Can you feel it? College basketball is right around the corner. I definitely prefer the college and to some respect, the high school game, over pros, because there's more strategy involved. In the pros, the players are just too good, so it's more about chemistry.

Yesterday I caught the second half between UMASS and a small school called Dowling. There is a lot of hype about UMASS because of their new assistant coach, Vance Walberg, creator of the dribble drive motion offense. Dowling played a 2-3 zone most of the way and it definitely frustrated the Minutemen late in the game with UMASS winning 91-87, only 4 points. The Minutemen tried to beat the zone with the 3-ball but went 2-11 on 3-pointers in the 2nd half, but finished a decent 36% from 3-point land overall (buoyed by a solid 1st half 3-point shooting). Watch some clips I took,




The Minutemen didn't run the dribble drive motion offense against the zone, from the clip you see that they ran a 2-1-2 with the '1' at the high post. But they certainly did try to drive into the zone at times and had problems.

2-3 Zone versus Dribble Drive Motion Offense:

Just wanted to point out the obvious of why driving into the heart of a packed in 2-3 zone. As you see, the UMASS guard starts out by beating the first defender using the dribble,

The UMASS guard tries a hop step into a jump stop, but surrounded by 5 defenders, the ball is stripped,


Summary:

Obviously, it's still early. One exhibition game doesn't define a season, but certainly there's a cause for concern there. There was a poster on the forum asking about how best to defend against the dribble drive motion and I answered that the 2-3 zone or packline worked well. It forces DDM teams to try to beat you over the top and punish them for trying to drive into traffic.

For more info on the 2-3 zone defense, take a look at Wayne Morgan's DVD on the the 2-3 Zone. Coach Morgan used to be the head coach at Iowa State and former longtime assistant to 2-3 zone guru and Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. Discuss this and the rest of your favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.

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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.

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This is from Sunday night with the Knicks hosting the Bucks. When Coach Mike D'Antoni left the Suns to go coach the Knicks, I wondered what kind of offense they would play right from the outset. The current Knicks don't have the same makeup as the run and gun Suns so I wondered if D'Antoni might compromise his principles and coach the players that he has.

I have only watched 1 Knick game so far, so in taking that into consideration, I might be making some gross over-generalizations. But from what I saw, the Knicks of 2008/09 are in for a rough ride. I took some clips of their 7 seconds or less offense from the first half, here are some of the lowlights,




Not real pretty, 3 bad turnovers in the first quarter of play. What I wanted to do is to show the contrast between how the Suns run the Spread PNR and how the Knicks are attempting to run it. We'll start first with the Suns,

Suns Spread PNR:

Steve Nash is really the key that runs their PNR (no suprise there). Having a dynamic go get it forward like Amare Stoudamire is the other key. After the PNR is set, see how Nash gets into the middle of the floor, he keeps his dribble alive and he doesn't panic by jumping in the air, or throwing the ball into traffic, he's probing, reading the defense. Amare cuts to the basket, and Bell comes up to replace,

All 5 guys are spaced nicely, look how spread they are. On the defensive switch, Amare jumps over his shorter defender and Nash finds him for the alley-oop,


Knicks Attempt at Spread PNR:

Couple of lowlights. After the PNR, watch as Crawford makes the cardinal sin of jumping into the air before he knows what he wants to do with the ball,

Here Duhon makes a bounce pass right into 2 defenders,


Summary:

I'm a firm believer in whatever system you run has to fit the players you have. The Spread PNR, requires that you have the kind of point guard that can read the defense and make smart instinctual decisions. The Knicks lack that at the moment, they have a bunch of scoring point guards that only have 1 thing on their mind, score. That is going to be a problem. It will be interesting to see how long D'Antoni stays with this, knowing Knick fans, they aren't the patient type.

For the best video on the spread PNR offense, take a look at Billy Donovan's DVD on the Spread Offense. Coach Donovan used it to win back-to-back national championships at Florida. 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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Just wanted to remind all of you Americans (in case you've been living under a rock for the past two years) to go and vote tomorrow (or today depending on when you read this and where you live). As the great Abraham Lincoln once said:

Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people.

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Saturday night was a great night of NBA action. A full day of watching college football then a night of great NBA games. The best was the Hornets versus the Cavs. It had the feel of a playoff game even though we're only in October. With the parity so even in the NBA now, I think teams know how important every regular season game is, they're not so inclined to sleepwalk through the first half anymore (OK, maybe some teams still do).

Anyways, the Hornets were behind most of the game but came back in the fourth quarter with a vengeance. Led by none other than Chris Paul, CP3. Even without Tyson Chandler, CP3 was making all kinds of plays within in the PNR, showing the value of a good point guard above all else. Take a look,




If the Defense Switches and Sags:

The more I think about it, the more I think that overall the Cavs did a good job defending the PNR, it was just great offense by CP3. Here, Ilgauskas switches on the PNR to defend CP3 but sags to defend the drive,



The Cavs have consciously decided to protect the basket but give CP3 the shot. CP3 reads it and knocks down the open jumper.

If the Defense Hedges:

Now, if the defense decides to hedge or trap the ball screen, David West who sets the pick then rolls off and pops out. CP3 finds him open and delivers the ball to West for a catch and shoot. The help-side is late on the closeout,


If the Defense Straight Switch:

Now, this was late in the game so naturally the Cavs will switch all screens. This creates a big on little far out at the top of the key,

CP3 crosses over Varajao and attacks the basket. 4 defenders converge leaving the corner man wide open for the 3-pointer,


Summary:

Like I said, I actually think the Cavs defended as well as they could, CP3 just made all the right plays. If you have the right offensive system, and the right players, your team will be almost undefendable, the only thing setting you back is the decisions of your own players. The Hornets can score anytime they want, the only weakness of course is if CP3 gets injured.

For a relatively new video on pick and roll concepts, take a look at Larry Brown's DVD on Secondary Break and Pick and Roll Offense. I'm happy to see Coach Brown back on the sidelines, this time with the Charlotte Bobcats, but MJ's going to need to find some better players for him. Discuss this and the rest of your favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.

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From the Blazers versus Spurs game on Friday night, I took this clip because it showed how to effectively front the post. At the lower levels, you see a lot of teams front the post but they get burned on the high-low feed. Your weak side defense has to shift to take that away.

In this clip, the Blazers do a great job fronting Tim Duncan of the Spurs. Watch as Aldridge shifts from over the top denial with the right hand to a full-front. Also notice that Aldridge has weak-side help at all times protecting against the lob pass,




Fronting Over the Top:

From the high-wing area, the best fronting position is to come over the top with the arm outstretched in a denial position. The weak side help comes from the baseline who is in ball-you-man position taking away both the lob over the top and to closeout on a skip,


Fronting from the Corner:

Now if the ball is on the low-wing or corner position, then you can full front as Aldridge is in right now. The weakside help now is almost underneath the basket and at the top of the key, the far side defender has come up to take away the first pass. The far skip pass is left unprotected because that pass is basically impossible,


Summary:

The Blazers barely beat the Spurs on this night. They actually only fronted a few times that I watched in the first half. I'm not sure why because it was pretty effective when they ran it. Whenever they let Duncan catch the ball in the post, he was either able to score or find the open player.

For more defensive drill info, take a look at Steve Alford's DVD on Defensive Drill Progressions. Coach Alford is the head coach of University of New Mexico. Discuss this and the rest of your favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.

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You usually don't see this in the NBA because I think it's just common knowledge that you should trap a faster, quicker guard, especially at the NBA level. But I see it at the lower levels all the time. When you trap the perimeter, you want to trap a slower weaker ball-handler that will likely panic and pick up their dribble.

I watched 2 games yesterday and 2 instances of this. The first was between the Celtics and the Bulls and the second was between the Spurs and the Blazers. In each case, the defensive team is trying to trap the primarily ball-handler bringing the ball down the floor. I actually think they might have worked but the traps need to be set a lot harder. Take a look,




Must Seal Sideline:

Whenever you trap, your lead trapper must work to seal the sideline and your secondary trapper must work to force the dribbler to either pick up their dribble or crab dribble backwards, thus sealing them in. In this case, neither the Bulls nor the Blazers do that, they allow the dribbler to beat them up the sideline,



Once the trap is broken, it's only a matter of time before the other team finds the open man or the open seam to score. At the lower levels, it might still work because you leave the worst man open, but in the NBA, the worst man is still a scoring threat.

Summary:

I think it is why you see less trapping in the NBA. But I think trapping still works even at the highest level. The key is to trap the worst ball-handler and slowest player. They are more likely to turn the ball over, than the other team's best ball handler and quickest guard.

For a new video on trapping defenses, take a look at Don Meyer's DVD on Selective Trapping all for the bargain price of $35.00. Coach Meyer is the head coach of DivII Northern State University and the second winningest coach in college basketball history. Discuss this and the rest of your favorite basketball topics at the X's and O's Basketball Forum.

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