Memphis Blood Drills for Dribble Drive Motion Offense

If you're looking to implement the Dribble Drive Motion Offense this upcoming season, than you'll definitely want to run these drills. They're called the Blood Drills and they focus on the specifics of the reads that all your players need to master in order to make this offense work. It's also a great competitive drill and since it's full court, it's a great conditioner as well. These drills are exactly as taught by both Vance Walberg and here specifically by John Calipari for the Memphis Tigers.

There are actually 3 different blood drills. There is the 2v0, 2v2 and 3v3. They are each called Blood 20, Blood 22 and Blood 33 respectively. The breakdown I'm doing here is the Blood 33, you should go through the Blood 20 and Blood 22 first, but Blood 33 is basically what you want to be working up to.

Setup:

Ideally you want 12 players or more. Split into 2 teams, a white team (W) and a blue team (B). Split your guards and forwards between the teams so that it is even. You also need a coach or helper that starts off the drill.

It's full court, so you need 2 opposite baskets. Players from each team should be lined up to fill one of the 5 spots (2 x corners for shooters, 2 x top of the key for forwards, middle circle for drivers).

Staring the Drill:

This is how the drill is started. W represents white team, B represents blue team. W1 = white pg, W3 = white shooter, W5 = white forward. White starts off here going left to right on offense and Blue is on defense and will go right to left when on offense.

Coach starts the drill by passing to W1. W1 drives toward B1 in the jump-ball circle. Once W1 beats B1, W5 breaks to the opposite block of wherever the corner man is (right block in the diag above). B5 goes to the middle of the lane for help-side defense.

B1 must touch W1 inside the jump-ball circle before moving to defend/stop W1. B1 must not leave the circle until touching W1, otherwise W1 gets an automatic point. This way, W1 will get an early advantage with a 3v2 but we want B1 to eventually recover on the play.

Rotate:

Once either White scores or Blue stops them, the drill ends and the ball goes back to the coach. B1 becomes the new ball-handler. You should already have the other players lined up on the other side of the floor, with Blue on offense. Another guard on White should step up and fill the middle spot in the jump circle to play defense,

Keep score, play to 13. Suicides for losers. You can switch the direction of offense/defense and start the drill again.

Offensive Reads:

The point-guard (W2 below) should drive to the side with the corner man. As he drives to the top of the key he should be reading the corner defender (B3 below) to see if B3 sags to help or deny. If help, W2 should pass to W3 for the corner 3. If deny, W2 should continue driving.

If B3 is denying, W2 proceeds to the second read. Is B5 stepping up for help defense, or is B5 staying on his man. If help, then W2 should look to drop off to W5 once he gets into the lane. If staying, then W2 should look to go all the way up to the cup.

W3 and W5 should be reading their respective defenders. If B3 sags, W3 should be in a catch and shoot position, making sure their feet are behind the line. If W3 is being denied, he has the option of going backdoor looking for the pass from W2.

If W2 gets stuck in the lane and picks up his dribble. W5 can flash to the high post for the safety, then drive to the hoop from there.

Summary:

Some dribble drive coaches out there swear by these blood drills. Even if you don't use the whole dribble drive motion offense, I think the blood drills are a great way to teach drive and kick concepts, that any team can use regardless of the system they use.

Looking to put in the dribble drive motion offense for your team next season? If you are, then you should take a look at Jerry Petitgoue's new DVD on the Dribble Drive Offense for High School. I have Coach Petitgoue's DVD for his 5-out motion and he does a great job in explaining the concepts in an easy to understand way. Join the many coaches already talking about their favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.