Basketball Drills: One on One

I like to have players play a lot of one on one and define using the dribble within a team concept to attack the basket and create scoring opportunities for all 5 players. I am always looking for ways to make it more productive, challenging, and game like.

I found these four versions of one on one on Zak Boisvert’s site pickandpop.net.

Zak is an assistant men’s coach at Maine and has been putting out useful You Tube videos and lots of good stuff on Twitter for a while.

The site has a lot of really useful content.

These are 4 of his favorite one on one drills.

Diagrams created with FastDraw

Iona 1 on 1

Coach throws ahead to 1

As 1 crosses half, 2 sprints out of the circle to defend him.

Whoever wins the possession (offense scores, is fouled or gets O rebound; defense gets a defensive rebound), keeps going the other way.

Louisville 1 on 1

Coach on each wing with a basketball.

Offensive player (1) can loop to catch at either slot.

2 trails him out and defends him on his catch.

1 has three dribbles, but has the ability to pass it back to either coach at any time.

Winner of possession (offense scores, gets an O rebound or is fouled; defense gets a stop), throws ball back to coach and sprints to one of the two spots as the next player up on the baseline sprints on to defend him.

Hostage 1 on 1

On coach’s call, 1 and 2 sprint around the cone to play 1-on-1.

Paint One on One

On coach’s call, 1 rounds the cone and attacks the rim and 2 slides/sprints t o touch his cone.

Winner of possession goes to O. Loser goes to back of line, new player steps on for D.

One of my favorite coaches to study is Kevin Eastman. Coach Eastman is retired and is a former D1 Head Coach, Nike Skills Trainer, long-time assistant coach for Doc Rivers in both Boston and Los Angeles.

Here are some bullet point notes that I have taken from him over the past several years. Included in this compilation are some notes that I took during on of his Coaching U Live Sessions in Indianapolis last year.

Many of these notes came from my time last July at Coaching U Live.

Coach Eastman’s 8 video course bundle is on sale as our Black Friday special. Normally, it is $112, but it is on special for $49 through Wednesday at midnight Eastern Time. After that time, the price will return to normal.

You can find out more about this special price at this link: Coach Development 8 Course Series

As you think about ways to improve your program, I hope that you can apply at least a few of these to improving both your coaching staff and your players.

Success lies in the simplicity. Confusion lies in the sophistication.
Encourages players to have big eyes, big ears, and a small mouth.
Asks as many purposeful questions anytime he has an opportunity to learn from anyone. “I already know what I know. I don’t know enough. I need to know what you know.”
Don’t shoot 1000 shots. Take 1 perfect form shot 1000 times.

Be there before you get there. When Coach Eastman and Ray Allen were together with the Celtics, Allen did a drill where he would start out laying on the floor, get up as fast as possible, and back peddle to the 3 point arc, catch a pass from Eastman, and get the shot off as quickly as he could. When he hit the shot to send game 6 of the 2013 NBA finals to overtime, he had already “been there” (through hundreds of repetitions in his workouts.)

Be on a mission every day to seek and find new information that will make you a better coach and leader. Then take the time to think deeply about how you can immediately apply your new knowledge to your job.

Be so prepared as a coach that you have the answers before your players ask.

7 things he does daily

1) Read for 2 hours on basketball and leadership
2) Spend time in sustained thought
3) Plan/Organize how to apply those thoughts
4) Work out
5) Do his job
6) Daily family time
7) Get adequate sleep

Become a learn it all, not a know it all
Be a great question asker
Become a meticulous note taker and organize them to help you be better
Working hard should be a given for everyone. It is the price of admission
To get ahead, do the unrequired work that makes a difference.

No job is too big, no job is too small.
Figure out what you don’t know, then figure out a way to learn it and apply it.

Never pass up a basketball opportunity. As a small college coach, He got a call the night before a clinic to be a last minute replacement speaker at the clinic. He drove 12 hours to speak. There was a Nike rep at the clinic who heard him and helped him become a Nike skills trainer. One year he worked with Austin Rivers when Austin was a younger player. Doc Rivers liked what he did with Austin and hired him for the Celtics. That is how he got into the NBA.

Make a total commitment to undistracted thinking time every day.

Seek wisdom from those who came before you.

Have an improvement stamina, a development discipline that can stand the test of the greatness grind every day…

Mad, Sad, Hard–get over all of those!

The best organizations don’t just see teamwork as an internal necessity; they understand customers/vendors/fans, etc are vital teammates too!

We have all heard “seeing is believing”: so much application to leadership. To get your team to believe they have to see that you believe!

Letting your people know not only that you value them but also letting them know what you value in them gives everyone more confidence/enthusiasm!

A team is a variety of talents, attitudes, and commitments. The leader has to be able to reach them all and get the best out of them!

This post is an older blog post  on Hoop Thoughts  The blog is written by Texas A & M Women’s Assistant Bob Starkey .

This past July, I spent as much time as possible picking the minds of coaches on the road in regard to defensive play. We are always looking to refine what we do — find ways to improve. One of the things I was asked a couple of times from some younger coaches are what considerations do you make in forming your defensive philosophy?

And it’s a great question.

First let me say that I think it is important that you do have a system of play defensively.  You need to have a philosophy that says “this is how we are going to defend.”  It needs to be surrounded by rules, principles and teaching but you must have a system as a centerpiece.

Let me state that I firmly believe that are a lot of different ways to play the game successfully — especially on the defensive side. If you look at the men’s game, you can look at three of the best teams in the nation and see three different systems of play.

Syracuse – great zone team

Duke – primary man to man team

Florida – excellent pressing team

During my younger days, two of the best teams in the country were Indiana and North Carolina. It was Bob Knight who played exclusively man to man defense, and Dean Smith who utilized a multiple defensive system. Coach Knight would say that it was “simplicity and execution” vs. “surprise and change,” though I believe execution is a big part of both.

So while it is important to know that the game can be played in a variety of ways, there are still some considerations I think coaches should give thought to.

Here are a few things that I think any good defensive systems would have:

1. A good defensive system needs a consistent set of guidelines and principles that govern it and certainly some set rules. I believe that defense is more “rule” oriented than offense.

2. A good defensive system needs to fit the players you have available. If you are on the high school level, you inherit the players that play for you. If you are on the collegiate level, you sometimes have a certainly type of player that you can recruit. Does your defensive system fit those players?  Too often, coaches see a particular coach be successful and want to adapt his/her system of play and this can often time be a mistake.  Do you have the make-up of a team that can play the way you want to play?  If not, you must adjust your system.  On the collegiate level you can attempted to adjust your recruiting.

3. A good defensive systems needs to be flexible. I believe this even if you primarily play one set defense. The programs I have been involved with have been man-to-man defensive teams. Yet I think it is imperative that you can defend ball screens more than one way. I think it makes a major difference if you can defend the low post more than one way. I really believe that good defenses have a Plan A and a Plan B.

4. A good defensive system needs allow you to beat/compete with the best teams in your league. I see teams that play a certain way (offensively and defensively) and they are successful to an extend but are unable to beat the best in their league or advance in the post-season. Give thought to what it takes to compete with those elite schools in your conference and make sure you defense gives you a chance to do just that.

5. A good defensive system needs to have a means in which it can allow a team to comeback from a deficit. All teams fall behind and must play catch-up at some point and it is even more critical in the post-season. What can your system of play do to get you back in a game?

6. A good defensive system should have a transition defense philosophy. Again, it doesn’t matter if you are man-to-man, zone or multiple, what are the guidelines for your team getting back and being ready to defend?

7. A good defensive system is backed up by good, formulated practice plans on a daily basis. Regardless of what defense you play, it is the teaching that allows it to be successful.

8. A good defensive system is given the amount of importance and relevance from the coaching staff that helps a team understand why it is necessary for success. As Don Meyer would say, “It’s not what you teach, it’s what you emphasize.”

9. A good defensive system should have a system of communication. Regardless of the type of defense you play, all good defenses communicate. Coach Krzyzewski has three phases of basketball: offense, defense, and communication. It much more than just “talking.” You communicate with your voice, your ears, your eyes, and your body.

A couple of quick thoughts in regard to a good defensive system of play, especially as it relates to man to man defense in the half-court is that I think in today’s game you have to have a plan that:

…has a strategy to defend the low post

…has a strategy to defend dribble penetration

…has a strategy to defend ball screens

Now certainly there are other things involved in good defense, but these three areas to me seem like where offensive teams are scoring from the most.

Within our defense, we have our “daily to-do list” of areas we want to cover in some form — whether it be in a part-method drill or through the emphasis of a whole-method drill. For us, things that our important daily include:

1. Transition Defense

2. Defending the Dribble

3. Post Defense

4. Closeouts

5. Contesting Shots

6. Help and Recover

7. Blockout

I could include communication in this list but it is a part of each one. But the point is, communication is taught and stressed each day.

Again, regardless of your style or system of play, you should have a list of daily things to cover in order to build or grow your defense. They don’t have to be the things I listed above but there should be a list of your systems defensive priorities.