20 Drill

We made up a new shooting drill. Of course, as soon as I say that someone will argue, "Man, we were doing that 30 years ago!" Anyway, here it is. The kids ran it for 15 minutes then asked to do it again.

This popular drill gets its name from the total points a player needs to achieve to win the game. The good news is you can call it whatever you want.

SETUP: There are three active players; one under the basket, and one at each wing spot. The right wing is a shooter, the left wing is a passer/screener guy that must stay there. The remaining players wait in line at the baseline waiting their turn. To keep everyone busy, split the team and run the drill at both ends of the floor. It's fast paced.

If the shooter scores, he stays put as does the passer screener. The defender goes to the end of the line to wait his next turn. The next challenger passes the ball to the passer/screener and the process repeats.

If the defender gets the ball (and this includes turnovers and all out of bounds occurrences), he becomes the next passer/screener. The passer/screener replaces the shooter. The shooter goes to the end of the line.

SCORING: Shooter gets value of shot (a 2 or a 3) for a made shot. If the defender fouls him, the shooter gets two points and the defender is replaced. As long as the shooter scores, he stays for the next turn and tries to run his personal score up as high as possible.

If the shooter is fouled, he gets 2 points and the defender is sent to the end of the line. The shooter continues against the next defender.

If the defender recovers the ball, he gets one point, and the shooter goes to the end of the line. If he fails to stop the scorer, the defender must go to the end of the line and wait. He can't qualify as the shooter until he succeeds on defense.

OBJECTIVE: The goal is to see which player can first accumulate 20 points.

RULES: No more than three dribbles. Shot must be off or a pass made within five seconds. Shooter can use the passer/screener as much as time allows. Once a player reaches 20 points (adjust total as needed), then he runs to the center court circle. First player in the center court circle wins. Coach can apply rewards/penalties as desired.

Y is for Yellow and represents offense. B is for Blue and represents defense.

FIGURE 1 Baseline player (B3) passes to the passer/screener wing (Y1) who in turn passes to shooter (Y2). B3 is the defender and must close out and guard shooter. Shooter may shoot, fake shot and drive, pass to other wing and cut (big guys can pass and post up) and is allowed to go for an offensive rebound. Smart defenders will box out, dumb defenders will not box out and lose. Play ends when the shooter scores or the defender gets the ball.

If Y2 scores, he stays in place and so does Y1. B3 did not stop the score, so he is out and goes to the end of the line behind B6 to await his next turn. Meanwhile, Y2 keeps on adding to his score as long as he can against successive defenders.

FIGURE 2 In this case, B3 was successful on defense, so he moves to the spot Y1 held above and becomes Y3.  Not only that, but because B3 stopped the scorer, he is credited with 1 point.

Y1 is now the shooter and has a chance to score points. The new defender is B4 who had been waiting in line.

B4 passes to Y3 then jumps out to play defense.

FIGURE 3 Y1 can shoot the three or go 1 on 1. However, smart players will take advantage of the "teammate" Y3. Here, Y1 passes to Y3 then cuts to the block. This is a great method for big guys. Once in postup position the big guys can get a pass from Y3 and do their favorite move. They can pass back to Y3 if they need a reset.

Y3 can be used as a screener, safety outlet or even a rebounder. Make use of him.