Robi Coker, Asst Men’s Basketball Coach, McNeese State
This video is a segment from one of the 120 Videos in Glazier Drive Basketball.
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The full video that this clip came from is available on Glazier Drive: Offensive Skill Development: Shooting, Pass, & Decision Making
OVERVIEW
This clip covers two passing drills borrowed from other coaches (Rick Barnes and Jay Wright/Villanova) that emphasize crisp, game-realistic passing as the foundation for good shooting.
DRILL 1: TENNESSEE PASSING (RICK BARNES DRILL)
- Setup: 12 players in four lines (two corners, two slots).
- Players fire hard, accurate chest passes at each other for two minutes — “knock them down with it,” hitting the receiver in the shooter’s pocket.
- After each rep, players rotate to the next line; a group that passes poorly gets sent again.
- Purpose: expose players who can’t make a solid chest pass and build passing toughness/accuracy.
- Progression (minutes 2–4): same passing pattern, but now players must add a shot fake or pass fake before passing — “shot fake, jab” repeated rapidly.
- Coaching cues: catch the ball “shot ready,” knees bent, ready to make a play.
- Frequency: run one to two passing drills like this every practice, about four minutes total per day.
DRILL 2: VILLANOVA PASSING (JAY WRIGHT DRILL)
- Focus: shot fakes, pass fakes, playing off two feet, and creating scoring angles — hallmarks of Jay Wright’s Villanova teams.
- Pattern: shot fake → drive middle → shot fake → pivot → drive baseline → drift pass → drive middle again, chaining actions to generate multiple shots (up to four) off one possession.
- Even with less help/personnel, coaches can run a simplified version for at least one quality shot per rep.
- Scoring target: roughly 100 shots taken in four minutes, aiming for 50% makes (two of four per rep).
- Variation shown: drive, pass to corner, drive middle, pass back out to the three-point line to also build the corner three look.
KEY COACHING PHILOSOPHY
- Great shooting teams are built on great passing, not just great shooters (citing Steve Kerr).
- Design drills to mirror actions players will actually see in games — don’t drill actions that won’t show up in your offense.
- As a coach, don’t only watch the shot — watch and coach the pass, since a late or off-target pass lets the defense recover an advantage you just created.
- With so much coaching content available today, be selective: you can do anything as a coach, but not everything (citing John Beilein).
