Transition Shooting is a drill that is a great way to start practice, work on passing the ball ahead, or it can be used as a game day shooting drill. The drill is used for five minutes and should include a target score. This score should be adjusted to an appropriate level for each team. Below are some suggested scores.
MS TEAM = 100 points | JV TEAM = 125 points
VARSITY TEAM = 150 points | COLLEGE TEAM = 200 points
The drill begins with three lines on each baseline. On one baseline, where the drill will begin, there is a ball with the first person in the middle line. There is also a ball with the second person, in the outside lines. On the other end, the two outside lines have a ball (see diagram below). The three players who are running will all touch the ball once, which means that two passes will be made. The ball should not need to hit the floor. The final player to touch the ball will score a lay-up. The other two players will receive a pass from the outside lines on the baseline, to shoot a 15-foot jump shot, or a 3-point shot. The middle line will get the ball out of the net, from the lay-up, to initiate the transition the opposite direction. Below is the scoring:
Layups = 2 points
15-foot shots = 2 points
3-point shot = 3 points
If the ball hits the floor = 0 points
Below is a diagram of the drill. If you need more information, or want to know about alternative ways to run the drill, you can reach out to CoachBrotherton@dynamiccoachingtools.com
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Instantly Improve Your Offense
Every off-season, coaches spent countless hours researching and studying different ways to improve. Too often, this leads to coaches completely hitting the reset button on their program’s offensive plans. Here are a few simple ways to instantly improve your offense!
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Offense starts the moment your team gains possession. TEACH the game this way.
- When teaching our half court offense, we stress things like spacing, player movement, ball movement, and we provide structure to help players read the game. Why not teach transition the same way?
- SPACING | There two ways to stretch the defense. Vertically and horizontally. If we can get multiple bodies in front of the ball, we will stretch the defense vertically. If we can get our wings to run wide, we are now stretching the defense horizontally. This should be an instant reaction, the moment your team gains possession of the ball.
- PLAYER MOVEMENT | Win the first three steps! If your players will sprint the first three steps, you will get players in front of the ball. When you throw the ball ahead, have you taught your team how and where to space around the ball? Do wings run to the corner and spot up or bounce off of the baseline and lift to free throw line extended? Transition offense includes player movement and should be taught.
- BALL MOVEMENT | One of our favorite phrases is that we want “two early shares” in transition. If we can get two direct passes in transition, we are likely to have tremendous flow and rhythm on that offensive possession.
- PROVIDING STRUCTURE | We want to provide spacing rules, simple secondary actions, and then teach our kids to flow seamlessly into our half court offense.
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REMOVE “set it up” from your vocabulary
- One of the most under taught parts of an offensive attack is “FLOW.”
- Teaching FLOW requires a coach to get creative in practice, abandon static starting points, and requires teaching players HOW TO PLAY.
- The benefit is that the defense is unable to use the “setup time,” to also get themselves organized.
- One of the most under taught parts of an offensive attack is “FLOW.”
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Create an ATTACKING mentality, with an understanding of IF/THEN responses.
- The easiest way to create an attacking mentality in your players is to view mistakes in practice as teachable moments.
- The best teams are confidently attacking, as opposed to having “paralysis by analysis.” In simple terms, they are too busy playing basketball, to stop and think about what is next.
- If you can create aggressive basketball players, you will see improvements in your offense.
- To learn more about IF/THEN responses, check out THIS BLOG POST.
Lastly, what does this look like? Here is a video of our team putting these three simple concepts on display.
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A Coach’s Best Friend: Film
Throughout this season, I have come across multiple coaches who are not filming games. Every time this happens, I respond with an e-mail, encouraging coaches to stop ignoring the opportunity to improve their coaching staff, team, and individual players. It is our belief that all varsity coaches should be filming every game. This is part of your job, and you owe it to your players. Furthermore, filming practices can also be very beneficial. Below are the reasons that we believe that Film is a coach’s best friend:
1- It is the best teaching tool!
As the saying goes, “the eye in the sky don’t lie.” Film allows players to watch their mistakes and these teaching moments are very beneficial to player development. Film can help a team better understand areas for improvement, challenges from opponents, and it provides clarity for everyone in the program. There is no better teaching tool than an organized, well planned film session.
2- Players need film for college coaches.Most high school coaches have players that are interested in playing at the college level. Your players will need film, so college coaches can evaluate them. By providing film to college coaches, you are doing your part to help your players have an opportunity to continue their careers.
3- You can exchange film to scout opponents
One of the worst phrases that coaches say is, “We don’t scout, because we are just worried about us.” This is code for, “I am too lazy to prepare my team to win.” As a varsity basketball coach, you should be scouting your opponents. This is especially important in league play. Scouting provides an opportunity to steal points for your team. It is very impactful, against good teams, if you can prevent 4-6 points for your opponent, and generate 4-6 easy points for your team. If you are not filming and sharing film, other coaches will be less likely to help you with film.
4- Film helps ensure accurate stats
Filming games will help your staff ensure that you have accurate stats. Depending on a student manager to take stats during the game is fine, but there is a strong chance that those stats are not accurate. Film can be used with services like Krossover or Hudl, which will provide statistical breakdowns of your team. Stats are also important for recognizing and rewarding your players for big achievements. It might be scoring 1,000 career points, or providing proof that a player should receive all-league or all-state honors. The stats also allow coaches to provide a program record book, which is a great way to honor the best players throughout the history of your program.
5- What you see during games is only part of the picture. Film fills in the gaps.
When you see post game interviews with the best coaches, you will regularly hear them answer questions with, “it is hard to answer that without looking at the film.” This is because the best coaches know that the film will provide valuable information. You can look at a box score and see the results. It might be a lack of offensive rebounding, too many turnovers, or poor shooting. Film fills in the gaps, and answers the question of WHY those results happened. If you do not watch film, then you are taking an educated guess, as opposed to finding the undeniable answers that can help your team improve.
If you are a high school coach, make sure that you are filming games. Film is your best friend, and will help you maximize the development of your team.
You can follow Dynamic Coaching Tools on Twitter or Instagram at @DynamicCoaches
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Ball Screen Reads: Derrick White
Who is the most efficient ball screen player in the NBA (minimum 100 possessions)?
Most people would guess Damian Lillard, Luka Doncic, or Chris Paul? While all three of those players are really good, the correct answer is Derrick White of the San Antonio Spurs. Including his passing, the Spurs have a PPP (Points Per Possession) of 1.13 when he is the ball handler in pick and rolls. That is the best in the NBA.
Below is a video that shows three basic reads from Derrick White.
- Defender goes OVER the screen
- Defender goes UNDER the screen
- Derrick White REJECTS the screen