Ask The Coach V
August 8, 2008
1). How much time do you realistically expect your players to spend in the offseason on their fundamentals, and with that in mind what kind of off-season program do you have set up for them?
2). How much time is spent in a normal practice prior to Xmas on shooting drills?
The next newsletter will spend some more time specifically offseason programs, so I’ll address offseason expectations, and time spent on shooting.
1. I don’t necessarily frame our offseason work on terms of my ‘expectations” – or at lease my expectations are never lines drawn in the sand, so to speak. Perhaps this approach is very different from that of many other many coaches. My approach is more to set up a summer program that includes several team functions – usually two to four local summer leagues and a practice schedule that keeps us busy 5 days a week, on average. I usually give my players individual workouts by position – post or perimeter – that are tailored at least in some small way to the skills they need to improve on for the following year. I talk with them about spending time going through their workouts consistently throughout the summer. In my experience the better players – the ones who really are committed – will spend at least 45 minutes a day on individual skill work. The committed ones will also make sure that they actually do get up several hundred shots each day. I know that a lot of coaches say that players should shoot 500 shots a day every day and that sometimes the expectations seem ridiculously high. Still, when a players make a real commitment to improving himself and makes it as goal to play at the next level, whatever that level may be, they will usually meet or surpass the coaches expectations, no matter how over the top they may seem.
I try to make it clear to my teams that this is the standard that good players and teams set for themselves, and I try to schedule enough during the summer to allow a committed group of kids to experience a lot of growth. But I stop short of making them ‘expectations’. They are standards that we set for our program, but kids have other commitments in their lives. And they are often faced with choices – sometimes the best choice isn’t basketball. I know of a first year high school girl’s coach who kicked a senior off of the team for failing to participate in the team’s summer program – because she was in Germany with her family!
The coach placed himself in a position where he felt like he had no choice but to kick the girl off the team because he told his players that they were expected to play during the summer. He painted himself in a corner when there was no need to do so; the girl’s family commitments were supposed to secondary to basketball commitments – even in completely unreasonable circumstances.
5 man flow fast break drill
May 8, 2008
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Purpose: This drill is a great conditioner that teaches players to run the floor and pass ahead. It also provides valuable repetitious movements for guards on teams that share point-guard duties. This drill can be somewhat difficult at first, but can be mastered by teams of all ages. It is a great team-builder when mastered. Because of this, I often run it at the end of practice, long after we’ve finished with our transition work. Sometimes it replaces running suicides at the end of practice…Conditioning with the basketball! Organization: 5 players line up as the coach shoots a free throw. Of the 5 players, 2 guards (#1 and #2 in the diagram) function only as passers, receiving outlet passes and advancing the ball up-court. #3, #4, and #5 are the shooters. |
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Procedure: 1. On the coach’s shot the 3 shooters rebound while the 2 passers fill either outlet spot. 2. The 2 shooters who don’t get the rebound sprint the floor. One will shoot the fast break lay-up while the other will rebound. (Figure 1) 3. The passer who receives the outlet pass ( in Figure 2) works in tandem with the other passing guard ( in figure 3), passing to #2, who is cutting aggressively to the middle of the floor. #1 then continues ahead up the floor in his lane. |
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4. The passer who does not receive the outlet (#2) sprints to the middle of the court, receives a pass from the his partner (#1), then immediately passes ahead to a shooter (#5 in figure 2). #2 continues up-court, preparing to receive an outlet. The remaining shooter (#3) rebounds.
5. After his shot, #5 immediately SPRINTS the lane back to the other end for the rebound. (Figure 3). Any time a player shoots the ball he rebound on the other end before the ball hits the ground. 6. As soon as #3 rebounds, he outlets rebound on the to the closest guard (#2 in figure 3) as the drill goes back down court. After #3 outlets he runs to ½ court 7. The drill continues non-stop until 10 lay-ups are made. |
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Rules for Shooters:
1. If you shoot on one end, you immediately sprint to the other end and rebound. 2. If you rebound, outlet the ball on your side of the floor and go to halfcourt. 3. When at halfcourt be ready to start back the opposite direction. You are the shooter when the drill comes back down-court. 2. If you don’t get the outlet, cut to the middle for a pass. Catch the pass and immediately pass up the floor to the shooter. This requires court vision and, 2. Ten made lay-ups in a row ends the drill. 3. On the trip down the floor to rebound a player must run the floor wide, going around the passers, not between them. 4.. Demand excellence. You’ll eventually get it. Use the drill at the end of practice and require that, to complete the drill, each set of 5 players must make 10 consecutive layups. (NO missed shots) and the ball cannot touch the floor (NO dropped passes, NO missed rebounds, NO lazy cuts). Every time a shot is missed or the ball hits the ground, that unit must start again from Zero. Practice ends when everyone had accomplished the goal of 10 perfect trips down the floor. By “upping the expectations” , teams remain competitive even during non-competitive, ’skeleton’ drills such as this. This drill can be very difficult for players, at first just to understand the process, then to execute it perfectly. As teams slowly accomplish their goals in this drill, there is often tremendous growth in team unity as well as improved conditioning. |
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Halfcourt Weave Warmup Drill
March 11, 2008
Purpose: To drill layups and allow the players some light jogging.
Organization: Players form three lines at half-court. One line is at mid-court and others are near either sideline. The first man in the middle line has a ball.
Procedure:
1. 1 passes to 2, who passes to 3 cutting to the basket for a layup.
2. 1 runs behind 2 and goes to the basket to rebound 3’s shot. 2 runs to the corner after his pass to 3.
3. After 3’s shot, 1 rebounds and passes to 2, who is cutting to the basket from the corner, for a layup. 3 cuts to the corner opposite from 2 after his shot. 1 cuts to the empty corner after passing to 2.
4. 3 cuts back from his corner to rebound 2’s shot. 1 cuts back from his corner to receive a pass from 3 for a layup. Now all players have shot and rebounded.
Coaching Points:
1. Players should hustle to all spots and focus on making all layups.
2. The ball should not hit the ground after shots
3. Every player should hustle to rebound when it is his job to do so
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Team Free Throw Shooting Drill: 2 Line Free Throws
March 11, 2008
Drill: 2 Line Free Throws
| Organization: Players form lines behind both free throw lines
Procedure: 1. Players shoot 2 free throws. For every missed shot, a player sprints the length of the floor at one time. For instance, if a player misses one shot he goes to the baseline, sprints to the other baseline, and enters the line on the opposite end of the floor. If a player does is to shots, he walks to the baseline, sprints the length of the floor and back, and returns to his original line. Variation: 1. Players shoot a 1 and 1 on every turn. If the first shot is missed, the player forfeits the second and has to run the length of the floor twice, as if two shots where missed.
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Fast Break Drill: Big Men in the Middle
March 11, 2008
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Purpose: This drill serves as a fantastic conditioner and reinforces some basic concepts of the fast break, such as sprinting the floor, pushing the ball to the middle of the floor, and rebounding the ball as it leaves the net. Organization: Players form 3 lines on the baseline, with the Post players in the middle line. Procedure: 1. The post player outlets the ball to either guard at the outlet spot (free throw line extended near the sideline). 2. The guard who receives the outlet takes 1 hard dribble down-court towards the middle of the floor and passes to the other guard streaking down the floor for a lay-up. 3. After his outlet pass the post sprints straight down the middle of the floor and rebounds the shooter’s lay-up as it leaves the net. 4. The guards switch side of the court and run the same drill coming back down the floor. Coaching Points: 1. Outlet men should stand with their backs to the baseline so that they can see the entire floor. 2. Outlet men should wait for the outlet before moving down-court. Trying to catch the outlet on the run can lead to turnovers and collisions. 3. The shooter sprints the floor hard on the outlet pass. He should catch the ball on the move and lay it in without dribbling. 4. The post man runs straight down the floor, as he would in a game situation. It is important to rebound the ball as it goes through the net. On the return trip down-court, the coach might have the post inbound the ball on made shots. No more than 3 seconds should pass from the rebound to the inbound pass. 5. When in-bounding, the post should move out from underneath the backboard. This is called “clearing the backboard”. The backboard can act as on obstacle to a high inbound pass if the passer neglects to “clear it” 6. The guard who makes the pass for the layup should sprint to the baseline on the other side of the floor for the return trip down-court. |
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Lanes Straight - 2 basketballs
March 10, 2008
| Purpose: This drill teaches passing on the move, with 2 balls. The second ball conditions players to react quickly and to be constantly alert.
Organization: Players form 3 lines on the baseline. Each player in the front of the two outer lanes has a ball. Procedure: 2. While moving up-court the middle man receives and returns a pass from the man on the right. 3. He then immediately turns does the same with the man on the left. 4. This continues up the court and back. 5. Each player should play in the middle line Coaching Points: 1. Players must move up the floor together at the same pace. 2. When the middle man passes, he must immediately turn to receive the next pass. 3. The next pass should already be in the air as the middle man turns to receive. This conditions the middle man to react and find the pass. |
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Hoop Quotes
If they want to play football, we can play football.
— Shaq
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