Stanford Women's High Post Offense

With the reduced NBA schedule, I had a chance to watch a women's college game tonight. Stanford is a top 10 team this year and I saw for myself why they are such a good team after they soundly beat Arizona. The Cardinal have notched impressive wins so far this season over top teams like Rutgers, Tennessee and cross-town rival Cal. They definitely seem to have what it takes to go all the way.

The Wildcats tried a 2-3 zone to slow the Cardinal but the Cardinal were just too disciplined. I recorded a couple of clips from the game of their M2M offense. They like to get the ball into the high-post where they will look for a few different options, hi-lo, drive, handoff to drive and backdoor cut. Seemed to be very effective throughout the game, take a look,



High Post Handoff to Drive:

I like any high-post set especially if you have very versatile dynamic forwards. Once you get the ball there, you have so many options. The Cardinal start in a 3-out 2-in set. The 2 forwards start out low, but the weakside forward O4 cuts diagonally to the ballside elbow,

The PG gets the ball to O4. Simultaneously, O3 looks to cut backdoor. O4 looks to get the ball to O3 first. O1 then goes to set a downscreen for O2 who goes down then cuts back up.

O2 cuts around the O4 who executes a handoff to O2 who drives to the basket and scores. X1 switches on the first screen to cover O2 but is too late.

Summary:

Stanford does all the things that great teams do. They defend, rebound, move the ball well, and shoot the lights out. They can beat a zone defense, they can break full-court pressure. What more could you ask from your team! Head coach Tara VanDerveer obviously knows what it takes to win championships.

I'm a big fan of UConn lady Huskies coach Geno Auriemma so if you like the high post offense, you should look at Coach Auriemma's DVD on teaching the high post offense. To discuss this and many more of your favorite basketball topics, head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk with other coaches from around the world.