Championship Productions Blog

Archives by Tag 'BasketballCoach Newsletter'

Winning Dead Ball Situations: Three Jump Ball Plays

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Take advantage of jump balls this season to attack and keep your opponent off balance. Follow along as Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo reveals three jump ball plays used frequently by the Spartans. By consistently winning the battle of deadball situations, Coach Izzo believes programs can add three or four victories to their win total each season.

Jump Ball Play 1

This first jump ball play is one that Coach Izzo looks to use every game. It’s a play to implement if you’re almost certain to win the tip.

Put your second biggest player facing the jumper. Meanwhile, your best athlete should be parallel to the jumper and the point guard is on the opposite side from your best athlete. Your remaining player will get back deep just in case of a lost jump and transition the other way.

This play is as basic as it gets, but the mentality is to score in every dead ball situation. Every time the clock is stopped, you want to attack right out of it. In this scenario, as the ball is tossed, your best athlete will branch out towards the near sideline, the point guard will branch out toward his near sideline, and the back defender will hold down the fort in the back.

When the second biggest player gets possession of the tip, he will turn and pass it hard with two hands to one of the streaking athletic players. From here, they can look to do a lob play on the fast break for a layup. The minute the ball is tossed, you are gone. As for the lob itself, throw the ball to the block, not to the rim. This really helps with timing.

Play 2

This is a play to use when you believe you’re not going to win the tip. This time put your best shooter parallel to the jumper when starting. The point guard will start way back and hold down the fort.

Now, tip BACKWARDS. In this scenario, you’ll be aiming for a three-pointer or post up right off the tip. The two sideline players will branch out like before. The point guard will get possession off the tip and take it to the left side of the court while the two bigs sprint down to the right side and set a double screen for the best shooter. The shooter will come off of it, one screener will slip, and the other will move to space. From here, the shooter comes around to catch the pass and release a shot.

Play 2 Plus

Once in a while your opponent will start reading what you do. If that happens, start by tipping it backwards. Everything is the same as Play 2 from the onset. However, when the shooter comes off the double screen and it’s not there, he should continue to curl around. Meanwhile, the other shooter moves down to the low block now and the bigs screen down for him. From here, he comes off the double screen and has a variety of options to choose from.

The previous clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD “Tom Izzo: Winning Dead Ball Situations.” To check out more videos featuring special situations and inbound plays, simply visit our basketball library.

Filed in Basketball Newsletter • Tags: BasketballCoach Newsletter, Issue #59, jump balls, Michigan State Basketball, special situations & inbounds plays, Tom Izzo

4 Everyday Practice Drills: Box Outs & Jab Series

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Learn four daily practice drills from one of college basketball’s top coaches. With Stanford women’s head coach Tara Vanderveer leading the way, you’ll pick up effective drills for boxing out, closing out, layups, and jab steps. Before each simulation goes live at full speed, Coach Vanderveer describes and demonstrates how the drill is run and how the team incorporates it into their offensive system.

Close-Out and Box Out Drills

Every practice, Stanford implements a series of partner drills: Passing, closing out, and boxing out. Also, the team will run through these before games as a helpful warmup. You can really get a feeling if repetition, doing things over and over in order to get better.

Close-Out Drill: Players work in pairs and start by standing apart and facing each other. One player will roll out the ball to the other player. The player now with the ball will look to dribble, drive, or shoot. The defender must close out effectively, getting a hand up in their face before getting into proper positioning to cover ground. Players must be aggressive in their first step and move the correct foot.

Box Out Drill: Like before, players will face each other, but now when the coach yells out “Shot”, the defensive players must also yell out “Shot.” After this, they will turn and a get a body on the offensive player and box out. The offensive players must make a move one way or the other to simulate going after their shot for the rebound.

Layups & Jab Sweeps

Layup Drills: This is something that Coach Vanderveer’s team does every day. The squad also tries to partner this series with their pick ‘n roll. Players will go at three baskets and get into groups of (at least) three.

The drill begins with simple layups, one player at a time. Start on the right and then switch to the left side. Players make a crossover dribble before going in for a layup. Next, the drill moves into reverse layups. Players should keep their eyes on the rim when going up to the basket. After this, the drill moves into jump shots from about 10-15 feet out. Look to use the glass to your advantage.

Jab Series: To begin, one at a time, players must work to get open. When they receive the ball, the must make an effective jab step before taking the ball to the rim aggressively. Be sure to use proper footwork and make a strong move.

Next, players move into a jab & cross, incorporating a crossover move and then an aggressive drive to the bucket. After this, it’s on to jab & shoot with no dribble. Essentially, it’s a jab step and then jump shot. Make sure you move to the opposite side of the court and do the same reps. Look to freeze the defender with that jab step every time.

The previous clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD ”Tara Vanderveer: 30 Practice Drills for Building Champions.” To check out more videos focusing on key practice drills, click here.

Filed in Basketball Newsletter • Tags: BasketballCoach Newsletter, Boxing Out, Drills, Issue #58, Layups, Stanford Women's Basketball, Tara Vanderveer, Team Drills

All-Access Basketball Practice: Man Breakdown Drills with Kevin Boyle

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, March 6, 2013

In the latest edition of All Access, we head south to sunny Florida for a practice session with Montverde Academy head coach Kevin Boyle. Follow along as the former Naismith National Coach of the Year leads his squad through a variety of breakdown drills focused on man-to-man defense.

Zigzags & Catch up

Last month, we watched UConn women’s head coach Geno Auriemma take his team through a similar zigzag drill. This time, Coach Boyle puts a little wrinkle on the drill as players go with no basketball.

In this example, players must work on getting their head on the ball so they can turn the ball handler. It’s imperative that defenders get in front of the offensive player. It’s really the key to slowing down a team’s fast break.

So why no ball? Well, according to Coach Boyle, you find out that at this level, most players don’t handle the ball well enough yet to make this drill valuable for the defense.

Next, with “Catch Up”, the drill plays out similar to before, except this time defenders must run to a spot about three feet ahead and then beat the offensive guy to that spot.

Getting Under or Over the Screen

Next, get two players on each side of the full court to act as screeners. Defenders must be away of the screen coming their way and get either under or over it. Be sure to make this game speed. Don’t just go through the motions. As for the offensive player, really try to run the defender into the screen. This is good practice for realistic situations in games.

Tracing a Dead Ball

Finally, get two lines set up. Players will go 1-on-1. The offensive player will dribble and then get stuck somewhere on the court. The defender must play up their face and tough defense. The offensive player works on being strong with the ball.

Next, make the drill 2-on-2 and have the new defender deny a second offensive player. The dribbler will run into trouble on the fast break while his teammate works to get open. The deny defender will do everything he can to prevent the pass from happening. Offensive players should look to go backdoor in these situations.

The previous clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD ”All Access Basketball Practice with Kevin Boyle.” To browse more videos in our extensive All Access lineup, simply head over to our basketball library.

Filed in Basketball Newsletter • Tags: All Access Basketball Practice, BasketballCoach Newsletter, Drills, Issue #57, Kevin Boyle, Man Defense, Man-to-Man Defense, Montverde Academy

2 Offensive Plays to Take Advantage of Mismatches

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Take advantage of man-to-man mismatches on the offensive end of the floor with these proven set plays. Read through the breakdown of each play before seeing them carried out live on the basketball court in a 5-on-5 situation.

Quick Hitting Lob Play

Submitted by Les Wilson, Washington HS, Washington, IN

The set up: Player 1 has the ball up top. Players 2 and 5 are at opposite elbows, while players 4 and 3 are at opposite low blocks.

The action: From a 1-2-2 set, 2 and 3 break to the free throw line extended on their respective sides. Player 1 then passes to 3 and cuts to the ballside corner behind the three-point line.

The finish: From here, player 4 breaks wide to the weakside corner while 5 pops to the top. 3 passes to 5 who quickly reverses the ball to 2. As the pass is in the air and going towards player 2, player 3 quickly cuts up and sets a backscreen for 5. 5 curls around the screen and breaks hard toward the basket. Player 2 throws to 5 for a lob opportunity.

Set Play for a Mismatch

Submitted by Tom Reiter, Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, PA

This play incorporates spacing and takes advantage of a mismatch situation so an offense can make a quick-hitting offensive advantage.

The set up: Get in a 3-out, 2-low alignment, with 1 at the top of the key, 2 on the left side above the arc, and 3 on the right side above the arc, plus 4 on the baseline and 5 on the baseline (for spacing and isolation purposes).

The action: 1 dribbles up to the top of the key, passes to 2, and then runs to the ballside corner. 4 comes up to set a screen on the ball. As 2 dribbles off the screen, 1 cuts across the lane to screen for 5. 2 passes to 5 for a layup.

Options: If the post-up is not there, 4 should screen for 1 for a jump shot. 3 spots up on weakside for a possible skip pass from 2.

The previous plays can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD “Over 60 Plays to Attack Man-to-Man Defenses” produced by Winning Hoops. To check out the entire Winning Hoops collection, click here.