Wisconsin's Domino Press Break and Fast Break

Most of y'all coaches are probably deep into practices right about now especially with football season almost done if not done already. I know most of y'all lose sleep over breaking the press so I decided to look for it today to at least give y'all some more ideas. Courtesy of Coach Duane Silver and his terrific newsletter, his notes say this can be used as a press break against any zone or man press, and that this is a fast break and press break rolled into one.

This press break is from Wisconsin using what they call the domino formation (2-1-2). I like press breaks that are easy, since players have to remember all that other stuff like offensive plays or motion, so this one certainly qualifies in that area. Anyways, hope y'all enjoy it...

Domino Fast Break:

As mentioned, they call it the domino formation because they are in a 2-1-2. O4 is always your inbounder, O5 should be around the foul line, O1 should be the first option to inbound to, O2 and O3 should run their lanes (left and right),

Once the ball is inbounded, if O1 is unable to pass to O5 in the middle or O2 up the sideline, pass back to O4, notice that they are still in the 2-1-2 Domino alignment,


Press Break on Made Basket:

This is how the fast break turns into a press break. Once the basket is made, O4 rips the ball out of the net and looks to inbound. O5 screens for O1 to get open. O2 and O3 run their lanes as per usual. If O1 cannot get open, O4 should find O5 at the free-throw line,

O1 tries to push the ball up the sideline and off and running trying to score on the break, hopefully with numbers,


Summary:

I like press breaks that are simple, because philosophically, I believe that you beat pressure with good fundamentals. If your players are confident with the ball, they won't need any fancy press break, they should be able to use simple common sense principles like reversing the ball.

I wish Coach Bo Ryan of Wisconsin made a video on press breaks, but that's OK, there are plenty others. For instance, take a look at Bruce Weber's DVD on Press Break Drills. Coach Weber is the head coach of Illinois. Don't forget to check out the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk about this and your favorite basketball topics.