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Archives by Tag 'Transition Offense'

Transition Offense: How to Play Fast & Create More Possessions

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Current UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma is a huge advocate of drill work that translates from practice to the game. In the latest team development feature, learn how to be a force offensively via transition while playing to create more possessions. The following drills and concepts are frequently used by Auriemma and the Huskies, who are fresh off winning the 2013 NCAA National Championship.

Transition Offense Mentality

The overall idea with this transition offense is to move fast. For instance, as soon as ball comes out of the net, your squad should be off and running. Coach Auriemma wishes that more offenses ran this way and carried this mentality. It really makes the kids play where all five players are involved. The bigs are involved and the guards are creating. This is real basketball.

Fast Break Drill

In terms of implementing this strategy/mentality, we can begin by putting our offense together. Start with a point guard, two wing players, and two bigs down low. The drill starts with a coach throwing the ball off the glass. Next, one big guy will rebound it and the other guy will run the floor. As for the player who doesn’t get it, it’s their job to beat the guy who’s guarding them down the floor. If they do, his teammates will pass it to them and they’ll get a basket.

After the rebound, there’s an immediate outlet pass to the wing. Kick it ahead again and then throw the ball down low to the sprinting big man for a layup. This is exactly how Coach Auriemma teaches all of his team’s options off the fast break.

Transition Options

There are a number of things you can do out of the transition break. First, look to pass to the wing player as you are coming down the floor. Once within the half-court area, look inside while the original passer cuts to the corner.

Now, the trailer comes into play. You can hit him with a pass up top, look inside, reverse the ball, and then the original trailer and farside wing player can set a double screen in the corner. The corner player comes off of it to the top. So now you are looking for a quick post up and a jump shot up top right out of transition.

From here, you can go with a ‘High/Low‘ scenario where one big man screens across for the other, he flashes to the ball, receives it, and then passes high to low to the other big for a layup or lob play.

The previous clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD “Geno Auriemma: Dynamic Offensive Practice Drills.” To check out more videos focusing on team drills, visit our basketball library.

Filed in Basketball Newsletter • Tags: BasketballCoach Newsletter, Drills, Geno Auriemma, Issue #60, Offensive Drills, Transition Offense

Two Must-Have Plays to Boost Your Transition Offense

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, November 28, 2012

In the latest team development feature, pick up two highly valuable drills to help improve your squad’s overall transition game. With Sinclair (OH) head men’s basketball coach Jeff Price as your guide, you’ll learn how to utilize post entry passes and weakside curls to beat the defense while playing fast-paced basketball.

Post Entry Baseline Cut

Drill Overview: Start at half court with two players. The ball handler will first pass the ball to a coach and then sprint to the corner. The dribbler will then get the ball back in the corner and make a post entry to a teammate on the block. Next, the guard will sprint baseline and the post player will pass to him on the baseline during the cut. This must be a bounce pass.

Full Court: Now watch this drill (below) live in action going 5 on 0 from a free throw transition. As for a little wrinkle, throw in a skip pass to the baseline cutter. It’s essentially the same as before except now the guard will pass cross-court to the opposite wing for the baseline cut and layup.

Tips: For this drill, keep your bigs high on the block. Make sure that they stay high so they don’t come down and stop our baseline cut. It also gives them a chance to make a good post move and be a threat and not one dimensional.

Weakside Curl

Drill Overview: Now let’s incorporate our trailer. This is perfect for those situations when we want to go with the hot hand and we can use the trailer to get a good clean look on transition. The drill starts with a quick pass to the coach by the guard and then a down screen. The guard on the wing being screened for will then curl for the jumper.

Tips: Come off screen shoulder to shoulder. Also, be sure to open up after the screen. Good fundamentals are key here. Elevate in the lane as you are coming off screen to simulate game-type shots.

Weakside Curl with Free Throw Transition

We finish up with a full-court simulation starting with a typical free throw transition break.

The previous clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD “Comprehensive Guide to Transition Offense” featuring Jeff Price. To check out more transition offense and fast break basketball videos, visit our basketball library.

Filed in Basketball Newsletter • Tags: Basketball Coach Newsletter, Issue #50, Jeff Price, Transition Offense

Transition Offense: Breakdown of the 5 v 4 Fast Break Drill

By adam.warner - Last updated: Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Give your transition game a boost with this effective 5 v 4 fast break drill. Follow along as Cortland women’s head lacrosse coach Kathy Taylor breaks down the action via whiteboard before heading out to the field for live simulations. This is a terrific drill to practice team finishing and working against defensive pressure in a fast break setting.

Chalk Talk: Breaking Down the 5 v 4 Drill

The drill starts at the restraining line with the midfielders. Imagine that your middie has broken free and is now ahead of their opposing midfielder. Meanwhile, you should have four other attack players lined up. The goal is to keep the ball ahead of the other middie, who is currently behind us and catching up to the play.

With a 5 on 4 situation, we have a numbers advantage and have the defense matched up. Therefore, the midfielder with the ball must force one of the defenders to make a decision quickly. However, executing here is easier said than done.

Far too often, ball carriers hold on to the ball far too long. As soon as the defense makes any kind of commitment, put that ball into the respective attacker’s stick. Move through the space and look for the pass right back for a give and go and a shot. If it doesn’t work, keep moving the ball ahead of the defensive slides. There will be a player open.

Practice finding that open player and attacking. But remember, keep the ball ahead of the pressure and make quick decisions. You only have a few seconds until the numbers return to even again.

The previous clips can be seen on Championship Productions’ DVD “Building Your Team’s Transition Game” with Kathy Taylor.” To check out more videos featuring specific offensive systems, visit our lacrosse video library.

Filed in Lacrosse Newsletter • Tags: Cortland University, Inside the Crease, Kathy Taylor, Offensive Systems, Transition Offense

Key Teaching Points and Drills for Transition Offense

By adam.warner - Last updated: Wednesday, February 8, 2012

A team that controls the transition game will keep opponents on their toes and have a major edge in coming away with victories. In this week’s team development feature, learn different ways to improve your transition game and take your offense to a new level.

Sinclair (OH) head men’s basketball coach Jeff Price breaks down his transition offense for you before showcasing a few drills that emphasize key areas. With an emphasis placed on playing fast-paced basketball, this offense should go a long way towards improving your team’s scoring ability. This versatile system can also be used to transition into any half-court offense.

Overview of the Transition Offense

Here’s how we start out. The point guard gets the ball and pushes it up the floor as hard as he can go. We also have a 2 or 3 in the strongside corner (so we can advance the ball as fast as we can with the pass). Meanwhile, our other 2 or 3 player is in the weakside corner looking to balance the floor. The 1, 2, and 3 players are all interchangeable.

Also, 4 and 5 are interchangeable, but have much different roles. The first person down without the ball is going rim-to-rim (also known as a “rim runner”), looking to go to the strongside and post up. The “trailer” will trail and stay even with the ball as it gets advanced up the floor. Once the point guard passes to the corner, our first look is a shot in the corner and to get a shot as fast as possible. This puts a lot of pressure on the defense.

Our second look is a good post-up above the block and trying to get a 1-on-1 isolation in transition. If we don’t get this, we can reverse the ball back to the point guard. Our trailer is now into the play and the ball goes to him. Next, the big comes to the middle of the floor at the free throw line, our opposite wing player now moves to the weakside block, and the strongside off-guard does a V-cut to get open and pops out. The ball goes to him.

The big man follows the ball and slides to the low block. Once this happens, the weakside guard now moves up and makes a backscreen for the trailer/forward for a lob going right to the rim. If we don’t get that, the screener pops out, we got bigs on both blocks, the ball gets reversed to our point guard, and then we go right into our man-to-man offense.

Note: We’ve only spent seven seconds getting into our offense running transition.

Wing Jumpers

The goal with this offense is that we want to get our guys down the floor as fast as possible and get into scoring position. Here in this drill, we want to use a coach as a passer and simulate the 2 or 3 running the floor and catching the ball and making a shot or making a move.

First, start with jumpers right off the pass. Players will start at mid-court, pass to the coach at the top of the key, get the ball back in the corner, and immediately turn and shoot (right off the pass). This is a great drill to get loose and mimics game situations. Remember to always have shot-ready hands. This drill also simulates staying wide and outside the three-point line. Don’t forget that once you make the pass, you should be sprinting. It shouldn’t be a 3/4 sprint.

Next, to simulate game-type shots even further, let’s have players move into sweep through jump shots to the short corner. Be sure to square up when you shoot.

Free Throw Transition

Finally, set up in a free throw situation. Look to run off a make or miss. If it’s a make, have the 4 or 5 get the ball out of bounds. Take the ball out below the backboard and get the ball out quick. The point guard must make himself available and call for the ball. Meanwhile, 2 and 3 will release to space the floor.

Breakdown: Release the ball to a wing jumper. Be sure to crash the boards. We want either a solid three-point shot or a 15-foot jumper. Then switch to sweep through jumpers with one dribble to the baseline to close out the drill.

Goal: Touch 60 percent of all missed shots. Always look to get to your rebounding spots.