Basketball Plays Baseline Runner Longhorn

By Brian Williams on July 1, 2013

I found this play on the Xavier Men’s Basketball Newsletter Site.

It is designed to be run against a zone defense.

If you are interested in seeing their newsletter archives, here is the link: Xavier Men’s Basketball Newsletter.

All of our basketball plays including diagrams, videos, and animated basketball plays are at this link: Animated Basketball Plays

Two guard front

3 circles in the high post area.

1 passes to 3

2 goes away

1 then sprints through to the opposite corner,

3 sees 5 on a possible duck in.

If the duck in is not available, 3 passes to 2.

2 quickly passes to 1

On the catch by 1, 4 slides up the lane line.

5 sprints acrossthe lane to the ballside block

1 sees both the post (4) and the low post (5)

Basketball Drills Wichita State Skill Development

By Brian Williams on June 28, 2013

This is a 4 minute video of Coach Gregg Marshall going through a series that they use to work on their wings players skills.

This is a YouTube video, so you will need to have permission to view YouTube videos.

Make sure your sound is on as you watch.

If you are interested in learning more about the entire DVD that this sample came from, click this link Wichita State Skill Development Workout: Guards.

The video is 4 minutes and 24 seconds. Click the play arrow to see the video.

Make sure your sound is on.

Basketball Drills 4 v 3 No Threes

By Brian Williams on June 27, 2013

Here is one of our basketball drills that will really help your half court defense.

Getting to three point shooters is important to a solid half court defense.

A drill for working on taking away 3 point shots. My belief is that three point percentage allowed is not a valid measurement of how well you defend 3s and that the best way to defend 3 point shots is to reduce the number of 3 point shots that you allow your opponent to take.

Here is a link to an article to support that belief: Defending the 3 point shot.

This diagrammed drill is based on getting to the shooting and taking away the open three.

It demands great communication, rotation, anticipation, closing out, being there on the catch, vision, blocking out and rebounding with two hands.

If three defenders can successfully defend four players in this drill then your game time defense will shut down any opponent’s three point shooting.

This drill was posted by Coach Randy Brown in FastModel Sports Basketball Plays and Drills Library The site has thousands of drills and plays that have been submitted by basketball coaches from around the world.

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

Starting Position for the drill

Four offensive players and three defenders

Option–change starting positions for offensive or defensive players before starting drill

Offensive players can cut into any area on floor.

DEFENSIVE RULE:

1. Must be there on the catch by offense

2. Ball pressure at all times

3. Communication entire possession

4. Two non-on ball defenders protect basket and lay ups

5. Secure rebound with two hands

1 enters ball to 2 and cuts through the lane as other two offensive players move also.

X3 rotates to 2 and is there on the catch. X2 and X1 adjust their positions according to players and basket.

It is KEY that X2 and X1 ANTICIPATE the next pass.

The closest player has to sprint and close out to 4 and be there on the catch to take away the open 3.

X2 anticipates pass to 3 and is there on the catch. X3 and X1 adjust.

Every pass demands communication, sprinting to close out, being there on the catch, and proper defensive floor positioning to take away the basket.

DRILL OPTIONS:

1. When does drill end? You can designate the number of passes, the number of threes taken away, or time.

2. If you set conditions and a defender or defenders violates it, you start possession over.

3. Conditions could include being there on the catch, hand up on closeout, communication re: who has ball, vision, three block outs, rebound the ball with two hands.

4. Can use this as a three man drill or a team drill; i.e.-8 players white and 3 players red.

Coach Brown also tweets a lot of his content. You can follow him here: @CoachRB

Basketball Drills Xavier Rebounding

By Brian Williams on June 26, 2013

These basketball rebounding drills are from the Xavier Men’s Basketball Newsletter.

The first drill is to work on rebounding out of a zone.

Drill #2 to work at being aggressive getting to the basket on offensive rebounds.

Drill #3 works on defensive blockouts.

Drill #4 is a full court competitive rebounding drill.

You can see the Xavier Newsletter archives and subscribe to their newsletter at this link:

Xavier Basketball Coaching Newsletter

Diagrams created with FastDraw

Rebounding out of a zone (Rebound by Numbers)

2:00 on the Clock (1 ball, 4 or 7 players)

In a zone, it is a little less defined as to who you are blocking out. This is one of the best drills to teach rebounding out of a zone.

The players are numbered as shown. As he is shooting, the coach will call out two numbers (1.3) and those 2 players are the ones going in for the rebound. The defenders make contact, box, and push them out. If you don’t have enough players you could have one defender and three offense on the perimeter, only calling out one number.

Offensive Rebounding (Get to the Basket)

2:00 on the Clock (1 ball, 4 or 7 players)

Place two defenders side by side facing the offense (if you have football pads use them). On the shot, the offense has to bust through to the basket. This teaches them to never surrender going to the basket and to be aggressive. Only drill this from the wings. If we have an offensive player at the top we would normally want him to get back on defense.

Without the pads, the defense gives a little pressure, just enough to make the offense push through.

Defensive Rebounding (Prosser 3 on 3)

2:00 on the Clock (1 ball, 6 or more players)

On the shot (shot can be taken from different spots) the offense is going straight to the basket for the rebound. Defense is trying to block out until the ball hits the floor.

The defense has to get three rebounds in order to be able to switch out.

Competitive War Drill (Full Court)

8:00 on the Clock (1 ball, 6, 8, or 10 players–Full Court)

Defense is in the paint and matches up. On the shot by the coach, their goal is to go meet the offense outside the paint and keep them out of it.

The offense is set up behind the three pont line and (except for the 1 who gets back on defense), are going hard to the rim.

The defender on the 1 should look to help on boxing someone else out.

This is a highly competitive drill with a winner and a loser.

If the offense gets the rebound they get a point and can try to score a 2 or 3 point shot. If they score we set the drill back up.

If they score we set the drill back up. If the defense gets the rebound or forces a turnover, there is no point scored, but they push the ball down the court (transition offense) and try to score on the other end.

On a score or turnover by them, play stops and we set the drill back up.

Basketball Coaching Everything Matters

By Brian Williams on June 25, 2013

By Alan Stein, Pure Sweat Basketball

Everything Matters

Every spring I get calls from dozens of NBA personnel inquiring about potential NBA draft pics. They know I have worked with most of the prospects before at events like the Jordan Brand Classic and Nike Skills Academies.

However, you’d be surprised at the questions they actually ask me.

Nearly every single question has to do with character, attitude or work ethic.

They never ask me about their athleticism or skills.

Why? If an NBA team is going to invest millions of dollars in a player, they need to know he is of high character, has an exceptional attitude and possesses an unparalleled work ethic.

Here are the most common questions I get:

What was your very first impression of him?
Did you see any red flags?
Did you enjoy being around him?
Was he always on time?
Was he likable?
Was he coachable?
Was he an energy giver?
Did he love to play?
Did he love to workout?
How was his attitude?
How was his work ethic?
Was he a gym rat?
What was the best part about working with him?
Was there anything difficult about working with him?
Was he respectful?
Was he self-motivated?
Did he act entitled?
Was he selfish?
Was he mature?
Was he competitive?
Was he a leader?

And this is my favorite question that I’ve ever been asked:

Would you let your daughter marry him?

And while these particular questions are the ones I get from NBA personnel about potential draft picks, they are also the exact same type of questions I get from college coaches when they are recruiting a high school player.

There is so much more to basketball success than shooting, passing, rebounding, defending and dribbling!

Character counts!

How you do anything is how you do everything.
Alan Stein
Hardwood Hustle Blog
http://www.About.me/AlanStein

Basketball Plays Greece Chase

By Brian Williams on June 24, 2013

This play was contributed by Creighton Burns.

He has made coaching stops in four states including Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, and Michigan at both the high school and college levels.

Coach Burns has coached both Men and Women.

Creighton has received numerous coaching honors including Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1988.

The name of this play is Greece Chase.

#1 “dribble chases” #3.

#2 and #4 move down to the baseline to screen for #3.

#5 fakes as if to screen away and then fills the point.

#1 passes to #5 and down screens for #2.

#5 has the choice of passing to #3 on the back side or passing to #2 coming off the down screen set by #1.

Regardless of which wing #5 passes to, he will down screen away from his pass for #1.

If #5 makes the pass to #3, he will down screen away for #1.

#3 will look inside to #4 and then high to #1 coming off the screen.

If #5 makes the pass to #2, #1 will cross screen for #4 and then receive a down screen from #5.

#2 will look low to #4 and then high to #1

When #1 receives the ball and then swings it to the opposite wing, he will down screen for the back side post player.

In this diagram he has swung the ball to #3, and screened down for #4.

The offense is now set and ready to execute the “hi-low” action.