Ask the Coach - Q & A pt 2

Q: Hey coach,

In reply to your question about my teams strengths and weakness. My strengths are quickness and size. My weakness is ball handling and outside shooting. I have a undersized two guard who can shoot lights out but he has to have help getting open. I only have two kids that can run the point. My big boys can move really well and can shoot from 8ft in really well.

Any help on a simple offense would be great.

A: Coach,

The first part of my response is general; I am a big believer in having some kind of continuity to your offensive attack especially with younger kids. Set plays have a place, but too often when teams rely heavily on set plays, the play breaks down and players are left confused and without a plan. The result? Players try to break the defense down with a lot of 1 on 1 play. While I do think that most good teams need at least one player who can make individual plays when things break down, I also think that most good team offenses don’t break down very often. since Continuity offenses don’t have an end [point,they encourage consistent fundamental play through cutting, screening and ball movement. Having said that, I think the flex is a good offense for all youth coaches to consider, as it offers great ball movement and several different types of screens. Take a look at the flex video tutorial if you’re interested.

Here are a couple of other ideas you might want to consider.

• A simple 3 out-2 in motion set is a set that focuses on getting the ball to your big players inside, and on the guards utilizing the big players to get good perimeter shots. This offense would distinguish Perimeter Players and Post Player. The 2 post players work as a tandem to create shots in the post. The three perimeter player also work as a unit, running a “3 man motion” with each other. One player starts at the point position, and is responsible for dribbling to a side of the floor and getting the offense going with a pass to the wing. The wings must get open on or below the free throw line extended. The primary purpose when the ball is on either wing is to feed the post. There are other options, of course, but the focused is on getting the ball inside to the posts. Perimeter players have two options when [passing from the point (top of the key) in the 3 man-motion -
• Option 1: Pass and Screen Away - the passer should head hunt when setting the screen - here, 3 actively looks for 1’s defender to screen. The screener pops to the perimeter after screening.

• Option 2: Or…Pass and Basket Cut, by stepping away from he pass as if to screen, and making a quick change of speed, change of direction cut to the basket. Since the 2 big guys are in he paint area, basket cuts aren’t going to give you a ton of scoring opportunities. Still, it is important to mix up “pass and screen away” by alternating with basket cuts on every 3rd or 4th cut - this gives the defense more to defend and helps the offense from becoming stagnant by continually passing and screening away.
• There are several other ways to approach perimeter screens; however, in my experience, it’s not at all practical to try to master them all , especially with 6th graders - I would start with screening away and basket cuts, and focus on aggressive and consistent execution.

• I like to work with kids this age at attacking the elbows from the perimeter spots. If your ball handling is suspect, perimeter players can benefit from simplifying their responsibilities.
• It can be easier for a younger player to be aggressive when he knows that his job at the wing position is :
  • Feed the post, and
  • Attack the elbow.

I like to attack the elbows because:

• If I do get to the elbow, I’ve penetrated the perimeter of the defense - and gotten into an area where the defense has to react. From the elbow, a player often has several good passing options (dumping in to either post, or kicking to the point or wing), and the possibility of a good shot (this is why man to man defenses so often focus on keeping the ball out of the middle, they don’t want players to have so many options
• Getting tot he elbow requires me to make a purposeful, aggressive move - as opposed to playing the perimeter without purpose.
• Shots from the directly ahead of the basket tend to rebound at roughly the same angle when missed - this translates to offensive rebounding opportunities in the paint - this can be an advantages for very goof rebounding team

• In the same way that the guards play as a unit, the
  post players work as a tandem.
• On a pass to the wing, the ball side low post player (5) posts up for a quick 1count; if the post feed isn’t there, he screens away for his partner (4).
• The player coming off the screen can go to the high or low post, but I ask players to eventually settle into the low post instead of camping in the high post - I don’t want that area overly congested because that is also where I want the guards to attack
• The image shows 5 setting the screen, pinning 4’s man on his back, and rolling back to the ball. This is good team play in the post, but at first with 6th graders I would probably focus more on setting good screens and rebounding aggressively. before getting into intricate screening scenarios.

• 4 and 5 should be aware of hi-low passing opportunities, especially against zone defenses, Against any defense, they should work to develop a mind set of “My partner has the ball, so he’s looking to pass to me first”, and vice versa .
  Whenever one post catches the ball in the low or high post, the pother should look to get open on a cut.
• Perimeter players should work with the posts at getting shots from and inside-out game - feeding the post, making a screen or cut, and receiving a return pass out for a shot . This is a fundamentally sound, team oriented way for players to get shots out of the offense when creating their own shot is a problem.

• If your big guys are good around the basket and are generally bigger and/or more agile than the opposition, adding a pick and roll entry gives a quick scoring option.This entry can also help a guard with mediocre ball handling skills get the team into its offense if he has a tough time dribbling the ball alone on the perimeter trying to get the ball to the wing. You’re also continuing the theme of attacking the elbows.
• In ANY screen and roll situation, the ball handler should take at least two dribbles off of the screen…If he takes just 1 dribble, he wont be able to penetrate the defense and he’ll eliminate himself as a scoring option. He also isn’t creating enough space between himself and the screener - he’ll be ready to pass before the screener has rolled.If the big man on the low post is a legitimate scoring threat, and the wing player is your shooter, the pick and roll creates legitimate scoring options…the big man on the pick and roll, the low post, the elbow jumper, and the kick out to 2 if 2’s man slides over to stop 1’s penetration

• The ball handler has to present as a scoring threat if the pick and roll is going to be effective at creating problems for the defense. Focusing on attacking the elbow area will create good space for an effective pass to the screener, and will get the ball handler deep enough into the heart of the defense to force the defense to respond.
• If your size and/or athleticism advantage in the paint is consistent, the pass to the right area, the bigs should be able to take care of the rest, using their athleticism to go get the ball

• Another thing to keep in mind, it might not be based on purist basketball principles, but if your rebounding advantage is significant, you can get away with shooting a few extra long jumpers.
• Years ago I coached a 6th grade team with 2 6 footers on it, both of whom were very good players. Our guards, on the other hand, weren’t very good at all, and were very unsure of themselves when it came to handling the ball. We played against traveling AAU team with amazing quickness…Aaron Brooks (Houston Rockets) was the point guard, and they had two other quick, aggressive guards that made them almost unbeatable. After getting beat by 40 in one game - par for the course for that team’s opponents, we worked on pick and rolls from the top of the key to alleviate the pressure on our point guard, and we gave the guards more freedom to shoot from the perimeter. That became easier after several weeks of attacking the elbows and learning how to use the post players to get good shots (off the pick and roll and inside-out passing with the low post.We actually ended up winning the next game, primarily because we had very few turnovers. Instead of losing possessions by giving the ball away against the perimeter pressure, we focused on getting a shot up on every possession, come hell or high water. Our percentages were really low, I admit. But the opponent’s main advantage was their quick guards, who played such tremendous defense that they forced turnovers on probably about 40% of their possessions.
• By shooting, we were able to use our height to a big advantage despite their quickness. A very high percentage of our missed shot were actually passes that the opponent couldn’t defend…we won the game on the offensive boards.