketball is because

Team Management/Motivation (29)

Losing Mentality
Dealing With A Weaker Schedule
Players Accepting Roles
Parents
Parents & Playing Time
Dealing with Parents: Your Philosophy
Having Assistant Coaches
Players Keeping Notebooks/Giving them Handbooks
Team Building
Team Slogans
Half Time Pep-Talks
Motivational/Reward Systems for Individuals & Team
How to Motivate Polite Girls to be Aggressive
Team Leadership/Team Captains
Choosing Captains & their Responsibilities
Team Concept/Selfish Players
Avoiding Team Burnout
Practice Attendance & Consequences
Players Violating School & Team Rule
Having Players Play Multiple Positions
Goals You Want to Accomplish This Year
Substitution Systems
Planning for the Season
Team Rules
Motivational Quotes
GOAL SETTING
Eliminating 1st Game Jitters
Preparing for a Championship Game
Losing in the Championship: What do you say?

Statistics (6)

FT Percentage
FT s Per Game
What is a good 3-point FG Percentage
Statistics
Posting Stats to Players
High School Girls Basketball Research What statistic has the biggest correlation with winning?

Special Situations (8)

Special Situations
Time & Score Situations
Down in the 4th Quarter Strategies
In the lead, tight game: When to start eating clock?
Strategy: How do you start your game?
Down By 2, 20 Seconds Left: What do you do?
Strategy: Key situations in games
Game Strategy: I love it when

Other (47)

Features of a Good PG
Aggressiveness
BIGGEST CHALLENGE AS A COACH
Likes/Dislikes
Bad Habits By Players
Pet Peeves
What will you change this season?
You Know it s Going to be a Long Season When
Community Service Project
Catchy Saying You Use as a Coach
Great Sayings
Use of Time Outs
Injury Liability Form
Parent/School Transportation Policy
Coaching Own Kids: Pros & Cons
Games & Contests for Summer Camp
Gift Suggestions for Coaches
Points of Emphasis Over the Summer
Coaching Resume
Activity Sports Fees
Rather have a natural athlete or a kid that had to learn how to become a player?
Your Best Prank
Toughest part about coaching
Stories of Parent Problems
Dealing With Refs
What has worked for you with referees?
Definition of a Good Coach
Rating yourself as a coach: Looking back at your season
Preparing for an interview
Telling players the truth: Do we sugarcoat things too much?
Breaking down game film
Preseason Parent Meeting
Awards Banquet
Summer Reading Coaching Books
Restrictions on Player s Appearance
Dress Codes
Coaching Philosophy
Can we teach toughness?
Working Camps
What Zone Do You Prefer & What Zone Do You Prefer to Play Against?
What does every successful coach have in common?
Unique or Interesting Basketball Ideas/Concepts
What your team does better than others year in and year out
Beginners Coaches Clinic
Beginners Clinic

OFFENSE

Fundamentals

Square Up & Triple Threat

The players are spread out on the floor. Each player has a ball. They spin the ball backwards, let it bounce, take their 1-2 step as they catch the ball and go into triple threat position. (Repeat several times in unison on the whistle.) We may advance further by having them plant their first foot, and make a rounded pivot (as if they were catching the ball on the perimeter and were turning to shoot.) I will have them do this in sets of 5 (the first four are working on the 1-2 step and getting low into the triple threat position. On the fifth rep they square up and begin to sweep and swing the ball while pivoting and protecting the ball.) I will make sure that they do this with each foot as the pivot foot
I don't think this is much help but, repetition is the name of the game. Start practice with individuals working their way around the 3 point line tossing and catching the ball with the feet in the air landing square to the basket with the ball in the shooting pocket. Have them work around the line both ways. No shooting just squaring up and getting in a good shooting position. Stress squaring up in every shooting drill you do as well as in scrimmages.
Here is a simple little drill I have done for years. It is very elementary, but hey, it has worked for me. Start a line at 1/2 court and another line on the wing. Guy on wing does a V-cut and catches the ball coming back to the wing. Focus on catching and squaring in the air. Upon catching and squaring they yell "Swoop" as they power the bal through once or twice. Then they pass it to the next man in the line at half court. That guy catches in with a jump stop and also "Swoops". By the this time the next guy in the wing line should be nearing the end of his Vcut and be ready to recieve the ball. The drill just keeps going. One other thing I stress in this is that the reciever has to give the passer a target. If the passer does not have a target they are told to not pass the ball. This backs one of our rules "Don't pass the ball to a guy who looks like he doesn't want it"

Passing

Bad passes aren't always the fault of the passer...they can be the result of bad receiving skills, too.
Having the hands ready to receive a pass, moving toward the passer, and creating a passing target/lane are as important as making good decisions with the ball. BBHighway has a clinic on catching/pivoting/faking that has much good advice.
We do a drill where you have 3 people involved. 2 people who are the passers spaced about 10 feet away with 1 person in the middle. The person in the middle stays in the middle until he can get a hand on the ball as it is trying to be passed to the other player. The middle person goes to the player who caught the ball and applies pressure trying to get a hand on the ball. Meanwhile, the passers are learning to pivot and protect, reverse pivot on the overplay to pass on the other side, fake a pass to make a pass, and so on. The drill continues for a specified amount of time. No lob passes are allowed, and the receiver must be able to catch the ball without moving.
Bobby Knight has a thought on passing that we have found effective. He states " The player should pass away from the defense rather than to the offensive man".
practice dribble entries into your motion; AND teach them how to USE the dribble to open up passing lanes.
DRILLS:

THE OLD STAR DRILL: (no shooting just passing): Do it with two and then three balls at one time. The other may be a bit difficult to explain without diagrams but I'll try.

DIAMOND PASSING DRILL:

CROSS PASSING DRILL:

INDIANA PASSING DRILL:

BEARCAT PASSING DRILL: (4 balls)

GET OUT OF THE TRAP DRILL:

10 CONSECUTIVE PASSES:

10 CONSECUTIVE PASSES WITH 4 DEFENDERS:

V-Cut Passing

Post Feeding:

A great passing drill

2 line passing race, no Defense.

3 man weave

2v1 passing:

Machine gun pass

Circle with D in middle.

50 passes

Is the chest pass overrated?

I think, with regards to passing, teaching the 2 handed chest pass is one of the biggest wastes of time possible. When do you use it. When is it more affective than a one handed step thru pass. Our entire program, varsity on down to camp for the 1st graders has stopped teaching it. We teach a right handed pass with a right step or a left step, a left handed pass with a right or left step. A Hervie pass, this is the 2 handed above the head pass, but not the lob. A lob, a baseball pass. The key to getting open to make the pass is pivoting. "Pivot to Pass" as we say many many times. Pivoting does not lead to many good chest passes, it is just too akward. How many times does a player have the luxury of stepping directly toward the intended pass recepient. Not if you are playing my team. On the perimeter, a chest pass can easily be deflected by the pass defender or the recepient defender. We teach outside hand to outside hand. So if I am on the right wing passing to the top of the key. I am going to step through the defender with a pivot, pass with my left hand since it is as far from the d as possible and aim for the right shoulder area of the guy I am passing to.
One of the points of emphasis when teaching this pass is to keep it in 2 hands as long as possible, but then at the end, all the strength and rotation comes from one hand. It is very similar to the off hand when shooting, keep it on the ball as long as possible then finish with one hand. I like what you are saying about stepping through and getting the knee to the ground except for 2 factors. First, I think you need to practice stepping with either foot because of not knowing which pivot foot to use and second, I worry about getting extended so far with the long step that if a defender starts to go for the steal, you can't regain your balance and pull out of the pass.
I've been having the same thoughts for a while. I think the one hand push pass (that's what I call it) can be much better that the chest pass in most situations. But, not teaching the chest pass would be a mistake. I find my self using it often when I play, simply because there are times it is the best pass. Their are different ways of dribling the ball from one side to the other. Do you only teach your players the crossover? There is just times when a reverse drible (spin) is better. You can play the game of basketball only using few fundamentals. However I think it is our job as coaches to teach our players the entire game. I agree on the push pass being a more used pass, hence a better pass. I teach it before the chest pass. This is also because it will help the development of the shoot better than the chest pass.
Chest pass is good in fast break when you are not closely covered and want to throw hard and quickly. When defended, you cannot use it. The overhead pass is what we use 90% of the time because it is quick, you can easily fake it one way and throw it the other whereas the long step to the side and throw from the hip is so slow developing that the receiver's defender can easily anticipate it and cut in front for the steal. Stepping across the defenders leg before passing is a good counter for very tight D on the passer.
We never teach chest passing. We teach right and left handed push passes. If we are going to the left side of the floor from the top, we want a left handed push pass. We teach our kids to pass with the hand away from the defender. We have both hands on the ball but the ball is anchored on the right or left side of the trunk. The hand on the side away from the defender is really the guide hand and the hand that pushes the ball to the target. Even on full court passing drills we emphasize passing with the hand that would be away from the defender. Our kids, most of them, do not want to use the left hand. But we emphasize it and hold them accountable for attempting to execute this properly.

Foul shooting

1) Check form and correct technical problems (make sure to keep the legs in the shot)
2) repetition - have them get a system so they do the same thing on each shot (ie. 3 dribbles and shoot, etc.)
3) practice ft shooting several times each practice. We shoot free throws 3 times each practice--first, after warming up and doing full court drills (O or D), we shoot 20, 5 at a time, trying to establish rhythm, etc.; second, after doing individual drills we shoot "streaks" (shoot until you make, shoot until you miss) again to establish rhythm and get the kids comfortable at the line; third, at the end of practice, depending on time, we shoot 5 1-and-1's or 5 2's. After that's done, we line everyone up to shoot 1. We assign 1 suicide at the end of practice for every missed free throw. Say we make 8/12 leaving four suicides, depending on my mood and how hard they've practiced, I select 1 or 2 players to shoot double or nothing (after we've run about half of the suicides). This adds a little more pressure to it.
Obviously pressure would play a little role in this, but I firmly believe the main thing is confidence. In practice there aren't any really bad consequences if you miss the shot like there are in the game. Therefore you have more confidence that you will make it, why shouldn't you. You got nothing to lose. I constantly explain to my kids; if you can do it once, you can do it 100 times. By making 1 shot you prove that your body is capable of performing the necessary movements to make it. The only challenge is to mentally get your body to perform it again. It is almost like training a dog. Initially he might speak on command 3 out of 10 times. But, although he fails 70% of the time, he can still do it. Eventually his pea sized brain will learn how to call upon that function 100% of the time. Just preach CONFIDENCE!!
I think Silver Coach nailed it. Conditioning is key. Its one thing to knock down 15 in a row in the driveway, and quite another to do it in a game. We like to practice free throws when breathing hard and then add incentives to simulate the pressure, so there are stakes on the line. The stakes can be a positive reward if the free throw is made and/or negative if missed (run more and try again). After players get used to shooting like this, they should feel more confident, and their game percentage should pick up. Steve

Shooting Pocket

A couple quick questions first: How strong is your daughter, and at what basket height is she shooting? The reason I ask is at younger ages kids aren't strong enough to shoot "3 pointers" and when they shoot from more than 10-12 feet away they will either start their shot from the side or down by their waist. What I've also seen happen, is to keep the shooting elbow "in" players sometimes push their shooting hand out, which makes them shoot more from the side of their head. I do allow players to be "slightly" turned when squaring up to the basket which helps overcome this problem. Example; left "ball of foot" even with right heel for a right handed shooter.

I teach shooting from above the eyes. Reasons:
1) There is a straight line from your eyes to the basket, and the ball is now also on that line. This results in less adjustments you have to account for.
2) It helps with your follow through because you're trying to "flick" your wrist into the basket, so your hand doesn't shoot from the side of the ball.
3) Your shots are harder to block because you're usually shooting from a higher release point.

I'm sure there are other advantages/disadvantages, but at the middle school level these benefits are enough for me to teach the way I do. My comment about shooting above the eyes, referred to "Learner's" term. I did not mean to describe the shot by blocking your vision with the ball in front of your eyes. The shooting pocket (for a right hand shooter) is formed, and starts, with the center of the ball even or just outside of your right eye, with the top of the ball about shoulder high. (Triple threat position) When you release the ball you should be releasing above the head, with hand and ball still aligned with the right eye. Hope I didn't confuse anyone.
You do not want the ball to be in front of your eyes when shooting, this limits your vision. The shooting pocket should be slightly to the outside of your head, but also slightly in front of your head. When the ball is in the shooting pocket, the inside of the ball should be about even with the outside of your stong side eye and the ball should be 6 inches to a foot in front of your head. This is a little method I have used for my 7th grade boys. Reach out like you are going to shake someones hand. Now, keep your elbow still and bring your hand up to the shooting pocket. This should give you good elbow position and hand position. When all of this is done correctly, you should see 3 fingers on your shooting hand and 2 fingers on your off hand when holding the ball.

Correcting Shooting Form

I currently have a number of players on my 7th and 8th grade teams who all seem to have a good form for taking a shot.... feet spaced apart for good balance, elbows are in tight, and seem to have their eyes set on the hoop. However, when the shot is taken, it is usually a flat shot, with little arc. This leads to the ball hitting hard off the front or back of the rim. What drills or ideas do you have for getting these players and younger players to shoot with more arc on the ball?
With my girls' teams I try to get them to imagine reaching into a cookie jar on the top shelf--that gets them thinking about getting up on their toes, getting their shooting arm moving up instead of out, and gets their hand to follow through (as though reaching over the top of the cookie jar). My boys' teams often have already been taught to think of a gooseneck on their follow-through. One good drill is to start out under the rim and make 3-5 (depending on your team's ability level) shots without using the glass or hitting the rim. After making a full set of clean shots, move back a step and do it again. Adjust the number of clean shots as the distance gets greater. What the shooter discovers is that a higher shot has a better chance of coming through the rim clean. It is much more effective to see this than it is to hear a coach harping on it.
Like Rockets Ch I have kids stand with their noses under the front of the rim to shoot 25. This position forces them to reach with their follow through up and over. It seems awkward at first but as they get it they seem to like the challenge. Also remind them of Michael Jordan's last shot in the NBA - follow through high, held, and waving goodbye to the ball!
Excellent question. I'm working with 9-10 grade boys and see the same thing. I think the flat shot comes from two sources: poor technique and/or linear thinking. Poor technique: the flat shot is a sign of weakness, so find where the power is lost. Is the wrist cocked back? Is the ball on the palm or fingertips? How much are the legs under the shot? Is the ball held far from the body when the shot is initiated? Have the players start from a triple threat position, legs bent, with the ball near the shooting shoulder. There should be plenty of power there for arc. When players try jumps shots, the shot often flattens out. Watch for elbow flare, timing of the release and where the ball is held to initiate the shot. Linear thinking: Some kids just think in straight lines. When shooting, they choose the shortest path to the basket. To them, an arcing shot is loss of control. As mentioned in earlier posts, shooting under the basket is an excellent drill. Have them shoot over taller people (hands raised) for longer shots to force the arc. I try to explain that a ball falling straight down into the basket sees a circular target. The incoming flat shot sees a smaller, narrow oval target. Look at the details. They may do many things right, but it just takes one fault to break the technique.
I suggest that if she will be playing at the 8th grade level the rest of her life, there isn't much need to change as she shoots OK now. If she has ambitions, its better to pay the price of learning technique now rather than later.
just remember to keep encouraging this player with positive reminders about the 4 elements of the shot: Balance (hand and body) Eyes (on the RIM), Elbow (shooting hand and arm position) and Followthrough (60 degrees +/- from plane of body, waving "goodbye" to the ball). If she can shoot it using her old methods and agrees to adjust her shot, her confidence will plummet because she will start missing shots. JUST KEEP ENCOURAGING with the "2 for 1" method: 2 positive comments for every negative. It will be difficult. Good Luck!
Incorrect form is a very common thing with youngster because they do not have a lot of power and make up for it with a lot of unusual shots, such as from the waist. I would not let up on her as far as the correct way to shot. If it is difficult for her to change now, it will be almost impossible later on! I would start with her real close to the basket where she will not have to compromise correct form for power and gradually move her back. Players with bad form usually do not advance too far. It would have been nice if someone had told her this earlier but you can still help her.
Make them do it right... over and over and over and over. Many high school players wind up as "Career JV's" because of 1 or 2 fundamental flaws and this is no different. Our high school jv team has 1 girl right now who can rebound and play defense with as well as anyone but she pushes her shot from about chest high with no extension. This is a bad habit that was never corrected at an earlier age. Now, since she is not an offensive threat she is probably doomed to be a JV player until her senior year and then become a "role" player and get limited time on the varsity. Try your best to make them do it right. That's why you're the coach.
If you have her practice correctly eventually it will replace the way she currently shoots. She will have to shoot several thousand shots the right way before she will "automatically" shoot in a game with correct form. Start close to the basket and practice a one-handed shot with proper form, within 5 feet. As her form improves, move her away from the basket. Do not let her shoot with both hands, learn a one-handed shot and add the other hand as a balance.
Strengthening shooting muscles:
1. Hold right hand in shooting position with wrist cocked back, elbow pointing at basket, forearm straight up. Use left hand to provide resistance on finger tips of right hand and flex wrist forward against resistance of left hand.
2. Squeeze a tennis ball.
3. Pushups.
4. Leg exercises, such as lunges, half squats, toe raises, jumping.

Correct Form:
Face basket, point upper arm at basket with elbow higher than underarm, bend elbow so angle is around 100 - 140 degrees (longer shots need greater elbow bend, short shots mostly wrist and less elbow bend). Make sure forearm (elbow to wrist) is straight up and down, not with the elbow sticking out to the side - the most common shooting form problem I see. Bend the wrist back as far as possible. Left hand should just hold the ball on the right hand until the beginning of th shot and then come off the ball. Don't push the ball with the left hand (2nd most common error). Extend the elbow and flick the wrist making sure the ball is held by the pads of the fingers and not touching the palm. Focus your eyes on the basket visualizing the rim as the edge of a small round table and make the ball land on the middle of the table. If you are shooting a jump shot, you should release the ball at the peak of the jump or just slightly before the peak. After you release the ball, your wrist should be bent as far forward as it will bend. You can practice form by standing with your right foot on the out of bounds line and shooting straight up so the ball lands a few feet in front of your foot, on the line, and with perfect back spin. Then start shooting at the basket beginning very close and slowly backing out. Have a partner check your form as you shoot. If you make two in a row, back up a step. If you miss two in a row, move in a step. Once you are shooting well with no defense, have your partner run at you and work on quicker release and a high release, shooting off a dribble left and right, off a jump stop and pivot, etc.

Problems with Missed Lay-ups & Short Shots

My 6th grade boys are having difficulty making short shots of all types - put-backs, baseline drives and lay ups from directly in front of the goal. I can't seem to get them to use the glass and it's driving me crazy watching them miss so many close in shots. I'm going to start using the Mikan Drill in practice but that involves only one player at a time. Practices are held with three other teams in the gym, so I have only one basket available to me. Is there a "team" drill I can use to help with this problem?
Well, there is one drill i know of. You put a ball on each of the two blocks and put two guys there, one under the hoop and one in the middle of the paint. The guy in the paint is the shooter. he goes to the first ball, grabs it, and shoots, he then goes to the other ball and does the same thing. The guys underneath hands the guys on the first block the ball while that guys replaces it. The shooter shoots ten times, then they rotate.
A drill I call stationary lay-ups works really well for that age group. I had the same problem with my guys missing too many underneath. The drill goes like this- One ball one player-standing under basket alternating sides of basket while shooting as fast as he can-emphasis on no dribble, arm extension, quick release, and speed- I require my 7th graders to hit 25 in a row, and 8th to hit 30- AND I give them 3-4 tries to achieve this or they do 50 wall slaps (I'll explain later) They get really competitive w/ each other w/ this one and really like it as long as they hit. During this drill I slap or pop the kids in their stomach or legs to get them use to contact under the basket when shooting. OK - Wall Slaps- I have the same problem with having only one basket so I get a couple strips of tape and stick on the wall - one for short ones and one for the taller kids- place the tape so it will be a challenge for them to jump and reach- then have them do ~50 while never allowing their arms to fall- if they fall the whole team does a double-suicide.
I got this drill from Gary Blair, Arkansas Lady Razorbacks Head Coach. Have your players make two equal lines on either side of the lane underneath the basket. The players will be facing the floor. Everyone has a ball except the first person in one of the lines. Start the drill by having the person w/o the ball curl around and receive the ball from the first person in the other line. First cutter shoots ( lay-up, short jumper, etc.). The passer becomes the next cutter. He will curl around (make sure they go around) the person who he just passed to. You should get a criss-crossing motion. You can adapt this drill to your offense and to accommodate longer jump shots or backside cuts. Hope this helps.
I like to use competitive drills for shooting like this one: divide your team into 3 equal teams, each team forms a straight line facing the basket - line A at the foul line, line B on the diagonal(just off the first hash mark) and line C opposite line B (off the opposite hash mark. Each team starts with a ball at the first player. Place 3 balls at the opposite foul line (other end of the court). At the coach's signal, the players begin shooting at the basket. If they make their shot, they rebound their own ball and pass to the next player in their own line. If they miss, they must rebound to their own line, sprint to the opposite foul line and make a foul shot before they can return to their original line. Score one point for each made short shot and the first line to 11 (21) wins! Players must rebound to get the free throw balls, if there are too many players at that end. "Shooting Challenged " lines run as a consequence. Have fun the kids love this!
Try this. 2 lines out of bounds baseline at each lane line. one ball in each line. the second line the 2nd player has the ball & the first person in the first line has the ball. The first player in line 2 curls through the lane and gets the ball for a jump stop and jump lay up(you can modify the type of shot you want them to shoot). The passer cuts off of this shooter as if he were a screener and curls to the other block and gets the pass for a jump stop and jump lay up. The shooter gets his own rebound and passes to the line he recieved the pass from and goes to the end of that line. this drill should be done quickly with crisp passes. This is also a good conditioning drill to get them shooting with tired legs. I let it go for awhile and when they get tired I have them make a certain number of shots before we switch to something else. I usually start with jump lay ups, left hand left side and right hand right side, and I extend to mid lane jumpers, elbow jumpers, top of key each side 3's and finish back with lay ups.
Preach high and soft, jump up not forward. Run chaser lay-up drill with man starting at half-court with defender following, Adjust distance behind based on speed. Both players take off when you pass out in front of first player, who races down using speed dribble for lay-up with defender following..simulates games situations with lay-ups.

Celtic lay-up drill: 2 person drill full-court: player tosses ball off-board, rebound and hits outlet player who dribbles down for lay-up, rebounder follows and puts it in if player misses, then steps out and hits outlet and repeat in the other direction. Make your lay-up drills more game-like. Put in defense as a chaser as suggested before. Get a football blocking pad and bump your players as they shoot. Stand under the hoop and give them light fouls as they shoot. Put them under some pressure. 4-minute lay-up drill. Let us say you have 10 players, then the team must make 10 right handed lay-ups in a row, then switch and shoot until you make 10 left-handed in a row, then switch and shoot 10 right side power until you make 10 in a row, and then left power until you make 10 in a row. A great team should get this done in less than 3 minutes. Every 30 seconds that goes by after 4:00 minutes is some sort of run. I have had teams do it in 2 minutes and 30 seconds and I have had teams that took 27 minutes to do it. The teaching points are this. You must shoot with some pressure. It take all 10 guys to make the team great. Do not get down on guys that miss but instead you should encourage. This is actually a better team building drill than lay-up drill. It will really show you the character of your team. Will they fold when the going gets tough, or will the shine.

3 Drills we use to teach the kids to finish their lay-ups:

#1. Power lay-up drill. Drill runs both directions simultaneously with a coach at each end. Two lines (offense and defense) at the FT line extended so the kids are facing the far basket. Roll ball out towards half court, Offensive player must pick up the ball and drive to the hole for a lay-up while the defender tries to force their player out of the lay-up lane . Coach with blocking pads steps in to make contact as the lay-up is being put up. Go to the next line switching O & D. Two keys keep the defender from diverting your path to the hole, and welcome the contact by going in strong (power up), not fading at the finish. Do these from both the R and L sides.

#2. Full court chaser drill. Both directions simultaneously, coach at each end to evaluate the finish. We use permanent pairings based on speed and skill. Offensive player at FT line extended, Defender with the ball behind the baseline under the basket. D passes the ball in to O who will push the ball hard up the remaining length of the court with D chasing. We encourage speed and contact. Switch O & D lines and go the other way. Keys for offense, finish strong and welcome the contact, for defense, beat the ball handler to the block (where the lay-up will take place) rather than chase aimlessly. Coach evaluates each finish providing feedback to the players. Again, make sure you practice both L and R sides.

#3. Full court outlet & trailer drill. Three lines one under the basket (rebounder), another at half-court sideline on ballside of rebounder, and the third out of bounds at the weak side hash-mark with an obstacle (we use a saw-horse). Coach at each station plus end basket. Tap ball off backboard, rebounder pulls down the board, pivots and looks to make an outlet pass near the half-court sideline. After the pass, rebounder will sprint to weak side block, filling the lane as the trailer. Before the outlet pass, the outlet receiver is trying to juke the defender (coach) and calls for the outlet pass (v-cut back to ball). Once outlet has the ball, drive hard to the far basket for a lay-up. At the same time outlet receives the pass, defender at the hash-mark can release, jump over the horse, and sprint to the strongside block to defend the lay-up. Lots of key points in this drill both offense and defense. The ones related to lay-ups are as follows: If defender has not established position on the block, YOU MUST FINISH THE LAY-UP. If defender has beaten you to the block, either pull up for a short jumper or feed the trailer on the weak side (keeps defender honest). Coach evaluates all finishes and provides feedback. Everyone rotates one line over.

Low Post Play

Our players use the drop step, Sikma move (up and under) and the hook shot. These are basic moves for all post players that we work on everyday day along with Mikens and Billy C shots around the basket. More important is to work on shooting in traffic and on offensive putbacks. We work on getting balanced, going up strong and shooting soft. We shoot in side tring to draw contact and fouls. A good drill for this is to give each player a ball, one line in the lane, have yourself and another person stand shoulder to shoulder in fornt of the basket and have the player with the ball throw it off the back board, rebound and go back up agianst you and the other defender (go up strong and get some contact). Post moves need to be worked on in the summer, consentrating on foot work, balance and a soft touch around the hoop.
We like to put tape on the floor and create what we call a power box. The box should be a half box with the open end furthest from the baseline. The box should be located about 3 feet in front of the backboard off to the side of the hoop - basically the area you want the player to release his power move shot. We work the player on how to break across the lane and receive the ball with a slight two foot jump stop. We work next on how to chin the ball and look baseline foot to see if he can beat his man. We next work the FOOTWORK. We drop step, slide, one dribble in midddle of body. This move should take us from the catch spot (line between the second and third free throw lane spot) to the power box. The feet should be pointing straight at the backboard - this is a must. The shoulders will also be square with the backboard. This will keep the inside shoulder closed and teach the player how to keep his opponent on his back. It is a simple drill but we do it by the 100's.

Post Play: Counter move to the drop step

Power dribble (one) towards the middle of the key and explode to the basket. We practice the drop step, the power dribble and with some players a short hook shot with that move towards the middle. What we discourage are fadeaway jumpers.
If the post player is feeling heavy pressure from the low side by the defender, then we teach our post to front pivot into the lane, so you are still using the same pivot foot. The important factor is to pivot fast and low so that your post player is in basketball position and ready to move. Now we have 3 reads. #1 if the defender stays back, we take the 7 foot jumper, from this spot I coach them to always use the backboard so they cant get more power on their shot and have less chance of it getting blocked. This is the least best option The next option is if the defender stays back and is still in a position to deny the move down the lane. Then we use a dribble to the middle and shoot either a left handed baby hook over the front of the rim. Or a power move and use the backboard from straight in front. This is the second best choice. Now the best move is if the defender uses and advance step to try to stop the jumper when the post front pivots. Now the inside leg as the post is facing the hoop is still free to make a step. So we execute a cross over step aiming our lead foot just pass and through the defenders outside leg and foot, then with a good power dribble we pin the defender on our backs and make the power lay up from the same spot we would have, had the drop step been available. This is the best option.
Another move we teach is a ball fake - show the ball high side near the shoulder and lean (but don't step). If the defender buys the move and steps up, you can then execute the drop step, sealing him off and making the power lay-up.
1) Ball fake to inside middle above shoulder before drop step baseline, add shot fake if needed before power lay-up
2) Fake drop step baseline with ball fake shoulder high, inside pivot, baby jumper (option: can also add step back dribble to create space)
3) Fake drop step, ball fake shoulder high baseline, inside pivot to middle, jump hook
4) Fake drop step, inside pivot, shot fake, up and under crossing over back baseline if they overreact to 2 and 3
5) If playing soft, pivot, square up and take quick jumper or fake shot and crossover middle and hookbr> We teach the kids to open up to the inside and then up and under to the power shot which they wanted to do in the first place.

Backdoor Cut

I just want to add that the back door is more of a a two man play than an individual move. The passer's role is just as important as the cutter's. Where is most often breaks down is when the passer simply doesn't see the backdoor develop and misses the opportunity. Another common fault is the passer not selling the situation with a fake pass. What helps is advance information. Offensive players that have an overzealous defender should speak up or signal (we use a closed fist). Cutter should use extended outside hand to signal for pass, then plant outside foot to stop and reverse, always facing the ball. Also a geographic marker for the actual cut (such as the three point line) helps improve success. Some of the best places to strike are the wing diving low, coming back to the wing and reversing again at the arc to go inside; post player comes out to get a pass in the corner but reverses back inside.
1. Use L-Cuts. Teach the players to cut at their defender in a streight line. If the defender is above the outside shoulder, cut to basket. If the defender is under the inside shoulder, plant the inside foot and cut up to meet the pass.

2. Look at the scouting report and game film. Do they play a flat triangle or an extended defense?

3. When executing a back cut, the inside hand mut be extended all the way to give the passer a target. YOU MUST DRILL THE KIDS ON BEING ABLE TO CATCH A BACKDOOR PASS AND HIT THE LAY-UP IN STRIDE, NO JUMP STOPS OR HESITATIONS. TEACH THE KIDS HOW TO SHOOT LAY-UPS WITH A DEFENDER PRESSURING FROM BEHIND.

4. The most frustrating part of teaching back cuts is the passing aspect. We use a lot of back cuts to offset the extreme defensive pressure that we face in our league (some of the best in the state). Teach the kids how to make a one handed bounce pass off of the dribble and they must LEAD THE CUTTER TO THE HOOP. This type of pass makes us harder to telegraph and the pass is lower, thus harder to steal. Watch old Princeton tapes, especially when Carril was there, they were the best.

5. If you want to use more back cuts in your .5 court offense, you must teach your players that only greedy players run at the ball. Plus, you have to be able to hit the perimeter jump shot to force the defense out into the lanes. If there is no answer at the backdoor, knock at the front.

6. It takes a lot of teaching time in practice. It has been a good cut for us, we have to use it. It makes teaching slips vs. switching easier, and once the kids get used to doing it they can get very clever and precise on both the cut and pass.
We also use closed fist to signal we are going back door and the kids are NEVER to start a back cut and not go all the way to the block. that way the passer can be confident the cutter is really going back door and can focus on the defenders. AK's point about the fake pass to the outside as the cutter plants to go back door is also important. Often the D will swallow the fake and take his eyes off the cutter which allows the cutter to get very open. Cutters also have to notice help coming and be ready to dish.

FUN Ball handling Drills

Basketball Tag - Everyone has a ball, they start dribbling inside the 3 point line and at the same time try to knock the ball away from the others. As long as you keep one continuous dribble, you stay in. If you lose your dribble, your out. 2. Dribble with one hand and juggle 2 tennis balls with the other.
SPORTS PAGE- each kid gets a page out of the paper they open it against their chest and have to dribble forward fast enough and under control to keep the paper off the ground without touching it. Each stop you fold it in half to make it that much harder.
Each player gets a ball-boundaries are the baseline and the three point arc-blow the whistle-each player tries to knock the ball of another player out of bounds-if your ball is knocked out you are out of the drill-as players decrease shorten the boundaries. Drill teaches: stay low, protect ball, court awareness, etc.
keep away with a coach helping the team on defense - time offense and see how long they can keep the ball. fox and geese? - dribblers have to stay on the lines (side lines, lanes, 3 point line, volleyball court lines, etc) while a chaser tries to knock their ball away - chaser replaces whoever he knocked out and they become new chaser - chaser does not have a ball. Option is to keep same chaser and last person caught is next fox. Time them to see which fox gets others out quickest. Maximum two minutes so slow kids don't go forever. Sharks and minnows: one person "it", others start on baseline with a ball. All try to dribble to other baseline while "it" tries to knock their ball away. Each person caught joins with original shark for the next iteration. Last one to lose ball is shark for next game. Relay races using cones (or kids lined up as cones) making various dribbing moves for each direction change (behind back, between legs, spin, crossover).

Better Hands

I don't know what it's called, but there's a toy/game/whatever, that velcros around your wrist and has an extremely long and strong rubber band attached to the end. Attached to that is a super ball about the size of a tennis ball. You throw the ball away from you and it goes out about 15 feet, then the rubber band zigs it back at you. If you don't catch it, the super ball will zing you in every part of your body. You learn real quickly how to catch a ball! Sorry I don't have the name of it for you.
Silly putty! Get ahold of some silly putty and play with it daily. This strengthens hands and helps prevent injuries.
Squeeze a tennis ball. Do fingertip pushups. Throw a superball against the wall and catch it. Have a partner throw a basketball to you and catch it with one hand - use your fingertips, reach out for the ball, let your hand give as the ball hits it, pull it in. You can also take a flat piece of plywood about the size of a ping pong paddle, drill some holes in it for laces so you can attach it to the palm of your hand, and practice one hand catches with the wood on your hand. This will help you learn to let your hand give when the ball hits it. I know this works for baseball players but have never tried it for catching a basketball. Close your eyes and have someone throw passes into your hands (gently). Have someone play defense on you (post them up by stepping in front of them and holding them behind you with your butt and upper arm) while another player throws you passes which you will catch with the other hand. Have them bump you and try to reach around you to deflect the pass while you hold them off. Concentrate on focusing on the ball as it comes toward your hand.

Pivot Foot: Does it Matter?

The left foot as pivot seems natural to me, but I stress ambidexterity as the goal for ball handlers. If a player is comfortable going either way, then what difference does it make which foot is the pivot? If our defenders realize an opponent is "right handed", he will be using his left hand a lot when we play.
I coach 7th grade boys and we select a pivot foot depending on where we catch the ball on the floor. I try to set up our drives to the middle, so when we cut to the wing on the right side, the right foot is the pivot, the opposite on the left side. In the post we try to use the high foot as the pivot so that we can use our drop step. So again, on the right post, our right leg is the pivot so that the left leg can lead step to the hoop. I drill this over and over until we get our footwork down. We work on catching and establishing territory with the preferred foot. We also drill catching with the other foot as the pivot because in a game who know what the defense is going to force you into. Drill. Have your wing start near the baseline and v-cut to the wing at practice the footwork for catching. I use this drill as a filler for dead time in my practices.
For perimeter players, we teach permanent pivot foot (left foot for right handed shooters). Want them to catch with pivot foot forward so they can face the basket and jab step with their "shooting foot". Now they are ready to read the D. If defender doesn't step up to contest the jab, finish the shot or pass to open players near the basket. If defender contests, then swing the ball low and to the weak hand, knife past defender with a quick dribble or two to clear space for a short jumper or dish (or in the rare cases of a true opening in half court sets - drive to the hole). Some of the conflicting materials you are reading are probably from coaches that teach establishing the outside as the pivot so either foot becomes the pivot depending on what side of the court you are on. While some very valid points can be made for this, we stick to a permanent pivot foot. We prefer to have the players learn one technique well so they are not tentative in their execution or turn the ball over with travelling violations.
We run an open post offense that is designed to create driving/scoring opportunities into the lane. Therefore, we feel it is important that our perimter players use their outside foot as the pivot foot. This allows them to attack the lane easier and puts more pressure on the defense. I do not agree that this is more difficult for young players to learn. I coach 8th grade boys and they have all picked it up quickly.
Phil clearly describes the reasoning behind a permanent pivot foot. We teach this way so that the jump shot is always the same. That is, step into the shot with the shooting foot. If you teach either foot as a pivot, how do teach a jump shot for a right handed-shooter with the right foot as the pivot?
Our perimeter players do a series of shooting drills at every practice. One of the drills is to V-cut to the wing position, meet the ball, pivot on the outside foot, square and shoot the jumper. This is done on each side. The next drill builds off the first where after they square to the basket, they make a hard escape dribble into the lane. This is done by making a big step with the inside foot and pushing off of the outside (pivot) foot. They make a Sprewell hop into the lane and shoot a pull-up jumper. By using a permanent pivot foot, the player would have to pivot away from the basket after they catch the ball and then use a crossover step to get into the lane. This is a slower, less aggressive move. That's not my opinion, rather simple body physics. In my opinion, teaching to use left and right pivots is as important as teaching dribbling with either hand in the development of a versatile offensive player.
I think regardless of your choice (permanent pivot, inside pivot, etc.), you must maintain some consistancy in your teaching and throughout your program. I have experienced success using both methods. Make sure that this is a point of emphasis each day of practice (even if only for 2-3 minutes). The key is creating the desired habit through repetition.

Proper Technique for Setting Screen

Coaching girls, I teach them to cross their hands across their chest a little away from the body.
I prefer 2. Arms crossed elbows out. If the arms are away from the chest a bit, they offer some cushioning when the defender hits. Also, if you have your knees flexed a bit, you can maintain balance better. I caution the players not to push away or flare the elbows out because they are inviting a foul call. I don't like the family jewels option because its too easy to get knocked on your keister. If the pick is set away from the ball, there's no requirement to take the defender head on. If the screener presents his/her backside, its safer for the screener and more brutal for the defender. If the pick fails, the fault is usually with the ball handler who didn't direct the defender into the screen.
Arms crossed, elbows out as much as you can get away with...protects the chest..makes for wide screen. John Kresse (College of Charleston) teaches as wide a screen as possible almost with fists together at chest with elbows out to make it wide. This is good as long as you don't get too wide and push out. Also teaches jump stop when setting screen.
I teach keep arms crossed and end. i found this cut down on leaning and "Blocking" instead of screening. I also teach the dribbler to get a close as possible to the outside shoulder of the screener
I teach the Family Jewels Screen for a few reasons.

1) Past Experiences when not preotecting them OUCH!

2) It allows the screener to set a tight screen, while discouraging the urge to push if arms are up and getting a cheep foul call.

3)By allowing the screener to get closer and make a tighter screen, it allows the screener to place his inside knee behind the knee of the defender and seal him out when rolling off of the screen. With arms up, defender has too much room to drop around screen and sealing out is much more difficult.
Another reason for having hands up and elbows out ... upon contact, the offense will probably be on one forearm or the other. Lean on that forearm enough to take the weight off the foot on that side. Let your forearm slide down some to lower your center of gravity. Then you can pivot easier to seal him out as well as know exactly where he is. The offensive player will have a difficult time going anywhere once you pin him. Another concept I've seen taught in this situation is to pivot and "sit" on the offensive player's leg. I have had screens set on me and been sat upon. Works good.

Setting Staggered Screens

I guess it depends on your definition of a staggered screen. The side by side screen is simply a double screen. A staggered screen is two screeners who are not together so the defensive player hits the first screen, then after getting around it hits the second screen. As for the best position, I think hitting the second screen a step or two after hitting the first screen is good. The staggered screen has the advantage of catching the defender off guard because he is still focused on getting away from the first screener while the second screen is being set.
We use staggered screens. We teach the screeners that they should be perpendicular to each other. For example, we will run a perimeter player from the short corner on one side to the wing on the opposite side. If we employ a staggered screen, screener #1 will set a screen on the opposite block with his chest facing the other block. Screener #2 will set a higher screen with his chest facing the baseline. After we run it a few times the defender will go over the top and try to beat our offensive player to the spot. When this happens we teach our players to pop out to the ball-side short corner for the easy jumper.
When we teach a staggard screen we treat it as two different screens. One shooter, one screener(first), and one reader (second screen). The first screener sets a solid screen and the second screen is set based on how the defense reacts to the first screen. If the defense trails the first screen we have the reader steps outside the first. This makes the defense go farther and also tells the shooter to curl the staggard. If the defense jumps under the first screen then the reader sets the screen inside the the first and this shows the shooter to fade for a jump shot.
The staggered screen concept is great if you like to shoot the "3". We run it as part of our secondary break. One additional thing to keep in mind is that you may want to set the second of the two screens with a post player. That way, if the defense switches, you could conceivably have a mismatch on the perimeter and the block.

Setting & Using Screens Better

The most effective drills that I have seen for teaching screening and cutting are on Lute Olsen's Passing Game video available from Sysko's. "Two on one with the coach" starts with a player at the point with no defender, a player at the forward position with a defender, and the coach at the wing opposite the forward. The point passes to the coach and screens down for the forward. Lute covers the forward setting up his defender for the screen, reading the defender when the screen arrives, and making the cut based on the defender's actions. Even though everyone knows what will be happening, the screen is very difficult to defend when run correctly. "Two on two with the coach" adds a defender on the player at the point and adds the screener reading the defenders and and the cutter and reacting accordingly. Once the lessons of these drills are ingrained, the screener and cutter are very difficult to defense even in a drill when everyone knows what is happening.
Along these lines we will play 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 cutthroat. Let me define cutthroat first -- basically if you score on offense you get to stay. We begin by playing two on two (with a coach) and forcing them to pass to the coach first and screen away. The coach has the option to decide if the screen and read were good and pass the ball (I have never told me team I do this) or if it isn't good they won't get the ball so they will need to go back and rescreen. Once they get the ball they can do whatever they want with it, including passing it back to the coach. They will do one of two things if they pass to the coach -- they will pass and cut or pass and screen away (our two basic options for them in our motion offense). Then we move to 3 on 3. We do this because they need to learn to pass the ball to players coming off screens. Again we force them to pass and screen away to begin the offense and then they are on their own. Both of these drill are used AFTER we spend hours teaching them how to pass and cut and pass, screen away and READ the screen.

Driving By a Defender

Closer is better!!!! Once he's up on you tight you have to "Rip and Read" - get into triple threat by squeezing the ball tight and pivoting through ripping the ball elbows pointed side to side. Don't throw an elbow at him just rip through his arms this should create some space or at least keep their hands off. THen seal woth your leg- rip and step over or under getting your leg around theirs with tha tgood first step and go right off thier hip. If they are pinned by your hip and leg they can't slide without fouling you. Don't be afraid of contact and as sugested before realistic small fakes. Use your shoulders and eyes to sell the fake but keep the bal tight and protected.
Deception is more important than quickness. Use a realistic fake to misdirect the defender (fake pass left, drive right; fake a shot and drive, etc) before making your move. Don't try to drive around your defender, go right at his hip so your hip and his hip rub as you go by. Going wider around him than you need to lets him drop step and cut you off. Once your lead foot is past his foot and your inside arm is past his body, cut toward the basket (make contact, don't avoid it) and lean into him strongly as you drive to the hole. Be ready to pass if another defender steps in to help on you. Sometimes faking a pass as you pick up your dribble to shoot your lay up will freeze the help man and allow you to go on in for the shot. Practice driving either way using either foot as your pivot foot. Also practice rocker step and spin move and faking as you start your drive. Nothing kills pressure defense like beating your man for a driving lay up when all the other defenders are out denying passes to their men.
It's all fundamentals. Focus on the basics. (1) When penetrating keep your head up. (2) If they are playing to close you can do several things. (a) Attack their high foot (b) pass fake (c) ball/shot fake. Study other players on varsity & watch what they do to get around overly aggressive defenders. You can learn from anyone, never forget. I used to go to girls games & watch them because they play for the most part below the rim. Good luck youn gun. You'll do just fine. Remember, practice the way you play. Keep those grades up too. Be a student athelete, not a goof ball with talent.

Motion Offense

Teaching Motion Offense

I like to spend a fair amount of time on basic plays - give and go, pick and roll, back door cuts, etc. We work on these through 2:2 and 3:3 play, usually stressing a particular point within those situations. A big problem with learning continuous plays is that the kids memorize a process and then miss all the opportunities that open up along the way. My hope is that thorough familiarity with the basic plays will help them recognize the many advantages the offensive set provides. Another key teaching point is for the players to pay attention to details throughout the play. Sometimes the kids say that the play doesn't work. Actually the play is fine, its just a screen was missed or a cutter wasn't seen. everybody was thinking about completing the process, not looking for oportunities.
I have simplified my motion "O" down to very basic rules. I use 1 post and 4 out. On a pass you basket cut. You carry your cut to the goal. You flow out to the perimeter. You then may screen or cut. (You may have to designate screeners) If you screen then you become a second cutter. Run your drills with no ball 2/0 and 3/0 and 4/0. At first use basket cuts no screens add screens slowly. Then add the ball. Then go 5/0. Then designate who can score and defend him. Building to 5/5.
motion and set play off are philosophically diff off. sounds like you have decided to go with motion. i believe motion can and should be broken down into it's component parts for practice begining with 2on0 , 3on0, ect advancing to 2on2, 3on3, 5on5, and maybe even 5on6, after it is first shown and practiced in its entirty. the whole part whole teaching method. i believe every practice must include breakdown drills leading to 5on5. for example, when teaching a 5 man open post motion game i do the following: 1. 3man patterns- pass cut replace, pass pickaway rollback, pass go behind for hand off with hander-offer rolling to basket. 2. then i add def 3on3. 3. finally, we go 5on5. if we get real good i'll play 5on6. i would typically spend 2 to 3 min on each activity for a total of approx 20 min practicing my motion off.
In order to teach the motion, players have to be able to move without the ball. I favor to teach a motion offense, that involves a patter. This keeps all players moving without the ball. As they play more basketball, they will see the openings the defense leaves and react accordingly. One mistake is the players become programmed to run the pattern. This is when you help them with taking what the defense gives you.

Motion Offense Rules

my motion offense is simply; pass cut fill I run this from a 1-2-2 set and 2-1-2 if you pass the ball, cut to the basket, fill the open spot. the only exception is if a player dribbles toward you, set a pick and roll to the basket..everyone else will fill the open spots. on all shots the player furthest from the basket plays d safety while everyone else crashes the boards. Some basic rules:
1. Passer always cuts to the basket
2. Strong side always screens away
3. have preset f spots and they always have to be filled
1. lateral passer always screens the ball
2. opposite wing always cuts toward the ball side
3. posts always screen up
4. weak side always overloads the strong side
5. strong side post always pops out
In my role I implement whatever offense the varsity runs, but I have a motion offense that I have been working on. Its based on 4 rules. The purpose is to enable the entire team to be able to anticipate the next step without following a set pattern. Its really simple but allows for a lot of creativity. The basic setup is one point, two wings and two post players. Whoever is at the top of the key is the point. Doesn't matter where they are as long as they are spaced well.
1. If you pass to the wing, pick away. (point passes towing then picks for other wing; or post passes to wing, then picks for other post)
2. If you pass to a post, you cut to the basket. If a point or a wing pass to the post and cut, the other two outside players must rotate and fill the void. The cutting player goes to the basket then v-cuts to opposite wing spot if he doesn't get the ball.
3. If no pass at all, the post comes out for pick and roll.
4. If you pass to point, reset. Once the players are used to the rules, there is a fair amount of quick movement, screening and cutting going on. They are deliberate first, but soon play with tempo. The advantage is that based on the pass decision, we all know what will happen next and what kind of shot to look for. I have written a bunch more about it on my site. Its in the article "Easy Offensive Sets" and is called the Alaska Play.
1. HIGH POST: Pass and cut to the basket and post up - if you do not receive a pass right away clear to weak side block; constantly look to screen for guard with ball.
2. LOW POST: Move to high post when high post goes low.
3. GUARDS: Pass and cut to the basket looking for a return pass; move to ball if more than one pass away; if one pass away and guarded, move away from ball and screen for another guard on the way.
That's it. B-Ball Ed would be proud of me.

5 Out Motion: Combating a Sagging Man Defense

the biggest problem. What I have found works best is to use a series of 3pt shot quick hitters (3 or so) that we run scripted (usually saved for "crunch" time). If you can hit a couple, the defense is forced to run at your shooters, which opens up the penetration, drive-draw-dish, back door cuts, etc. that you're probably looking for.
Ball reversal is very important to counter sagging man to man on the weak side. Ex. : Ball reversal to attack the weak side and two staggered screens for the corner player following the ball reversal passes around the perimeter. If her defender helps too much they will get killed by the staggered screens. For sagging man to man where the defender is sliding behind the screener or sagging, flare screen action where the screener backs into the sagging defender while the player screened for pops back out for the shot. Also, when coming around the screen go toward the ball for perimeter shot instead of curling to basket. For pressure man to man including overplay and jumping to ball to prevent pass to cutter after his pass, use backdoor cuts and fade screens with skip pass fading away on perimeter. Also, pass and screen away with one wing screening across with back pick action for other wing player after cutting through.
The best thing to do (although easier said than done) is to make some outside shots. The next best thing to do is be patient. Very few high school teams are going to be able to defend for more than 4 passes. Sooner or later you will end up with a higher percentage shot.

5 Out Motion: Teaching Progression

This will be my fourth year running this offense and the thing that I have found that works the best is to use a whole-part-whole method. First I show them the offense as a whole so they can get the overall concept of the offense. Then once they get a basic idea of the rules, I will break it up into parts like, pass and screen away or the pass and cut and teach them the fundamentals necessary to run whichever series I am teaching. I think that it is very important that they have an overall understanding of what we are trying to do as a whole before we break it down into parts. Then once we have broken it down and taught the important fundamentals we bring it back together and run it as a whole. In term of the progression for which series we teach first. We teach the cutting series, the screening series, and then we teach the combo series. We teach all of these at the Junior High level. Then at the high school level we teach more of the 2 on 2 and 3 on 3 things that you can do out of this offense. Also we teach more complicated entries and specials at the high school level. I don't think that in one season kids can master all aspects of this offense. It took our varsity team 1 full season and a summer of basketball to even really start to get comfortable running this offense.
We run 4 out 1 in but the teaching progression is the same. part to whole. Of course you need footwork, catch, pivot, triple threat 3 person: give and go, replace 3 person: pass and screen away 2 or 3 person: V cut/back door 5 man dummy offense: as above 5 man motion with defense. screen options work:
1. curl to basket
2. move toward ball
3. go backdoor
4. flare (pop out)
5. fade screen action
6. slip screens on switch
7. Ball reversal-staggered screens

5 Out Motion: Corner Options

you asked: "In the 5 out motion offense, what are effective corner options against a sagging man defense? " I assume you are playing 5 out motion because you don't have a real big player and you have quick, good shooting perimeter players, that you have players that can hit shots on perimeter...when the defense sags.
Some thoughts:
1. Any time the corner player sets a fade screen for the wing player when ball is passed from wing to top of key, have screener pop out for open shot in the wing area.
2. When corner man reverses ball around perimeter, have wing and top of key player set staggered screens for the corner player cutting around perimeter.
3. wing passes to corner, and cuts through to other corner for surprise back pick for weak side corner player who cuts across
4. any player that posts up and is doubled by sagging defense needs to kick ball out for open shot on perimeter
5. on pass to corner from wing, wing sets flare screen for top perimeter player, who pops out with screener between him and basket
If you played 4 out 1 in, your post player can screen for the corner player when ball is reversed to wing from corner. Screener can pop out to perimeter for shot if sagging occurs
We utilize two main options. If it is a post player passing to the corner, we run a pick and roll with the post and the corner player with the ball. This is an unusual angle for a pick and roll, but proves to be quite effective. Another version of a pick and roll is that the wing cuts through to the opposite corner and then the player at the top of the key comes to the corner to set the pick and roll. If it is any other player passing to the corner, we screen away to the top. The top person cuts to the hoop and the screener rolls back to the wing. A variation of this may be to let the top person come off of the screen to the wing and have the screener roll to the hoop.

5 Man Motion: Drive & Dish

What cuts do you do from certain spots in the 5 man game when an offensive player penetrates and draws another defender? Should it be a backdoor cut? A relocate cut? I want to score a lay up or a very close jumper right inside the key. What should the offensive player without the ball do when this happens? I know the draw and kick for a 3 pt shot but what about for a forward that may have a weak outside shot? I already know the dribble out rule. But I would like something kind of different from that. Instead of dribbling to spot, we are going to be driving to the basket and drawing defenders who are closest to the ball.
I always have my post players cut to the block and try to pin their man. This creates a great scoring triangle. You will have the player driving to the middle of the lane, and then a player at each block. If the players at the block pin their men well, the driver goes all the way to the hoop and scores, if either of the block players's defenders rotate to stop the drive, then dish off to that player. Many times then the defender guarding the other block who did not rotate to stop the drive rotates over to the block that just received the pass, then a good bounce pass from block to block creates the wide-open lay-up. If the drive were to come to the block instead of the middle of the lane, then the player at the block should release up the lane to create a lane for the driver to take a lay-up and a lane for a pass. The other block would try to gain inside position for a good bounce pass across the lane.
So much of this depends on where the players are when the drive occurs. It is hard to set a specific cut. My focus is more on spots than cuts. As the drive occurs, every player has a spot they should go to so that the player penetrating knows where his team mates will be and where he should look. Near the hoop I always have 3 spots. One spot is filled by the player driving, then the post players fill the other 2. The goal is to get to the spot quickly and pin your man in a way that you create a passing lane from the drive. You also have to teach them to think in situations where, a post player is the one driving, then one of the wings should fill one of the 3 inside spots.
I've been following this series of posts with interest. One point I wanted to add was that when a player drives, the defense generally compresses in front to cut him off, but what's behind him? A vacuum. When a player drives from the perimeter, we like to have a trailer not too far behind. It can be a spontaneous thing - if a teammate near you drives - fill the vacuum. Ideally you'd like to dish inside, but if you can't, the trailer will be open. Depending on the situation, you might get a secondary drive, spot-up shot or a pass back to safety.

4-Out/ 1-In Motion: With a Poor Center

With a poor center: Been there... had a center that was an excellent defender and rebounder and couldn't shoot (or dribble) a lick. I ran a 4out 1 in with her and used her to set picks for cutters coming from the weak side so that she often had her back to the ball. We also ran a motion pattern, similar to the open post, where she would stay on the foul line and move from elbow to elbow setting picks for the cutters. There is also a variation of the flex that we used that kept the post player in the low post while the other players maintained the basic flex rotation. The complete version of this is on Coach Jackson's web site. It worked pretty well for us except that sometimes the rest of the team would sometimes forget which flex we were running...which sometimes worked to our advantage.
What screens the post man can do: 1) give and go 2) pass and screen away 3) backpick action by center for perimeter players up top after pass 4) center back picks for corner player when ball reverses from corner around perimeter See john Kresse's Flex Plus and Motion offense book or video
Im gonna use numbers for players. Assuming 1=pg and 5=center with 2,3,4= other three shooters. Try having your 1 bring the ball down the seam, with one player on either wing we'll say 3 is on the 1's side of the court and 2 is at the other wing, 1 at the top seam on one side and 4 on the other side at the top seam and a 5 at the low post on the opposite side. 1 passes to 3 on their side on the give and go. If not there, 1 sets cross screen for 5 and continues through to opposite wing as the player on the opposite wing (2) comes through to where 1 was off a screen from 4. Either 2 is open for the jumper or 5 is open inside. If nothing open swing it to the opposite seam where you repeat on the opposite side. 4 repeats with the give and go to 1. This way your 5 always stays down low!!

4-Out/1-In Motion Offense

4 out, 1 in motion offense: This offense will have 4 players running motion offense on the perimeter and one player working the low and high post area. The perimeter players have the option of filling a post spot opposite the permanent post player - for a 2-3 second count. This will be discussed in the rules of the offense. - The Basic Set The perimeter players have 5 possible areas to locate at. The 5 areas are: the point spot near the top of the key, the wings, and the corners. The post man has 7 different spots he can locate at: low posts, mid posts, elbows, and the free throw line spot.
- General Rules of the Offense
1. Players should know their shooting range and try to receive the ball within their shooting range.
2. Make good screens. Players should know proper methods of setting and receiving screens.
3. Players need good spacing. We like 12-15 foot spacing between players. If it is closer than this the defense can give help. If it is further than this the defense can deflect the long slow pass.
4. Practice the proper way to receive the ball - we want our perimeter players to immediately square up to the basket and be in a triple threat position.
5. Don't pass too fast - make sure you look inside before swinging the ball on the outside.
6. The dribble should only be used to do the following: improve passing angle, drive for a lay up, prevent a 5 second count. We don't want the unnecessary dribble.
- Perimeter Player Rules:
1. Pass and cut to the basket. If you don't receive a return pass break out to a vacant perimeter position.
2. Pass and screen away on either a perimeter player or post player. Continue all screening to the baseline - an example of this would be: point passes to the right wing, point sets a screen for the left wing, point sees the 4th perimeter player in the left corner, the point continues on and now screens down for the corner player.
3. We want every 3rd pass into the post. When a perimeter player passes into the post he should screen for the closest perimeter player or cut to an open spot on the perimeter. Non-passing perimeter players will be running the downscreen rule - if a player is below you then you screen for him.
4. Pass and "v" cut and replace yourself.
5. Pass and cut to the vacant spot on the perimeter.
- The Post Player Rules:
1. Stay in a post position for approximately 5 seconds. Moving too often and quickly will make it difficult for perimeter players to coordinate their movements with the post. If the post does not move enough then the defense will be in a position to "cheat" and "give help."
2. With no one else in the post, the post player has a tremendous amount of freedom to operate. The post may operate as a screener, passer, driver, or shooter from the high post, low post, ballside or backside position.
3. Post may screen for any perimeter player who does not have the ball. A good example of this situation would be the low post screening for the weak side corner cutting across the baseline to the ball.
4. Post may screen for any perimeter player who has the ball when there is no other offensive player between the player to be screened and the baseline. The example of this situation would be: player on right wing has the ball - right corner is vacant, post on right low post comes out and runs a pick and roll on the ball.
- Perimeter Player Rules When In Post
Perimeter players may fill any of the 7 post spots - we don't want them doing this on a regular basis and it must be done meeting the standards of the rules set. The rules:
1. When a perimeter player comes to a post spot he should be opposite the permanent post man. An example of this would be: high-low, low right - low left.
2. We only want perimeter players in the post for a very short period. A maximum of 3 seconds in the post area and then vacate to an open perimeter area.
3. Post up only if an offensive advantage is there. We want to keep it to a minimum - we don't want to clutter the offensive area for the post man.
4. A perimeter player who is in the post and makes a pass should follow the same rules that are listed above for perimeter players.
- Summary:
This offense is very easy rules wise. Players like this offense because it has unlimited number of scoring opportunities for all players. You can use similar teaching methods that I introduced in my article on 3 Out and 2 In Motion Offense.
We run a lot of 4 out 1 in, 8th grade boys traveling team. Depending on if the defense is aggressive with tight coverage, or sags in big time, dictates what the guards do (I make the call). Most players would rather basket cut than screen away. So I'll call 41 which means to screen away, or 40 which allows them to either screen away or basket cut (guess what they'll do most of the time) We'll run 41 when playing against tight D and 40 when against a sagging D.

Blocker-Mover Offense

The Blocker-Mover offense is a motion offense.
You have three movers and two blockers (screeners). The screener's main job is to screen for the movers. They follow the same rules as regular motion in that they open to the ball after screening, roll or flair depending. The three movers basically play off of the blocker's screens. All screens are off the ball. The movers may set a screen for another mover but it isn't part of their duties. Other words if they never screen they are still performing as the offense is designed. If they do that is fine also.

Blockers only screen for movers. There are several different combination of blockers. I probably don't remember them all.

Lane-lane (two post types) these two blockers play on their side of the lane on the lane line from around the elbow area to the block. they don't cross the lane.

Lane-Wide (one post type and one forward type) lane blocker does the same as above, wide means this blocker has the same area as the lane blocker except it extends to the sideline on his side of the court.

High-Low (one post type and one guard type) high blocker plays above the FT line extended and the low blocker players both sides of the lane.

I think there is also a Wide-Wide.

I guess you could have any combination of the three or so types of blockers.

I saw a tape of Coach Bennett speaking at a clinic and he said he has also ran it with three blockers and two movers. No I've never played it. Tried it for a couple of days in practice, it didn't fit my players or I just didn't understand it well enough to coach it?
I've used the Blocker Mover Offense, in fact I used it with my varsity boys' team this past season (we just got beat in out state tournament). I like the offense because it allows your best offensive players to move and make moves off of screens. Teaching this offense takes a huge amount of work, especially with h.s. boys. You must teach the kids how to screen properly, how to angle the picks, how to hold position of the screen, how to read the defense, how to read the screener, and many more areas of teaching "motion". I would not reccomend this offense for elementary or youth leage teams that do not practice everyday. As in any motion type offense, if the players don't understand how to move without the basketball, it is to easy to defend.
Against a zone: Vs. a 2-3 zone I've put my movers at the following positions: pt. guard and at the two wing spots f.t. line extended. My blockers were placed at one of the low blocks & the other at the center of the f.t. line. What this gave us was a 1-3-1 look vs. the 2-3. Movers could relocate while the blockers sealed the zone in, we throw a lot of skip passes vs. the zone. This also gave us the hi-low game w/ our two blockers. Vs. a 3-2 or 1-2-2 I've put my Blockers on the blocks and stacked my best shooting mover under one of the blockers. The other two movers are set up in a two guard look up top, splitting the top defender in the zone. The bottom or baseline mover will run off of the baseline dbl. screens set by the blockers looking for short corner jumpshots. After the mover comes off of the screen the strong side blocker will seal and post while the weak side blocker cuts to the high post. The same action continues on the opp. side when the mover cuts off of the other side screen. Vs. the 1-3-1 I put my blockers at the low blocks, my best shooting mover at the high post and my two ball handlers in a two guard set up top splitting the top zone defender. Here, the high post mover will run off of one of the blockers screens (ball side) and then we try to dump the ball in to the movers after the screen and seal (works very well vs. the .5 court trap). I like this concept because it keeps my best screeners and rebounders in postions where they can best serve their team. But, no matter how you choose to attack the zone, I feel that ball reversal is a must, especially if you can pin the weak side of the zone in. Let me know if you would like to see some of this stuff, I'd be happy to mail you whatever I can.

M-2-M Offenses (Besides Motion)

Flex

You might try starting in a 1-4 deep set. Start with your 2&3 players on the blocks, your 4&5 players at the short corners. Have your point take the ball on one side or the other, and have the opposite side wing (2 or 3) pop to the elbow for your entry pass. Flex cut from post away from pass, and you're in flex. You can develop many options from this entry which are hard to stop, such as a back screen for the point after the entry pass. I don't use the flex myself, but this set is one that an area Hall of Fame coach in our conference uses and it is very effective. She has over 600 career wins!
Absolutely, my team has fair success running the flex out of the 1-4 high set. Here's what we do (and I will throw in our secret play free of charge :) ) Ok, we start with the four across the free throw line extended, the two posts go straight down to the block, and the wings runs "L" cuts, using the post as a screener to work around. The ball is passed to one of the wings, and the point guard follows in the direction of the ball, cutting on the ball side off the post who has come back up the key to the corner (free throw line) to set a back pick. This first option can be very effective, especially at the JV and below levels. My point guard is a 5'10" freshman with great court sense, and we are often able to post him up on the block at the end of this cut. Then, the post seals his man and calls for the ball from the wing (if first cut wasn't there). When the ball goes to the post, the opposite post (who has also come back the the high spot, on opposite end of free throw line) screens away for the weak side wing, and there is your first guard to guard pass. The now weak side wing cuts off of your point as the first flex cut. Now for our quick score play. Post screen down and come back up the lane, same as normal. Wings also do their "L" cuts. Instead of hitting a wing, the point passes to a post as he is flashing up. Now, this play is about timing. As SOON as the ball gets to the post the strongside wing cuts over the top of the post and a fake handoff takes place (this gets the defense leaning). Meanwhile, the point guard needs to have jumped to the ball side following the initial pass to the post, leaving some space (a few feet), and look away from the action (stand up, take a step toward the weak side, act as if out of the play). Then, the point cuts off the post on the side where the wing WAS and takes the handoff to the basket. This has been a great way to get an easy basket in tough situations, or to get a quick score to start the game. Some teams take about 5-6 looks at it before they adjust, but then you can do the same (if the post defender steps off, run a pick and roll, if the weak side stops the lay up you can fade off with the handoff for a short jumper). A variation of the 1-4 high set that I experimented with was the same beginning (screens, coming back up with posts), an entry to a post (like the beginning of "special" (the handoff play)) who then looks to the weak side where the opposite post sets a backpick on the weak side wing looking for the backdoor cut or the lob. It has been somewhat effective, but the point has to try and keep his defender away from the ball.
I am a big proponent of the flex offense for a number of reasons. It forces every player to move without the ball, handle the ball, set 2 different types of picks, use 2 different types of picks and eventually to recognize potential mis-matches when the defense switches. These are all basic offensive elements that every player needs to learn. I have taught the flex to my elementary girls as (usually) their first offensive rotation. I have heard coaches say the flex is boring and repetitive but i believe that it is a good foundation for teaching kids offensive team fundamentals. There are a number of options (corner passes, reversals "up" picks) that make it a good offensive weapon. Hope this helps. One of the coaches that contributes tto this site (I think Coach Jackson) has a number of variations to the flex on his website.
Coach - I really like the flex and coach Thom hit on all of its important aspects. All 5 kids are involved and rotate through all spots in the offense, they set/use baseline and downscreens, and once they get used to running it there's many options/counters you can run to combat a def that thinks they've figured you out. We've run it at the Fr/JV/Var HS level for 3 yrs with good sucess. I've found that it's been a good O to start with for kids that aren't yr 'round Bballers (like ours) because even though it is a pattern O they begin to learn to read the D when coming off the screens or cutting. It has helped our grassroots effort towards motion O in that way. I like Ron Righter's stuff on the Flex. He has a video and a small booklet (check Sysko's) that are a good start.

Flex: Combating Switching of Screens

You may also try to run some set plays into the flex to give it a different look and disguise it. There are several books and videos on the flex that have some good entries. You may want to contact the men's basketball coach at Clarion University. His name is Dr. Ron Righter and is one of the foremost experts on the Flex Offense.
If the team is switching, then the screener must first set a great pick and then open up to the ball and "break the defenders leg" What I mean is put his rear in the knee of the defender and make them stand straight up. The defender has no mobility and your player is down in basketball position ready to pounce on the pass once it is thrown. Also recognize the mis match and when you big man gets a guard on him, clear out and post him. Or when your driving guard gets a slow defender, clear out.
Some thoughts on the flex. When we run Flex we WANT them to switch, particularly on the down pick. You can recognize the mismatch in the low post even before it happens. Make sure that your players open to the ball as Coach Creighton mentioned and you will get numerous scoring oppurtunities on the defensive switch. Try to arrange the rotation so that you have big people picking for little people and vise-versa. We run a few different secondary breaks that flow right in to flex. We have also run it out of 4-low, 4-high, box and a 2-1-2. Don't neglect the corner pass to the strong side. Have the cutter come across and the elbow down-pick just like they normally would and you will be surprised at the things that happen.
When using flex offenses, and more typically for me, flex principles (screen the screener, etc.) I always instruct my players that whenever "switch" is yelled by a defensive player, the screener is to abort the setting of the screen, and cut to the basket showing a hand for a lead pass. I tell them that we are letting the defense help us by calling this play for us. It is important to stress that the player with the ball needs to quickly recognize this situation and be ready with a timely pass.

1-3-1 High Post Offense

We ran this for a couple years and it worked well. I could draw it and fax it to you if my descriptions here are hard to follow. I think you could draw it as you read it and get it right. If not, email me (avamac@aol.com) and I will fax it to you or scan it and try to email scanned file. 1=point, 2 and 3 wings, 4 high post, 5 low post. Wing Entry A: 1 pass to 2 and do UCLA cut off 4 while 5 clears to ball side corner. 3 replaces 1. 1 clears to weak side wing replacing 3. 2 may pass to 5 on baseline, 1 cutting, 4 rolling off screen, or 3 at top of key. If 2 passes to 5, 5 also looks for 1 cutting and 4 rolling. Wing Entry B: 1 pass to 2. 4 down screen for 5 and 2 pass to either 4 or 5. (They should either score or pass to each other. If the pass goes to the high post, he can almost always dump it into the low post before the defense can get around to defend the new passing angle. If the pass goes to the low post, the high post can often flash low to the other side and be open or at least be in good rebounding position.) 1 and 3 exchange with a screen. 2 can pass out front to 3 to reset the offense. Post Entry A: 1 pass to 4. 2 downscreen for 5 who curls to basket if they don't switch and posts up if they do switch. 1 and 3 exchange with a screen. Back Door: If D pressures wings, 5 comes to elbow for pass, wing on his side back cuts to basket, then clears back out to same side if he does not get the ball. 4 moves to just outside other elbow and 3 comes off his screen high and 1 moves a few steps toward weak side wing, then cuts to basket using 3 and 4 as a double screen. (Timing is critical here, he should cut right behind 3 as 3 gets to 4's screen.) 3 can read the D and cut to basket if open, but usually he will come off 4's screen and move out front and become the new point. 1 will go back out to 3's spot, 4 will roll to the basket after screening and be the new low post, and 2 already cleared back to his original position. 5 passes out front to reset. Weave: Outside players dribble weave, 4 goes to baseline and will cross screen with 5 along baseline to open middle for dribble penetration or they can go to corners and join in the weave, or they can go out front and set picks for dribblers. In summary, the 131 gives good spacing, good angles for screening, and good protection from fast breaks, and allows for high-low post passing. If you have trouble getting open against pressure defense, the wings can both cut thru the lane to the opposite wings while the high post downscreens the low post (who becomes the new high post) to open everyone for the entry pass, or you can go right into dribble weave.

1-4 High Offense

I scouted a team last night who ran a nice 1-4 continuity which I will try to describe (wish we could draw on this site). Maybe you can draw it from my description. Point is 1. 2 and 3 on wings, 4 and 5 on elbows. 1 pass to 3 on right wing and cut to basket using screen from 5 at right elbow, then go to weak (left) side wing and replace 2. 2 slides over toward point to replace 1. 4 slides down lane and screens for 1 as he goes out to wing, then 4 goes back to elbow. Meanwhile, back on the strong (right) side, 5 goes toward 3 on wing and sets screen and they pick and roll toward point. 3 dribbles left off screen from 5 and either goes to hole, dumps down to 5, or passes to 2 who has come to the point. Now run same thing to other side. 2 passes to 1 on left wing and cuts off screen from 4 at high post, then replaces wing on weak side (3). 1 and 4 pick and roll and if nothing good develops, 1 passes to 3 at the point and he passes to 2 at the other wing, etc. It worked great for them.
WE luv to run 1-4 we've got all 5 of our offensive sets run out of it. If i understand you correctly though your looking for an offensive set that has continual flow and isn't just set run reset run. If this isn't the case i can post some of the sets. AS for your needs i can give you two. One is our zone offense we call it overload. The ball is up top and we are in 1-4 high. 2and3 on wings 4-5 elbowish. The ball goes to tthe wing and the following 1) the close post goes to the low block 2) the far post comes high block 3)the far wing runs a baseline cut off guy at low block so a box is set up on one side of the zone. If the ball goes baseline or top the passer suts through the middle and fills in the other side. once the ball is up top your in 1-4 again. The second is a set i just picked up called 'kentucky' a animated break down is found on http://members.tripod.com/~coacheshome/play.html. It's continual and gets good cuts and looks from the arc.

Bo Ryan's Swing Offense

Do any of you use Bo Ryan's Swing Offense? What are your thoughts on it? Have you had success with it? Has it ever proven to be ineffective at any point? I personally find it to be a very good all around offense (offering scoring from all areas of the court.) I like the way the off-side players, with movement, can get help-side defenders to neglect their responsibilties, thereby opening things up. This year I've added "Swing" as one of our mtm continuity offenses for our AAU Girls 15's. It is a relatively simple offense to install and teach. We've had some limited success with it and it seems to have good potential. But... quite frankly, we only get to practice twice weekly, so there hasn't been much time to explore many of the offense's subtle reads. I want our players to be more patient, especially while working the strong side triangle (e.i. post up stronger and work the upscreens better.) Another problem is that the wings become somewhat tentative, overlooking what I believe would be a good shot opportunity, in an attempt to continue the pattern. The majority of our points to date have come from the swing cut on ball reversal(basically a flex cut from weak side wing screening off the low post player to the strongside block). I like the concept of the swing offense were all players get to play in the post area. As Coach Bo Ryan says; "The hardest defense to play is one on one in the post." If you are going to run it successfully, you are going to have to work with ALL your players on post moves. Again I really like that theory, because anyone can play the post; in a man to man situation it does'nt matter who is in the post because you are usually matched up according to hight and ability. As long as my point guard is posting-up the opponents point guard what does it matter. I feel we do not teach our so called perimiter players enough post moves, so again I like it. I am a huge fan of the swing offense. I have used this offense three years and have had a great deal of success with it. Last year we ran this offense about 50% of the time. We finished 19 - 5. It is a very simple offense with simple concepts that put maximum pressure on the defense. You start by always looking into the post which gives you good scoring opportunities and increases your chances of drawing fouls. Then the actual swing cut puts so much pressure on one defender to guard two people. I would suggest to anyone looking for a new wrinkle to contact Bo Ryan at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. I contacted the atheletic department and Coach Ryan answered the phone himself and spent thirty minutes talking to me about this offense. He had some copies of the video that you can purchase.

Zone Offense

Zone Offense General

I call this offense the shell. 2 guards , 1 post on the weak block, 1 forward (guard) on the ball side block, and other player in the weak side corner. The motion--pt passes to g/f after L cut to wing. the pt basket cuts. If he/she doesn't get the give and go, the player screens for the post. the post cuts to the block on ball side. The other two replace.(keep balance-2-3 set) Ball is reversed to the guard on ball side, reverses to guard on opposite side intrun passes to the PG on the opposite side of the floor. Rules 1. On a guard to guard pass (across the top), the guard should interchange with the forward. 2. Guard to forward pass- guard basket cuts. 3. on basket cut by guard, the other guard replaces the cutter on top, and the forward rotates to the weak side guard spot. 4. The postplayer cuts from block to block on the screen by the basket cutter.

Beating the 1-3-1 zone

The best way I know is to place 3 men across the baseline. Put your small forward in the corner center on that side post and other forward on the weak side post. when the ball is in the corner post the center up and flash the weak side post to ball side high post. Make the defensive player half to make a decision on whether or not to guard the man in the corner or lst him go. if they do this you willl have the jumpshot in the corner. if the baseline defender decides to step out to the corner then make the pass to the post player before the rotating defense can get there. Also when the ball is on the wing look for the diaganal pass to the backside box.
I assume you have descent shooters if you are seeing a lot of 1-3-1? I have had success against this zone in the following way: Start in a 2-3 high set. Your two guards are splitting the top guy. Your center is in front of the middle guy. Your 2 forwards are directly behind the wing men. The series is triggered when one of the guards dribbles at the wing. The forward drops down to corner. The first few times this shot will be open. Once the bottom man starts to come out, your center will be open rolling to the rack. When they begin to stop giving the center the easy lay in, your weak side guard will always be open for a jumper. You can even have the weak side forward pin the back of the zone for him. Eventually they will stop you from making the pass to the corner, at that point your pg simply can make the entry from the wing. You can also have the pg enter it to the center at the foul line. When he recieves ball both forwards drop hard, one should be open. If not a guard should be open at the wing. This has worked for my team beautifully, we have little hieght but great shooters so a lot of teams try going 1-3-1 on us. This always blows it away. Especially if your weak side guard is intelligent enough to find the open spot and can drain the 3. I had one kid hit 5 3's in a quarter from that spot before the opponent got out of that D.
Start in a 1-3-1 set. 1 at point, 2 rt wing, 3 lt wing, 4 high post 5 either block. The entry can go to either wing but the weak side is preferred. Point pass to 3 and cuts straight down the lane for a give and go. On the pass 4 jumps to the ball side elbow and 1 cuts behind him. If 1 does not get the ball he cuts to the ball side corner. As 1 clears the lane 4 dives to the block looking for the pass. As 4 dives low 5 flashes to the high post. If the inside game is not open 3 pass to 1 in corner. 4 jumps to the short corner and 3 cuts to the basket looking for the pass back and posts on the weak block. Weak side wing pinches in to the mid lane on the pass to the corner to be positioned for weak side rebound or dish from 3 if he gets the ball. 1 looks to shoot the 3pt or drop in in to 4 or 5. If no one is open 1 dribbles up to the wing and 2 pops out to the top of the key-timing his arrival with 1 so he is getting to the point just as 1 arrives at the wing so he will be open. 1 pass to 2 at the point(2 looks shot or reverse) and 3 pops out to the wing and we reverse the process.
Another way to beat the 1-3-1 is to have a 1-2-2 set with 2 players(2,3) in the short corners and 2 players(4,5) at the elbows. Lets set 3&5 on left 2&4 on right. The point dribbles at an elbow-4 on right side, and 4 drops to the block and the ball side short corner 2 pops to the ball side corner. The other short corner 3 backscreens for 5 at the elbow and 5 drops to the block. The looks are penetration all the way by 1, pass to 2 in corner, pass to 5 going down the lane, or hit 3 at the opposite elbow. once this happens the 1-3-1 will be in a 1-2-2 or 2-3. If nothing develops reset and attack again.
Start with your best post on the block, a player in the corner on the same side as the post and one in the opposite corner, and show a 2 guard front. I call this set Baseline. I teach penatration by the guards with one guard always behind the other (45 degree angle). We also have a pick set for one of the guards which leads to a loob pass and an easy shot for the guard. Start with the ball opposite the post, have your guard pentrate and then kick it out to the opposite guard. This guard will penatrate and look to the post first, while this is going on the guard will get a pick from the player who was in the corner. The pick slips the pick for a 3 and you should have a guard on the opposite block for a loob pass. Pass to the bottom corner of backboard. This is a quick hitter. I hope you get the play. If all else fails get a lead and pull them out of the 131

Offense vs. 1-1-3 Zone

What you are asking about may be Tarkanian's Amoeba defense. Be prepared for heavy ball pressure on your point guard. They will close out your first pass with their wings,(the outside player in the three across the rear) so start your posts very low behind the zone in a 2-1-2 or 2-3 set. On the first pass, you can screen the middle player and baseline cut behind to ballside block from the weak side. Don't pass to the deep corners. They will deny reversals from there, and will run an X-cut from the wing back to the post and look to intercept if you try to pass inside. The most vulnerable areas are from behind the zone, so keep your post players working from baseline out. weak side guards need to find gaps for skip passes. Do a lot of screening on the three under the basket. With such short preparation, I don't think you have time to work out plays so keep players moving with motion rules and with the vulnerable areas in mind. Keep in mind also that it is a match-up with man to man principles so you can successfully screen off the ball. I hope I gave you something to work with

Attacking a 3-2 Zone

Overload the baseline, They only have 2 defenders near the basket so have someone at each post and a 3rd player finding gaps along the baseline. The key is the 2 guys up top must be great ball handlers and passers because they play the 3 players up top and find the open man down low.
I also like to overload. I usally start off in a 3 out 2 in set, then run my best corner shooter from one wing to the opposite corner, which overloads. Teams can catch on to that if their coach knows what they're doing and that's when they either follow the cutter through with the opposite wing, slide ball-side wing down, or have post defender step out (depending on athleticism and ability to distract perimeter shooters). We've had more trouble when they follow cutter through for some reason. I need help with that. When they slide ball-side perimeter down, look to throw it right back to the ball-side wing for the '3' or dump into post. If they bring post out, look to fake high and wrap-around to ball-side post who MUST use body to shield ball in most cases and if the rotation is not there, you can wrap-around pass to opposite post for easy lay-in.
You must flash someone to the middle. That's the way it beat zones especially a 32 is in the middle. Then look to kick out or to the low block.

Offense vs. Box & 1

try setting some picks for her so she can pick and roll.aslo remember ,it`s a teameffort that usually wins on a regular basis .Also ,are you under full court m2mpressure at that age or just from behind the 3 point line?
how about a simple in-out?pass in to a forward ,and have the forward draw a crowd,and then pass back to her for a good shot. I had a girl similar to her once and so we got the other guard to set a screen as she came around the top(where the screen was set),she drove in and got a few shots. Against a 2-1-2 or a 2-3 we tryed a 1-3-1.1 being a good passing guard, the ''3'' being the center, forwards set up along the free throw line,the last girl set up outside the forward on the weak side,the passer top of circle, the forwards free throw line extended, the center free throw line moving along the line to try and pull def center out of center lane,thus creating a passing lane to right of basket ,girl in rear breaks under basket for a little backdoor pass and 2 points.this is a awesome play when they can pull it off at that age,really looks great, just don`t work 100% of time. your player could be the down low player for a short shot on that play. Maybe a cutter from outside of 3 point arc or something like that.
Just some general thoughts about what we do when we see junk. Box and 1: We simply put our guarded player at the post and tell him/her to just stay there for the moment (practically shaking hands with the post player). This way the opposition is using two defenders to guard our "star" player. We then spread the others into the gaps (4 on 3) and keep passing the ball around until we get a wide open shot. Eventually, post defenders will have to contest and defend these other players. Now we can set some screens for our best (guarded) player. Triangle and two: Even better. We put both guarded players at the posts. Now the opposition is using four to defend two. The other three players spread and run the one remaining defender silly before taking a wide open shot. Once again, defense will need to abandon the post to defend shots and this creates opportunities to screen and free up the two guarded players. Two main points. (1) You have to have depth (especially passing and shooting abilities) beyond the two players that are closely guarded so you are a legitimate threat. The remaining players need to be able to score off a shot if wide open (imag

CHALK TALK TOPICAL ARCHIVES

Years: 1999-2001

Table of Contents

DEFENSE (41 topics)

MISCELLANEOUS (136 topics)

OFFENSE

Fundamentals

Motion Offense

M-2-M Offenses (Besides Motion)

Zone Offense