Offensive Philosophy

Many coaches still spend a lot of time in practice showing their teams set plays to run during each possession during a game.  I've always wondered if that's the best way to teach kids how to play.  Realistically speaking, a given play could work maybe 2-3 times a game at best depending on how sharp the coaches and players are who have to deal with this set play.  Usually, your team will end up spending about 60% of the time improvising through the offense because the defense has made the adjustments needed to defend against the set play.  If the play requires improvisation, then why should we spend so much time at practice running plays.  Wouldn't it be better to work on adjustments from the get-go?

I have to admit that I have been guilty teaching set plays as well but through the years I've noticed that opponents catch on pretty quickly and disrupt your play as quickly as the second time you run it. This means that my team had to start adjusting to the defense as quickly as the second possession of the game.  I decided to start teaching the kids how to create advantages on the floor and then capitalize on them.  

The game of basketball is all about creating advantages and then capitalizing on the opportunity. A defense is at its most vulnerable when it is moving, and defenders get most confused when they are rotating and contesting players they have not been assigned to. In order to do this your team needs to know how to create advantages and then how to finish them.

Let's start by discussing how to create advantages.  There are many ways you can create advantages, but the methods can be broken up into categories.

1.       1. Beating a player 1v1

a.       Attacking closeouts

b.      Retreat and attack

c.       Ripping

d.       Jab Step

e.       Hesi

f.       Side dribble

2.       2. On Ball Action

a.       Ball screens

b.       Dribble Ats

c.       Dribble handoffs

d.       Give and go's

3.       3. Off ball action

a.       Backscreens

b.       Cross screens

Once you create advantages you need to know where the advantages can occur and how to react to them.  You do this by teaching your kids how to react to the defensive rotation.  In other words, you are showing your kids what the defense might do and how they should react to the rotation.  The basic read in all situations is do I have the shot or do I have the pass.  You take what the defense gives you.  To work on this, you can run various small-sided games which gives the offense a 1-man advantage with the defense rotating, forcing the offense to react to the coverage.

The advantages occur in 3 places on the court:
  1. Penetration Right
  2. Penetration Top
  3. Penetration Left
Ideally the cut to the ball will occur from the opposite side of the floor like below:


There are some rules of spacing that need to be followed when running offense.
  1. Keep at least 10-12 feet between you and your teammates unless you are participating in 2 man action (ie. screens, dribble ats, dribble handoff).
  2. Always have at least 1 man flashing the paint.
  3. If you have 2 post players make sure they have at least 8 feet of distance between them.
  4. Always keep the floor balanced.
  5. Pass and move.  
  6. Look to screen for your teammates.
To run this type of offense well your players need to be able to do the following:
  1. Set screens
  2. Use screens
  3. Look for the advantage and use it.
  4. Attack close outs.
Locations on the floor
Below are the locations of the 6 critical spots on the floor for basketball.  The rule are as follows:
  1. Give a player options in adjacent spots.
  2. The only time 2 players can be in the same zone are:
    1. zone 6 but keep 8 feet apart.
    2. For any zone when players are running actions for each other.
  3. If you are not open move away or set a screen.  do not just sit there.
  4. If a zone adjacent to the ball is open, go and fill it.  Support our teammates.
  5. There should always be 1 player in zone 6.
  6. Screens should come from adjacent zones.  
  7. Zone 6 players can screen for anyone.
            


We will go in detail for each of the items as we go along.



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