Triangle and 2 Combo Defense Scenarios Analyzed

Came across these notes the other day looking for some good defensive scheme information. Most of y'all have a good combo defense in your back pocket to go to, be it a Box and 1, Triangle and 2, etc... I'm mostly a M2M halfcourt guy, but I think having a good change-up defense is good to have when you need to change things up. Sometimes, a change of scheme is necessary when your players are feeling frustrated, you can force your team to keep running what you are running, or try something new.

These are some notes on a Triangle and 2 defense including rules and scenarios to consider, they are from Tom Billeter of Augustana. The Triangle and 2 is a great defense to use against a perimeter oriented team that has a dominant point-guard and shooting guard. The idea is to go chest-to-chest with the 2 best perimeter players and zone the lane with 3 players in a triangle.

Legend

Red Defenders: 2 forward types and 1 guard/forward
Yellow X1: Defender guarding the best offensive player
Yellow X2: Defender guarding the second best offensive player
O1: Best offensive player
O3: Second best offensive player
Blue Offense: Rest of the 3 offensive players

Ball Denial

Most likely O1 will be the point guard. So, the idea is for X1 to force the ball out of O1's hands, then deny the pass back. X2 denies pass to O3 on the wing,


Post Entry

On post entry, if the post puts the ball on the floor, the X2 half digs,


Skip Passes

On the skip pass, only use short closeouts. Don’t closeout the full distance. So X1 still denies O1 and X2 slides to help position,


Cutters

If anyone other than O1 or O3 cut, nobody trails, the triangle defenders just have to be aware of them. If they send O3 as a baseline runner, X2, goes with the cutter. X4 will pass dribble to X2 playing gap defense. X1 stays with O1,


Short Corner Entry

If they run the post underneath into the short corner, trap the post entry with the ball side post of the triangle and X2. X3 shifts over to cut off the middle. Make the pass back to the ball side wing the only option,


Stagger Screens

It will be critical for X1 to be good at tag and trail as the offense will attempt to run O1 through double, triple screens,


Other Notes

- If you do not have a great 1v1 perimeter defender, then put worse help defender (X1) on the other team’s best offensive player (O1). This defender is always making contact with the best, denying passes, and never playing help defense. Try to get in the offensive player’s head.
- Second man defender (X2) plays regular man defense and gives help.
- Post players always play behind the post.
- No dribble penetration or passes to the paint.
- Do not deny the other 3 players.
- Switch ball screens

If you're interested in the junk stuff, you might want to look at Homer Drew's DVD on the Box and 1 defense. Coach Drew is the head coach of the Valparaiso University

Chris Paul and Brandon Roy Doin' Work

For you basketball only players and coaches, some motivation to get you through to the start of the season in November. Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets and Brandon Roy of the Portland Trailblazers putting in the time to get better:

Brandon Roy

"The best players in the league work the hardest. That's in any sport, anything where you compete."

"I know Kobe's workin', I know Lebron's workin'... I got something to shoot for."



Chris Paul

The clock on the wall reads 6:50 AM.

"Everytime we do these workouts, I always know its gonna hurt, it's gonna kill me. You earn it. This is for June. Everything I'm doing right now is for June... It's what everyone plays to."

"I've had four pretty good years since I've been in the NBA but obviously it hasn't been good enough so I've gotta work harder."



For more info on improving your speed and conditioning, check out Alan Stein's DVD on Off-Season Workouts. Coach Stein is the conditioning coach for Montrose Christian, famously for having worked with Kevin Durant.

Check Out The Jayhawk Tip-Off Magazine

Just wanted to take a little time out for some shameless self-promotion (it's my blog so I guess I can write about whatever I want). I had the tremendous opportunity to be a part of Eric Angevine's team in producing this year's Jayhawk Tip-off Preseason magazine, previewing the Kansas Jayhawks (whom Dick Vitale has as his preseason #1). If you are a regular college basketball fan, then you'll recognize Eric as the brains behind Storming The Floor. I haven't seen the magazine yet myself, but I'm sure it's fantastic. As for my contribution, I did a breakdown of the Bill Self's ball screening offense, zone offense, and hi-low quick hitter. So, if you've got $12.99 US kickin' around, give it a run...

Thinking About Defensive Situations with Ben Howland

With the college basketball season just around the corner, one of the first teams I always look for on the TV schedule is when UCLA will be playing. I love the way UCLA plays defense under Ben Howland. Up until last year, they were consistently a top 5 defensive team every single year since Howland has been there. I look forward to watching them again this year, and hopefully last year's aberration was just that, and the Bruins will be back to playing the kind of defense they are known for. In the meantime, some great philosophical notes from an Adidas clinic a couple of years ago with Ben Howland as the speaker,

General
- Low field goal % defense and winning the rebound margin wins ballgames.
- Define roles, get players to understand their roles
- Practice defense for at least 20 minutes per practice
- Every drill is competitive and there is always a penalty for the loser

Defensive Philosophy
- Defend the ball, not a man
- Players may not always guard the same man; be ready to stop ball

Transition Defense
- Take away transition offense and make them score in the ½ court set
- On a miss: 1, 2 are always safeties, 3, 4, 5 hit the offensive boards
- On a make: 1 or 2 always stop the ball early on the outlet, in bounder’s defender to half-court line

Defensive Positioning
- Pressure the ball with your body square to the offensive man
- Deny one pass away; up to one step beyond arc
- Jump to the ball under control, but don’t lunge at the ball
- ALWAYS talk
- Close out under control
a. Sprint half the distance, then use short, choppy steps the other half
b. Contest every shot to the level of release with hands up

Extending screens
- Lock and trail shooters
- Extend by being in the passing lane, show and bump offensive player on the curl
- After bump, release back to your man
- Always feel/touch your man in order to prevent him from slipping the screen
- Defending the Double Stagger screen
a. Top/Ball side defender must extend on the screen
b. Low defender must protect against the slip

Defending on-ball screens
- Ball defender must force the offense to use the screen, and then go over the top of the screen
a. There is no ball pressure if player goes under the screen and the PG has better vision of the floor
- Screener’s defender must hedge/extend and recover
- You may double in the corner, occasionally on the wing, but never on the top

Defending the dribble hand-off
- Switch on the dribble hand-off

Coach Howland doesn't do instructional videos. But if you're impressed by the UCLA defensive system and philosophy, take a look at a DVD from his one time assistant, Jamie Dixon's DVD on his 10 Point Shell Drill. Coach Dixon is currently the head coach of Pittsburgh.

Ernie Kent's Open Early Offense

Going through more notes this week, and came across a good explanation for an early offense to use from Oregon's Ernie Kent called the Open Early Offense. The offense is meant to played fast with the purpose of getting easy baskets but also to tire the other team out. It's simple to use and its effectiveness comes from players learning how to read screens and make the right play, here goes:

Introduction to Open

Open is designed to take advantage of skilled, athletic wing players in combination with skilled trailing big men. Open is simply a downscreen in transition but because of floor spacing and the skills of the players involved, that downscreen becomes a very effective scoring weapon

Open begins with O2 and O3 running their lanes on the sideline. Whichever forward is not the one rebounding the ball, runs center and posts up on the ballside post. The first look every single time is, whoever has the ball, O4 or O1 throws over the top for a layup, 3-pointer, or early post-up.


The offense begins with the PG passing ahead to either O2 or O3 on the wing. The wing should stay high and wide for a better passing angle to the weakside after the downscreen action. The PG must sprint to the ballside corner ASAP to clear out room for the pass to the weakside. If you want your PG making the pass, the wing can dribble to the corner and pass back to the PG at the wing instead.

As the ballside action happens, the trailing forward (O4 here) sprints into a downscreen by headhunting the weakside wing's defender. The wing should help setup the screen by moving towards the baseline. The screen should take place facing the corner about 15 feet away from the basket on a 45 degree angle from the basket. This gives room for the cutter to use the screen for a backcut or curl or pop out,

The cutter, screener, and passer must now read the defense and depending on the defense decide on the following 6 reads.

Read 1: Cutter curls or Pops out for 3-pointer

The cutter's defender gets stuck on the screen set by the trailer. If the defense does not switch, and if the cutter's defender trails, then the play is a curl to the basket for the layup. If the cutter's defender goes underneath to protect the basket, then the play is to pop out for the 3-pointer,


Read 2: Screener Pops out for 3-pointer

If the cutter's defender trails, and the screener's defender drops to temporarily cover the cutter. Because the screener is not defended over the top, the screener reads this and pops out to the 3-point line for a 3-pointer,


Read 3: Re-screen for Cutter Popping out for 3-pointer

The cutter's defender anticipates the downscreen and drops down towards the lane. The cutter executes a pocket cut and explodes back out to the 3-point line. As this happens, the screener turns to adjusts his screen to re-screen the defender who should be trying to close out,


Read 4: Overplay, Backdoor Cut

The cutter's defender overplays the initial cut. The cutter takes advantage of getting behind the defender's head and cuts backdoor to receive a lob pass for the score,


Read 5: Overplay and Switch, Screener Pops out for 3-pointer

If the cutter's defender overplays the initial cut, and the screener's defender drops to protect against the lob, then the screener should be undefended to pop out to the 3-point line for an open 3-pointer,


Read 6: The Slip

If at anytime the defense is hedging the screen or stepping out to bump the cutter, the screener can execute a quick screen and slip to the basket for a layup,


Final Thoughts

Open is designed to be a quick hitting play out of transition, for the passer as well as the cutter. The play is named open because the goal is to open up the floor for the ballhandler to drive as well as to hit up the cutter for a score. Therefore, the ballhandler must always be aware of using the dribble if possible to beat their defender. When the first options are not available, the offense can simply flow into your motion, continuity, or set offense.

For more on Oregon's early offense, check out Ernie Kent's DVD on Transition Offense.

Darrin Horn on Developing Your Defensive Identity

With school in session and most of y'all coaches preparing for the upcoming season, some more philosophical thoughts to ponder as you imagine what kind of team you will be. I am very much a believer of having an identity. With the talent and skill of the players you have, you will need to choose an offensive and defensive identity, which will give your players purpose for what they are doing. I went through more notes again the other day and pulled out these from Darrin Horn of South Carolina. He also believes you have to define yourself on defense and in doing so you must be ready to make some sacrifices:

Two Defensive Keys:

1. What is our identity?
It doesn’t matter what it is necessarily, it just matters that you have one that
you and your players firmly believe in. "What do we want to be about?" you
have to ask yourself and it needs to be something that you and your players
say: "This is who we are. This is what we hang our hats on."

2. What are we willing to live with?
Every defense has a fallback. We want to pressure you the length of the court
and because of this, we will give up some easy layups. So, you must ask
yourself: "What are you willing to give up?"

Two non-negotiables we have in our program:

1. Don’t give up middle
2. Pressure (length and versatility are a must for us)

Coach Horn doesn't get very technical with his players on defense, it’s more of a matter of "Just get it done." Because of this, as much of the drills he uses is about creating a mentality than anything else.

How do you measure yourself defensively?

Deflections, anytime you get a hand on the ball in any way. We need 40 a game to be successful. That’s our number 1 goal defensively every game.

What we believe: play hard and play with trust that your teammate will be there to help you.

Other Defensive Thoughts:

- Teaches an open denial stance learned from his college coach, Ralph Willard. In the open denial stance, the defensive player is up in the offensive player’s chest and the arm closest to the defender is extended (rather than the traditional denial stance with the arm closest to the ball extended) with the defensive player’s body open to the ball handler. Player is one step off the passing lane and they will do this out to the NBA three point line. Players find it awkward at first, but they learn to really like it as it gives them a better chance at help and prevents the backdoor more effectively.

- Believes that there isn’t an original idea left in basketball. Every scheme or thought is stolen or modified.

- In order to avoid confusion with his kids he calls the two transition periods, "Transition Offense" and "Conversion Defense."

- The method we take in instilling our defensive philosophy is whole-part-whole. We’ll show them everything, break it down and then build it back up.

- We do work early to keep the ball out of the middle by our point guard pressuring the ball handler in the backcourt. We teach him to retreat back to the halfcourt circle until another guard passes then attack handler to force him sideline.

- The man covering the inbounder (or the man who jammed the man on the rebound)
getting to the level of the ball and discouraging the middle drive.

- Another thing we want to take away is the quick advance pass up the sideline.

- Every drill, everything we do defensively has to be loud. There needs to be a talking aspect to everything we do.

- The most important steps in conversion defense are the first 3.You must sprint these out.

- We want you to be aggressive defensively. That doesn’t mean reach and gamble, but you have the freedom to try to make plays in our system.

- Best way to slow offensive movement (besides having 6’8” athletes): have active hands.

- If you’re going to pressure and trap, you CANNOT give up straight line passes. The lofted or tipped pass gives your defense time to recover.

- When trapping, don’t reach, but be physical with your lower body. We can’t afford to be split in our traps and we MUST sprint out of our traps. The best trap does us no good if we’re walking out of it and the offense can do whatever they want after.

- Love 1-on-1 drills because it instills toughness and it forces you to find a way to stop the other guy, there’s no hiding in a 1-on-1 situation.

For more on the South Carolina way, check out Darrin Horn's DVD on Zone Offense and Shooting Drills.

4-out 1-in Motion Backdoor Trap Continuity Offense

A coaching friend of mine coaches a group of U13 players in a youth league here in the Greater Vancouver area. He asked me for some advice a couple weeks ago because he was having some problems on offense with his team. He had been using the Backdoor Trap continuity offense and it had been working OK, but he said the problem was that it got worse and worse as the game went on. I actually had never heard of the Backdoor Trap offense before so I had to look it up.

I went to one of their games and after awhile I could see what the problem was. As the game progressed, the offense was still being well-executed but the defense naturally began to anticipate the backdoor flex cuts. This in itself wasn't the problem though, because at U13 most players never get used to defending the backdoor cut, they're always ball watching. The real problem was spacing. Because 4 players were playing inside of the 3-point line, the defense simply contracted such that the possibility of making any successful backdoor pass was nearly impossible:


I went back home and drew up a modification to the Backdoor Trap offense, that I call the 4-out 1-in Motion Backdoor Trap Continuity Offense. It is essentially, the same continuity but with better spacing and incorporating some DDM and other motion principles. So it's not really true motion, DDM, or Backdoor Trap, but a combination of all of them. I gave it to my friend to use and he's saying it's helped them alot, the extra spacing gives them a lot more options and forces the defense to stretch and cover.

The setup of the offense is 4-out 1-in. The wings can start below or above the free-throw line extended. They should v-cut or l-cut to the ball though and receive it above the free-throw line. The post should play opposite of the ball for spacing. The first play should be a wing pass and the point cuts to the ball-side corner. The other top player (02) shifts over ball-side as the safety.

This is where the main action takes place. The post (O5) goes to set a wing-flex backscreen for the wing (O4). If O3 can take his defender off the dribble, he does so. If O1's defender comes to help, O1 should be open for the corner 3-pointer. As O3 drives, or even if O3 does not, O4 should be coming off the backscreen and if open O3 can hit him for the open layup. O5 pops out to the wing after the backscreen,

If O3 does nothing with the ball, the ball is reversed to O2 up top, O5 comes up to receive the ball (v-cut or l-cut) and O2 cuts to the ball-side corner after the pass,

In this sequence, the action repeats from the left side of the floor. As an option, if O4 has a favorable post matchup, O5 can make a post entry here for a 1v1 post up for O4. Otherwise, O1 clears out from the weak-side corner and comes up as the safety. O4 clears out to the weakside and sets a wing-flex backdoor screen for O3. O5 should dribble drive if possible. All the way to the rim, to O2 on help defense, or to O3 on the backdoor just like previously on the right side of the floor,

I just wanted to show this final sequence because you can incorporate any of your regular motion cuts and ball screens using audibles from the bench or from your PG. For example, after passing to the wing, the point can set a ball screen for the wing and play PNR. Or on the weakside wing, the wing can fake the backdoor and instead come over the top for the elbow jumper. Basically, anything you normally teach in 4-out 1-in motion can be used here,


Hope that helps out with you coaches out there looking for a little variety in your flex, motion, or halfcourt sets. For more motion and backscreening ideas, take a look at Matt Painter's 4-out 1-in Motion Offense. Coach Painter is the head coach of Purdue.

Don Casey on the Problems of AAU Summer Basketball

If you've read this blog any in the past year or so, you'll know my feeling on the AAU/High School debate. Last week, former NBA and NCAA division I coach Don Casey who runs a great blog called The Temple of Zones, posted his thoughts on a variety of subjects regarding the state of the game. In response to a question about AAU basketball, he had this to say (Sorry, but the all-caps is direct from Casey's blog. I've bolded and italicized for emphasis):

How can we limit the AAU coaches and 'handlers?' THIS IS THE TOUGHEST QUESTION THAT YOU HAVE POSED. IT IS A MUST FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL COACHES TO RETURN TO SOME SEMBLANCE OF IMPORTANCE IN THE LIVES OF THEIR PLAYERS. THE ELEMENT OF ACADEMICS IS TOTALLY NEGLECTED BY THESE PEOPLE APART FROM WRITING WHATEVER GPA’S AND SAT SCORES THE KID TELLS THE COACH. Ahmen! WHAT HAS HAPPENED IS A CRIME. CERTIFICATION IS PROBABLY THE ONLY ANSWER. THEY MUST PASS A SERIES OF CLINICS/WORKSHOPS, ETC. TO QUALIFY TO BE RECOGNIZED AS AN “AAU COACH”. SIMPLY PUT, THE MAJORITY OF THE AAU COACHES DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES OF DEALING WITH YOUTH TEAMS. MOST HAVE NOT HAD ANY FORMAL EXPOSURE TO SOCIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES APART FROM THEIR OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. THE ISSUES OF PRACTICE ORGANIZATION, REPETITIONS, TEACHING MODALITIES, GAME STRATEGY, CONDITIONING, AND THESE COMPONENTS ARE SELDOM UNDERSTOOD BY THESE COACHES. MANY ARE WELL INTENTIONED BUT DO NOT HAVE ANY HISTORY OF PUTTING IN THE TIME TO ACHIEVE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO TEACH/COACH. THE ISSUE OF “HANDLERS” IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PROBLEM. THEY ARE COMPLETELY MONEY ORIENTED AND DON’T CONCERN THEMSELVES WITH THE HUMAN ELEMENT ALTHOUGH IT IS THAT HUMAN ELEMENT, MOSTLY GREED, THAT HAS THEM INVOLVED IN THE FIRST PLACE. THEY DO NOT PAY DUES. THEY PAY KIDS, PARENTS, AAU COACHES, FRIENDS OF PLAYERS, ETC. TO GET CONTROL OF KIDS AND FURTHER THEIR OWN EARNING POTENTIAL. I KNOW OF NO LEGISLATION THAT CAN ELIMINATE THESE PEOPLE FROM THE SCENE. THE AMERICAN FREE-ENTERPRISE SYSTEM IS ALIVE AND WELL AND THE “RUNNERS” OR “HANDLERS” ARE A PART OF THE AAU LANDSCAPE AND HERE FOR THE LONG HAUL. ONLY MEETINGS/WORKSHOPS WITH PLAYERS CAN ALERT THEM TO THE PERILS INVOLVED WITH CONTACT WITH THESE PEOPLE. REMEMBER, THESE ARE YOUNG KIDS AND EASILY IMPRESSED BY THE “BLING” OF THESE HANDLERS. KIDS ARE NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO GREY HAIRED GUYS TALKING ABOUT THE VULTURES OUT THERE SETTING THEM UP FOR 3, 4, 5, 6 YEARS DOWN THE LINE.

Further to that, on the topic of the spring/summer basketball season, Casey's view on NCAA influence:

What rules should the NCAA have on summer play? NONE. THE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL FEDERATION OF COACHES SHOULD PROVIDE THE RULES. THE NCAA HAS INFLUENCE ONLY DURING THE RECRUITING TIME (RULES, POLICY, ETC.) AND THEY NEED TO STAY OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL BUSINESS AT THIS POINT. THE NCAA CAN CERTAINLY HUDDLE WITH THE HIGH SCHOOL HEAVEYWEIGHTS TO COME TO SOME SEMBLANCE OF A REASONABLE SET OF STANDARDS BUT IT MUST NECESSARILY COME FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONS. FURTHER, BY SO DOING, IT WILL ENCOURAGE THE RE-ENTRY OF HIGH SCHOOL COACHES INTO THE LIVES AND FUTURES OF THEIR PLAYERS.

I don't think I could have said it better myself...

Thoughts on Michael Jordan's HOF Induction Speech

In case you missed it yesterday, Michael Jordan gave his induction speech at the Hall of Fame ceremony.



Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

Alot of mixed reactions to the speech which is to be expected. Certainly, Jordan comes across as brash, arrogant, even condescending. Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo!Sports called it "petty" and "a bully tripping nerds with lunch trays in the school cafeteria." If MJ weren't involved with the game of basketball today, then it wouldn't necessarily have been so bad. But the main problem with the speech was that it does nothing to help him in the now, as a basketball executive. He should have been thinking of himself as a representative of the Charlotte Bobcats, rather than attempting to capitalize on this brief spotlight to snark on past slights.

Serbian Double Teams Help to Beat Spain at EuroBasket 2009

I didn't catch the game between Spain and Serbia live the other day in FIBA EuroBasket Tournament action but I was a little surprised at the result of the game, a 66-57 win for Serbia. 57 is definitely a low number for the Spaniards so I took a look at the game film to see what Serbia did specifically on defense to shut them down. After all, this was the same Spanish team that just about upset the Redeem Team.

Clearly the philosophy behind the Serbs defensive strategy was to clog the lane and prevent any layups. They did this in the following ways:

- they got back in transition defense, sending only 1 to the offensive boards.
- against Spain's deadly fast break with Ricky "Business" Rubio, the Serbs fouled at every opportunity, opting for free-throws rather than allowing layups.
- they helped with at least 1, sometimes 2 defenders on all penetration.
- finally, they doubled the post, but came from the weak side along the baseline.

Combined, it worked to disrupt the offensive flow for the Spaniards. With this kind of "pack line" type defense, the Serbs did give up some open shots, and the Spaniards weren't able to hit shots, going 18-for-42 on 2-pointers, just 2-for-19 3-pointers, and an unconscionable 15-for-28 from the free-throw line.

But I did want to look a little more at the doubling of the post, specifically against Gasol (both Pau and Marc), because it was somewhat unique. The idea is to bring help from the baseline for 2 reasons. The first is that it cuts off the baseline and shuts off the drop step move, forcing the post player to go middle and a slightly more difficult jump hook. The second reason is the double comes from a spot with which it is difficult for the ball handler to see and pass to, thus allowing the rotating defender to easily pick off the pass,



The Serbs must have picked off about 4 or 5 passes this way. The double comes from the blind side. The post attempts to pass out of the double-team by locating from where the double-team came. The weak-side defender easily reads the pass and gets a hand on the ball for the deflection or the outright steal. The Spaniards could never really get a handle on this the entire game.

Summary

In one of those situations where you prepare and execute to beat the best team, but then go ahead and lose against an inferior team, the Serbs did just that. After beating Spain, they proceeded to lose to Slovenia. As this tournament progresses, it will be very interesting to see how the final standings end up, with the top 6 out of 13 earning spots to the World Championships next year in Turkey.

For more ideas on defending the post, take a look at Lon Kruger's DVD on Winning Every Possession on Defense. Coach Kruger is the head coach of UNLV.

Reverse Jump Stop in the Post, Outside Foot Plants

I was at a gym the other day talking with a coaching friend on pivots, which foot to plant etc... For perimeter players, there is general consensus, most coaches teach and most players naturally prefer to use their opposite foot to their shooting hand to plant (right-handed plants with left foot, left-handed plants with right foot).

But what about players driving in the post, from say the high right elbow to the low right block? Most people agree that players should use a jump stop with a dribble. But which foot should be the pivot foot?? I think the natural response for most players is to plant the inside foot (left foot on the right block, right foot on the left block) so that they are facing the basket. If the defender is right there, then they forward pivot to get their back to the basket.

After more research, I found this article from Mike McKay of Basketball Canada and another Youtube clip with Ettore Messina at a clinic talking about doing the opposite -- planting always with the outside foot (right foot on the right block, left foot on the right block). So when coming to a stop after a dribble, instead of pivoting towards the basket, you always plant with the outside foot, then pivot towards the sideline (away from the basket).

This seems counterintuitive, wouldn't you want to face the basket after picking up your dribble? For post players, the answer is no. You actually want to pivot with your back towards the basket, in this way, the offensive post can protect the ball primarily, then absorb the contact from the defender. When you pivot towards the basket, you run a high risk of the defense stripping the ball after picking up your dribble.

Not really sure if that helps, but something interesting that I discovered today which might help in teaching footwork for post players. For more post development ideas, check out Jamie Dixon's DVD on Post Development Drills in the context of a 4-out 1-in offense.

Happy Labor Day Weekend

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of the sponsors, readers, and especially all the coaches out there for their support and to wish you all a great upcoming season where ever you are. We often don't think too much about the history of Labor Day, but it actually originated in Canada. It's always those crazy Canadians, eh? Anyways, enjoy the long weekend, and look forward to another great basketball season coming up...

A Bunch of Kevin Eastman Offensive Development Drills

It's already September and I'm still wondering where summer went. It's always exciting at this time of year though with the beginning of the school season starting, the start of football games, and the beginning preparations for the upcoming basketball season. Anyways, I went through some older notes today, always looking for more great drill ideas. I found a bunch of great ones from Kevin Eastman speaking at a coaches clinic several years ago which I thought I would share. Coach Eastman keeps up a great website which is chalk full of great basketball info, definitely worth checking out, and signing up for.

Warmup Passing Drills:

Some of you do star passing, corner passing, etc... same idea here but it's always good to have more than 1 that you can use to change things up a little.

In this first one, the idea is that you throw the ball to the right and exchange spots with the player directly facing you. You can add a second ball or even a third ball to speed things up if you have a really large group,


Your basic pass and follow drill. Pass, sprint, replace, the third player drives for a layup. Emphasize a low sweep of the ball and a hard attack to the rim,


Chair Dribbling:

Can be done from left or right, but mostly from the left so that players get more practice on using their off-hand. At each of the chairs, players must perform a crossover, then 1 dribble, and finish with a left-handed layup. Back to the start and repeat at each chair,


Intensity Layups:

Set a time goal, like 15 seconds for 4 layups. Really emphasize turning the corner and exploding to the hoop. You can add jumpers afterwards, point the chairs so the seat is pointing toward the sidline,


The idea here is to add some pressure defense, preventing the dribbler from getting to the chair. The dribbler must try, by using dribble moves like a crossover or hesitation dribble, to shake the defender, get to the chair for a pull up jumper,


Now, the shooter goes past the chair and turns back for a shot over the top,


Post Drills:

Post players do a jump hook at each chair or a drop step and layup,


To practice posting up and catching the ball. Players pass into the post, post player must catch the ball with one hand and fire it back out with the same hand to the sideline. You can have 2 more players on the weak side and have the post player go block to block to practice catching with the opposite hand as well,


Post 1v1, each player must go around the chair to play 1v1 to replicate the game more accurately,


If you like any of Coach Eastman's stuff, or you just like the Celtics where he is an assistant coach, then check out Kevin Eastman's DVD on Multiple Player Chair Drills.

Why or Why Not Run a Secondary Break?

I've been talking to new coaches recently and one of the questions I keep hearing is what is a 'secondary break', how is it different from a primary break, and should I install one or just go right into our half-court offense?? There was a good discussion on this topic a couple of weeks ago on the X's and O's Forum which I will try to summarize below. But some definitions first. In transition offense, there are three categories of offense:

1. The primary break (also referred to colloquially as the fast-break) is generally referred to as a 2-on-1 or 1-on-0 generated after a steal, turnover, or rebound.

2. The secondary break is similar to the primary break except that generally there are 2 defenders, so a 3-on-2, 4-on-2, or 5-on-2 situation. It can be run off a live change of possession but also from a dead ball inbounds.

3. Early offense generally refers to transition offense off of made baskets or dead ball, from any sideline or baseline inbound. Generally, all 5 defenders are assumed to be already in their half court.

I think the benefits of the primary break and early offense are obvious, regardless of whether you teach a sideline or middle break. The secondary break is a little trickier, especially since most teams will blend their secondary break and early offense into 1 package, so as not to confuse players, by making them over-think the game.

The main reason why you wouldn't want to run a secondary break is that against good transition defense teams, the secondary break would be limited in its effectiveness. Especially, if your half-court offense is a deliberate motion-based offense that uses the whole shot clock. Not only would the secondary break be redundant, it would prevent your team from getting into the half-court offense efficiently. However, on the other hand, if the opposite team is very good defensively, thinking numerically, you should be better 5v2, 4v2, or even 3v2 than 5v5.

In the end, it ultimately just comes down to personal philosophy. If you really believe that your team is better offensively by scoring early -- before the offense gets set -- then work with that. But, if you really believe that your team is better offensively by working the ball side-to-side, using up shot clock, and making the defense defend you for the whole shot clock, then work with that.

Should you decide to go with the secondary break though, there are some factors to keep in mind in choosing the one to go with. Depending on your half-court offense, you should pick plays that flow well into your half-court offense. For example, if your half-court offense is 3-out 2-in, running any kind of early post-up makes much more sense than a high spread PNR as your secondary break.

If you want some more ideas on secondary break offense, take a look at Tony Barone's DVD on Set Plays for High Scoring Transition Game. Coach Barone was formerly the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.