Basketball Offense-Spacing

Developing a System | Goals | Tempo | Transition | Spacing | Shot Selection | Rebounding Spots | Motion Offenses

Spacing is critical to offensive success. 

Establishing spots for your players to work from when not cutting or screening helps them maintain proper spacing. 

Our perimeter spots are one step behind the 3 point arc.

Wide wings, deep elbows, deep corners are suggested spacing spots. Only throw to a player in the deep corner who has an immediate shot to avoid putting the ball in a trap situation. Too high and too wide is better than too close for deep elbow and wide wing.

A critical concept in spacing is that if the ball is in the post, the short corner (halfway between the post and the deep corner), or in the deep corner, there MUST be someone at the ballside wide wing to give the ballhandler an outlet if s/he is trapped.

Four types of spacing that can be run as practice drills. When any of these situations occur, five on five, the play or motion breaks off and we immediately space using these rules:

Click the link for #3 and #4 for animation of the sequence.

1. Pass, cut & space = all players move to a new spacing spot on a pass and basket cut.
   
   
2. Deep elbow drive & space = fill deep elbow behind the driver.
   
   
3. Wide wing drive & space = must fill the crack back (ball side wide wing spacing spot) to give the ball an outlet pass.
   
   
4. Feed & space feed the post and fill spacing spots.