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WNBA Finals Preview – Xs and Os
After two highly competitive five game series, we now have our WNBA Finals match-up. Game 1 tips off tonight and features the Seattle Storm against the Washington Mystics. Coaches should be tuning in, as both teams run some tremendous stuff offensively. Below is a breakdown of three sets to look for, which have been highly successful for both teams. Thank you to Ben Dull, from SplitThePost.com for providing all of the videos for this preview.
Storm – Flex Action (BLOB set)
This BLOB set involves Bird setting a flex screen for Stewart, then receiving a down screen.
Storm – “Horns Down”
The Storm have different Horns looks, but this ball screen that flows into a down screen is tough to guard in transition.
Storm – Empty side / Two Man Action
The Storm love to include Stewart in a “two man game,” on an empty side. They use DHOs, ball screens, and slips.
Mystics “Stagger Split Rip”
This set shows a double stagger, before a split, into a rip (rescreen) for the back cutter. Great counter to a traditional double stagger!
Mystics – “Zipper 15”
The Mystics use a zipper cut, to trigger this backscreen action with Toliver and Delle Donne. This is just one of the ways that the Mystics use a backscreen to get the basketball inside.
Mystics – “Drag Back STS”
This set uses a drag screen and throw back, to set up the screen-the-screener. Toliver shows a screen for Delle Donne, before she actually receives the screen for an open three.
Two actions that will be critical for both teams to figure out are the two-man game, with Stewart on the empty side. The Storm lead the WNBA in three point shooting, and that action puts the defense in a scramble situation. The Storm must be ready to guard the screening actions involving Toliver and Delle Donne. They use back screens, ball screens, and screen the screener actions to free up both players.
This blog will be re-posted on www.FastModelSports.com, with all set plays being diagrammed and available for download in the playbank. Look for this repost before Game 3.
Go follow @splitthepost and @DynamicCoaches on twitter.
You can also catch our most recent Dynamic Coaching Tools Podcast by clicking here.
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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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FastModel Finish | Up North Challenge 2019
The 10th Annual Up North Challenge tips off on Friday Night, in Shepherd, Michigan. For this year’s event, we have decided to take one of the most exciting new concepts in basketball, and incorporate it into our tournament. You can learn more below.
If you are in love with the sport of basketball, you might have noticed an interesting basketball tournament that has taken place each of the last five summers. The event we are referring to simply goes by the name, “The Basketball Tournament (TBT),” and allows anyone the opportunity to compete for $2 million dollars.
One of the most recognizable things about The Basketball Tournament is the way that games end. Every game ends with a game winning basket, thanks to their “ELAM ENDING.”
No more deliberate fouling. Greater hope for late comebacks. Every game ends on a made shot.
We’re thrilled to announce that the @ElamEnding is officially BACK for #TBT2019! 🎉#YourTeamsYourTournament pic.twitter.com/r3v4ifAYFB
— TBT (@thetournament) April 15, 2019
Per TBT’s website, “The concept was developed by Cincinnati Reds groundskeeper and Ball State professor Nick Elam. After logging hundreds of NBA and college games, he came to an obvious, yet profound conclusion: intentional fouling (a) doesn’t work and (b) is incredibly boring to watch. From there, he spent years trying to figure out a way to eliminate this archaic late-game ritual. It ultimately became the Elam Ending.”
At this year’s 10th Annual, Up North Challenge, we will introduce our own version of the “Elam Ending.” Thanks to the help of our friends at FastModel Sports, we will implement the “FASTMODEL FINISH!” The FastModel Finish rules are simple.
- If the game is within 20 points, at the first dead ball under 4 minutes, the FASTMODEL FINISH will go into effect.
- If it is over a 20 point margin, the clock will continue to run.
- If the lead is still 20+ points at the 2 minute mark, the game is over.
- If the FASTMODEL FINISH is in effect, at the first stoppage under 4 minutes, there will be a “30 second timeout.”
- During the timeout, the officials will write the “target score” on a dry erase board next to the court.
- TARGET SCORE = Leading team’s score +7
- When play resumes, the clock will be turned off, and the first team to hit the “target score” is the winner.
- EVERY GAME ENDS WITH A “GAME WINNING SHOT!”
While we can not take credit for the concept, we are excited to receive feedback from the 48 teams and coaches in the Up North Challenge. Nick Elam watched and catalogued literally thousands of NBA and March Madness games, and found that teams resort to intentional fouling roughly half the time. In the 2018 NCAA Tournament alone, teams in 44 of the 70 second halves/overtime periods tried to come back by purposefully fouling. However, according to Elam’s data, in only three of those 44 occasions did the trailing team eventually come back to tie the game or take the lead. Our “FastModel Finish” will hopefully improve the end of game situations, create more excitement for the players, and open the eyes of basketball coaches to some alternative ways to end a game. At the conclusion of the tournament, we will be sending out a google form, to request feedback from all 48 teams. Once we have that feedback, we will be sharing a blog post with FastModel Sports, and talk about the positives and negatives from the “FastModel Finish.”
FUN FACT
The Up North Challenge and The Basketball Tournament have a small connection. Camp Darryl, a program started by Darryl Matthews, has played in all 10 Up North Challenge tournaments. An all-time great shooter, Travis Bader, played for Camp Darryl. Travis Bader played an important role in helping Overseas Elite win multiple “The Basketball Tournament” titles. - If the game is within 20 points, at the first dead ball under 4 minutes, the FASTMODEL FINISH will go into effect.