As many of you, I'm still recovering from post-election hangover. It's one of those moments where 20 years from now everyone will want to recall the day when... Anyways, don't want to get all political. I took the opportunity today to watch some recorded stuff I had from Euroleague in October and this one game was a great one between Avellino and Olympiacos. Avellino features guard Travis Best and Olympiacos made the big splash in the summer signing Josh Childress.
A short but important clip I want to show. Rebounding is such an underrated and underemphasized skill. IMO, it's one of the great equalizers. If your team can outrebound your opponents every game, you should end up with more shots which means that even if you're not a high-percentage offense, you should still be able to score more than your opponents. I love here how Travis Best demonstrates great court awareness, boxing out the big guy and out-working him for the rebound, watch:
Find Hit Get:
It's really as simple as that, Find-Hit-Get. Hustling back on transition defense, the ball goes up and Best instinctually finds the nearest opponent, boxes him out, then gets the ball,
Great stuff, I love it when guards rebound down, it always leads to good offense the other way which is what happens after the rebound on the drive and kick 3 pointer.
Summary:
I watch kids all the time, and a lot of times they'll be really lazy. They'll just watch the ball go up hit the rim, then hope someone else gets the rebound. The fast break doesn't start until 'one of you' gets the rebound first. There was a kid I coached last year that was relentless in rebounding both offense and defense. I'd say, we won at least 3 or 4 games just on his rebounding alone, bailed us out when our offense was absolutely atrocious.
Anyways, for a brand new video on rebounding drills, take a look at Dino Gaudio's DVD on Winning the War on the Boards. Coach Gaudio is the head coach at Wake Forest replacing the late Skip Prosser. As always, please check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk hoops and exchange notes and ideas.
Watched some Spanish League action (Supercopa Espana) earlier this morning. I'm not familiar with all the teams, but I did recognize Tau Ceramica so that's who I watched for the first half. It's was a decent game all around, very good defensive intensity by both teams, but Tau definitely played with more intensity.
From the start of the game, I couldn't help but notice how many turnovers that Tau had forced. It was only after I looked at the replays that I realized that most of them came from deflections. We always talk about pressure defense and trapping, etc.. But one of the best ways to force turnovers is by having active hands. Now, there is a difference between gambling for a steal and having active hands. Watch some great deflections from Tau from the first quarter,
On-ball Defensive Deflection:
I watch a lot of kids these days and their hands are on their hips. That's why as coaches, we should be emphasizing proper defensive stance and hand positioning at an early age. We say, bottom hand covers the ball, the top hand is up high, so that you can get those deflections like so,
Deny Defensive Deflection:
Most of you probably teach deny 1 pass away. But also key to the positioning is where and how their arms and hands are positioned. The outside arm should be outstretched with palms out and thumbs down. That way when an errant pass comes, it will deflect off your palm and you can gain control for the easy score, like so,
Help-side Defensive Deflection:
Like a zone defense, on help-side, you want to make sure your players have their hands outstretched. Don't make it easy for your opponent to make a pass in traffic, keep those arms outstretched for the deflection,
Summary:
I think deflections are a philosophy kind of thing. I know some coaches who don't want to emphasize deflections because kids get into a gambling mindset which can be dangerous. On the flip side, deflections can generate its fair share of turnovers and therefore easy baskets the other way, based on M2M halfcourt offense without pressing. Tom Crean, now of Indiana, is a coach that always preached deflections, and Dwyane Wade was one of his best deflectors. Anyways, some food for thought...
For video info on individual development drills, I recommend taking a look at Tom Crean's DVD on Competitive Practice Drills. Coach Crean, formerly of Marquette is now the head coach at Indiana. 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.
When you have shooters, all your troubles just melt away. Watching the U18 FIBA Championships yesterday in a match between Team Greece and Team Croatia. Greece won by 30 or more, but the score was not indicative of the talent. I would say, that both have about equal talent, but Greece did a much better job of breaking down the zone defense by Croatia with the outside shot.
There really was nothing complicated with Greece's zone offense. They run it out of a 4-out 1-in set, and overload, then reverse the ball. They got a ton of offensive rebounds (which is expected against the zone), and just shot the lights out. So simple, take a look at some clips from the second half,
Team Greece demonstrates all the fundamental you need to do to beat zones. They show that you don't necessarily need a great zone offense but as long as your players have great fundamentals, you can beat the zones with easily by:
1. Ball reversals and skip passes forcing the zone to shift and morph
2. Penetrating the gaps to force the defense to collapse
3. Running a player or 2 underneath the zone into the blind spots
Pick and Pop:
There is a misconception out there that you can't screen a zone. In fact, a lot of great plays like pick and roll or pick and pop work great against the zone. Here they use the pick and pop. Because the zone defense reacts to the ball, it's easy for the screener to move to an open spot,
Ball Reversals:
Against the zone, what I really like is to make the defense work, which in turn helps you on defense because it tires the defense out. People underestimate the conditioning aspect of a zone, but if you reverse the ball over and over, it has quite the effect for the defense which has to constantly react to the movement of the ball. Here, Greece is basically playing keep away until they get a skip pass to their dead-eye shooter Pappas who catches and shoots,
Summary:
Now, if you don't have good shooters, you'll have to design your zone offense probably through the high-post. But shooters make things so much easier. I remember coaching girls one year, and we had this dead-eye shooter, nobody could zone us, we'd just kill them with the outside shot.
For more zone offense video info, check out Jim Boeheim's DVD on his Simple Zone Offense. Coach Boeheim stresses ball movement and player movement in his zone offense system. You can watch Syracuse Coach Boeheim this month as an assistant with Team USA in Beijing. Discuss your favorite zone offenses at the X's and O's Basketball Forum with other coaches from around the world.
Caught the first half between Germany and Poland in a FIBA friendly this morning. It wasn't a very good game, score was like 19-17 at halftime. Apparently Germany was missing a couple of their best players (besides Dirk) so that may be one reason.
I did catch a couple of nice clips of Dirk Nowitzki making some nice passes. If I was the German coach, I probably would've wanted Dirk to take a few more shots, especially at his sweet spot, the high elbows. But still, Dirk is getting his teammates involved which is a good sign that he is a team-player and wants to contribute more than just scoring. Take a look,
Dirk Attracts a Crowd:
I like what Dirk does in these plays. This first one, Poland is in M2M, but everyone is so focused when Dirk has the ball, the German forward just does a basket cut and Dirk finds him wide open down low. It's just a blown assignment by the Polish defender,
In this second clip, Dirk is able to penetrate the lane (with the help of a no-call forearm). Once that happens, it's a 2v1 to the hoop because the Polish help-side has to come up and take on Dirk. In my opinion though, Dirk should've elevated and dunked this one,
If you've got the best player on the floor, there is usually so much attention focused by the defense on that one player, that it should be able to get easy opportunities for the other offensive players. Problem is, on this night, Germany's other players weren't able to take advantage.
Summary:
The FIBA wildcard qualifying tournament starts in 2 weeks to determine the final 3 spots. It's a 12-team tournament, and Germany is one of them. Based on today's performance, they won't make it. But with the exception of Brazil and Croatia, I think Germany has a shot at getting that 3rd and last spot (sorry Canada).
If you want to learn to make passes like this, take a look at Ganon Baker's DVD on Passing Drills. Discuss this and the rest of your favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.
Offensive Rebounding off Free Throws in Trapezoid Key
Posted by bruchu Labels: *Euro, Offensive SkillsI was channel surfing today with the break in between the NBA Conference Playoffs and the Finals and caught the end of this playoff game in the German Basketball Bundesliga Playoffs between Alba Berlin and EWE Baskets Oldenburg (yes, I'm a true basketball nerd).
It was the 4th quarter, EWE was up by about 3-points in the last minute. As predicted, Alba fouled to put EWE on the line for free-throws. One of the things I noticed was how Ruben Boumtje Boumtje (#44 of EWE) used a perpendicular stance and a positional advantage of the trapezoid key to get by his guy twice and grab the offensive rebounds. Take a look,
Lineup Position:
Because of the trapezoid key, the offensive player has the advantage of being in a more direct line of sight to the middle of the basket. Look how Ruben has positioned himself as well, perpendicular to the lane,
From this diagram, you can clearly see, that in the trapezoid key, the offensive player has a much shorter distance to the middle. With all things being equal given size and ability, O5 should be able to get in front of the basket easier than X5, especially since X5 also has the extra responsibility of trying to box out O5,
Summary:
Definitely something to think about when playing international rules. The chance of an offensive rebound from a FT miss I'm guessing is much more prevalent than in the rectangular key in NA. Also, the stance that Ruben is using (might be illegal in NA), also gives him an advantage in going side-to-side and getting to the ball.
If you're looking for more ideas to get your players to become better rebounders, I recommend taking a look at Tom Izzo's DVD on Rebounding and Man Defense. Coach Izzo is the long-time head coach of Michigan State. Discuss this and the rest of your favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.
With only 3 NBA games on the sked and no college (sorry NIT), I decided to review some Euroleague games this morning instead. Things are really heating up there in their ULEB cup, I think they're down to the quarters or semis. Some really intense basketball going on there.
I decided to take a closer look at the game between Partizan Igokea and Tau Ceramica. Both tended to play alot of zone defense at times, so the pace wasn't very good. But in the times they played M2M, Partizan ran what looked like a triangle-style offense. It really looked like a series of 3-man/2-man games. Here are a few sequences,
3-man Game:
Basketball can be such a simple game, especially when you break things down, which is why I like the way this works. It's just a series of 3-man games and 2-man games, and you play basketball. O2/O3/O5 are on the strong side, and they try to get the ball into O5. Either O5 scores, or kicks it back out. Here is what it looked like against a fronting defense,
2-man Game:
In the 2 man game, it's the same thing. The 2 players on the weak side also try to get the ball in the post. Again, either the ball is scored, or it's kicked back out. On the strong side, the corner and wing switch spots so that there is some motion and it's easier to get open for an open shot on the kick out,
Summary:
Probably what I enjoy most about watching the Euro game is from a reffing point of view. The game is called the way it is supposed to be called. Fouls are called consistently, traveling, palming, double-dribble, 3-seconds in the lane, all those things that most refs don't call in North America. It makes it much more of a skilled game, all players must have better fundamentals.
For some info on your players can improve their offensive fundamentals, check out new Indiana head coach, Tom Crean's DVD on dynamic skill development. Some great shooting and ball-handling drills. To discuss this and other basketball coaching topics, head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum.
Unfortunately I don't get a chance to watch that many Euroleague games mostly due to the time difference, but whenever I do, I enjoy watching the execution both offensively and defensively. One thing I have noticed, is that when teams have good big men, they use them a lot. As the NBA has started shifting to more of a guard's league, in Europe they still value their big men very highly.
I caught the first half of the Fenerbahce and Panthiakos game and recorded this half-court offensive set. It is just a regular block-to-block play, but it's well executed and it gets the big man the ball in a great position to score. As a coach, that's about all you can ask for, a pass to a big man right underneath the basket. Here's what it looked like live,
Curl to Flex Backscreen:
Couple of things that really make this play work well. First is the curl action and pop out to receive the wing pass.
O2 and O3 go in different directions, O2 first goes out, then cuts back in to set the flex backscreen. O3 pops out to receive the wing pass. This counter action of 2 players going in opposite directions from a bunch formation allows you to get the wing pass off cleanly.
O2 goes to set the flex backscreen. The key to the whole play is how O5 sets up his defender. With a quick weight shift (very v-cut like), O5 is able to duck underneath. Now, Panthiakos defends the play quite well as X2 switches automatically, but O3 is able to get a nice semi-lob into O5 who catches and finishes underneath.
One of the reasons why Euroleague execute so well is partially due to the amount of practice time they get. Unlike the 82 game NBA schedule, Euroleague teams usually play 1 game a week for like a 20-week season, then playoffs. The coaches can actually spend time in practice breaking things down and working on the little things.
For a great pro-style look at the game, take a look at Avery Johnson's DVD on Attacking M2M offense. Most people recognize Coach Johnson as "the little general" of the Mavs and I've always enjoyed watching the Mavs play. 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.
Don't Dog it On Fast Breaks, Never Give up On Defense
Posted by bruchu Labels: *Euro, Offensive SkillsI watched a little Euroleague, ULEB Cup action today between Dynamo Moscow and another team (Serbian club I believe). I believe Dynamo won the game but I highlighted this play just because as a coach it reminds me of why we ask our players to give it all they can in practices, so that in games they go all out. You can clearly see in this play, that the Serbian club team player dogs it on the last steps of the fast break, while the Dynamo player doesn't give up and hustles down to get the big block. Kind of reminiscent of the playoff game a few years ago when the Pistons' Tayshaun Prince came back and blocked the Pacers Reggie Miller. Watch the video and read my thoughts below,
One of the reasons why we as coaches always push our players hard in practices is so that when it comes to game time, they expect to play hard. Especially on fast breaks, we always tell our players to go all out.
One drill we like to do is a full-court 3 minutes - 3 man fast break drill.
- 3 man full court fast break, no dribbles
- have a coach or defender back at foul-line to force decisions
- break down into lay-ups with the weak-side player inbounding, centre player breaks to sideline
- the outlet is thrown to side-line, ball is thrown overhead down the sideline
In 3 minutes we set a goal of 20 baskets made, that's slightly more than 1 basket made every 10 seconds. Every basket less than 20 is another set of lines, pushups, stairs, etc..
If you're looking for a great DVD that is chalk full of great basketball and conditioning drills, check out Bruce Weber's DVD on 20 Competitive Drills. Lots of great discussions going on at the X's and O's of Basketball Forum so be sure to check it out.
European Basketball and Menorca Backdoor Play
Posted by bruchu Labels: *Euro, Half-Court Set OffenseDon't let the lack of clips from the Euroleague fool you, I like watching Euro basketball and I have been watching just haven't been uploading. I read this interesting article on NBA.com about the differences between European and American basketball that was posted on the Yahoo! forum. I agree with Coach Terry Stotts' observations for the most part especially about the differences in passing versus the 1-on-1 play we see so much of here in America.
One thing I think Stotts didn't write about but others have which I strongly agree with is that European players shoot the ball much better than Americans. With the trapezoid key, I think it's even more important that players shoot the ball well. You cannot rely on a Dwight Howard to camp on the low block, catch and throw it down anymore. Athleticism becomes less important, skill much more important. This point cannot be under-emphasized, European teams have leveled the playing field with the US because of their shooting. As I've said in the past, shooting is the great talent equalizer. It doesn't take raw talent to be a good shooter, it just takes practice.
Back to the action, this is just a great example of the simplicity of team basketball. It's probably one of the oldest plays ever, the UCLA upscreen. It's remarkable how so many decades later, it still works so well. Watch the video and read my thoughts below,
If you only have 1 play in your playbook, I would probably choose one that involved a UCLA screen. It's so fundamental, so simple, and so effective. I understand that the Manorca player missed the layup, but that doesn't take away from how great a play this is.
UCLA Upscreen to Backdoor:
I'm diagramming it out of a 1-4 high set, even though in the video it doesn't really appear to be 1-4, this will give you more structure to teach it. 
O1 passes to O3. Simultaneously O2 goes down to the low block then sets the UCLA upscreen on O4's defender. O4 curls around the screen and comes around underneath for the backdoor play.
Summary:
Team basketball is my theme for tonight and I will post later another great team basketball sequence, but good screens and good passes lead to good shots. I think we as coaches can learn a lot from European basketball, especially in terms of player development. All European players can defend, rebound, shoot, pass and dribble. It's why we see more and more international and specifically European players in the NBA.
The 1-4 high set is a great set to run out of. Lute Olson has been using it and his high-post motion for years. For more great offense from the high-post and 1-4, check out Lute Olson's DVD on the 1-4. As always, head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk about hoops and more.
I usually don't mind, in fact, encourage players to develop good 1-on-1 perimeter moves. Between the legs crossover, behind the back dribble. One move I don't like, however, is the spin move on a drive to the basket. I've seen way too many turnovers result from it. Turnovers happen because once you spin then dribble, you turn your back to the defense, and the defender comes from your blind side to pick off the ball which is at waist level because you are trying to keep the dribble alive.
I don't have a problem with the spin move by a post because that spin move is usually right into a baby hook. But the spin move by a guard to drive into the lane is an invitation to get your pocket picked in my opinion. The worst I've seen is where guards will try to do a spin move in the middle of the floor to beat a full-court press, I always cringe when I see my player do that. In this Euroleague game, the guard gets a ball-screen at the top of the key and attempts to do a spin move into the lane and loses the ball. Watch the video and read my thoughts below,
The dribbler needs to know where the defense is. In this case, because he's come off of a ball-screen, his defender is trailing the play. Now, by attempting to spin back towards the right side with the ball in his left hand is to go right into his defender leading with the ball without seeing the defender, almost a sure turnover anyway you look at it.
I would've preferred to see a hard two-foot jump stop at the free-throw line. Then the player can pivot and do an up and under shot or kick it back out.
Again, most people will probably think this is just nit-picking, but I think video is where you can really point out the little things to your players so they know why certain things work and others don't. That way they can learn from their mistakes and get better. Everyone has improvement to make in their game.
For more individual skill development, check out Phil Martelli's DVD on becoming a better 1-on-1 player. There, you should find plenty of moves to inspire your players with. Head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk with other coaches and share your ideas with the community.
I meant to post this yesterday but got too busy. This is a great last possession play from the Maccabi vs Malaga Euroleague game yesterday. Will Bynum of Maccabi Elite is on a one-on-one with his defender and beats him for the straight up layup. What I like about the play is that it's simple and I like the set because there are some good options from it if you have a slashing point guard that can beat the defender off the dribble. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below.
Some teams like to take the last shot from the wing and you hear the term 'clear out the side'. I don't like running from the wing as much as from the top because from the wing, the defenders have a better position to force you baseline and trap you there. I like starting from the top because as the offensive player you have more options to beat the defender.
I also like the setup here in that the two forwards start out low. This way, the defense is way back and is at a disadvantage to stop penetration. Once Bynum beats his man with a great behind the back crossover move, the other defenders are not in a good position to help because the other offensive players are spaced out well. X5 is the only one to really make a play on the ball, and Bynum gets the basket using his body to shield himself from the block. What's great about this play is that Bynum could've just as easily done a 'Steve Nash' pass to Marcus Fizer, O5, for the dunk as well.
For more game winning plays and such, check out Kelvin Sampson's DVD on Special Late Clock Plays. There are plenty of ideas there that you should be able to use in your situations.
To get your fill on more hoops talk, check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk to other hoops addicts.
Earlier in the day, I caught the last bit of this game, it's Olympiacos against CSKA Moscow. Olympiacos made headlines in North America last month by signing Marc Jackson to a contract. CSKA Moscow has former NBA player Trajan Langdon. This is a clip I took of Olympiacos using their half-court trap from a 2-2-1 full-court soft press. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below (Olympiacos is in white, CSKA Moscow in black).
Olympiacos didn't use their trap the whole game, but in a few instances. The element of surprise was used well to disguise the trap which was even better when it was executed. In the clip above, the referee actually called a foul on the Olympiacos player setting the trap but I thought it was pretty clean. Here is how it breaks down,
X1 comes up and traps O3 from the blind side, hence the element of surprise. X2 comes in to take away the first pass back to O1 once he crosses half. X4 should be fronting O4, but in this case is just guarding him. X5 is following O5 up the sideline to deny that pass. The only pass we want to allow is the skip pass to O2, but if the trap is set properly, that pass shouldn't be made.
The quintessential 2-2-1 press video is Jim Calhoun's DVD on the 2-2-1 press. Coach Calhoun also uses half-court traps extensively as he explains in his video. To get your fill on more hoops talk, check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk to other hoops addicts.
I've been posting a lot of 1-4 stuff lately, as it seems to be really popular these days. This is a 1-4 high set play from a game I watched earlier in the day between Bruesa and Alicante in Euroleague action. They must've ran this about 10 times. It's pretty basic but there are some good options out of the set. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below.
Setup:
It's a 1-4 high set. The point guard sets up at the middle. The wings can start lower, but I think it's better if they are at the foul-line extended.
O5 and O4 do an X-cut to the top of the key. O1 dumps the pass off to O4 on the right side. O2 meanwhile will do a v-cut to the baseline and cut back up. O1 will set the screen on O2 coming back up.
Handoff:
The video doesn't show it, but the other times I saw them run this play, O2 would come off the screen from O1 and either cut to the basket for a quick hitter from O4, curl to receive the handoff and shoot the open 3-pointer, or curl to receive the handoff and drive straight to the basket.
In this case, O2 receives the ball and decides to hold onto it. On the weak side, O5 is setting a screen for O3 in the corner. O3 comes up and receives the ball while O5 rolls to the basket. Again, lots of options here, O3 can do a basket cut instead and O2 can hit O3 going to the basket, or O5 in the low post on the roll. Here, O3 just takes his man off the dribble and scores on the pull-up in the key.
Summary:
They ran this play about 10 or more times and I probably only watched half the game. You can have 1 set play and run multiple options off of it allowing your players to be creative.
You want to teach your players how to read the defense and how they are playing you to determine which option would work best in a given situation. If they defense is in a M2M and non-switching, you should have easy basket cuts. If they are switching everything, you may have a mismatch in the post or on the wing.
If your interested in any high-post offenses or the like, take a look at Geno Auriemma's DVD on the high-post offense. Also, be sure to check out the X's and O's Basketball Forum for notes including coach Auriemma stuff.
I found not one, but two great defensive clips from the Riga-Lukoil game at the ULEB Cup action earlier today. Here, Riga does a great job trapping the ball-screen and forcing the other team into a long shot.Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below (Lukoil is the red team, Riga is yellow).
Now, there are many ways to defend the ball-screen or pick and roll. Whole books and videos are dedicated on the topic. Here, Riga decides to trap the ball-screen and force Lukoil into a bad shot. Now, keep in mind, in Europe, they play FIBA rules with a 24-second shot like the NBA, so they don't have the luxury of a 35 second shot clock. So, the trap works really well here. Remember, if you decide to trap, you must teach your players to rotate while the ball is in the air, otherwise, you will give up open shots and layups.
The key to trapping the ball-screen is to have the defender who's man has set the screen run and jump out to prevent the dribbler from penetrating. The screened defender then trails and traps from below. Here is a great drill that I have used to practice deflections and trapping if you are looking for one.
If you're looking for more info, I recommend Jeff Lebo's DVD on half-court trapping techniques and doubling down. Coach Lebo is head coach at Auburn and provides a ton of great info on trapping and doubling. I also have lots of notes so head over the X's and O's Basketball Forum to take a look and see what I have.
I was watching some Euroleague action earlier today and took this excellent clip from the Riga-Lukoil game at the ULEB Cup. This is a great sequence that shows great fundamental M2M team defense. When you watch it over and over, you can't not admire the way they move together to help and recover, stop penetration and force the long shot. It's like watching 5 Bruce Bowens out there. It's really what we'd like all our teams to look like when playing M2M defense. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below (Lukoil is the red team, Riga is yellow).
Some random thoughts from watching the video,
- I love how each defender really chases coming off the screens. No laziness, or cheating underneath. I actually don't like my players cheating underneath, I prefer that they chase and hustle hard. Cheating underneath forces you to compensate with switching, etc..
- Watch the middle defender, watch how he shows and recovers. He's help-side but he's active and on his toes. Too many times, I see help-side defenders and they're stationary, they don't move and when the ball gets reversed, they get caught napping because they're not active.
- Stop the penetration. I love defenders who can closeout and stop the penetration by themselves without help. The Lukoil defender does a great job of closing out to prevent the shot, then beating his defender into the paint forcing the pass out, he does this without help which is key.
- No unnecessary jumping. I hate it when players jump to block shots, especially on the perimeter taking them out of the play and creating a numbers disadvantage. All you need to do is get your hand up.
A great DVD that breaks down the man-to-man fundamentals is Geno Auriemma's 8 Essential Defensive Drills DVD. Coach Auriemma is the head coach of multiple national championship winning lady Huskies of UConn.
Head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to discuss.
