Obviously, for running teams, triggering the fast break is crucial. When getting the ball out of bounds, it seems that most coaches either:
1) designate one player (usually a big man) to get the ball out every time
or
2) They let the closer of two players (usually either the 4 or the 5) take it out.

It seems as though there are a lot of successful teams that take one approach, and a lot of successful teams that the other approach. This past year, I had a designated take out man, and I felt like there were too many situations where he was caught away from the basket, and we lost opportunities to break quickly off of made buckets.

I'm curious to hear from other coaches which approach they take, and why?

My second question is for anyone who has run successfully with a 4 guard lineup - what is your in-bounding philosophy? Do you send your one big to the block every time and arbitrarily select one of your guards as a "4" man to get it out every time? Or do you inbound by committee?

Thanks in advance
-Coach Scott

I have used both, designated inbounder, as well as 4 or 5. I think it depends on the skill level of the team. As for your second question, if you have 4 guards on the court, as long as all 4 are decent dribblers and passers I would say use the closest player.

I think the best palce to look for your answer, is with the top fast breaking team, at the highest level - the Suns. The Suns run as well as any team I've ever watched. A large part of that is because they have an athletic big and the best pass-first PG in the world. But another large part is, how quickly they get the ball out of bounds and back into play. The Suns inbound by committee, whoever, is closest, regardless of pos. takes it out and triggers the ball in to a player already sprinting down court. They also make that second pass often from foul line to foul line.

We spend 2 minutes a day working on these two skills and have found it has made teams less likely and able to pressure us in the back court.