Uncategorized

Our practice plan is set up offense day/defense day. We practice special situations every practice. These include end of game “up 5 with 3 minutes left” or “down 1, 12 seconds left, one time out, opposition shooting a foul shot.” We not only play the situation but then debrief, talk about what we did well and what should have been better. We have signals for who and when to foul. We believe that 70% of our games will be decided in the last 3 minutes (we will be up or down 3 scores or less in that time) and mental preparation is as critical as physical at that point.

Thanks for the feedback. We call no fouls in practice. This establishes a competitive mindset and maximizes time-on-task by not having to slow down for things like fouls and out of bounds. Common sense is the prevailing theme. If you know it will be 100% a foul in a game then it makes no sense to do it in a practice. That is what the “phrase don’t get grab the head” means. It is a reference to common sense and I should have explained that better. I feel it is very important for coaches to decide (and communicate the decision) when they are running development drills and when running competitive drills. This is a competitive drill. This is because a coach needs to prepare their team to face the toughest possible challenges and situations (if a team’s own coach does not provide its biggest challenge, then an opposing coach and team will do it). So we do a lot of competitive drills where there is physicality and competition. If you expect physical play in games (especially as the season draws to a championship) then there need to be physical play in regular practices, therefore encourage lots of contact and competitive. By the way this philosophy clearly needs to be age appropriate but at all levels I have coached I have approached this drill and a competitive philosophy the same way.

Excellent article. I will emphasize situations more in practice. Can be fun too.

This is a head scratcher type of question, but for what its worth, ill share my philosophy on this.

Im a high school varsity coach that has all home-grown local players. We have a varsity and junior varsity team. This upcoming season , we will have about 24 players that will come out for our teams and i will keep them all, if they have attended our conditioning religiously or are coming from a fall sport.

From the outside looking in, most people would think i would divide them up and put 12 on one team and 12 on the other team. The reality is that my belief is that only 6 of the 24 are ready to contribute on a varsity team this year . So those 6 will play the bulk of varsity minutes…..i work hard to find 7,8,9, and even a 10th opportunities to improve their chances to contribute on a varsity team. My true belief is playing time is earned in off-season.

So our players on depth-chart numbers 7-12 play the bulk of JV minutes, instead of sitting the majority of varsity game, however i leave at least 2 quarters a night to be available for varsity games, for those players if they can contribute.

Players 13-20 on depth chart will play leftover minutes in JV and 21-24 are usually players that may not be able to contribute in year 1.

I do not leave many surprises to the player nor their parent. They both know their role early on and let them know its not for everyone. I will even tell incoming freshman and their parents that their child might not see a varsity roster in their high school career, unless their commitment to improving changes. Stats are a great tool to use and share with others for dividing up playing time.

With all of this being said….i treat 1-24 the same. We have high expectations in classroom, on the court, off the court.

So just because some kids arent playing a ton of minutes in year one, doesnt mean they arent worth investing in.

We want the ball in the corner because that is where there are fewest offensive options. Therefore we teach force sideline and down (toward the baseline). When the ball is in the corner, don’t let it out (make the wing go backdoor)

We pressure the ball and stop the drive (a total reversal of philosophy from the 80’s when we contained the ball). If the ball is “up top”, play as you described. But. when the ball is on the wing, the defender’s position looks like a wing in a 1-3-1 (shoulders parallel to the sideline, take away the dribble to the top that would set up the pick and roll/pop plays). We then play a pack line concept, daring the dribble into our defense. We allow the pass into the corner (unless that is a great shooter).

My practices are broken into segments: Warmup, Shooting, Skill and Drill, Teach full court (Offense or Defense depending on the emphasis), Play full court, Teach half court, Play half court, Specials and contests, Foul shooting and conditioning. We do not stop when we play. If we need to talk to a player, we substitute. If we need to debrief, we do so at the end of that session. We believe that this allows us a good flow in “game situations” yet allows enough time for instruction and correction.

My players don’t like for me to stop play to teach and/or make corrections. I don’t like a ton of missed assignments and turnovers. Simple solution If they don’t want to stop they need to quit doing what makes me mad! I stop too much early in the development of a given team so I can get on their nerves. If they really want to play they’ll make the necessary adjustments and everybody is happy.

Really good ideas here, Coach. If I were coaching again this year, I would definitely look at using some or all of these. It’s nice to have something concrete that is written down to help when grading and to help be prepared to explain your decisions to kids who get cut, parents, and administration should you need to.

A have a basketball creation that is a little similar to yours,and I think that it is very effective.My creation is the ASL basketball defense concept. I also have a creation called the magnet system of offense. this is my twitter account/handle @HoopsAsia

Early on in the season, stopping practice is essential to stress certain focal points and get them to hear the cues and terms that we use. But stopping to correct should be done individually so as not to lose team playing time to correct one players faults, unless it is something that everyone can learn from. I like to stop practice once in a while to point out some good things that players are doing too, so blowing the whistle doesn’t become the “oh no, here we go” moment every time for the players. I have found that teaching can come in the form of whispering in a players ear as you walk by during a natural stoppage like a turnover or a foul shot, with a pat on the back or the wink of an eye. It’s quick and directed and doesn’t take away from the flow. Players don’t want to be singled out all the time and I don’t want to embarrass players in front of their peers and risk damaging our relationship……depending on their age and personality. That works for me…..but not everybody!

In general, I would alternate between picking him up at 1/4 court and playing honest man-to-man defense, playing box-and-1 or Triangle-and-2(depending on who else is on the floor with him) and not switching on screens. My approach is that they will have to hit nothing but threes ALL NIGHT. If they hit 40-threes, that’s 120 points. I’m not worried. Steph hitting 30-foot threes is impressive, but can he hit 10 of them? If he does he has 30. I’m not worried. Can he take every shot for his team? I hope he does because Golden State relies on team ball. If he’s rolling, that means that everyone else isn’t, so my challenge to my team would be to see if he can score 100 tonight. Don’t help. Make Draymond and Klay create the offense and pressure them too. On the other end, we are driving at him every chance we get. If he switches on a screen, we are putting him in the post. Make the man play some defense and see how that affects his offense.

Put your team’s Joe Dumars on him, and own the paint.

We see teams use zones at 4th grade and up – I fully agree teaching proper help side man to man is more important. We end up needing to coach enough zone to be able to practice against it.

I heard a good quote from a parent from another program say “the coach didn’t emphasis skills just plays and our kids didn’t have the skills to run the plays”.

We try to emphasis fundamentals first and keep the offense simple – just quick starters into a motion to teach the kids to move

Good read – thanks!

PS. Now we just need parents to stay off our backs 🙂

This is an awesome book! I highly recommend all coaches, athletes, and parents to read it. Mike Massucci has taken many of the life lessons we want to instill in our players and teams and built a fictional story that teaches those very lessons in an engaging and entertaining way. While basketball is the sport being played in the story, this book is appropriate for all sports and all walks of life where people are wanting to learn how to be better leaders, students, teammates, friends, family members, or just better people. It also is a book that middle school through high school-aged kids will love to read. Do yourself and your teams a favor and read this book!

I LIKE THE 1-4 SET UP. THIS IS THE ONLY OFFENSE I USE AGAINST M-M OR ANY ZONE ! GOOD PASSING IS A FUNDAMENTAL THAT NEEDS TO IMPROVE . I BELIEVE THE KEY TO THIS OFFENSE IS TO HAVE YOUR WINGS SET UP HALF WAY BETWEEN THE FOUL LINE EXTENDED AND THE BASE LINE ! OUTSIDE THE 3 PT. LINE . 1) THIS CAUSES THE BASELINE MAN ON THE ZONE DEF. TO COME OUT AND GUARD THE WING . THIS PUTS ONE LESS BIG DEF. MAN INSIDE ! I DON’T WANT A DEF. GUARD TO GUARD THE POINT , THEN COVER THE WING , ONCE A PASS IS MADE TO THE WING ! IF THE DEF. GUARD PLAYS THE WING A LITTLE BIT , PASS DIRECTLY TO YOUR BIG MAN , WHO HAS HIS HANDS READY TO RECEIVE A PASS ! IF THE GUARD PINCHES INSIDE , HIT THE WING ! THE 2 BIGS , ONE ON EACH SIDE , SET UP HALF WAY DOWN THE LINE ! LEFT TO RIGHT , #3-LEFT WING , #4-POST MAN , #5-POST MAN AND #2-RIGHT WING . AS #1 PASS. TO #2 , #5-SLIDES DOWN (ABOVE THE LOW BLOCK OR SHORT CORNER . #4 SLIDES UP , HALF WAY ! READS . BEFORE HE COMES TO THE BALL , #4 MUST KNOW WHO WILL BE GUARDING HIM AND THEN COMES TO BALL AT THE EDGE OF THE F. LINE — P I N H I S M A N !!! I HAVE MY #4 (HI GUY) FACE THE BASELINE . THIS ELIMINATES A CATCH AND TURN TO THE BASKET ! #2 CAN HIT #4 IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 3SEC. AREA OR LOB . THIS SETS UP A NICE HI-LOW ! ON A REVERSE – X THE POST OR TOP POST SHUFFLE ACROSS , LOOKING AT THE PT. GUARD . THE PT. GUARD “MUST” LOOK TO HI POST SLIDING FIRST !!! JUST AS BEFORE ONE SLIDES DOWN , THE OTHER POST SLIDES UP , READ AND COME ACROSS . IMPORTANT – THIS OFF. HAS ALL 4 GUYS “ALWAYS” LOOKING TO THE BALL ! ALL PLAYERS STAY IN SPOTS WHERE THEY CAN SCORE ! POST DO NOT COME OUTSIDE ; SHOOTERS STAY WIDE AND READ ! VERY IMPORTANT : AS A PASS IS BEING MADE – I F Y O U S E E T H E W I N G C A T C H T H E B A L L , YOU ARE WRONG ! AS THE PASS IS BEING MADE , SEE WHO WILL BE GUARDING YOU AND LOOK FOR A HOLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEN , LOOK AT THE PASSER !!!!!!!!!!!!!! M-M OFFENSE ? WINGS BASELINE CROSS OR DOUBLE STACK WITH THIER POST . POST MOVE SAME AS IN A ZONE OFF. . THEY CAN SCREEN PT. AND WING . PT. PASS. TO WING , OPP. WING BACKSCREEN ! THAT’S IT ! GREAT FOR 3 SHOOTERS AND 2 POST PLAYERS ! there is nothing new in basketball – only new to us !

I thoroughly enjoyed your article. Thanks for sharing. Best of luck to you.

Where was the information about how to encourage our players. There were just examples of players

Thanks for making a difference Coach Massucci. Your books give my team a great tool to foster further thought and promote social ideals. Any time we can get athletes to think bigger than themselves is a victory.

What’s a transporter?

Learn Every Position!

In the “chase the pass” portion of the drill, instead of just standing straight up with the ball held out for the player to take it, I’m thinking that would be a good time to practice direct hand off between those two players.

Protestor here. Best open shot always are the highest success rate %%%

Got 35 seconds to get that shot.

Not sure if I am a “Pragmatist” or a “Protester” or some combination of both. Consider the following:

1. The three-point shot was introduced first and primarily, to reverse the steady decline in scoring that had become the norm by the mid-1980’s, and secondarily, to create the possibility of an exciting late-game changer. Yet, since its inception in 1986-87, scoring has declined at an average rate of 0.23 per season. Despite adding a point to long- range field goals, overall scoring today is still lower than its high forty-seven years ago. The game-changing impact of three-pointer, dramatically reinforced by incessant highlight playbacks on ESPN, masks this simple reality. http://betterthanalayup.com/decline-fall/

2. The most telling trend of all – one largely ignored by the media – is not the decline in the total number of points scored but in the number of field goals attempted and made. If you watched a typical college game last season you saw about the same number of baskets as your father or grandfather saw back in 1951-52, an era when many players were still shooting one and two-handed set shots. The fact that some field goals today count for three rather than two is irrelevant.

3. Many popular analytic sites use “play-by-play” game logs as their fundamental source of information. Unfortunately, play-by-play logs compress all shot attempts into three locations starting with the two extremes: at the rim and three-pointers. Everything in between is considered a midrange jump shot. A 12’ baby jumper is statistically treated the same as a shot attempt just inside the three-point arc. In other words, today’s definition of a midrange jumper is totally different than earlier eras.

4. Most teams today have a no midrange game. In fact, several generations of players have come and gone without ever mastering a 12’ jumper or simple bank shot from the wing. The vast majority of today’s young coaches never played in the midrange themselves, have no knowledge of how to coach it, and are ignorant of the sets and schemes that produce it. Once today’s guards get into an area 10’- 15’ feet from the basket, they force their way to the rim and if denied, attempt to pitch the ball to the corner in hopes of a three-pointer. It’s all predetermined because they lack the confidence to pull up in traffic and hit the short jumper. There’s no third option. Defenses, of course, are not stupid. They invite the midrange pull-up by taking away the either/or game, forcing the attacker to take the one shot he is coached to avoid, he seldom practices, and has no confidence in making. http://betterthanalayup.com/consequences/

5. The emergence of the jump shot in the late 1940’s followed by its rapid adoption across the country in the 1950’s liberated the offensive player to maneuver on his own. The jump shooter’s quick release combined with the height attained made it necessary for the defensive player to play much tighter than what was previously needed. The defender’s aggressiveness made him vulnerable to the fake and drive and, in particular, to a brand, new maneuver — the lethal pull-up jumper. No longer would teams have to rely on intricate passing and patterned movement to free a shooter long enough to attempt a two-handed or one-handed set shot. Now players could catch and shoot while moving. Quickness became a player’s greatest asset. The pull-up jumper IS modern basketball. With the exception of traditional big men like Jabbar, Chamberlain, and their kind, all great players master the pull-up. If you can’t take it and make it with some regularity, you can’t really play basketball.
.
6. I finally turned off the Gonzaga – UNC game the other night, when having cut the lead from 16 to 9 with plenty of time to go, a Zag passed up a simple 4-footer to pitch the ball to the corner for a three that was missed. Instead of cutting the lead to 7, they went for broke and their comeback effort crashed and burned in the process.

Can I get a copy of your game charts, please? Thanks, Coach!

This article rings so true, I recently took my grandson to a Pistons vs Wizards game in DC. On the offensive end of the floor every time one of the Pistons players put the ball up. There was either zero or one offensive player pounding the glass. In general, it seems as a team begins to get behind in the score there are fewer and fewer offensive rebounds, at the time when they need more offensive rebounds. Seemingly no one on the bench or in the game particularly seem to care. When a team is trying to get back into a game quickly, launching long ball after long ball. Most of the time it seems to put you behind further. It’s also disheartening to see a team down the stretch in a game, continue to try and get back in it with the long ball. When all game the long ball is exactly what put them in the hole in the first place. When I see players in games launch these long shots with no one near the offensive boards. My old school brain just starts to resist the fact that this seems to be a reality of the new game. My mind cannot get around the fact that it is ok for there to be few offensive rebounds and few put backs. As you say another example of the Art of the game disappearing or being co-opted by this new acceptance. Coach it is always great to read what you have to say and where appropriate try it out, with my two Haley-Smith squads in Herndon Virginia. From a former player on your 70-71 second division runner up Catholic league and State of Michigan Class D District Championship team. All the best Coach!

Great analysis coach lots of top notch info for thought. I am coming up on a semifinal championship game with one of my house league teams. Against a team we have beaten twice this year. Based on how intently and copiously the opposing coach took notes scouting my last game. I am wondering if I should do something different or better yet what he might do differently? This article gives me a plenty to think about on both sides of this question! Best regards…..

Very interesting. I assume you are using Synergy’s shot chart for your analysis. Does Synergy provide dimensions for its chart. The distance from the center of the cylinder for the 3-point line is 21’9″ as proscribed by the NCAA… but what distances is Synergy using for the other arcs and areas defined by the chart?

My philosophy as a former college coach was to play everyone the first half. This was to ensure they were prepared if my rotation of eight had problems in the second half. I also shared this with my team. It is my responsibility to sub you in, but it is your responsibility to prevent me from subbing you out.

Wow, this is an eye opener coach. Lots of food for thought and encouragement beyond the headline noise. Bravo.

The link above does not work, the one to Jawbone. I did find a link that does work. It is https://www.wired.com/story/how-science-helps-the-warriors-sleep-their-way-to-success/