I realize it has been a long long time since my last update but in between starting new jobs, planning, preparing, marking, report cards, and transitioning into the basketball season, finding time to write something meaningful here has been difficult, but I will try my best to pass off some good info. I had a chance the other day to catch some of the ESPNU's All-Access special and it was great to see inside their practices.
In this segment, Coach K is doing film sessions with his team and I like the first comment he makes about whether his freshman know how to watch film. That to me is a teachable moment, do you know what you are supposed to be looking for when you watch film? What is the objective of the film session? What have you learned that you didn't know before the film session?
Anyways, it's a good time of year, the squeak of shoes on the floor, balls bouncing, and the smell of a freshly waxed floor always give me the butterflies, it's the start of another great basketball season. Good luck y'all...
I've been recovering from laser eye surgery the past couple of weeks which would account for my lack of updates recently. Over on the X's and O's forum, a coach had posted an interesting observation from this youtube video below, and how they use towels to emphasize the proper positioning of their hands during their shell drill,
I've never thought of using towels or skipping rope as another coach had suggested but I think it would help alot in reinforcing the proper position of the hands, palms out, pistol at ball, thumbs pointed in. 
I love any little trick like this to help in reinforcing concepts. If you're interested in the video above from Coach Pat Summitt then definitely check out Pat Summitt's All-Access Practice DVD. Coach Summitt is the head coach of the Lady Vols of the University of Tennessee and winner of 8 NCAA championships.
We all know one of the keys of great Man-to-Man defenses is teamwork and help defense. This is where your players' basketball IQ will be tested defensively, being in the right position defensively for help but not losing sight of their man. Went through some notes from the NIKE clinic this past spring and Bob Huggins has a couple of good teaching points on help defense that might help reinforce the concept. 
Tape a “help” line on the court every day
o From rim to rim, middle of the court
o Guys need to straddle the help line
o If they’re not at the help line, they go to treadmill
2v2 Sprint to Help Drill
o Coach up top
o Player at each wing (offense & defense)
o Pass to one wing, other wing must sprint to help line
o We do this every day during practice
o If they don’t sprint and straddle the help line, they go to treadmill
I'd like to experiment with treadmills in practice someday. I always hate it when we do sprints and suicides and there is always someone who is loafing. You can't cheat the treadmill. For more great practice ideas for M2M defense, check out the Bob Huggins 2-pack DVD which includes his M2M defensive philosophy and intense practice drills. Coach Huggins is the head coach of the men's basketball team at West Virginia University.
One-and-Ones Free Throw Shooting Drill by June Daugherty
Posted by bruchu Labels: Drills, Offensive Skills, SituationsWe all know that free-throws are important, and in games, its the first one you take that often is worth more in a one-and-one situation. I came across this great competitive team drill for free-throws from Coach Duane Silver's newsletter the other day. It is a drill developed by Washington State women's head coach June Daugherty. Hope y'all are enjoying your summer, and enjoy...
A GREAT FREE THROW SHOOTING DRILL
By June Daugherty
Coach Daugherty uses a free-throw drill with the following rules: The players start with eleven points and shoot one-and-ones. If they make the first shot, subtract two points, and if they miss the first shot add two points. If they make the second shot, subtract one point, and if they miss the second shot, add one point. The first player or group, depending on how you divide it up, to reach zero points WINS.
If you're always on the lookout for more great practice drills, check out Bruce Pearl's New All-Access Practice DVDs. Coach Pearl is the head coach of the University of Tennessee.
Bobby Knight on the Dribble Against Zone and Man Defense
Posted by bruchu Labels: Drills, Motion Offense, Zone Offense
Downloaded some great notes the other day which cover Bobby Knight's DVD on Practice Planning and Drills (notes created by coaches at Springs Valley Blackhawks). One interesting tidbit that I thought I would share is Coach Knight's philosophy on the dribble, against zones, and against man. He says that the dribble is the most effective against the zone, and against man he is straight motion. An extract:
Four Possessions
- Inside man should be the screener
- Do not throw the ball to the corner
- Talk about balance to your players…get the ball off the baseline…don’t crowd baseline!
- Players have a tendency to resort to the dribble vs. man, but Coach Knight actually encourages the
dribble against a zone
o Dribble against a zone every time that you catch the ball on the perimeter
o Attack a seam
- Causes the top defenders to react and move
- Dribble does more to change a zone than anything…it forces it to become something that it does not want to be
Man Offense: Eliminate the Dribble (No Dribble Drill)
- This drill develops cutting and spacing as well as encouraging good passes
- Players should only dribble to change position or to get to the basket
- Teams develop confidence that they can score without putting the ball on the floor
- Man/Man D…three-point line is the last line of defense for picking up the ball
o Half-court is the farthest
o Point of pick-up is dictated by how quick you are and how quick the offense is
- Post players need to hold their posts…don’t come off the block
o Other players do not come into areas where a post man is holding a post
- Don’t just run around…SEE AND REACT
- Offensive players need to get off the baseline
- No cross court passes against man-to-man defense
Traditionally, the idea against the zone is that you move the zone with the pass, by quick reversals and skip passes. But I've used the dribble in the past to great effectiveness against a zone as well, so I think there is a lot of merit to this idea. As for against man defense, I can see Coach Knight's point about over-dribbling, but the dribble penetration is still the hardest thing to stop for the defense.
Roy Williams Running Game Notes from NIKE Clinic
Posted by bruchu Labels: Fastbreak and Early Offense
I don't think it ever gets old, anything about early offense and the secondary break of Coach Roy Williams at the University of North Carolina. I pick up a thing or 2 from these clinic notes every time, these are from the NIKE Las Vegas clinic this past May. For example in these notes below, I like the idea of making sure your PG stops on a dime and changes direction after receiving the outlet. Too many times you see a team which has scouted well, on transition defense, have the defender on the PG plant right in front of the PG and draws the charge from the PG who turns his/her head too quickly.
The other part I like is the idea to cherish the highs of coaching. Which has less to do with the wins and losses and more to do with the relationships you make, and enjoying the process of improving your coaching ability. Anyways, here you go:
- Point Guard’s job is to go as fast as he can from top of the key to top of the key
- Make a commitment to run every single time
- We practice taking the ball out of the net
o Coach stands in front of FT line, shoots the ball
o Post player takes ball out and quickly outlets it to manager at the 28 foot line
- Make or miss
- Outlet pass
o Point Guard
- As you catch the ball, make sure you can stop on a dime and change direction
- Don’t risk committing the charge
- Primary Break
o 2 or fewer defenders
- 3v2 or 2v1
o Shot within 2 passes
- Secondary break
o 3 or more defenders
- Everybody on the team must like the shot that’s taken by a player
o Poll the team in practice during play
How many people on blue liked the shot that was taken by Joe?
- Post players: Deception
o Pretend like you’re catching the lob
o Tyler Hansbrough was so good because when he was in the post, he fought the hardest and demanded the ball every time
- Cherish the highs of coaching
o After we won National Championships, the next day I was on the road recruiting
- Didn’t celebrate the successes
o With a subpar season, we dwell too much on the negatives, we need to balance that out with celebrating the wins
For more on early offense and the secondary break, check out Roy Williams' DVD on the Tar Heel Offense. Coach Williams is the head coach of UNC winning the national title in 2005 and 2009.
Here are some recent notes that I downloaded from a talk that Chris Mack, coach of Xavier University did on his ball-screening offense variety (notes via Zak Boisvert and DribbleDrive). Just some general information about running a ball screen offense, reads, etc... With Mike D'Antoni running his euro-style ball-screening, Coach K at Duke running their spread a few years ago (and still some this past year when they won the NCAAs) and Bill Self at Kansas with his ball-screen continuity, there has been a lot of attention on ball screening offenses.
For me, the key question on whether you should run a ball-screening offense has always been: are your players smart enough to make the reads? It sounds kind of like a leading question (towards no), but you really need to ask yourself honestly if the group of players you have are smart enough to make the right basketball decisions. Now, of course it takes reps to get good, but cerebrally, you have to have a PG that knows what is a good shot, a good pass, and when the right time to give the ball up is. You have to have bigs that know what it looks like when a defender is going to hedge, go underneath, and then make the right read. Easy on paper, hard to do in game-situations. But if you have the right group of players, smart players who know the game of basketball, ball-screening is definitely a good way to go. Without further ado, here are the notes:
Why Ball Screen?
- Keeps ball in primary ball handlers’ hands—Low Turnovers
- Players make plays
- Gets your team to the FT Line
- Creates Rotations which Lead to Open Shot
- Spacing
- Isolates the Low Post
- Offensive Rebounding due to Rotations
- Makes bigs defend away from the basket
- Pressure Release
- Bigs are more likely to screen on a ball screen than an off screen
Ball Handler’s Role
- Set Up (From Triple Threat, Live Dribble)
- Separation
- Level of the Ball Screen
- Reads
- Flat Hedge—Hesitate & Go, String 3
- Hard Hedge/Trap—Drag Throwback, Late Split
- Under—Shoot 3, Screen Re-Screen
- Switch—Drive the Switch, Post the Switch
- Overplay—Reject, Early Split
- Passing Routine
- Pocket Bounce Pass
- Late Throwback Jump Pass
- Drag Reverse Pivot Throwback
- Slip Pass from Triple Threat
- Slip Pass with Live Dribble
Screener’s Role
- Stationary, Sprint into It, Screen into it
- Pop Your Feet, Hold the Screen!!! (Must make contact!)
- How do we roll? Tap & Go or Traditional
- How do we pop? Sprint or Traditional
- How to Slip?
- Change the Angle
- Roll to Bury if team goes under
Ball Screen Actions
- Flat Hedge— Middle Ballscreen, Roll and Replace, Duncan action
- Hard Hedge/Trap—Slipped screen, Pick and Pop Sideline
- Under—Rescreen, Set it Lower, Old Spur action (Tony Parker)
- Switch—Seven Cut, Post the Switch, Sideline Roll and Replace (Hi-low flash)
- Overplay—Buffalo action
For more info on this offense, then check out Chris Mack's brand new DVD on his Ball Screen offense.
