Coach Bobby Knight on ESPN talking about the shot fake, the most important offensive move in basketball. I tend to agree with Coach Knight, the shot fake isn't used enough. With many of y'all in offseason, it's a great time to work 1-on-1 with some players on making sure they're getting into triple threat out of a jump stop, shot fake, jab step, etc... Take a look,



Couple of things to add. I like coaching players to use a shorter shot fake, because if you bring the ball up over the head, it takes too much time to get into a long lunge or back into the shot pocket. Also, I think it's important to teach players how to properly react after a shot fake (if defender does a fly by, closes out, or doesn't do anything). This may seem obvious, but unless its explained and drilled, you'd be surprised at what some players think.

For more offensive development drill info, take a look at Bruce Weber's DVD on Offensive Skill Development. Coach Weber is the head coach at University of Illinois. As always, please check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk hoops and exchange notes and ideas.

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For some of the conferences it is already playoff time and I caught one of those tournament games in the Patriot league tonight between American University and Lafayette. I haven't watched any Patriot league games all year, so I didn't have a good frame of reference, but American did look very efficient and prepared. They did end up blowing out Lafayette but I did manage to catch this great defensive possession from the first half,






I don't know about y'all, but I just love watching teams that play great M2M defense, that really compete on that side. You tell so much more about an individual's character, the anatomy of the team, based on how they play defense. Do they take pride in stopping their check? Do they communicate? Do they help each other out? Do they compete the whole 35 seconds?

In this great sequence, the Eagles do 3 of the 4 things above (can't really tell if they are communicating, I guess we can assume they do). First, the defender slides and successfully stops the penetration and forces the dribbler to pick up the ball,

Here, the Eagles collapse on the ball on help defense against penetration, forcing the pass way back to midcourt,

And of course, the result of the play is a shot clock violation, so they successfully competed for the full 35 seconds.

Summary:

American University is a major roll heading into the Patriot League tournament. Granted, the Patriot League isn't that high on the RPI, and they lost by a lot to the only 2 ranked teams they played (OU and Georgetown). But assuming they win the tournament and go to the NCAA Tournament, I think if by chance they good a decent seed like a 10, they could upset in the first round. But who really knows...

For more ideas for defensive practice drills, take a look at Tony Barone's new DVD on Defensive Development Drills. Coach Barone is the Director of Player Personnel for the Memphis Grizzlies. As always, please check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk hoops and exchange notes and ideas.

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Watched the ACC matchup between the Duke Blue Devils and the Florida State Seminoles. FSU played very well, and probably did deserve the win as much as Duke, but it came down to execution down the stretch, Duke just played with more confidence and made the right plays, chalk it up to experience.

What really struck me though watching Duke in the second half was how much better their spread offense was this year as compared to last year. Now, certainly the personnel factor has something to do with it, but another factor was the extension of the 3-point line. You would think that for a 3-point shooting team like Duke, that would be a bad thing, but it actually helps to stretch the defense even more creating more gaps to penetrate and also leads to more open 3-point shots. Take a look at a few sequences of their spread offense in the second half,






2008 Versus 2009:

If you want more diagram breakdown of Duke's spread offense, then click here. What I want to do here is just a quick illustration of how much of a difference the extension of the 3-point line has made. This first picture is from last season (07/08) between Duke and Wisconsin. Watch how the weak side defenders are able to stay close to the paint despite Duke's spread,

Now, from last night's game. I know the PNR is slightly different from the top of the key as opposed to the wing. But still, you can see that the help side is at least 1 or 2 steps further away from the paint. That 1 or 2 step can mean the difference between a layup or dunk, and a defensive stop. Also, the defense has that extra 1 or 2 steps to help and recover, makes a big difference,


Summary:

Ultimately for Duke though, their success in the spread offense will largely be determined with how they shoot the 3-pointer. On this night, they were decent going 10-for-30. But in a one and done tournament format, all it takes is one bad half, and they could be bounced. In comparing 07-08 and this season, Duke is slightly down (38% vs 34%) in 3-point shooting percentage. Still, I like the spread offense especially since they've stretched the 3-point line, a lot more gaps to penetrate into.

Big Duke fan?? Check out Mike Krzyzewski's DVD on Skill Drills for Defense. 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.

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From Sunday, I took in the Kansas game against Mizzou and was very impressed with the Jayhawks. I saw that amazing game against Oklahoma last week where Sherron Collins just went crazy and single-handily win the game. I watched a few early Kansas games early in the year and they are a completely different team now in March.

Their offense is almost entirely from transition. Right out of the gate in the first half, they started running. What keys their break is the defensive rebound. I don't think I've seen anybody go from defensive rebound to fast break as fast as this. Here are some clips from the first half,






Rebound to Break:

I think something worth timing as a coach is the time to rebound and score. If you can reduce the time between when you get the rebound and when you get to the other rim, you can almost assure yourself of a very potent offense. The key of course is having the right personnel. You need good rebounding forwards (which the Jayhawks have), and 1 or 2 lightning quick guards (which the Jayhawks have),



Now it is interesting to note as well that the Jayhawks fast break is off the dribble. Some coaches like a sideline break. I think if you have quick guards, go with the dribble, it's faster. Sideline break is actually slower because players usually have to gather themselves to catch the ball, then gather speed.

Summary:

I'm amazed at how Bill Self has been able to adapt his team's style to suit their personnel over the season. You see it all the time though, a team you played against earlier in the year that you beat easily, then in March by the playoffs they are a completely different team. It works the other way as well (going downhill), but for the Jayhawks, everything is up and up. Now, where they are still lacking is halfcourt offense. When forced to play in the halfcourt, they have problems capitalizing on their size and in my opinion over-rely on Sherron Collins a lot to penetrate or shoot the 3.

If you want your teams to practice like Kansas, take a look at Bill Self's DVD on Better Practices. Discuss this and the rest of your favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.

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By request, I took some clips from the game between Purdue and Ohio State yesterday. I've watched Purdue's 4-out 1-in motion offense against M2M defense before, like against Wisconsin. Surprisingly, they used the same 4-out 1-in motion offense against Ohio State's zone defense, and perhaps even more surprisingly, it worked great.

What I like about their 4-out 1-in motion offense is both how simple it is, and the fluidity of it. At it's most basic level, it's just a pass-cut-fill motion offense. And it did work great against the zone because while the defense was different, the same principles apply. You want to spread the floor, and run cutters through the lane. Here are a few sequences from the first half including a ESPN Inside the play breakdown with Stephen Bardo,






Pass-Cut-Fill:

I have to say that I haven't watch Purdue's 4-out 1-in this closely against M2M so I can't say with certitude that it is exactly the same, but I venture that it is similar. Now, once in a while the cutter will go down and set a backscreen for the post player, or come up and set a weakside screen for another cut to the basket. Against the zone, they basically run pass cut fill looking for the high post each time as they cut through,


If you do run pass-cut-fill, you can easily adjust to any zone by just emphasizing where to cut to. Against the 2-3, obviously the middle, high-post area, is most vulnerable. Here, Purdue cuts to the high post, gets the pass, then looks for the hi-low pass to the low-post player who has sealed his defender on the front,


Summary:

I like the way Purdue plays. They play aggressive M2M defense, press occasionally, and they are so patient with their motion offense in the halfcourt. I'm surprised that Ohio State stayed with the zone defense the first half. I didn't see the second half, but Purdue blew the doors open en route to the blow out.

If you enjoy watching Purdue and want to know more about their system, take a look at Matt Painter's DVD on their 4-out Motion Offense. As always, be sure to check out the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to discuss this and more of your favorite basketball topics.

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Watched the first half of the Lakers game between the Nuggets last night and happened to catch this seemingly ordinary play. Just a failed pass from Carmelo Anthony to a teammate on the fast break that resulted in a turnover. However, as the color commentator remarked, Derek Fisher of the Lakers read the play because Melo had to switch hands to pass the ball. Now, this is not an indictment on Melo, because he's not a natural point guard, but it still underscores the importance to be able to pass with either hand. To be able to transition from dribble to pass without switching hands can be a very useful skill as seen below,






Normally, in the halfcourt, we teach players to make the pass with the outside hand, away from the middle where the defense is usually strong. Therefore, players need to be able to make that pass with either hand depending on whether they are on the left or right side of the court. In the fast break, it's just from dribble to pass, regardless of inside or outside.

For more great skill development and practice insights, check out Geno Auriemma's new All Access Practice DVD. Coach Auriemma is of course the longtime head coach of the UConn women's team. 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.

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Watched most of the second half last night between NC State and Wake Forest. After seeing their lead almost disappear, WF held off the Wolfpack by making some big plays and most importantly what I want to show is that rebounding matters. WF would've lost this game if they didn't outrebound NC State 40-25 including 12-6 on the offensive glass. Consider this, even with the big rebounding edge, the Wolfpack still had 4 more possessions than the WF. Imagine what would have happened if the rebounding was even? Here are some great rebounding highlights from the second half,






The Tap Back:

We all know about boxing out, rebounding position, sending 2 or 3 to the glass, etc... so I won't dwell on that. But I did just want to talk briefly about the tap back. Obviously, if your forwards can grab the ball outright, they should, then go up for the putback before the defense gets set.

But another technique worth considering is the tap back to your guards. A little risky if the defense has 1 or 2 guards on run outs, but if the defense sends 5 to rebound, this can be very effective. Because you only need to get a hand on the ball, it can increase your chances of gaining the possession, just send your best athletic leaper to the glass every time and as long as they get a hand on it and tap it backwards.

Here, the WF player is sandwiched in between 2 NC State players, as he has to reach with only 1 outstretched hand, he's better off just tapping it back to the backcourt where one of his guards can pick it up,


Summary:

I like what Coach Dino Gaudio has done at Wake Forest in just a couple of years as head coach. Wake Forest has become one of the best rebounding teams in the ACC and indeed in the country. By contrast, NC State is one of the worst rebounding teams in the ACC. Between the rest, I'd say Wake Forest and NC State are pretty equal. Rebounding makes a difference. If I inherited a team today, that didn't have that much skill (shooting, driving), and decent athleticism, I'd make sure we were a rebounding team. If your team rebounds better than your opponents, you will always have an advantage over them offensively and defensively no matter how much more talented they are.

If you like Coach Gaudio or Wake Forest, take a look at Dino Gaudio's DVD on Winning the War on the Boards. As always, please check out the X's and O's Basketball forum to talk hoops and exchange notes and ideas.

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