Break down

This is probably the area of the game that I have neglected the most. I realize now that it's essential to develop the one-on-one skills off the dribble that let us take advantage of poor postioning and mismatches. We have to be able to beat people off the dribble and force a rotation. In the past my teams would spend some, but not enough, time playing one-on-one. We always started from a standing position and I usually put a restrition on the number of dribbles.

The unintended result was that we didn't develop the ability to beat players off the dribble. It also made things easy for the defender who only had to defend for three dribbles. This year's team will work on crossovers, back-up dribbles, power lay-ups and pull-up jumpers starting with a driblle from the wing. Not exactly rocket science but it will help us both on offense and defense.

Foul line to foul line

Like most coaches, I often said that I wanted my team to run. I have to admit however that too often I haven't done a good job of actually doing it. One good way to see if your team is running full out is to time them from foul line to foul line. The truth is that most players hardly ever at full speed.

Here's a test. Time all your players for a sprint from foul line to foul line. Ideally this is done in try-out camp early in a practice while they're still fresh. Now you know how fast they can go. Time them the next time that you scrimmage. Odds are that they are running nowhere near their full speed. It's just too easy for everyone to convince themselves that they, or their team, are running full speed. Repeat this test often and take corrective action if the effort isn't there.

Separate buses for try-outs

I recently read an article about Brent Sutter, the coach of the Canadian junior hockey team. He sets up two teams, red and white, for the try-out camp and goes so far as to have separate buses take them to the gym.

This looks like a great way to get a little bit extra intensity at a try-out camp for a provincial team. I've found in the past that some players who were on the team the previous year can take things a bit for granted. This strikes home the point that it is a competition.

Five viewpoints

I find it helpful to look at basketball from different viewpoints. Here's one way to explain the game that I plan to use with my next team. My goal is to explain why they have to learn specific skills.

I am going to tell the players that we have to be able to break up, break down, break out, share the ball and share the court. Here's a short and somewhat simplistic explanation.

Break up
Whatever they want to do, we don't want them to do. This is a hard concept for young players who think that they have to stop everything. This doesn't work as witnessed by the success of the fake left and go right move or the quick fastbreak. Players have to take away at least the first option of the other team and of their check.

Break down
On offense you have to be able to break down the defense by beating your check off the dribble. This leads to a good scoring opportunity or forces the defense to rotate. These are both good things. I now think that it's important to be able to do this off the dribble, i.e. crossovers etc. Too many players get the ball and can only make a scoring move off a pivot. They can't beat someone if their first move doesn't work.

Break out
It is very difficult for the opposing team to relax if we break out of our end really well. We have to develop several skills to succeed at this. 1) Turn and go immediately 2) Run wide 3) Throw the long pass 4) Beat the early pressure with the dribble

Share the ball
This is true no matter what type of offense you run i.e., motion, set plays, etc. The players still have to be reminded of this.

Share the court
This principle reminds the players that they should be doing doing one of two things; setting up a shot for themselves or helping a teammate. I sometimes tell players that they should be either outside the three point line or wide open for a shot. Otherwise they are hurting a teammate.