Basketball Drills

This drill was from an old Xavier Men’s Newsletter.

You can see their archives and subscribe at this link.

I thought with the World Series in progress, this would be a good time to post this basketball drill that works on 1 on 1, 2 on 2, and 3 on 3 situations in a competitive way.

If you have to wait on some athletes to start practice and need something to add variety to your practice, or late in the season when you are looking for ways to change things up, here is one idea.

 

 
 

Basketball Drills “Baseball”

Diagrams created with FastDraw

 

Divide teams into two colors.

Blue team establishes a “batting order” and white matches up accordingly to how they want to defend.

 

 

INNING 1: ONE-ON-ONE:

Blue team is on offense, scoring as many RUNS (points) as possible until they get 3 OUTS (defensive stops by white)…

Switch to White team on offense. White plays until they get 3 outs…

End of first inning. (To make a long game you can run through this again and count as an additional inning)

INNING TWO: TWO-ON-TWO:

For each inning, we vary the initial actions (ball screen, down screen, flare screen, etc.)

Use whatever actions are part of your offense or maybe your upcoming opponent’s offensive attack to work on defending them.

 

INNING THREE: THREE-ON-THREE:

Again changing the initial actions to actions that you either use or have to defend.

For each of the innings and individual matchups, you will need to decide what to do with fouls. You can make them an automatic run (point) for the offense, or you can have players shoot them to work on free throws with a little pressure. If you shoot them, the offense gets their point if they make the free throw. They get the ball back if they miss. Like any drill that you see from other programs, you need to make the adaptations that fit the objectives that you have for running the drill.

I found this 3 on 3 closeout drill on FastModel Sports Plays and Drills Library The site has thousands of drills and plays.

You can also find out more about their Play Diagramming software by clicking this link: FastDraw

The drill was diagrammed by Rich Czeslawski and attributed to Memphis’s Josh Pastner.

If you are looking for more variety in your defensive drills, there are links to several other drills at the bottom of the page.

Also, as with every page on the site, I want to remind you that you can print the drill as a pdf by using the icon at the bottom of the post.

 

 

Defender x1 starts with the ball and passes to x2.

x2 passes to x3, x3 to offensive player 1 as x1 sprints to close out on 1.

 
 

x2 and x3 close out on 2 and 3, respectively, as the ball is swung around the perimeter.

On the first pass, from 1 to 2, x1 jumps to the ball.

On the second pass, from 2 to 3, x1 sprints to mid line.

 
 

The offense reverses the ball again, with defenders allowing the passes and working on positioning.

x3 jumps to ball then sprints to midline, x2 jumps to ball, x1 closes out.

 

 

Play live 3-on-3 from here with an emphasis on forcing the dribbler whichever direction your defense dictates.

Use this drill to work on the specific footwork and fundamentals taught in your defensive philosophy.

 

This play is designed to use against teams that go under on ball screens. It was contributed by Houston Women’s Assistant Coach Vonn Read.

Coach Vonn Read has submitted several plays from his playbook series The Basketball Encyclopedia of Plays to the Coaching Toolbox.

If you can’t use this exact play with your personnel, I hope it gives you some ideas on what you can do to play to your players’ strengths when you are playing a team that goes under on ball screens.

Coach Read has also served as an assistant coach in the WNBA with the Phoenix Mercury, Orlando Miracle, and San Antonio Silver Stars.

He was an advanced scout for the Orlando Magic as well as The Charlotte Sting.

This is a Re-pick set to take advantage of teams that go under on ball screens

Diagrams created with FastDraw

 

The 5 player will run up to set the ball screen, allowing X1 to go under.

The 4 player will cut to the elbow area.

 

 

As soon as X1 goes under the screen, both the 4 and 5 players will set a double stack ball screen for the 1 player on the cutback dribble.

Again, this play is used against teams that go under on ball screens.

X1 utilizing the “Under” scheme will now have to fight under 2 ball screens, which gives the 1 player a wide open 3 pointer, elbow jumper or drive layup.

 

If either post defender hedges out, the 1 player can throwback to the 4 player popping, looking for the 3-pointer or high low pass.

 

Coach Read has also put together The Basketball Encyclopedia of plays. You can check them out here: The Basketball Encyclopedia of Plays or read more about the books:

Any coach looking for the latest and innovative plays from the Professional, College, or High School levels can stop looking. With a compilation of over 7,700 different plays, you will never need to purchase another basketball playbook again. These playbooks can be used as a great reference tool for years to come. This 2 Volume Book includes plays from 19 different play categories, and they are the most extensive playbooks on the market.

The Basketball Encyclopedia of Plays (Platinum Series) contains over 7,700 Plays (Both Volumes combined) from the NBA, WNBA, USBL, and College levels from someone who has worked as an Advanced Scout or Coach on each level!!! This book has been intensely compiled over the last 21 years, with plays taken from a lot of NBA Coaches (past and present), WNBA coaches, and College coaches (Men’s and Women’s) from around the country.

Any coach that is serious about improving their knowledge of the game from an X and O standpoint will benefit tremendously from these books. These Books can be used to discover New Quick hitters, add a New Package to your playbook, or develop an entire Offensive System. There are a lot of new ideas and concepts in these books to study, and the Basketball Encyclopedia of Plays can be a great resource for coaches on all levels!!! This book is definitely for those X and O junkies who are always looking to improve as a Coach.

“THE GAME IS ALWAYS CHANGING? ARE YOU?” Vonn Read

Here is the link: The Basketball Encyclopedia of Plays

This defensive drill is from Mike Neighbors.

His newsletter goes out once a week and is one of the best out there for basketball coaches.

If you are interested in being added to his list, let me know and I will pass your email address along to him.

One of my goals is to provide resources every day that basketball coaches can use.

But my main goal is to provide an opportunity to stimulate your thinking with the posts that I send out.

I hope that you find the majority of them useful, but even if you don’t like or disagree with a post, if it kindles your thinking about ways to improve what you are doing or how you could improve upon what I have presented, then that is even better!

I like this drill, but you could certainly add other actions that you must defend against the teams that you play.

 

Defensive player (x1) must jump to ball and get in position to not allow cutter to go across his face.

 

 
 

 

Offensive player clears to the help side of the floor and defender establishes help side position.

 

 
 

 

Coach skips ball to offensive player. Defensive player must closeout and keep the ball out of the middle.

 

 

 

Ball is skipped back to the coach and the defender must deny the flash cut.

 

 
 

 

Offensive player returns to help side and coach makes a baseline drive. X1 must get outside the lane and take a charge.

 

 

 

Coach back dribbles to wing and shoots. Defender must box out outside the lane.

 

 

You can do the same drill with the offense starting on the wing and the coach at the top slot. The third version of the drill is starting the offense in the baseline corner and the coach on the wing.