Chris Mack: Smorgasbord of Basketball Practice Drills

with Chris Mack,
University of South Florida (USF) Head Coach;
College of Charleston Head Coach from 2024 to 2026;
University of Louisville Head Coach from 2018 to 2022;
Xavier University Head Coach from 2009 to 2018;
2018 Big East Coach of the Year;
2018 Big East Champions;
2016 USBWA Henry Iba National Coach of the Year;
2011 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year;
2x Atlantic 10 Conference Champs (2010, '11);
2009-10 Basketball Times Rookie Coach of the Year;
tied the school record for the most wins ever by a Xavier rookie head coach (26)

This coaching clinic takes on a unique format as Chris Mack, allows coaches like you to request the practice drills they need most.

Coach Mack shares his ideas for organizing a practice that will benefit your players the most. Ultimately, the talking points highlight what Coach Mack is best known for: the Pack Line Defense, toughness, and rebounding.

In all, 14 drills are demonstrated and are intermixed with several anecdotes that reveal the underlying Xavier philosophy. You will see practice drills for a range of concepts including rebounding, on-ball defense, transition defense, handling pressure, post play, screening and shooting.

Drills for the Pack Line Defense

You will learn how to establish critical elements of the Pack Line defense. These drills are focused on getting your defenders to "build a wall around the ball" and how that philosophy parlays into the core principles underlying the Pack Line defensive scheme. Body positioning, philosophy relating to the baseline drive, the importance of gap integrity and close-outs are all discussed, complete with drills that combine and illustrate the various teaching points.

As an example, Coach Mack shares one of his favorite defensive drills - the Blackhawk Drill. An on-ball defender must exhibit defensive fundamentals as jumping-to-the-ball, bumping-the-cutter, closing-out, and maniacal on-ball pressure to prevent any straight-line scores.

Additionally, Coach Mack demonstrates three drills that focus on stopping fast breaks. He shares his system for sending players back in transition. These transition drills will challenge your players to quickly recover and build the half court defense through disadvantage situations.

Rebounding & Toughness Drills

In order to win on the boards, a team must have a level of toughness instilled and a desire to get to the ball before the opponent. Five drills are displayed that Coach Mack uses to mold his teams into hard-nosed, physically superior teams. All involve either an individual battle for a rebound or a battle in the trenches, with most also incorporating an offensive element. Teaching points prevalent throughout the drill package include:

• The "hit and seal" approach to individual rebounding
• Protecting the basketball (toughness with the ball) while under intense pressure
• Battling for offensive position in the post
• Containing the dribble with intense, on-ball pressure

Offensive Drills

Teach your players how to play through pressure with three practice drills. Learn how to use your dribble and triple threat to beat the 5-second count and maintain possession of the ball. You'll see how to combine concepts such as getting open with the L-cut while working on additional offensive skills. Raise the adversity to levels that will surpass even what you'll see in games with the Pressure Drill. Offensive players will have to maintain their composure and be strong with the ball to survive the clock.

Coach Mack believes that "the best post move is no post move." He will show you how to fight for position close to the rim and finish strong with a drill specifically for post-players. You will also learn teaching points for scoring with jump hooks, drop steps, and face-up moves for when your post players are pushed off the block.

The Texas Tech Screening drill is a fantastic way to build your motion offense. This drill will get your players to read the play and communicate as they work through continuous back screens, pin downs, flare screens and out screens. Finally, you'll learn how to get your players to shoot with more game-like pressure through the competitive Celtic Drill.

There is something for every coach to learn in this video. Coach Mack keeps no secrets as he shares the Xavier philosophy to organizing practices and drills for a variety of offensive and defensive concepts.

"I love how Chris Mack made this an interactive session with the clinic audience and asked what they wanted to see.ÿ He provided great practice drills! Plus I thought his commentary and thoughts on post play were great. I'll be implementing some of these drills with my team next season." - Customer Review

Produced at the 2015 Pittsburgh (PA) clinic.

75 minutes. 2016.