Frank Martin: Early Offense

In this on-court presentation, Frank Martin shares his coaching philosophy on the offensive end in his early offense attack. Martin believes to be a successful running team that you must run all of the time - not just when you have the lead. He views his role as a coach as getting the right players, the right shots, from the right spots. This philosophy allows the coach to entrust the players with more responsibility and control, which results in quick decision-making and quick plays.

Coach Martin's broken floor drills deals with the number's situations teams face during a game, whether it is 2-on1, 3-on2, 4-on-3, or 5-on-4. He demonstrates his 2-on-1 continuous drill and his 3-on-2 continuous drill. These lead into his 3-on-2 to 4-on-3 to 5-on-4 to 5-on-5 transition drill where scores are kept for offensive baskets as well as defensive stops. These scores are important for enforcing consequences at the end of practice. Throughout each drill he shares the rules and goals and how they translate to the broader game.

From the team drills, Martin goes into his individual breakdown drills for effective early offense. He takes you through drill work for the point guards, the wings and finally the big men. In each breakdown area, he goes through each player's rules, goals, and options within the early offense scheme.

He finishes with a look at a few of the secondary break plays he runs at Kansas State. These quick hitters include the Carolina action as well as ball screen actions.

Running a quick, early offense gives the defense no other choice but to foul in order to slow down the game. Coach Martin's team averaged 37 free throw attempts per game last season due in large part to their running style in early offense.

If you are looking for new ways to get your team running, then you need to take a look at the philosophies, drills, and actions in this video.

Produced at the Spring 2010 Wisconsin Dells Clinic

68 minutes. 2010.