Transition
- Do we want to run in lanes for spacing or run random transition?
- What do we want to get out of transition?
- Do we want to run any secondary break actions?
Press Offenses
- How many press offense alignments do we need?
- How many press offenses do we need?
- What players comprise our "good hands" team?
Man Offense
- What motion offense (if any) best fits our team?
- Do we want to add, subtract, or change any of our continuities?
- Do we want to add, subtract or change any set plays? (Visit our basketball plays page for animated basketball plays for any defense)
- Do our man offenses put us in the best position to offensive rebound
as well as have defensive floor balance?
Zone Offense
- Should we add, subtract or change any of our zone actions?
- Should we add, subtract or change any of our zone sets? (Visit our basketball plays page for animated basketball plays for any defense)
- Are we able to attack all types of zones and traps with our zone offense?
- Do our zone offenses provide us with offensive rebounding opportunities as well as defensive floor balance?
Inbound Plays (Visit our basketball plays page for animated basketball plays for any defense)
- How many different alignments do we want to use?
- When do we want to put in each alignment? (Should we save any for late in season?)
- Do we have a play that takes advantage of any way that the opponent may guard us? (Zone, Denial, Pack, Switch)
- Do we have plays that take advantage of the positioning of the inbound defender?
Special Situations (Visit our basketball plays page for animated basketball plays for any defense)
- Do we want to add, subtract or change any of our last second full
court, 3/4 Court, 1/2 Court, 1/4 Court or UOOB plays?
- How much time is needed on the clock to execute each play?
- Do we need to make any changes to our delay game?
- What FT plays do we run if we have to miss intentionally and need a
two-point shot or three-point shot to tie?
- When will we start to hold for the last shot to end a quarter?
- When will we shoot the ball to end a quarter?
- What play will we use to end the quarter?
OFFENSIVE GOALS for each possession
Defensive and offensive systems and styles must be complimentary.
The following is one system that can be used to organize, teach, and evaluate a system and then every defensive possession.
Each of the 6 goals has a tab in this section with more ideas.
- Press offense (Full and Half), then transition.
- Establish and maintain spacing.
- Handle the ball with 100% sureness.
- Put the ball in the lane against all defenses.
- Shoot FTs, 4s, and 3s--who, what, when, where we want.
- Fill the rebounding spots.
Always set up to break a press and never be surprised by a full court press or a halfcourt trap that is sprung by the defense.
- What are the strengths of our players and how can we best utilize those strengths while hiding their weaknesses?
- What is the optimal number of possessions per game for this group?
- Can we defend for that number of possessions at that pace?
- How is our ability compared to the best teams in our region of the state tournament? our conference? our area?
- How do we need to play to advance as far as possible in the state tournament?
- What is our depth like?
- How does our depth affect our style and pace of play?
- What will our substitution pattern be?
Transition situations to cover in practice
Long outlet pass
3 on 2
2 on 1
Secondary Break
Click here for a demonstration of the North Carolina Secondary Break by Coach Roy Williams. The link will take you to a page on the Basketballcoach.com web site. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the video of this under type of secondary break.
Press Offense
SPACING
Spacing is critical to offensive success. Establishing spots for your players to work from when not cutting or screening 
helps them maintain proper spacing. The 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.
- Pass, cut & space = all players move to a new spacing spot on a pass and basket cut.
- Deep elbow drive & space = fill deep elbow behind the driver.
- Wide wing drive & space = must fill the crack back (ball side wide wing spacing spot) to give the ball an outlet pass.
- Feed & space feed the post and fill spacing spots.
SHOT SELECTION
Rate each shot on a scale of 1 to 4. We take 3s (wide open perimeter shot) and 4s (power shot or a layup) or we are taken off the floor (by the coach) . Know who you are and what your game is. Do what you do best. Range, rhythm, time, score are all factors in determining where a shot is rated on the selection scale. Shot fakes for balance and control. Hop backs prevent fade away shots. Don’t take the shots the defense gives us--get the shots we want. When shooting off the dribble pick up the ball with hands ready to shoot.
4 = layup or a power shot
3 = wide open shot for a good perimeter shooter
2 = decent shot
1 = bad shot
0 = turnover
Offensive rebounding starts on the shot, not on the miss. Waiting until the ball is missed is too late. The other advantage to rebounding when the shot is taken is that when the shot does go in, you are prepared to immediately convert to defense.
All set plays and motion sequences should end with the players filling the rebound spots. Click here for to see our animated zone play,
Stack, which illustrates the rebounding spots.
The best three rebounders go to the block, block, and front of the rim. The halfback goes to the top of key for long rebounds and the fullback retreats to the center jump circle. If the rebounders cannot grab the ball, they tip the ball out to the halfback and fullback. No over the back fouls!
Make or miss the players are in position for the beginning of
conversion defense.
The goal for misses per offensive rebound is less than two misses per offensive rebound.
Mover-Blocker Motion from Coach Dick Bennet.
These are a few concepts from Dick Bennett's first Blocker/Mover Offense VHS tape. The image of his DVD has more information, or you can click here to see more about the DVD
July 30, 2008 Update Here is a segment from the new Dick Bennett Blocker/Mover DVD. We have some notes posted from his original VHS on his Blocker/Mover. The original tape was one of our favorites!
- Bennett feels that in big games, the ability to score in the half court is often the determining factor in winning and losing.
- Every offense should have a side top side mentality and movement of the ball because the ability to reverse the ball keeps the defense from establishing help side.
- You can be deliberate and survey the floor with the ball at the top of the key and deep elbows because there is no help side defense. You need to wait and look down to allow the screens to be set.
- When holding the ball at the top, look down, opposite, then back to where the ball came from. Having the ball up top removes defensive help.
- A quicker decision and action must be made and taken when the ball is on the side wing or the baseline. If you hold the ball here, the defense has time to establish helpside and jam the middle.
- Coach Bennett always practiced his offense 5/5 or 5/0 rather than breaking it down into 2 or 3 players drills. He did teach fundamentals such as sceening and cutting in a separate phase of practice. His reason was that the players must learn to react to 5 defenders, not to 2 or 3. The offense is usually not stopped by the direct defenders, but rather by the helpers who are not involved directly in the action.
- In his Mover Blocker Motion offense, the blockers are each assigned one side of the floor in order for the movers to be able to locate them.
His four schemes with 2 blockers and three movers are:
- Lane-Lane where both blockers stay on the lane.
- Lane-Wide with one blocker on the lane and the other guying as wide as he/she wants to to screen.
- Wide-Wide where both blockers can work from the lane to the sideline.
- Top-Bottom where the floor is split vertically at the free throw line rather than horizontally .
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Flex (if you click the link, you will go to our animated basketball plays section.
For a great resource for the flex offense, click the link to take a look at A 25 minute video segment on the Flex Offense put together by Coach Josh Stinson at Perfect Practice.
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We have several animated basketball plays for use against various defenses and in various situations. Click here to see them.
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