If you read my blog, you know that I write and talk a lot about schemes, plays, diagrams. But lets face it, basketball is a players game. It's the players that come up with the big steals, hit the big shots and win those close games. So how exactly do you develop clutch players? Well, I can't really speak from experience as I haven't coached for that long of a period, but I know clutch players when I see them play. Tonight, Chris Paul was one of those players. While David West will get most of the pub with his 40 points, Chris Paul does all those little things that helps win games. I created a little highlight clip of all those things that great players do to help their teams win those close games. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below.
I'll just briefly go over the points that I chose in the video:
1. Get steals. Big players come up with big defensive plays late in games. Everyone remembers the Michael Jordan steal against Karl Malone in game 6 of the NBA Finals. Great players are great at both ends of the floor.
2. Hit big shots. Chris Paul hits the shot with his off hand here. Your best players must be your best players late in games. Don't hold your players back, you must let your best players make big plays to win games.
3. Make your free throws. Sounds obvious, but its a developed skill. Some players can clutch up and hit the freebies when they count, it's tough, especially when you are on the road in a hostile environment. But clutch players always ice the game with the free throws. Chris Paul was 7-for-7 from the line including 6 key free-throws late in this game.
4. Weather the comeback. Against good teams, your lead is never safe. The opposing team will always throw everything at you and in many cases they will make the game a lot closer than you want. Sometimes, there isn't a whole lot you can do, Memphis hit 3 late 3-pointers with less than 30 seconds. Your players must be composed and prepared to keep playing despite the other team getting hot. Chris Paul was calm and collected throughout.
5. Get big stops. When the game is tied, it is the team that comes up with the big stop that will win this game. In this case, Tyson Chandler comes up with the defensive stand against Pao Gasol.
6. Feed the hot player. David West was lights out tonight. So despite Chris Paul being the best player on the team, he is able to recognize that David was not to be denied on this night, and he feeds David who cans the game winning shot in OT.
For a great video on building winning teams and players, take a look at Coach Morgan Wooten's DVD on coaching to win. Coach Wooten is probably the most successful high school basketball coach ever at DeMatha Catholic before retiring. Head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to discuss all of your hoops.
Developing Clutch Players like Chris Paul
Posted by bruchu Labels: *NBA, Defensive Skills, Offensive Skills, SituationsPress breakers are much more important I believe in women's basketball than in men's basketball. Primarily because in men's basketball you can rely on athleticism and size to beat a good press, not necessarily in women's basketball. In this clip, the Utah Utes Women show some of the fundamental principles in a good press offense. You want to reverse the ball and attack middle. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below.
Reverse and Attack Middle:
In any 2-2-1 or 1-2-2 full court press, the defense will try to trap you on the sidelines. In order to beat the press, you need to reverse the ball and attack from the middle. 
In this case, the 1-2-2 press does a good job with the initial trap, but Utah is able to reverse the ball, the defenders shift to re-trap and the original player flashes to the middle for the pass back and can easily attack from there.
I usually don't scheme a press-break for our teams but instead tell my players to face up to the pressure and attack it. The only rules I have are to always have a safety, and keep 1 player in the middle.
For more great press break ideas, check out Bill Self's DVD on the 1-3-1 press break. One of the members on the X's and O's Basketball forum has details on Bill Self's press break so be sure to post a message if you have a question about it..
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.
I like this clip because it shows that you must be aggressive when playing against aggressive defense. You must make the defense pay for playing you chest-to-chest by attacking the basket and making the defender back-pedal. This will make your defender think twice about playing you so aggressive. If you pull-back, that is what the defense wants you to do, so do the opposite. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below.
This is a great concept especially if you coach girls who by nature tend to be more timid. When playing against a defender that is really in your face, you must go right at them. Instead, I see a lot of players pivot away and bend down. Not only are you playing right into the defender's hand allowing the defender to encroach into your space (which is legal because you are letting them do it), but also by pivoting away and bending down you are facing away from the court and cannot see the rest of your teammates. What you must teach your players to do is the opposite with is attack.
As a team, you want your players to develop a swagger. You want them to project confidence in themselves. I think to be a championship team, you want to have some arrogance, not a lot, but some. Championship teams look and feel like championship teams because of the confidence they project. They're unafraid, aggressive, and they look mean. I've never seen a championship team made up of a bunch of overly friendly happy go-lucky types that apologized every time they bumped you.
We run an offensive toughness drill where we do 1-on-2s. The setup is to form a circle around the 3-point line with about 4 or 5 lines of players in each of the spots. One offensive player anywhere inside the 3-point line and one defensive player inside defending.
The ball is passed from one of the spots to the offensive player and they immediately start playing 1-on-1, the original passer will go to help double the 1 offensive player.
I like the drill because it works on getting your players to be tougher in game situations when 1 or more defenders are really attacking you and forces players to attack back and score quickly.
There is a great DVD that goes over becoming more mentally and physically tougher through practice. It's Phil Martelli's DVD on practice drills to help build mental and physical toughness, it should give you some ideas on building up your team swagger. There are a ton of notes uploaded so head over the X's and O's Basketball Forum to take a look and see what is there.
Coach Ben Howland gives us a behind the scenes look at the UCLA program. A lot of good program notes about expectations, Kevin Love, his philosophies on defense, passing, and keeping things simple. Since Howland has been at UCLA, they have been one of the best defensive teams in the NCAA. How they are able to play such hard-nosed M2M defense is part recruiting, but most of it comes from Howland's tough love approach. He demands a lot from his players and it certainly shows. Watch the video below and then you can read my thoughts below.
I really like this video, coach Howland appears to be a hard-nosed aggressive guy and that is how his players play. Some more random thoughts about the interview,
- Expectations, back-to-back final fours, and expected to go again this year, I like how Coach Howland talks about playing with a "bullseye" and liking that pressure as he states, "Playing your very best every night to win".
- Being the team that everyone wants to beat. I like how he lets his players know that its going to be tough, especially being UCLA. Keeping players hungry, every team they play will be chomping at the bit to beat them.
- Keep things simple. Like his defense, it's a simple M2M, no fancy schemes. But he emphasizes the little things like keeping your hands active, staying aggressive, pressure.
- Great passers. Probably what separates Kevin Love from other big guys is his ability to make that outlet pass. A great outlet passer can be the difference between a good fast-break team and a great fast-break team.
A great video that emphasizes many of the same things that Coach Howland does for M2M defense is Geno Auriemma's new DVD on his four cornerstones for half-court offense. I have notes from a Ben Howland clinic so be sure to check them out at the X's and O's Basketball Forum to download them.
I watched most of this game late in the night here on the west coast, Warriors hosting the Pistons. The Warriors led for most of the game and for the most part had been doing a great job in beating the Pistons 1-2-2 matchup zone in the second half before letting Rasheed Wallace get hot late in the game. In any case, I highlighted 2 plays which I thought were good in demonstrating zone offense principles. Watch the video and then you can read my thoughts below.
The first clip is just good ball movement with Baron Davis cutting from the high post through the lane and the easy dunk. In the second clip, I wanted to illustrate the point that offensive rebounding is key to beating zones because the defense does not have specific block out responsibilities.
High Post Cut:
Just a wonderful sequence. You put your best player, even if that's one of your shortest in Baron Davis, at the high-post. The soft spot in the 1-2-2 zone. 
So the Warriors basically just used a 2-1-2 formation all night and just reversed the ball looking for open shots. They had Baron Davis at the high-post most of the game. What happens here is O5 cuts to the ball-side block, this distracts X5 for a split second making him move slightly to cover. O2 does a pass-fake, again a key to beating zones, which Chauncey Billups bites on allowing Baron Davis who is playing behind the defense to basket cut and O2, Matt Barnes, finds Baron for the alley-oop dunk.
Offensive Rebounding to beat the zone:
The next clip is one to show that offensive rebounding is key to beating a zone. You'll see the 2 Pistons defenders in the vicinity of the rebound, but because Andris Biedrins is working behind the defense, he can easily slide in for inside position on the rebound. Kelenna Azubuike does a great job of basket cutting and Biedrins finds him for the easy layup to finish.
We play a 2-3 zone as one of our defenses and rebounding is always a concern. We usually give up one more offensive rebound for every 5 shots when we're in our zone. It's frustrating, but we use the zone to slow down the game.
Summary:
It's interesting that the Pistons would switch to their zone given that the Warriors can shoot the 3-pointer. But as we've seen, it's more than just outside shooting that you need to really beat the zone. I like what Bobby Hurley says, when the ball goes into the high-post, everything for the zone breaks down, I posted earlier with Vince Carter penetrating and getting into that high post area.
For a great breakdown of zone offense, take a look at Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Zone Offense DVD, he does a great job explaining zone offense fundamentals in a way that can be applied to any team. As usual, there are plenty of notes on zone offense so check out the X's and O's Basketball Forum to download them.
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.
