This drill is from Drew Hanlen of Pure Sweat Basketball. The drill is also posted in Fast Model Sports Basketball Drills and Plays Library.
Drew is an NBA Strategic Skills Coach & Consultant that has helped over 25 NBA and NBA pre-draft players.
Drew is the Head Skills Coach for Pure Sweat Basketball.
He has run his internationally renowned Elite Skills Clinics in over 30 states and 4 countries over the past four years.
Paint Game Basketball Drill
Diagrams created with FastDraw
This is a great competitive drill that works on defensive closeouts, catching drives, guarding the ball, getting chest stops, keeping the ball out of the paint, attacking closeouts and driving into the paint under control. I got this drill from my high school coach, Jay Blossom.
Player 1 passes the ball to Player 2 and then closes out under control.
Player 2 tries to drive the ball and get two feet into the paint using two dribbles or less.
If Player 1 does not allow Player 2 to get two feet in the paint, they get a point.
If Player 2 successfully gets two feet in the paint, they get a point.
Regardless who gets the point, Player 2 passes the ball to Player 3.
As the ball is in the air to Player 3, Player 5 (who is under the basket & ready to closeout) will closeout on Player 3 to continue the drill.
Defense replaces the offensive player they just guarded, while the offensive player rotates to the back of the line under the basket.
If there is a disagreement who earned a point, the coach will reward the point to the correct player.
Frequently asked question: Where do the driving players pass the ball to? Answer: The left wing (where Player 2 starts) always passes to the top of the key (where Player 3 starts). The top of the key always passes to the right wing (where Player 4 starts). The right wing always skips the ball to the left wing. You can also do this in the opposite direction or use the variation of this drill that is listed below.
You need one ball. There will be no shots taken throughout the entire drill. Each player will keep track of their own score. Game is to 10 points.
Variation of this Drill: You can also have a coach yell out which player the driver has to pass the ball to so that the defender under the rim can’t cheat the drill and has to be ready to closeout and react to either of the other two offensive players.
