Basketball Coaching Special Situations Checklist

I posted a chart to use in planning your special situations in practice.

Today, I have a checklist of items that I cover every year.

You can Click here to: Download the chart as a word document.

Click here to: Download the chart as a pdf.

The planning sheet and checklist are a part of my 130 Situations eBook.

I will be providing a sample of 12 ideas from the book in that email.

This is my checklist that I use each season.It is a part of my 130 Situations ebook that I released on October 12, 2012. Click this link to read a sample of the ebook.

Philosophy

1. Do I want to save my timeouts for the end of the game?
2. How long do I keep a player on the bench with foul trouble?
3. What are the tendencies of our opponents?
4. How do I emphasize the importance of every possession and every situation?
5. Practice situations at the end of every practice.
6. End of game confidence comes from success and in practice.
7. Planning ahead for special situations and practicing them allows you to think more clearly and in more detail
8. No one can plan for and practice every scenario—but don’t let that keep you from planning for and practicing all of the situations that you can
9. Spend some practice time experimenting with new ideas and plays for special situations
10. Make every situation that you practice as game-like as possible.
11. Have an overall season plan
12. Use special rules during your special situations in practice so that your second team can compete with your first
13. Some of our situations are Automatic Situations (always played a certain way without a coach calling it)
14. Coach’s call situations (only executed when the coach calls for it)
15. When do you remove a player in foul trouble in the first half ?
16. Will you put a bad free throw shooter at the line at the end of the first half ?
17. When will you begin to hold the ball for the last shot if the game is tied?
18. When will you take the last shot of a tie game?
19. When will you put the ball in the deep freeze with a lead?
20. Do you continue to “play to win” even if the game is over for practice?
21. Do you switch defenses to protect a lead?
22. When do we start catch up mod?
23. When to put a player back in with 4 fouls

Situations to cover and to practice

1. When to and when not to call timeout to save a possession
2. Jump ball
3. Timeout procedure
4. Saving a loose ball
5. Defending a 1-4 low
6. Shortening the game when necessary
7. Regular Side, Under, and Full Court Inbounds
8. Game Winner Side, Under, and Full Court Inbounds
9. Inbound ball in dead corners. Full court and Half court
10. Playing against combination defenses
11. Tip outs on free throws and field goals
12. 2 on 1 situations
13. Who is your best technical free throw shooter?
14. Throwing the long lead pass to the old free throw line circle
15. Inbounds plays with your backup inbounder
16. Defending under out
17. Playing against a great shooter
18. Rebounding a defensive Free Throw
19. Break away layups
20. Converting to defense off a missed free throws
21. Yell “Clock to signal short time at the end of a quarer, not “Time”
22. Force the ball to the sideline in defensive conversion
23. Take the last shot of each quarter. Plays vs. man to ma and zon
24. Throw the ball long inside our arc if the opponent scores at the end of quarters 1, 2, or 3
25. Do not try to beat the clock with a last second shot
26. Timeout when we score with the clock running in the last two minutes of a game where we are behind.
27. End of the Game Communication.
28. Calling timeout with possession in Doubt
29. Calling Timeout the Right Way
30. Milk a Minute
31. Jump ball to start overtime
32. Jump ball play
33. Player safety leaving the court
34. Miss a free throw on purpose with a lead.
35. Miss a free throw on purpose needing to score.
36. Full court game winner no timeouts
37. Nothing but a layup or free throws = “4!’
38. Over the back on a free throw that your team misses
39. Get the ball in full court at the end against a man to man press.
40. Throw or dribble to half court and call timeout
41. Inbounding ball with no timeouts.
42. Gain possession of the ball in last 5 seconds on other end of court
43. “Hands” team—5 ballhandlers and ft shooters in together
44. Reminder to inbounder spot or move
45. End of game winner set play vs. man different from what you use during the course of the game
46. End of game winner set play vs. zone different from what you use during the course of the game
47. Unintentional Intentional Foul
48. Put your best defender on a different player if you know they are going to run a set play
49. Don’t foul
50. Trap a Ball Screen to prevent a 3
51. Guarding a dead 3 point shooter after an offensive rebound with a 2 point lead
52. Put a man on the inbounder or not at the end of the game when the other team has to throw a full court pass

Time and score situations to cover and to practice

1. Practice with and without timeouts remaining
2. Possession arrow to first team
3. Fouls to give ahead
4. Fouls to give when you are behind
5. Playing Through Bad Calls
6. Whether you are or are not in the bonus yourself
7. Best player in foul trouble
8. Best player not available due to injury
9. Playing through a bad play—personal and teammate
10. 30 seconds to go in a quarter other than the 4th
11. Down 4, your ball at half court, 30 seconds to go, clock stopped
12. Up 1, opponent scores to take the lead. 10 seconds, clock running
13. Underneath your basket inbounding. down 2, 5 seconds left
14. Underneath your basket inbounding. down 2, 2 seconds left
15. Sideline Inbounds from half court, trailing by 2 with 15 seconds to go
16. Sideline Inbounds from half court, trailing by 2 with 3 seconds to go
17. Down 2 Full length inbounds (94 feet) 3 seconds to go, clock stopped, no timeouts
18. Down 2 Full length inbounds (94 feet) 3 seconds to go, clock stopped, one timeout
19. Up 2 and the ball 1:00 minute to go
20. Tied with ball 1:00 to go
21. Down 10 3 minutes to go with the ball
22. Down 5 1 minute to go with the ball
23. Down 3, you shooting two free throws, 3 seconds, clock stopped
24. Let the other team score
25. Defending the last shot of a tie game
26. Up 1 inbounding ball no timeouts
27. Other team miss a ft on purpose
28. Up 3 other team ball under their basket 2 seconds to go
29. Your ball going full court up 1 5 seconds to go opponent is pressing—need to get the ball inbounds.
30. Converting to defense when your player misses a free throw where the lead is 1 or 2 with 10 seconds to go

This is my checklist that I use each season.It is a part of my 130 Situations eBook. Click this link to read a sample of the ebook.