Basketball Plays

Basketball Plays Horns Elbow Bone

By Brian Williams on January 27, 2014

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

Coach Read is currently the University of Houston Women’s Assistant Coach.

He previously was the Associate Head Coach for the Women’s program at Syracuse since 2011 as was instrumental in their final four run in the spring of 2016.

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 play is a quick hitter to get an isolation for your 1 player.

The numbers are meant to identify the players.

They are not meant to say that you have to have a traditional #1 to run this play, or that the player has to drive to their right hand. You can adjust the play to the opposite side of the floor, if you would want the player to drive left.

It is meant to stimulate your thinking to come up with ways to put your players in positions where they can use their individual strengths for the good of the team.

This is a good isolation set for your 1 player.

The 1 player will pass to the 4 player popping out.

After the pass to the 4 player, the 1 player will fake the cut to the basket and stop to set a brush screen for the 5 player.

If we set a good screen, we can get a layup for the 5 player. The 1 player will pop back hard for the ball.

On the pop back, the 1 player can shoot the 3-pointer if the defender is late recovering after helping on the cut to the basket by the 5 player.

The 1 player can drive it all the way to the basket on a bad close-out by X1.

Put a shooter in the corner to take away the help on the drive.

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

Basketball Plays Double Stacks Step Up

By Brian Williams on January 20, 2014

Coach Vonn Read has submitted several plays from his playbook series The Basketball Encyclopedia of Plays to the Coaching Toolbox. Vonn is the Associate Head Coach for the Women’s program at Syracuse.

He 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 play is a quick hitter to get a look at an open three point shot against a 2-3 zone.

The 2 and 3 players stack at the FT Line, and the 4 and 5 players stack on the block.

The 1 player will dribble over to the slot to form a 2 Guard Front with the 3 player popping out.

The 2 player (Shooter) will cut to the corner.

As soon as the 3 player catches the ball, the 5 player will screen the center (X5) in the Zone.

The 4 player will sprint up and set a step up pick and roll. This ball screen forces the defense to help.

If X4 does not help, the 3 player can shoot the pull up jumper or get all the way to the basket.

If X4 does help on the drive by the 3 player, kick it to your shooter (2 player) in the corner.

This play can be tough to stop if the screener sets a good screen.

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:

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

Here is the link: The Basketball Encyclopedia of Plays

Crunch Time Safe Inbound Play

By Brian Williams on January 17, 2014

In the video, Mike Fratello walks you through a side out play that is designed to get the ball inbounds at the end of the game when you have a lead and do not need to score.

An example would be 3 seconds left in the game with a 1 point lead, or any scenario where the defense is going to foul as soon as you inbound the ball.

This would also be a scenario where you would want to put your best free throw shooters in the game as well as make sure you have your best available inbounder.

Obviously, it is a coaching decision that you must make, but I believe that even if the best inbounder is one of your best four best free throw shooters, I would still have that player inbound the ball, rather than using our second or third best inbounder.

These are the types of decisions best made in your office before the season starts when you can think clearly and without emotion.

Waiting until the pressure of the end of a tight game is not the time to do your best thinking.

Even if you don’t like this play, it is important to have something to go to in this situation.

Click the play arrow to see the video.

The sample video is from the Mike Fratello: Planning and Executing Special Situations DVD. In the DVD, Coach Fratello discusses:

Steal a basket when you need it most
Get insight on how to incorporate specials into a team philosophy and team practices
Learn how to maximize your time outs
Learn to handle a trap and how to trap and recover

Here is a link for more information or to purchase the video Planning and Executing Special Situations

Basketball Plays Under Out Inbounds Plays

By Brian Williams on January 13, 2014

Maine Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach Zak Boisvert has put together 16 short clips of inbounds plays to run from under the basket. Each play is shown at least twice. I hope you can find one or two that you can use for the end of the season and the post season.

Coach Boisvert has posted several videos of a variety of scenarios–man to man, zone, on ball screens and others. His YouTube channel is: Zak Boisvert You Tube Channel If you are interested in subscribing.

16 Under the Basket inbounds plays

He also is also very active on Twitter: @ZacBoisvert

The video is a YouTube video. Click the play arrow to see it.

Basketball Plays DHO Back

By Brian Williams on January 6, 2014

This play is a quick hit to run against a man to man defense..

It is from an old Xavier Men’s Basketball Newsletter.

If you are interested in subscribing to their newsletter, you can do so at this link: Xavier Newsletter

Diagrams created with FastDraw

3 comes off stagger from 2 and 5 to use the dribble handoff from 1

2 uses downscreen from 4

3 passes to 2 and uses the backscrreen from 5

5 follows the backscreen with a sideline ballscreen for 2.

4 backscreens for 5 on the roll.

Basketball Plays Backdoor Plays

By Brian Williams on December 30, 2013

St. Louis Men’s Basketball Coach Zak Boisvert has put together some short clips of 7 backdoor plays. Each play is shown at least twice and a couple of them have two variations.

The point is not a “highlight” tape, but the movements to get shots.

Several of the teams miss the shots in the video of the set they are running.

Also, some of the clips are a few years old. The idea is if the actions have merit and you can incorporate a few in your offensive attack, or it gets you to think about ways you can get a couple of backdoor baskets per game, I believe it is worth the time to watch.

Coach Boisvert has posted several videos of some of the better schemes he has seen. His YouTube channel is: Zac Boisvert YouTube Channel. If you are interested in subscribing.

The video is a YouTube video. Click the play arrow to see it.

Here are 7 different man to man backdoor plays. Most are shown more than once. Some have sound and some do not. I hope you can find one or two that fit your basketball program.

The video is a YouTube video. Click the play arrow to see the plays.